Retail Accounting - The Significance and Benefits By Alvis Brazma

Whatever kind of mercantile activity be there, it needs the basic knowledge of retail accounting. Retail market is one of the busiest place and buzzing whole day long with financial and marketing transactions taking place rigorously. It is practically impossible to keep track of all the product inventories, retail accounting, and other business transactions happening rapidly. Professionals handling the accounting should be efficient enough to keep the record and monitor the transactions on day to day basis without any interruption and errors.There is a constant flow of cash in the retail accounting system and it becomes mandatory to keep the record of credits and debits diligently so that accounting department performs efficiently. Retail shops have consistent monetary transactions taking place every minute and it is really difficult to manage all the accounts of different dealers at the same time. So, to combat the work flow in retail accounting expert accountants and finance professionals are required. But, in such expensive times it's not an easy job to hire and maintain large work force. Business organizations and retailers in USA have found retail accounting outsourcing as the best alternative to this problem.Even a slight mistake in accounting can lead to the disastrous results in the accounting statements and may lead to the fall of market image with a stroke. Entries should be made meticulously with acute calculations so that tallying the data may not take longer time. Outsourcing companies have retail accounting software and sets of expert professionals who work day and night in shifts to manage and regulate the accounting services for your companies. Mostly third world countries are involved in outsourcing business due to cheap availability of labor in comparison to USA.Since, competition is too high in the market so all the retail accounting outsourcing companies are tight fisted to play the game at their best. The accurate accountancy is the backbone of retail market and this is where various outsourcing companies are forging their standards by employing large work force and accounting software to produce best results.Error in the calculation of even a single penny may lead to difficult situation so professional accountants are trained to meet such strict requirements. The reasons for the increase in tendency of hiring services for accountancy among the retail shoppers are sensitivity and complexity involved in the job of accounting.Accurate accounting system in any organization definitely becomes the growth factor. The shop keepers need the services for accounting and record monitoring even if the business is running on small scale. Products buying and selling is routine activity happening every hour and recording its details is a very complex system in itself.Retail accounting experts are capable and experienced enough to keep sharp look at all the records and account maintenance with the years of expertise supporting them. Credit book, inventory, defaulter book, monthly profit and loss records with sales book require extra attention, which retail accounting experts handle efficiently and complete the reports with complete error free data.Alvis Brazma gives advice to business owners about how to manage their business efficiently without any hassles.To know more about Accounting help, accounting outsourcing, retail accounting and small business accounting firm visit http://www.impacctusa.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alvis_Brazma

How to Hire a Bookkeeper With Staying Power By Terry Santore

As a small business owner, using correct financial data is vital to your growth. All good decisions should be measured by analyzing the financial pieces of the puzzle along with projections of future revenue.Have you come to one of these two circumstances below?1. You work hard on your business and it is starting to prosper, but you realize you are spending too much time in administration areas. You want to use leverage to buy back your time so you can work on high level projects.2. You realize you are really good at what you do, love doing it, but it seems that running a business is a combination of lots of jobs, and you don't fully understand the financial aspects, or like that part of doing business.It's time to hire a bookkeeper!Here are the ten most important areas in picking the correct bookkeeper. This is not just someone who will 'do the books". It is also someone you can trust with your full financial history and who you must create a working relationship with. A good bookkeeper can save you much more than you spend on their services.1. A bookkeeper should have a minimum of a two year degree in Management, Finance, Accounting or Business Administration. Their choice to get this degree tells you they are serious about their future and they know education is key to personal growth. Further certifications show they have made a decision to offer their clients the very best opportunity for success.2. A bookkeeper with well rounded experience is a must. You are not looking for just a 'payroll clerk' or 'accounts payable' activity. Background in various corporate finance departments and private business helps refine their decision making process and gives them an edge you will find helpful later.3. What computer skills do they have? Are they current and skillful in the areas necessary to offer a full range of services areas like Excel sheets, or a financial Power Point slide? What level of technology does their office use? Are they certified in the financial software used? Do they back up client files to an off-site service? Does their office keep abreast of the latest details in their chosen field and the current business tools available?4. Being detail oriented, and organized is a must. If they show up at the first consultation with color coordinated folder, business cards, letterhead, etc. you know you have hit the jackpot! Great bookkeepers love the challenge of taking a mess and cleaning up all the pieces to make a perfect financial file.5. Communication skills must be at their highest level. Can they speak well, and formulate precise answers on the fly? Would they be a good representative of your business to a client? Will they be able to articulate financial information clearly? Do they listen attentively?6. Testimonials and referrals are very important. Ask to see both. Can they supply you with a list of current clients they work with in a similar capacity?7. What professional associations are they a member of? Do they have listed profiles that you can read on the association website? What do their peers say about them? What is in their social networking profiles?8. Will they have the type of availability you feel is necessary to do the job completely? How is their work week structured? What would happen if you need to reach them on a weekend to answer a question?9. Do they appear professional and polished? Do they dress appropriately? Does their outreach areas such as website or blog look well thought out and distinct? Will you be proud to say they are your outsourced partner?10. Finally, confidentiality is extremely important. Soon you must divulge the most secret details of your business. This person will know everything there is to know! This is difficult at first, but in the long run, can you work with them on that level? Do they understand the importance of this area by bringing this subject up at least once in their first consultation?Terry Santore is a Certified Public Bookkeeper and QuickBooks ProAdvisor certified by Intuit. You can learn more about her at http://www.QuicksilverBusinessSolutions.com or go to her blog at http://www.bitsofsilver.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terry_Santore

