Accounting

Author : Miles CouchmanWorking in the present economic environment is very difficult for most companies which is why a good accountant is always a very valuable asset to have and in the present economic climate it is even more important

As well as the normal issues that businesses have to deal with including cash flow, new proposals and relationships with banks, companies have now to deal with a down turn in business This can be very difficult and it is something that most businesses have not dealt with over the last 15 years For most companies new issues are arising for example dealing with the revenue, late tax payments and debt collection These new activities can distract the business from what it should be focusing on which is dealing with a downturn in business

A good accountant will take away a lot of the pain associated with dealing with the revenue Also a good accountant would give you advice on how you should tackle the downturn within your own company Answering questions like how am I going to handle the redundancies, what new skill sets should I train for, how to relocate staff and many more questions like these

Accountants themselves have to change to adapt to the new economic environment This is really important so that they can hold onto their clients and also gain new ones As word of mouth is the best way to advertise your business, word would really spread rapidly about you if you are the accountant that will deal with revenue in an efficient manner to enable a company to focus on the day-to-day running of their business

Providing this service for companies is new to accountants as over the last 15 years they have been dealing with issues like how to grow your business, what staff to hire and how to restructure in times of growth Also dealing with issues like what to do with surplus cash, do I put into a pension fund, do I invest in property? These are no longer the burning issues that companies have to deal with Accountants need to be proactive and need to meet problems head-on and also need to be available to talk to their clients

In a lot of cases accountants will be blamed for the poor performance of past investments based on their advice given to clients Accountants will have to work with their clients on a go forward basis no matter what the performance of previous investments Accountants who work with clients even when tensions are high have a better chance of maintaining their current client base For the customer, changing one’s accountant is a huge decision and not one that’s taken lightly This means that the accountant has every opportunity to hold on to their clients even in difficult times like this

In 2009 most businesses are facing into a downturn Because of this most businesses are facing a shortfall in their cash projections and are running into trouble meeting all their obligations Because the situation is so dire, revenue will work with businesses to try to come to a resolution that would keep both sides happy Accountants have a key role to play in this relationship Naz Daud - CityLocal Dublin North
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Author : Mark W.The restaurant business is one with limited profit margins; in the tough financial scenario today, it has become imperative to manage the accounting and bookkeeping of a restaurant business efficiently The smallest mistake in the financials of a restaurant can force even an expert restaurateur to quit the business If you check out business brokers in your area, you will come to know that the highest businesses for sale are in the restaurant industry In such a situation, experts in the field suggest in-house cost-cutting measures like hiring an accounting and bookkeeping service provider for taking care of the books of your restaurant business A majority of restaurants fail due to the inadequate financial knowledge of the restaurateurs and due to the fact that many of them deal in cash and in the end lose out on the record keeping for their business If you do not want your restaurant business to fail, it is of utmost importance that your books of accounts be healthy While it is true that restaurateurs have very little resources to hire a professional accounting and bookkeeping service provider for their business, the ‘I will manage it myself’ approach can be fatal for the business

As a restaurant business owner, the following are some points you need to keep in mind when it comes to accounting and bookkeeping for your business:

- Attain basic knowledge

The most visible mistake of the restaurant industry is that the owners have very little knowledge about accounting and bookkeeping While it is not necessary to know the whole process in depth, restaurateurs should at least be aware of some basics like Profit and Loss Statements, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows etc You can leave the rest of the financial details to your accounting and bookkeeping service provider, but these basic statements are a must-know for you as an owner

- Have a proper accounting system in place

As an owner, you will be unaware of the financials of your restaurant business if you don’t have a well-organized accounting system in place Softwares like QuickBooks, Great Plains, Peach Tree, MYOB etc are a great tool for your day to day accounting and bookkeeping If you can’t find a software that is suitable for your business, you can even get a custom-made one developed for you through an accounting and bookkeeping service provider

