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Getting Ready for Year End Accounting.

Posted on December 22, 2015 at 10:49 AM

Merry Christmas and A Prosperous New Year 2016 to all our Current and Prospective Clients. We want our Clients and Fans to know that we appreciate them and continually look forward to a great working relationship. The Year is almost coming to an end and It's a Busy Season for everyone. As you make your Holiday Plans, Remember to close your Books and Accounting Records for the Year 2015.
We have listed some Tips to help you close the year properly, so that you can make great plans for the upcoming year:

Evaluate Your Accounting System: This is the time to start searching for a good Accounting System for the Year 2016. If you are the technology savvy person, who prefers High-tech financial management tools like Digital Vaults, Smartphone Apps, QuickBooks or Peach Tree, you will need to evaluate your system to confirm if it has worked for you. If you are the Old School of thought that prefers the Shoe Box, Envelopes and Spreadsheet System, you also need to evaluate this to see how it has improved your Accounting System. If you cannot truly attest to the effectiveness of the Accounting System that you are using presently, This is the best time to consider switching to a more effective Accounting System.

Review Your Sub Contractor Data: Every Organization needs to confirm if they have paid anyone for services more than $600 during any given year; If you have, You are required to send a Form 1099 to the recipient by January 31st of every year. You have to ensure that the Subcontractor completed the information on the Form W-9 issued, at the inception of the Contract. Your Bookkeeper needs to update the 1099 Detail Reports and reconcile the amount paid during the year with the amount in the Books.

Reconcile your Expense Account Data: This is the best time to ensure that you look at your expense data and accept all reimbursement checks prior to December 31st. This will ensure that your Company will receive Tax Deductions for all the Business Expenses being claimed. You also need to ensure that you have all your Receipts Handy and properly filed.

Evaluate your Financial Standing: This is the best time to review your Profit & Loss Statements, Balance Sheets and general Ledger to ensure Accuracy and to make sure that all transactions have been recorded, so that you can get your Tax Deductions. Examples of Transactions to watch out for are as follows:

1) Ensure that the Bank and Credit Card Accounts have been reconciled.
2) Ensure that the Loan Interest has been separated from the Principal Amount and is accurately entered into your Books.
3) Check for the Accuracy of Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable.
4) Write Off Bad Debts for Customers who are Noncollectable.

Make a Charitable Giving Budget Calendar: Charitable Gifts are some of the easiest Expenses to overlook, when it comes to itemizing Deductions. During the Year End, Gifts and Donations to Thrift Stores are easily forgotten. You can use this Holiday Season to make your Donations to your Chosen Organizations, so that you are sure of claiming them for the Upcoming Tax Season.

Review Your Personal Expenses: If your Business entity is a Sole Proprietorship or Partnership, then it's time to ensure that your Personal Expense is not co-mingled with your Business Expenses. You will have to get your Receipts and Cancelled Checks and record these expenses to your Company's Books. Many Tax Payers have ended up paying extra taxes needlessly because they overlooked Business Expenses paid from Personal Funds.

Re-evaluate your Retirement Plan: This is the time to find out if you are putting away enough money for your Retirement. Maxing out a SEP Plan or taking advantage of an Employer match can be your best option. The IRS limits on Tax deductible IRA Contributions can change just as the benefits an Employer provides changes. You have to find out if you are putting away enough to offset your Tax Burden.

Prepare an Income Projection: Most Organizations prepare income projections to gauge their income and expenses during the mid-year and year end; It's actually advisable to take stock every Quarter, Half Year and Year End. The Projection looks at your Cash Flow, Estimated Taxes for the Self - Employed, Stock Options, Bonuses and other things impacting your Income. This is necessary especially if your Profit increased substantially during the year, your Bookkeeper/Accountant will help you prepare and analyze your Books to see where you need to reduce your taxable income by implementing some last minute strategies.

Take your Bookkeeper to Lunch: Everyone knows that all Bookkeepers and Accountants are always busy starting from the Month of January through April of every year; We all have these Last - minute Questions, which we all need answers to at the last minute. Now is the Time to get them answered. Try to set up an appointment with your Bookkeeper/ Accountant, to find out what you can do better next year to help reduce your Tax Burdens. If putting together your information was challenging for your Bookkeeper/Accountant, Try to make the meeting over a meal or another token of appreciation. Otherwise if you have a less- than - ideal experience with your current Bookkeeper/Accountant, This is an ideal time to shop around for one that is a better fit.

Another Tax Season is about to start; Filing your Taxes will probably never be fun, but being proactive when you are not under a Deadline can help ease some of the burden and save you time and frustration when April Comes around. If you need help with getting your Books ready for Taxes, We are available to help you. Please Free to give us a Call on 202.422.4586. You will be glad you did.

5 Strategies Of Turning your Profits into "Cash"

Posted on December 8, 2014 at 2:29 PM

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The Holidays are here and it's time to ensure that we have some cash tucked somewhere for the Holiday Shopping, Gifts, Christmas Parties, as well as Year-end Savings.