Discover How to Avoid Late Payments By Michelle L Kirkbride

Certain businesses decide to outsource their credit control in order to avoid late payments. Other options include factoring, advance payments, retention of title and credit insurance. Colin Thomas of the firm, Graydon UK Limited, explains some of the benefits of outsourcing: "There are a range of ways in which third party outsourcers are being used. If you have limited resources, you can bring in an outsourcing company that can provide some immediate level of expertise. Future growth always depends on cash flow. Outsourcers can cover the entire order-to-cash cycle. You can choose whether your outsource partner operates in your name or in their own name. In the cash collections field you may prefer they operate in your name at the receivables stage and then in their own name for accounts that become overdue."FactoringMany businesses opt for factoring because of their cash flow problems. Invoice discounting and factoring offer businesses finance against any outstanding debtor balances. The second option involves a factor who will assume complete responsibility for operating a collection service and for managing your sales ledger. Although finance is also provided against invoices if you choose invoice discounting, you will be responsible for managing the sales ledger. Another difference is the fact that customers will not normally be aware of the service.If you run a business, you can choose between non-recourse factoring which offers protection from bad debts or recourse factoring which does not. If one of your credit-approved customers does not pay a debt, the factor can credit your business for the outstanding amount.Credit InsuranceIf you choose a credit insurer such as Euler Trade Indemnity, you will be protected against bad debts. You can contact insurance companies in the UK via the Association of British Insurers.Retention of TitleYou can't really consider any sale complete until it has been completely paid. In many instances you can practice retention of title. This means you will retain ownership of the purchased goods until they have been completely paid for. However, this method will not work if you supply an architectural or cleaning service for example. Retention of title is also not a viable choice if your business includes supplying goods that are later turned into something else such as flour in a bakery.You have to remember that credit is a privilege, rather than a right. As a business owner, you have the right to request complete or partial payment in advance. This is particularly important if a customer is placing a large order that may extend your financial resources or a customer has a poor credit history. Another option is to reduce the credit terms from 30 days to one week.Every year, the Federation of Small Businesses publishes league tables containing the payment records of various companies. Credit reference agencies can also provide you with information regarding recent payment trends. You should take the advice of the credit information group, Experian: "Make sure you have an idea of when you will get paid regardless of what you agree. A Payment Performance report will indicate the experience of other suppliers who have supplied a company. You can vary your terms on the basis of that or vary your price."You can also pay to obtain valuable information from official sources such as the Insolvency Service or the Registry Trust which is included in credit reports. Watch for red flags such as prior insolvencies involving directors or county court judgments. Basic information that is contained in a credit report is also available from Companies House at companieshouse.gov.uk. Other important contacts include the following:Better Payment Practice Group - payontime.co.ukThe Factors and Discounters Association - factors.org.ukThe Federation of Small Businesses - fsb.org.ukThe Institute of Credit Management - icm.org.ukIf you practice proper credit management, you will experience far fewer problems with your business. Establish solid procedures and solicit valuable information from reputable sources. Doing so in the beginning will save you a lot of time, money and hassle in the future.Online business is growing rapidly but there is still such a large number of businesses missing out on this opportunity. Kaplang is a unique design firm that provides quality services for web design, web development, search engine optimization and all other web solutions. Make sure your business stands out from the crowd when adding an online presence to your new or existing business. http://www.kaplang.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_L_Kirkbride

Do Your Management Accounts Take Weeks, Days, Hours, Minutes, or Seconds to Prepare? By