- Have a 4-week accounting period

A 4-week accounting period is recommended for restaurants by accounting and bookkeeping firms, due to the fact that it has many advantages for the business The numbers compiled for 4 weeks are then comparable for performance and earnings to ,say, the last month or the same week last year Also, in a system when you pay staff bi-weekly, it may eliminate the need for payroll accrual

- Record all your business transactions

If you can’t do this yourself, hire an accounting and bookkeeping service provider specializing in restaurants But recording ALL transactions of your restaurant is a must-do for a successful restaurant (It is the secret to the success of many restaurant franchises today ) Don’t depend on your bank statement or credit card bills for a list of income and expenses All transactions must be kept in a record which will be useful at the end of the year

- Hire a professional accounting and bookkeeping service provider

There are many professional accounting firms which can work as back-office service providers Many of them even specialize in accounting for the restaurant industry They charge anywhere between $15-40 an hour and can be an easy alternative to hiring someone in house

As a restaurant owner, you should take the above-mentioned points into consideration for a healthy business in this time of financial crisis A professional accounting and bookkeeping service provider will help you to not only ride through the recession, but also ensure the sustenance of your business in the longer run
Analytix Solutions is a one-stop back office service provider for accounting and bookkeeping services. With expert professionals like accountants, bookkeepers and CPAs and up to 40% reduction in costs compared to in-house hiring, Analytix Solutions provides a distinct advantage to small and mid-sized businesses.


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Author : Victor IvlichevMaking a software or Web-based product for the financial sector? Today’s standards in GUI design demand the use of matching, easily recognizable icons even in database-style financial applications

Ordering icons from a dedicated design studio or hiring a designer to make them in-house can give you fine icons, but associated costs and possible delays limit the effectiveness of this method Purchasing royalty-free images from the Web might be a better idea if you are on a budget and/or have a deadline Ready-made graphics is handily available for immediate purchase, allowing you to save significant investments due to the usually low costs of icons Before ordering, you can always preview what you are getting, and have an option to choose among multiple offerings

The collection of Accounting Toolbar Icons by Perfect Icon http://www perfecticon com/ contains over 130 financial icons tailored to applications and Web-based products for bookkeepers, accountants and financial specialists Offered as a matching set, Accounting Toolbar Icons are ideal for making professional, slick looks throughout the entire product

The collection of royalty-free financial icons contains over 130 downloadable icons such as the Dollar icon, Money icons, and images representing a variety of financial objects and symbols There are images for Accounting and Bookkeeping, several images representing the world’s currencies such as Dollar icon, Pound icon, Euro and Yen icons Financial icons include Money Turnover, Money Transfer, Currency Conversion, Loan, Capital Gain, Insurance, and many other symbols for the financial sector There are icons for Report and Book, Folder Index and Documents, Folder and Schedule among many others

Technically, Accounting Toolbar Icons are available in a wide variety of sizes, and include 16×16, 20×20, 24×24, 32×32, and 48×48 pixel images The library of financial icons contains icons with all color depths, including True Color and 8-bit variants Three different styles are supplied with every order: normal, disabled, and highlighted File formats include Windows Icon (ICO), Bitmap (BMP), GIF, and PNG for simple integration with Windows software and Web sites

It costs nothing to have a look at the royalty-free collection of financial icons Have a free look at http://www perfecticon com/stock-icons/accounting-toolbar-icons htmSince Aha-Soft’s founding in 2000 and as of 2007, Victor Ivlichev develops image processing software for Windows. He works for quality products, which will help to other computer users.