In our last Newsletter, we uncovered the myth of profits, and learnt that, understanding how transactions occur in our business and its effect on our financial statement is key to managing our profits. Please feel free to refer to our last newsletter for the full details. This Month, We will be looking at 5 strategies of turning our Profits into "Cash":

1 ) Cash is King:

Every company experiences an increase or decrease in Cash availability at any given period; the basic key to turning your profit into "Cash" is what you do, when you have made a Great Sale and received Payments from a Business Windfall. This should be the period to have a Savings or Cash reserve Account, whereby you can set aside a certain percentage of this revenue and discipline yourself, not to meddle with the account. This is called effective Cash Management, and it takes a lot of discipline, but if taken seriously, you will achieve great results.

2) Plug your Cash Leaks:

A lot of Business Owners are surprised about the waste, inefficiency and unchecked spending of precious Cash that should have remained in their Bank Account, if they have been managed effectively. As a Business Owner, it's possible to have been a culprit of any of these acts:

How many times have you paid overtime, because of poor scheduling practices or slow work performances?
How many times have you purchased unwanted Goods/Items for your inventory, without taking a stock count of what you have?
How often have you incurred unnecessary Bank Charges, overdraft item payments, late fees and finance charges?

It's time to take a forensic trip down your Profit & Loss Statement and try to justify every expense line item, I assure ,you there will be a 5 % more profit ,just waiting to find its way to your bottom line.

3) Take Ownership of your Business Account:

A lot of Business owners tend to mingle their personal expenses with their Business Account. Once you indulge in this practice, your financial reports are contaminated and become pretty worthless, especially when it comes to decision making. It's better to take ownership of your Business Account and maintain it, as a separate "entity" from your personal account. This will help you manage your cash flow better, and hence you will able to pay yourself appropriately. After all, this is the reward of being a savvy business owner.

4) Avoid taking on too much Debt:

Too much debt sucks the financial life out of a company. In our last Newsletter, we learnt how Principal Loan payments occur on the Balance Sheet and are funded by your profit; Imagine what happens when your company is overburdened with debt, Chances are that you will use your Cash flow to continually offset the debts, and this causes your company to be cash starved.

The only way to eliminate debt is to put yourself and your company on a

"strict debt reduction diet".

If possible, Stop adding further debt to your company; otherwise have a strategy on how to pay off the debt, if you MUST take on further debts.

5) Have a Budget:

A Budget is a blue print of an estimation of revenues and expenses for a given period in the future. A Budget gives financial direction. A Budget keeps you on track and helps you to manage your cash flow. Preparing a Budget makes you disciplined and faithful to keeping your profits. This is the best time to prepare a Budget for your Business towards the upcoming year.

As we approach the New Year, Why don't you try out these practices and watch your Cash flow grow. You will be surprised at how a few dollars will add up in your Bank Account.

Do you need help with creating your Budget for the upcoming year? Are you experiencing problems with recognizing your expense line items and don't understand how your Cash flow operates? Why don't you give us a Call, We will be glad to help you out.

Happy Holidays.

Bookkeeping Tips to Save Time and Money.

Posted on February 1, 2013 at 2:13 AM

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Do you know that Inputting checks, managing bank accounts and creating reports doesn't have to be an intimidating process?

Wow,we have entered the second month of the year 2013, and I know that so far, it has been a great and fantastic season for us. For most people in the States,this is a period of tax preparation and filings, for both individuals andorganizations.

We should know by now, that having a good bookkeeping system is essential to having a successful and smooth tax filing season. I know from experience, that some small-business owners view bookkeeping as a burdensome task that takes them away from running their business. It makes others nervous, and they may second-guess their knowledge and skills in fear of the Internal Revenue Service knocking on their door.

I want to let you know that, you don’t have to be intimidated or bored by accounting or Bookkeeping. Successful business owners don’t view bookkeeping negatively. They have adopted a few basic procedures to stay on top of the paperwork. By doing so, they save time, money and a lot of stress.

I have listed below the basic steps to gain control of your business bookkeeping tasks:

1. Use accounting software such as QuickBooks: QuickBooks is a set of software solutions, designed to manage payroll, inventory, sales and other needs of a small business. Each package is developed according to different industries and their needs.

The great thing about QuickBooks is the fact that it combines a variety of accounting processes into one user-friendly system, and this is why it is highly recommended. You have to become at least generally familiar with theQuickBooks software, this includes basic knowledge like knowing how to input checks, enter vendors and customers, reconcile bank accounts, and create reports and other data. Once, you have this in place, you can choose one of these different ways to maintain it:

Do it yourself: You can take a class on the software or alternatively, CALL ON US for a one on one training at a great rate; We can also help you to set up your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts; once this is done, you can dedicate time each week to input information and reconcile bank statements. Please note that if you fall behind on inputting transactions, it can be difficult to catch up. This is when most people throw bank statements and receipts into a box and procrastinate. If this happens, don’t worry, you can still call on us to help you sort out your data, input your transactions and prepare your reports.