Using only Microsoft Excel and pretty much any accounting package on the market, I have rarely found a company that could not be set up to complete their management accounts preparation (from trial balance) in seconds. However, almost every company I come across is taking hours, if not days or weeks - every month - to do this job. In addition, when the process is automated, very often they discover errors in the accounts prepared under their previous laborious method. Below I will give some simple tips to achieve this in your business. The rewards are huge, as the focus switches from grinding out the numbers to understanding and interpreting them, thereby adding real value to the business.Key to achieving this is understanding that once you can produce a trial balance from your accounting package, the rest of the preparation can (and should) then be automated. You have all the numbers - you are doing the same things with them every month. This is what spreadsheets are for - automating the analysis and presentation of numbers.The instructions below are intended to provide someone with a good working knowledge of Excel with enough information to complete the setup, alternatively please contact me if you would like to discuss getting some help (it rarely involves more than two or three days consultancy to set it all up from scratch).Importing the trial balanceFirst of all you will need to pull the trial balance into Excel. Having done this once it can be refreshed (with one click) every month and/or every time you make a change to the data in the accounts package as a result of errors spotted when you see the information in its final format. Every modern accounts package I am aware of has odbc links into the data. Excel can import data from the tables in the accounts package into Excel using Microsoft Query (this comes on the Excel disk and you may already have it installed - if not, you will be prompted to put the disk in when you try to "Import External Data".Cross-reference tableOnce you have the trial balance in Excel you need to populate your management accounts with this data. I know many companies that have imported the trial balance and then tried to automate this step directly and got into difficulties when there are changes to the trial balance, such as new or deleted accounts codes. The key to doing this is to introduce a step in between that is a lookup table between your nominal ledger codes and the final management accounts. Give each line in your final management accounts layout a code and then copy your nominal ledger codes (from the imported trial balance) onto a separate worksheet in the same spreadsheet. You then need to put the management accounts code that you want the nominal ledger code to appear in next to each nominal ledger code in this list. You can then use a look-up formula to pull the correct management accounts code alongside each row in the trial balance.Analysing the dataOnce this step is complete, you can use a Pivot Table to analyse the trial balance by management accounts code rather than by nominal ledger code. This Pivot Table will contain all of the numbers that will go in your final accounts. If there are any new nominal ledger codes, there will be a line in the pivot table with a management accounts code of #NA, as the nominal ledger code will not be found in the lookup table and therefore the lookup formula will have returned this error for the lines containing the new codes. Simply double-click on the total of #NA to get a list of the new codes. These can then be pasted to the bottom of the cross-reference table and given a management accounts code. One simple click to refresh the Pivot Table and these codes are distributed into their rightful homes.PresentationIf you already use Excel to present your management accounts then you can copy the existing layout into this spreadsheet (on a separate sheet). You will need to insert a column to the left of the management accounts to enter the management accounts code for each line. You can then use the GETPIVOTDATA formula to look up the financial value for each code and pull it into the accounts. Typically you can copy the same formula for each line. I also tend to insert a second column to the left of the accounts which I use to enter a 1 or -1 against each code. The result can then be multiplied by this column to allow you to use the same formula even when you want to reverse the sign (for sales and cost of sales for example).Two clicksEvery month you can now complete the management accounts (from trial balance) in two clicks - one to refresh the data from the accounts package, one to refresh the pivot table. This also allows you to view the final layout very early in the process so that you can use this to review for accruals and prepayments, etc., make your changes and then refresh again.I hope this has given you some ideas on how to free you and your team from crunching numbers to enable you to provide valuable financial insights to the rest of the board.Glen Feechan is Chief Executive of Feechan Consulting Ltd (http://www.feechan.co.uk) and FC Procurement Ltd, business consultancies specialising in business improvement and cost savings. Email Glen at glen@feechan.co.uk.Glen is also the editor of (and regular contributor to) the Not Just Numbers ezine (sign up at http://www.notjustnumbers.co.uk)Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Glen_Feechan

Accounting - How Accounting Services Can Help Small Businesses By Cheow Yu Yuan

For small businesses owners, accounting work is usually the last thing that they will want to get their hands on. This is because they feel that majority of the time and effort should be spent on sales and operations rather than on accounting. However, accounting is a very important part of any business and troubles will arise if any business falls short of the adequate accounting procedures needed when submitting for tax returns and other matters related to taxes.Therefore, the next best thing is to outsource your accounting tasks to a professional firm to handle. When it comes to accounting services, there are basically three main tasks which are as followed:1. Business forms generation. One important aspect of accounting services is to generate professional business forms such as invoices, receipts, checks, tax returns and monthly revenue and expenses statement. All these forms are needed to track the performance of a company. When submitting your tax returns to government, these forms are important documents that cannot be missing.2. Tracking of company revenue and expenses. Another main task of an accounting firm is to track and analyze the revenue and expenses of your company. Professional accounting service will also include cash flow forecasts and planning to make sure that your business can operate smoothly without any cash flow problem. When this is not done properly, a business will run into serious problem due to disruptions in cash flow management. An accounting service firm will also make sure that all revenue and expenses are accurately tracked and recorded. This information is needed when filing for tax returns. They will give you advice on which expenses to cut so that your cash flow will be healthy.3. Recording of assets and liabilities. For any business, it is extremely important to track account receivables, debts and inventory. One of the problems that many small businesses will face is that they are sometimes too busy on expanding their businesses, making it hard to keep their records updated with their current situations. This is when an experienced accounting service provider or software will come in handy. If you intend to buy accounting software for your staff to handle your accounting operation, make sure that you do the necessary research or consult your CPA first. As there are a lot of different accounting software in the market, it is important for you to find out which software will be more suitable for your business operation.When looking for accounting services, you should take your time to shortlist a few firms. Some firms offer both accounting service and software which will greatly aid your business.To seek professional accounting software, visit the website below now:Click Here --> Accounting Software at http://www.361dc.comFeel free to publish this article on your website, or send it to your friends, as long as you keep the resource box and the content of the article intact.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheow_Yu_Yuan