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Author : Tracy PridemoreOne of the biggest objections I hear about accounts receivable factoring is that it is much more expensive than bank loans When I hear this complaint, my initial response is to tell them that if a bank loan provides an adequate amount of working capital for their needs, they should go that route But if the bank rejects their application for financing, they should keep an open mind about invoice factoring

There are several reasons why comparing factoring to bank loans is like comparing apples to oranges:

First, factoring is not a loan You are not borrowing money Rather, you are selling a non-productive asset for a discount for immediate cash Because of that, it is hard to compare a factoring discount of fee to bank interest rates

Second, setting up an invoice factoring relationship is a simple and fast process Funding can occur as fast as one week from the time the application is received Compare that to the typically long and often difficult process of getting a bank loan Even in the best of times, you must provide the bank with a lot of historical information, answer a lot of questions, and wait a long time to get approved by a loan committee With the current chaos in the credit markets, the requirements are even more strict and difficult Factoring offers immediate cash flow after the relationship has been established, with funds wired into your bank account within 24 hours of receiving your invoices

Third, many factoring companies offer additional services that banks don’t provide For example, if you wish to add a new customer’s invoices, the factoring company will provide credit screening free of charge Collections can be done by staff members of the factoring company in a professional and courteous manner, which tends to lessen bad debt Timely reports are provided on an ongoing basis, which helps the client keep an close watch on their outstanding receivables

Fourth, Bank loans most always require personal guarantees from the business owners and they must often pledge other collateral Factoring companies only require a first position on the business-to-business accounts receivable No personal guarantees are required and no other assets need to be pledged This arrangement not only gives the client the working capital it needs The amount that can be factored is limited only by the pool of accounts receivable

Fifth, start-up companies have a very difficult time getting financing in this era of tight credit Not so with factoring As long as you are selling to credit-worthy customers, a start up company should qualify for invoice factoring

In summary, the business that has been turned down for traditional financing should not get hung up on the cost of factoring On the contrary, they should be more concerned with the cost of not using this alternative form of financing In other words, they should look at the opportunity cost

Let’s say you’ve got a potential new customer that is ready to place orders with you, but you don’t have the working capital on hand to produce the products they need If you could use factoring to provide the cash flow necessary to pay the labor, buy the materials, and incur the overhead, would your business come out ahead? Using incremental profit analysis is something I strongly encourage business owners to do in order to determine if invoice factoring is good fit for their company Ozarks Capital Funding provides working capital to businesses that are growing or struggling with cash flow.
Would you like free invoice factoring quote? Visit our site or call us at (417) 849-7394

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Author : Wayne MessickSuccessful farm accountants wholeheartedly embrace farm accounting software because it makes them and their clients more effective When someone, the farmer, the accountant, or their bookkeepers input the correct information correctly into the farm accounting software - something a cave man can be trained to do, the output is accurate and provides the farm accountant with the information they need to do their most important job

Filing taxes, creating P&L statements, doing the work up for audited balance sheets and all the compliance work farm accountants do - well those are tasks Their job is to provide their clients with insights, strategies, and support from their perspective as both an accountant and as a confidant

A typical farm accountant keeps track of the money, files the various reports with the various agencies and entities the farmer is involved with A typical farm accountant spends a large percentage of their time in compliance - defense and putting out fires

Successful farm accountants, the type of advisor every successful farmer should be looking for uses compliance as it was intended, to report on what has happened - and they use farm accounting software to reduce the amount of time it takes, while remaining as accurate as it is possible to be

Successful farm accountants focus their efforts on the offence - doing the planning, directly or indirectly, in advance that will make the next round of reporting more favorable than the last and the next even more so and so on and so on

A successful farm accountant is above all an advocate and advisor to their clients They know, for example that when two or more brothers/cousins etc work together - that there will be issues

Invariably those issues involve money And since one brother can’t pick up and leave - taking his land with him, and move to the other end of the county and start over, the successful accountant will help them discuss creative ways to handle the money issues so the whole farm doesn’t sink because of a conflict about dollars The accountant is ever vigilant, on the look out for any hanky panky with the farm’s property and resources too

Whether estate taxes, federal and/or state inheritance taxes etc are part of the equation or not - cash is still going to be required when one of the principles of the farm dies There must be enough money, without bankrupting the farm, to buy out the heirs of a deceased partner so the farm can go on and so their family gets a fair return for their life’s work

Successful farm accountants will recognize when it is necessary to reorganize the farm in order to shift some of the farm’s growing value to the next generation before the farm gets too big for one or the other partner to buy

And the successful farm accountant has contacts they trust - so the farmer can trust them too, who have extensive experience in matters of estate planning, succession strategies, management transfer etc And it is their job to insist that the farmer talks to these specialists!

