Wrong Tern Finances

If starting a business is not something that you have not done before, keeping track of finances could be a very complex and sometimes an overwhelming task. Even though there are many acronyms and accounting terminology that a layman may not understand – here are few steps to get you started.

The most important step in keeping your finances, is document every expenditure and gain for a financial year. Always retain receipts and write down all non-receipted expenditures as you go. You do not need complex accounting software to do this, just use a simple journal. Keep a note of the amount spent or received, date, source and purpose. If you have a lot of cash coming in, but there is barely some leftover at the end of the month, it could be a reason that that there are many undocumented cash expenses in your account.

Another important point is, always keep business and personal finances separate. Of course as a small business owner you will need access to both sources at difficult times, however keep a track of where the money goes. Whenever you withdraw more than allocated amount from either of the accounts, be disciplined to work a little harder to pay that back as soon as possible.

Learn about the tax-deductions and exceptions in your industry. Governments give tax exceptions to some expenses for your personal services because you are the business owner. Therefore spend some time learning about the taxation rules and benefits that can affect your business both positively and negatively.

By: Roger Spence

About the Author:

Caffeinated Content

Small businesses have started outsourcing their bookkeeping needs as it takes part to one of the most common and yet multitasked responsibilities to handle records of usual transactions and get to know how a company owes or how much is owed to them by these other organizations. Additionally, bookkeeping stays as crucial part to manage financial flows within the company though it also keeps business owners too busy to hand over these types of task while getting into the projects at the same time. As a result, more business owners have been transferring this task to virtual assistant companies who have been specializing bookkeeping through the years, plus to save on in-house costs.

What is bookkeeping in general?

Bookkeeping encompasses a whole lot of tasks included in financial record keeping: from records of equipment, inventory, accounts payable and accounts receivable, income statements, balance sheets, financial statements to cash flow statements and other bank transactions. Additionally, it takes to focus on keeping in track of these important documents so all finances are seen and in place. Without the ones to manage and organize bookkeeping tasks, some information will be easily lost and thus, every single account that does not tally will lead to inappropriate expenses and losses which will turn profits unnoticeable enough while the business grows.

Indeed with outsourcing, bookkeeping will be a lot easier to manage as more and more companies have been helping entrepreneurs in different parts of their businesses. Even though it gets into the risky process of profits and losses management, entrepreneurs will not anymore have to spend time worrying to record information because these outsourcing providers will be able to enact your accounting systems to finish things as soon and credible as possible. Now, if you’re going to outsource bookkeeping tasks of your company today, here are 3 basic steps to have a fresh and easy start without worrying about your expenses:

Step 1: Always Be Consistent

Consistency is the first step for you to ensure that your accounting system has been working the same way for every month. As you’ll be transferring this task to your service provider, make sure that even a change in set of columns are managed to prevent adjustment of computations that may pour in different results. Explain to your service provider as well in detail every detail on how your program works before getting them to hand over it. Otherwise, you’ll learn the other way around by having them to introduce their own accounting system to you while you, on the other hand should be able to apply your accounting to them through certain agreements and make sure all information stays equal and tallying on both sides. Once organization is maintained, having mismatched information will be impossible to take place.

Step 2: Keep All Good Records

There are many businesses that may often miss out tax benefits yearly because some information are missing, plus having nothing to serve as a backup for the deserved deductions. To solve this issue, systems provided by your chosen service provider will easily be showing you the results in clear and accurate manner without finding other information from outside source. As with your own accounting system applied in the program, allow them to also keep important documents or papers by scanning receipts and organizing them in one place as well. Labeling on folders is one way to better distinguish which is which and which should be looked at first as they have specific titles.

Step 3: Maintain Invoice Strategy

Setting invoice integrity will be as simple as this: with your bookkeeping service around, they can easily have an eye on open invoices which are needed to be accounted and closed appropriately as it shouldn’t be floating there for long. Otherwise, without proper management on getting invoices filled at the right time, this will bring the money back into the company and be starting again to handle expenses and fund future projects.

One way to deal with this is setting an invoice policy. Having your bookkeeping provider to deal with different transactions held in the business, you’ll get them to manage your invoice policy to encourage people to pay on time and prevent getting too much charge. For example, they should supervise invoices that should be paid within 15 days or else customers will be able to face the penalty behind it.

Small Business Bookkeeping Is Challenging

Keeping your bookkeeping needs organized by outsourcing is really one of the most challenging areas in managing your small business as it would always talk about how LIQUID your business is while you’re continuing to build on more projects to continue receiving profits and letting it grow. Indeed, you wouldn’t want to double your effort or even waste any of your investments – be it on time or money but you’ll definitely need to enjoy every free time you experience through the help of your bookkeeping service.

On the other hand, as you stay as the lead managing director of all things, having them on your behalf shouldn’t leave you just accepting things as it is but you’ll have to regularly check on accomplishments. Build up their responsibilities by requiring them to submit regular reports and allowing scheduling meetings wherein you could talk on sudden changes or even minimal problems to be fixed as soon as possible. This way, you’ll not only ensure the health of your business financially but your good relationship with your own service provider so you’re both giving in the best for the business – everything’s kept worthwhile!