How to Improve Account Receivables Collection? By Cheow Yu Yuan

One of the problems that many small businesses will face is that they sometimes find it hard to collect account receivables and overdue invoices payment. By failure to do so, small businesses will run into cash flow problem which will affect their operations. Therefore, it is important for you to establish formal credit policies and terms that enforce prompt payment in a diplomatic but firm manner to your clients.Now, let me share with you 6 tips to improve account receivables collection process:1. Ask for deposits whenever possible. For large sales orders, it is safer for you to ask for deposits first. Deposits should be non-refundable. This is to ensure that your clients are committed to the sales and alleviate any cash flow shortage on your side.2. Allow credit card payment. By accepting credit cards payment, you can reduce overdue payment risk for your business. This method of payment also makes it convenient for your clients to make payment which will result in prompt receivables collection. If your clients are not comfortable to pay the full amount ahead of time before any work is done, they can hold on the amount of the sale against their cards and only pay in full when the service or product is deliver.3. Allow both cash payments and invoices. By accepting cash, there is no credit risk involved. You can optimize the amount of cash receivable as a percentage of the total sale amount, to the highest amount possible for your industry.4. Establish progress payment in stages. If you provide a service over a long period of time, you can include specific stages in your sale contract for your clients to make payment. For example, you can ask for a 30% non-refundable deposit to start off a project, another 30% of the total sale amount 1 month later, and the rest of the 40% at the completion of the project. You should always base the amount of deposit on the profit of the sale order.5. Develop a standard procedure for overdue invoices. You should develop a formal and written standard collection procedure when contacting your clients for overdue payment. Your approach should always be courteous but firm at the same time. Usually, the first call is a courtesy reminder, which will follow by another reminder 2 weeks later to inform them that their credit is in danger. If there is still no payment being made after 30 days, you can consider taking legal action against them.6. Always be polite when indicating an overdue invoice. You should avoid dunning letters and notices in the early stage of the collection so as not to irritate those responsible clients who may really have valid reasons for slow payment. It is better for you to call your clients and ask if the invoice has been misplaced or whatsoever. Most of the times, slow payment problems are resolved in this manner.To seek professional accounting software, visit the website below now:Click Here --> Accounting Software at http://www.361dc.comFeel free to publish this article on your website, or send it to your friends, as long as you keep the resource box and the content of the article intact.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheow_Yu_Yuan

Accounting Outsourcing - Easy to Maintain Your Accounting Records By Michelle Barkley

Is your accounts department not delivering the desired output? Or you have plans to expand your business? Well then try for accounting services... Most of you would have heard about it but still would be unsure, what it is all about? Some might have plans to hire a company delivering competent accounting services but don't know how this service could be beneficial to you?Well, it is not easy to get skilled and trained manpower. And when deadlines are hovering around you and there is lot other work left then there is the need of expert. So to get the task done by reliable professionals, it is necessary to hire them. Recruiting a team of professionals can be quite expensive, so to cut down the cost you can hire a company for doing the business of accounting outsourcing... For their services they charge comparatively low amount. Once the task comes in their hand, they keep track of all the accounts related issue and help in giving complete financial solutions. Some of the features of good financial accounting outsourcing services are:* If you have plans to expand your services then with the help of this service you can easily concentrate on other important things for your business. * Further, now you no need to worry to keep a track of all employees and records. * For the complicated data now you don't have to spend much time. With the help of accounting outsourcing one automatically and quickly get accurate reports. The process is much faster as the work is done by the professionals. * As the accounting process is done timely and efficiently, you can make quick decision.Depending on the size of business, the accounting outsourcing service providers give customizable solutions. For example, for small and medium size units they may include features like:* Comprehensive details account receipts and payments * Well planned budget process * Cash flow statement * Provide techniques on cash management * Full proof data security * Financial reporting statements * List of inventory reconciliation * Payroll administrationAfter seeing the various benefits and features you would be thinking what if "I have a big business"? Not to worry at all. These days there are number of firms offering competent accounting outsourcing services regardless of the size, status and nature. They ensure that your business is not at all affected and runs smoothly without any hassle. Their services would increase and would not be restricted to payroll tax, accruals, verification of accounting data, etc. It would sound to be a great option to all. But starters would be thinking what if I need help?Here you go... for them various accounting outsourcing firms, provide guidance on accounting protocol and according to ones requirement render prompt solutions. This includes developing complete financial accounting software as well.Seeing the growth in the industry and increasing demand for accounting outsourcing, there are new companies and service providers coming up in the global market. Some of the countries, where one can easily find an accounting outsourcing provider include developing countries like India.Michelle Barkley is a CPA who advises people on tax preparation and tax calculation. She specializes in Bookkeeping outsourcing, accounting outsourcing, back office outsourcing. To know more about Accounting outsourcing Service visit http://www.ifrworld.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Barkley