Every farmer, even if he or she does plans to live forever, must have an exit strategy Successful farm accountants are key advisors who help the farmer understand how much money they will need to live on, how many dollars from the gross revenues of the farm that will take, and where will the money come from They can help the farmer select assets that can be liquidated today - with some of the proceeds set aside for retirement and the rest used to replace the land (for example) that was sold

Successful farm accountants know the importance of making decisions regarding money, sooner rather than later - so less interest is paid and the farmer has longer to benefit from compound interest!

These are but of few examples of ways successful farm accountants spend their time for the benefit of their clients Whenever they can harness the power of farm accounting software to crunch the numbers, giving them accurate information sooner, rather than later - they will jump at it

If your farm accountant says that they “don’t believe in farm accounting software” or something silly like that - you need to find a new one This person is not ever going to be a successful farm accountant for you For them, maybe, since they are padding their bill - but for you, I don’t think so If you want to be successful, put together a team of professionals to help you. Typically, management of the progress of the team falls to the farm accountants you have on board. They understand that the valuable insights of their
farm accountants can help them focus on what is important to them, their family, and the business - for years to come.

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Author : Wayne MessickFor small businesses the roles of their business accountants depend, more often than not, on the size of their company In the case of a very small company, the small business accountant may handle everything: payroll, internal auditing, taxes, keeping the books up to date, etc In the case of a larger company these important tasks and functions will be broken down between groups of internal personnel or handled through outside small business accountants and their firms

Some examples of internal accounting related functions would be the internal auditors who are responsible for monitoring and record keeping of cash in-flow and expenses in a company Needless to say this is for companies that are probably much larger than yours The good news is that small business accountants often have colleagues or contemporaries - people they know and trust, that they will recommend on a project by project basis

Either internally or externally - perhaps a referral from your small business accountant, someone can be found who would be responsible to make sure that money was being appropriately used and all monies were accounted for This may be an experienced bookkeeper on your payroll, a bookkeeping service, or an outside small business accountant who works through your accountant

Tax accountants, a specialty unto themselves - would be responsible for compliance matters such as the filing of your taxes In addition they should be knowledgeable regarding all the legal ramifications, strategies, record keeping, etc that go along with it Again, this is someone you can hire as a permanent part of your operation - although it may more effective to engage their services at the recommendation of your small business accountant

Small business accountants who are involved in payroll related areas would, in addition to oversight of all things related to payroll tax management, withholding, and reporting This is usually handled through bookkeeping or payroll specialists who are not necessarily accountants, however it is up to your small business accountant to be on top of their work

Your small business accountants know your business, understand financial management and are up to date on ways to maximize profits Their involvement in your business provides you with every opportunity to make every dollar coming in to the business as valuable as it possibly can be

While it takes some effort on your part to make a relationship with your business accountant pay off consistently for your business, the investment of time and money can reward you in many many ways

When it comes to engaging the services of any professional, not just small business accountants - you have 100% of the power to define the relationship and if it is not working for you, to discontinue it

You can and should make them accountable to you for the actions they take on your behalf You certainly should give them as much authority and responsibility as they earn, based on their continuing track record

But remember, small business accountants do not have to write the check That’s your responsibility If you want to be successful, put together a team of professionals to help you. Typically, management of the progress of the team falls to the business accountants you have on board. They understand that the valuable insights of their
small business accountants can help them focus on what is important to them, their family, and the business - for years to come.

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