By: Tyrone Shum

About the Author:

Kansieo.com

Business owners are faced with more than just the direct challenges that are a result of operating their businesses. Not only do business owners have to perform the duties of their specific business; but they also have the responsibility of managing any staff, and keeping track of finances.

Business finances can be a nightmare! Most business owners are very pressed for time, trying to get everything accomplished- and it could be their record keeping suffers as a result of the lack of time. Credit cards can help you resolve this situation, and actually save you time and money. You might be wondering how a credit card could save you money, considering they have interest fees and finance charges and all sorts of “hidden” expenses; but with the right business credit card, your financial record keeping will not only become easier to manage, but will in fact reduce the time it takes you to pay your expenses and saving that time will result in your ability to put your time into money-making activities.

Pay All of Your Business Expenses With a Single Credit Card

The first step to easier financial management and record keeping is to obtain a credit card and designate it your one-and-only method for paying your operating expenses. Whenever you need to purchase business supplies, make a utility payment, order lunch for staff appreciation day – you’ll whip out your new card and that’s where the charges will go.

That means you won’t pay with a personal check and have to transfer funds later to make sure you’re keeping your business and personal money separate. Using a single credit card for all your business needs means at the end of the month, you’ll receive a statement that itemizes every expense you had for the month.

Have you discovered the value in this yet? When you pay for everything on the single credit card, you’ll receive a single statement with a list of everything you’ve purchased or paid for, all in one- convenient place! You’ll easily be able to divide your expenses into categories for tax reporting purposes, and see at a glance what you’ve paid for the month versus what your business income was for the same month.

Give Key Employees a Business Credit Card

If you have office managers or other staff that have to make purchases for the business from time to time, there is a simple solution to this situation as well. Simply order additional cards in the employee’s names and all of their purchases will appear with yours on the itemized statement. Many credit card companies will divide the purchases by each of the credit cards you have on the statement, so you can also easily see at a glance which cardholder made which purchases.

Easier Checkbook Balancing

Once you’ve begun making all of your company’s purchases and expenses using your credit card, you’ll find that keeping your checkbook under control is a much easier task! Rather than having numerous entries throughout the month, you could very well have only the need to write out just one check each month to pay your credit card balance. It’s much easier to balance a checkbook with one or two transactions than one that has a few hundred checks and ATM card purchases going through each month!

Additional Benefits of Using Business Credit Cards

In addition to each of the benefits described above, using credit cards for business expenses makes it possible for you to earn rewards from various rewards programs offered through card issuers. You could be earning cash back or airline miles, among other benefits, that build up rapidly when you use your card to handle all expenses each month.

By: Brandon Ryan

About the Author:

Kansieo.com

Loose papers, receipts, notes, credit card bills, financial statements, tax returns – these are the byproducts of owning a business. They take up space on your desk and in your mind and every time you look at the litter you feel disorganized.

Before I created a system to organize my business paperwork in the manner I’ll soon explain, I felt disjointed, out of whack, and like I never got anything done. I’d walk into my office and want to turn right around and walk out.

Is there a better way to organize your business finances? You bet. Follow the steps below to create a simple, yet functional way to organize your business and live a more carefree life.

Step 1 – Get a Binder

Purchase a three-ring binder based on the volume of paperwork you produce annually. A 1.5″ or 2″ binder would be adequate for most businesses. You will use one binder for each year you are in business, so that every detail pertaining to your business that year is in one place for easy retrieval. In the viewing window type a cover that shows the name of your business and the year.

Step 2 – Get a Three Hole Punch

Purchase a three-hole punch. This is to hole punch all larger receipts, documents and financial statements and have them fit neatly into your binder.

Step 3 – Get a Zipper Compartment

Purchase a plastic zipper compartment from an office supply store to hold small receipts.

Step 4 – Purchase Accounting Software

Get yourself accounting software so that you can track your finances. Professional business owners track their profits and losses using the right tools and analyze their financials regularly. I recommend QuickBooks, but there are others such as Peachtree, Microsoft Office Small Business, and Simply Accounting. Try to begin tracking sales and expenses from the beginning of your business or the beginning of the year.

Step 5 – THE SYSTEM:

Arrange paperwork in your binder according to month. Keep all receipts, credit card statements and bank statements (make sure to reconcile these monthly), and sales tax reports (if you sell products). At the end of each month, run a Profit and Loss Statement and a Balance Sheet (collectively known as Financial Statements). The Financial Statements become the separator for each month. File small receipts that can’t be hole-punched in the zipper compartment at the back of your binder.

Step 6 – CLOSE IT OUT

At the end of each year, reconcile your accounts, print your annual Financial Statements, and close out your year. Put the binder away and start a new one for the New Year. Give your accountant or CPA a copy of your QuickBooks file to prepare your income tax return.

Tips:

o Only handle receipts one time. Review them. Record them in your software program. File them in your binder.

o Use one credit card for business and one for personal expenses. This way you can maintain separate business and personal expenses. If you ever need to carry a balance, you can easily determine the tax-deductible interest.

o Consult with your accountant or CPA regarding what is and is not tax deductible.

o Make an appointment with yourself one to two hours a week to do your business finance organization. When you have room in your budget, hire someone to come in and do it for you.

The system above is one way to organize your business finances. If you would like to go beyond this system and organize your business for financial success, you may want to consider writing a Business Plan.

Tags: Accounting Software, Business Finances, Professional Business Owners