Accrual Accounting Or Cash Accounting - Which Method is Best For Your Business? By Richard T. Tyler

Business accounting usually falls under one of two categories, accrual or cash. A business has to choose which one is the most suitable for them, but both methods have their merits. This article will highlight the pros and cons of both methods so you can make an informed decision.Some people love the cash method of accounting. This method is based on when the money is transacted. For example if my business sells $10,000 worth of goods in December, but if the money is received in January, then it is recorded on the books for January of the following year.�The advantage of using cash accounting is that it can help you record the high and low points. For example it can help you realise when customers are late with payments, or customers who change their mind. These transactions are shown in the books when the money comes in, so you can tell how your business is doing financially and up to date.�The disadvantage is that the cash method shows you how and when your business are making money, however not how much business you're doing per month. For example you could get a large order in December, so you have to fork out a lot of cash for this order. However your books might show you getting paid January, even though the deal was done in Dec, the books show a better month in Jan than Dec.�Now the accrual method of accounting involves deal dates rather than actual funds. .�If I sell my merchandise, my books will reflect the sale as the day the goods leave the warehouse. Also if I buy a new piece of machinery for my business, the amount spent is deducted from my books on the day the machine arrives. Even though I might not pay for the machine, the transaction is considered complete in my books.Using this method of accounting is like forecasting how your business is doing. This method is great for companies who wish to use their accounting books to budget for expenses and outgoings. However the disadvantage to using this method is that it will give you a skewed image of how your business is actually doling. For example, sales may appear to be soaring in Dec and the transactions are recorded, but the money actually comes in until Jan. �Generally when a business has less than $5 million in sales in a year can choose either method. For the companies that make over that amount, or keep an inventory of goods for sale, are required to use the accrual method of accounting.Both methods paint a different financial picture for a company. Purchase trends depend on the product sold, and that in turn decides how a company should look after its finances.Richard Tyler is a happily retired investment guru who ran several successful businesses during his earlier years. He now shares his wealth of knowledge on investment, business and strategic wealth management at Invest Money Stocks. For more free useful articles on business planning please visit Invest Money Stocks.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_T._Tyler

Can't Make Sense of Your Numbers? 8 Reasons Why Dynamics GP Might Be Right For Your Business By Vinnie Campagna

Still not convinced that GP is the way to go? Here are 8 reasons why Great Plains may be the right accounting software for you.1. Familiar. Microsoft Dynamics GP is designed with a familiar look to it that is fully integrated with Microsoft Office. If you're familiar with Microsoft Office, you will understand a lot of the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics GP right away.2. Portable. Microsoft Dynamics GP has a Business Portal feature that comes free with every installation. This means that you're data is not just available at the office. It can be accessed via the Internet from anywhere at anytime of day or night. Why hire a web developer for reports when there are a lot of great reports available right through business portal?3. Experienced. Great Plains software began in 1981. With nearly 30 years of accounting software upgrades under its belt, Great Plains has been in industry leader. It seems natural that the leading accounting software company would join forces with a software leader like Microsoft.4. Integrated. Dynamics GP has been redesigned to work seemlessly with Windows Servers and Windows Workstation, along with the popular MS Office Suite.5. Great for HR. What's good for HR is good for you. And Great Plains loves giving great tools for your Human Resources manager to manage your payroll and benefits better.6. Inventory Control. Always guessing if you need to make a purchase? Guess no more with fully integrated warehousing and inventory control built right into Great Plains.7. Purchasing Power. Great Plains knows that plenty need to be purchased to keep you ship running in top shape. From materials to product, have it all under control w/ GP.8. Control. You have complete control with Dynamics GP. There is detailed reporting available with user activity and controls. Extensive permissions and logging are built in to keep your house as secure as it is productive.Bottom line, there is no other accounting package available today which includes as many features into a software package that's so easy to use.Remember, switching to Dynamics GP is not for everyone. Some organizations would rather push there outdated software to the limits. And maybe that strategy works best for them. But if growth is what you're after, you may be cheating your company's growth potential by not getting the best tools to do your job. And becoming able to identify opportunities easier is a great feeling.Whichever direction your decision may take you, please stay knowledgable in the financial happenings of your company and be ready to sieze the day!Vinnie Campagna is a Systems Integrater and Chief Technologist for Haruspex, a value added provider of Accounting, Inventory control, and order management software. Haruspex has been helping companies be successful for over 15 years. Be sure to rely on experienced professionals to implement your software solution. And be sure to visit Haruspex.com for more great information on Microsoft Dynamics GPArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vinnie_Campagna