Train and hire a family member to maintain the books. From a supervisory role and internal control system standpoint, it’s still critical to have a basic working knowledge of the software and procedures. We can help train your family member and also provide regular support, when needed, so that you can relax and go on with your business.

Hire a local bookkeeper to provide the services you need, and turn the books over to your certified public accountant for planning and tax preparation at the end of the year. A bookkeeper will certainly be more skilled and knowledgeable than you or a family member, and you do not have to pay as much,as you will pay a CPA to do the Job. One smart strategy is to negotiate a fixed monthly fee so you can budget for the service.

Engage your Bookkeeper to provide all bookkeeping services, and transfer your tax preparation to your CPA, by doing this, you are putting in place a great check and balance between what your Bookkeeper and CPA are doing. This will also ensure that you are getting most of your tax deductions accurately.

2. Scan your receipts, business cards and other important paperwork. Some software products import directly into QuickBooks. Utilizing this type of tool will help save time and paper, and help audit-proof your record.

3. Separate personal accounts from business accounts. Don’t mix the two.Keeping personal and business bank accounts and credit cards separate will make bookkeeping much easier and help maintain your corporate veil if you have a formal entity.

4. Avoid cash.Instead, use your debit or credit card religiously. When you use cash you lose track of potential write-offs. If you have to pull money out of an ATM, note on the receipt the purpose of the withdrawal.

5. Go paperless.Storing tax documents for at least six years can be a hassle. Another option is to purchase a small fireproof safe to store important personal documents(passport, life insurance, etc.) along with a regular backup of your bookkeepingsoftware and tax returns saved on a flash drive. For extra data protection,consider off-site physical storage or online data storage for these records and scanned files.

6. Auto-track your mileage. Keeping a written record of all your business, charitable and medical auto mileage can be a pain. Look into a satellite-assisted service, phone application, or software program.

7. Meet with your CPA at least twice annually. Review your business plans, financials, tax deposit amounts, payroll procedures and tax strategies.The cost of taxes is too high to leave your plans to chance. Just a few minutes on a regular basis can save thousands of dollars. Also, remember that your CPA should be bringing you strategies and ideas in these meetings. If the meeting consists of you throwing out ideas and your CPA shooting them down, you have the wrong CPA. Find a planner who is reaching out to you with ideas and strategies on a regular basis.

We are available to help you out with your QuickBooks Bookkeeping Services and training,and we also offer other accounting/Bookkeeping services at great rates too. Why don’t you give us a call today and see how we can save you and your business tons of money.

Email us for more details on [email protected] ,we would love to hear from you.

Build up your Personal Balance Sheet

Posted on January 16, 2013 at 12:00 AM

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Build up your Personal Balance Sheet

Do you know that everyone has a personal Balance Sheet? Just a reminder,A Balance Sheet is a financial "snapshot" of a Business at any given point in time.It shows your assets and liabilities and tells you your business networth.
It is a rule that every Businesss has a Balance Sheet,so also should every individual have a personal Balance Sheet,Our Personal Balance Sheet is defined as our ability to make a difference wherever we are,and this difference creates a value for our personal life. As we gain abilities,our personal Balance Sheet improves and ultimately helps us to reach our goals.

For instance,when we find ourselves in a situation,we ought to assess it and jump into it, to make something happen,whether we get credit or not;our Personal Balance Sheet goes up and will make us much more valuable,this indicates that whenever we approach any situation,we should rather consider it as an opportunity for personal growth,and watch our personal balance sheet improve.

Finally,as we build our personal abilities to make a difference,we will be rewarded,just as a business balance Sheet shows the value of a business.

My Dear Friends,this is the first month of a new year,it is not too late to go out and make a difference in the world and watch your personal value grow.You will greatly be rewarded for this.

END OF YEAR ORGANIZATIONAL TIPS.

Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:33 PM

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REVISIT YOUR GOALS: New Year’s resolutions are nice but what’s wrong with getting a jump start on them? If you are self-employed, take a look at the specifics of your business aspirations. If you work for someone else, revisit the objectives of your position and find places for improvement. Weed out outdated responsibilities and add in any new ones. Decide where you want to be in six months, a year and two years, then brainstorm specific ways to attain those goals.

While you are at it, look ahead in your calendar and pick a date every three months (or less) to go through this process. Having affairs in order makes everything in your work life more streamlined and easy to manage. Take the time to get a jumpstart on organization before the rush of the holiday season.

This coming year,2013,it will do you good to think about your how you want your life to be,set your own agenda and learn how to make your life better.

Think about what floats your boat, then take ACTION to make your dreams a reality.

My dear, you will be glad,you did.

HERES WISHING YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A PROSPEROUS 2013.

Blog

Getting Ready for Year End Accounting.

5 Strategies Of Turning your Profits into "Cash"

Bookkeeping Tips to Save Time and Money.

Build up your Personal Balance Sheet

END OF YEAR ORGANIZATIONAL TIPS.

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