Collections - When to Place Accounts For Collection By Neil Murray

I once had a boss that taught me that the best time to mow the lawn was "just before it needs it". He said, "if you look out the window and say the grass needs to be cut, it's too late."� The same is true in the world of accounts receivable management. The best time to place accounts for collection is "just before it needs it"!Think about it, most of the time when we decide that it's time to take action it is because we called and the phone was disconnected, or we sent a statement or late notice and it was returned undeliverable. Granted, sometimes a company will close up just days after ordering, but that is really a rare occurrence.A while back I was given the opportunity to say a few words at a sales meeting, so I proposed the "Johnnie Cochran method of identifying bad accounts".� For those of you that don't remember Johnnie Cochran during the O.J. Simpson trial�coined the phrase, "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit".� Well, I suggested these two phrases: If the phone is disconnected, it won't get collected; and, If you have to skip trace it, it's just too late to place it.� As you can imagine, that gained�quite a few�laughs. But the fact is, if the account is�to that point, forget about it.��Now I am not saying that accounts with disconnected phone numbers never get collected. If we never collected accounts that had to be skip-traced, we would not be worth our salt as a collection agency. What I am saying is that companies that use that as a method of determining when to place, get a much lower collections return than companies that have a timeline that they follow most of the time.Many experts in the field agree that a timeline for accounts receivable needs to be followed in order to maintain positive cash-flow.� The exact timeline depends mostly on your terms.�Suppose for a moment that your terms are the normal "net-30", the following might be a timeline that you would use:Day -1 You ship your product, or provide service to your customer, and invoice them. They now have thirty days to pay, according to your agreed upon terms.Day-30 If no payment has been received, call the customer and send a past-due notice.�Day-45 Another past-notice and a�collection call.�They need to know that you are watching your aging and that they are on the wrong side of it.Day-60 A final call and a�written demand for payment. This demand should inform them that all accounts over 60 days are subject to�outside collection activity.�I should pause for a�second here. Some of you will say, this account is not 60 days past due,�it's only thirty. I have to disagree. The account is past-due the moment you ship or provide the service. It's a�problem account�until the day it�is paid, and in many cases until the day the check clears your bank.Day-75-80 A ten-day�demand letter should be sent informing your customer that unless you�hear from�them in ten days, this�account will go to collection. The key here is that when the deadline passes, you must take action!� As�I said before, when�you make that call and get the "tones of death"�(the number your are trying to�reach has been disconnected.......) it's too late. Write it off to experience.� Someone� once said, �"Experience is what you get,�when you don't get�what you wanted."� Making that call is just like looking out the window and seeing that your grass is a foot high!Remember:If the phone is disconnected, it's not getting collected.If you have to skip trace it, it's just too late to place it.You can quote me on that!Neil Murray is one of the founding partners at Hamilton & Monroe, LLC. Hamilton and Monroe is a full-service Commercial Collections Firm. We can be found on the web at http://www.hamiltonandmonroe.com or by calling (800) 313-9611. I can be reached by e-mail at neil@hamiltonandmonroe.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neil_Murray

Accrual Accounting Or Cash Accounting - Which Method is Best For Your Business? By Richard T. Tyler

Business accounting usually falls under one of two categories, accrual or cash. A business has to choose which one is the most suitable for them, but both methods have their merits. This article will highlight the pros and cons of both methods so you can make an informed decision.Some people love the cash method of accounting. This method is based on when the money is transacted. For example if my business sells $10,000 worth of goods in December, but if the money is received in January, then it is recorded on the books for January of the following year.�The advantage of using cash accounting is that it can help you record the high and low points. For example it can help you realise when customers are late with payments, or customers who change their mind. These transactions are shown in the books when the money comes in, so you can tell how your business is doing financially and up to date.�The disadvantage is that the cash method shows you how and when your business are making money, however not how much business you're doing per month. For example you could get a large order in December, so you have to fork out a lot of cash for this order. However your books might show you getting paid January, even though the deal was done in Dec, the books show a better month in Jan than Dec.�Now the accrual method of accounting involves deal dates rather than actual funds. .�If I sell my merchandise, my books will reflect the sale as the day the goods leave the warehouse. Also if I buy a new piece of machinery for my business, the amount spent is deducted from my books on the day the machine arrives. Even though I might not pay for the machine, the transaction is considered complete in my books.Using this method of accounting is like forecasting how your business is doing. This method is great for companies who wish to use their accounting books to budget for expenses and outgoings. However the disadvantage to using this method is that it will give you a skewed image of how your business is actually doling. For example, sales may appear to be soaring in Dec and the transactions are recorded, but the money actually comes in until Jan. �Generally when a business has less than $5 million in sales in a year can choose either method. For the companies that make over that amount, or keep an inventory of goods for sale, are required to use the accrual method of accounting.Both methods paint a different financial picture for a company. Purchase trends depend on the product sold, and that in turn decides how a company should look after its finances.Richard Tyler is a happily retired investment guru who ran several successful businesses during his earlier years. He now shares his wealth of knowledge on investment, business and strategic wealth management at Invest Money Stocks. For more free useful articles on business planning please visit Invest Money Stocks.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_T._Tyler

Can't Make Sense of Your Numbers? 8 Reasons Why Dynamics GP Might Be Right For Your Business By Vinnie Campagna

Still not convinced that GP is the way to go? Here are 8 reasons why Great Plains may be the right accounting software for you.1. Familiar. Microsoft Dynamics GP is designed with a familiar look to it that is fully integrated with Microsoft Office. If you're familiar with Microsoft Office, you will understand a lot of the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics GP right away.2. Portable. Microsoft Dynamics GP has a Business Portal feature that comes free with every installation. This means that you're data is not just available at the office. It can be accessed via the Internet from anywhere at anytime of day or night. Why hire a web developer for reports when there are a lot of great reports available right through business portal?3. Experienced. Great Plains software began in 1981. With nearly 30 years of accounting software upgrades under its belt, Great Plains has been in industry leader. It seems natural that the leading accounting software company would join forces with a software leader like Microsoft.4. Integrated. Dynamics GP has been redesigned to work seemlessly with Windows Servers and Windows Workstation, along with the popular MS Office Suite.5. Great for HR. What's good for HR is good for you. And Great Plains loves giving great tools for your Human Resources manager to manage your payroll and benefits better.6. Inventory Control. Always guessing if you need to make a purchase? Guess no more with fully integrated warehousing and inventory control built right into Great Plains.7. Purchasing Power. Great Plains knows that plenty need to be purchased to keep you ship running in top shape. From materials to product, have it all under control w/ GP.8. Control. You have complete control with Dynamics GP. There is detailed reporting available with user activity and controls. Extensive permissions and logging are built in to keep your house as secure as it is productive.Bottom line, there is no other accounting package available today which includes as many features into a software package that's so easy to use.Remember, switching to Dynamics GP is not for everyone. Some organizations would rather push there outdated software to the limits. And maybe that strategy works best for them. But if growth is what you're after, you may be cheating your company's growth potential by not getting the best tools to do your job. And becoming able to identify opportunities easier is a great feeling.Whichever direction your decision may take you, please stay knowledgable in the financial happenings of your company and be ready to sieze the day!Vinnie Campagna is a Systems Integrater and Chief Technologist for Haruspex, a value added provider of Accounting, Inventory control, and order management software. Haruspex has been helping companies be successful for over 15 years. Be sure to rely on experienced professionals to implement your software solution. And be sure to visit Haruspex.com for more great information on Microsoft Dynamics GPArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vinnie_Campagna

Collections - When to Place Accounts For Collection By Neil Murray

I once had a boss that taught me that the best time to mow the lawn was "just before it needs it". He said, "if you look out the window and say the grass needs to be cut, it's too late."� The same is true in the world of accounts receivable management. The best time to place accounts for collection is "just before it needs it"!Think about it, most of the time when we decide that it's time to take action it is because we called and the phone was disconnected, or we sent a statement or late notice and it was returned undeliverable. Granted, sometimes a company will close up just days after ordering, but that is really a rare occurrence.A while back I was given the opportunity to say a few words at a sales meeting, so I proposed the "Johnnie Cochran method of identifying bad accounts".� For those of you that don't remember Johnnie Cochran during the O.J. Simpson trial�coined the phrase, "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit".� Well, I suggested these two phrases: If the phone is disconnected, it won't get collected; and, If you have to skip trace it, it's just too late to place it.� As you can imagine, that gained�quite a few�laughs. But the fact is, if the account is�to that point, forget about it.��Now I am not saying that accounts with disconnected phone numbers never get collected. If we never collected accounts that had to be skip-traced, we would not be worth our salt as a collection agency. What I am saying is that companies that use that as a method of determining when to place, get a much lower collections return than companies that have a timeline that they follow most of the time.Many experts in the field agree that a timeline for accounts receivable needs to be followed in order to maintain positive cash-flow.� The exact timeline depends mostly on your terms.�Suppose for a moment that your terms are the normal "net-30", the following might be a timeline that you would use:Day -1 You ship your product, or provide service to your customer, and invoice them. They now have thirty days to pay, according to your agreed upon terms.Day-30 If no payment has been received, call the customer and send a past-due notice.�Day-45 Another past-notice and a�collection call.�They need to know that you are watching your aging and that they are on the wrong side of it.Day-60 A final call and a�written demand for payment. This demand should inform them that all accounts over 60 days are subject to�outside collection activity.�I should pause for a�second here. Some of you will say, this account is not 60 days past due,�it's only thirty. I have to disagree. The account is past-due the moment you ship or provide the service. It's a�problem account�until the day it�is paid, and in many cases until the day the check clears your bank.Day-75-80 A ten-day�demand letter should be sent informing your customer that unless you�hear from�them in ten days, this�account will go to collection. The key here is that when the deadline passes, you must take action!� As�I said before, when�you make that call and get the "tones of death"�(the number your are trying to�reach has been disconnected.......) it's too late. Write it off to experience.� Someone� once said, �"Experience is what you get,�when you don't get�what you wanted."� Making that call is just like looking out the window and seeing that your grass is a foot high!Remember:If the phone is disconnected, it's not getting collected.If you have to skip trace it, it's just too late to place it.You can quote me on that!Neil Murray is one of the founding partners at Hamilton & Monroe, LLC. Hamilton and Monroe is a full-service Commercial Collections Firm. We can be found on the web at http://www.hamiltonandmonroe.com or by calling (800) 313-9611. I can be reached by e-mail at neil@hamiltonandmonroe.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neil_Murray

Record Keeping? Paperwork? Yuck! By Tina Marino

When I taught the Small Business Tax & Accounting Workshops at the SBA's Small Business Development Center, the one thing I was emphatic about is the need to keep good records.�I must've sounded like a broken record to the attendees!�But, it is true.�While you may groan about it and even hate it, record keeping is vital to the heartbeat of a business.Benjamin Franklin said that there is nothing certain but death and taxes.�The bible says that we should render unto Cesar what is Cesar's.�Both are true statements.�However, though we must pay taxes we need to be sure to not pay one shekel more than we have to!� Good record keeping will: � Help you pay only the taxes you actually owe.�By having an up-to-date and accurate set of books, you will be able to do very precise tax planning which will allow you to keep more of your hard-earned money in your own pocket. � Give you all the information you need to make sound business decisions.�It can track cycles in your sales, tell you which products or services you should keep and which you should stop selling, allow you to decide whether to hire new employees or let some go, and more. � Allow you to prepare detailed budgets and forecasts.�If you know where you've been and what it cost, you are able to project more accurately. � Provide you a historical record of your business.�The longer you are in business, the more important and informative looking back on your progress will be. � Assist you in obtaining bank loans, lines of credit, vendor credit, and more.�Lenders always require complete and detailed financial statements and projections before they will show you the money. � Help you easily keep compliant with federal, state, county and local governing agencies. � Make tax season a breeze!�Since you will have done tax planning throughout the year, you will already know your tax bill.�Your records can be easily sent, complete and accurate, to your accountant for tax preparation.�You will make his or her life (and your invoice from them) much easier. � Allow you to sleep like a baby at night!�You won't be tossing and turning in turmoil because you will always know where you stand. � Think about this:�Every $100 you don't keep track of will cost you $15 to $60 in additional tax. � Find�more business accounting and tax resources at www.BusinessAccountingBasics.comTina Marino Minister, Author, Speaker, Business Broker tina@tinamarino.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tina_Marino

How to Use Accounts Receivable Factoring to Grow Your Company By Marco Terry

One of the biggest obstacles for small business growth is access to working capital. Companies that have access to business financing, are usually better positioned to take advantage of opportunities - and - better positioned to weather challenges successfully than those that don't have it.But getting working capital is a major challenge for most businesses, especially startups and small companies. Most will not be able to meet the requirements for a conventional business loan or line of credit. Plus, conventional business loans are usually offered to companies that have long track records of success and hard assets. Few startups and small businesses meet these criteria.However, business loans are not the only way to finance a company. There are some alternate ways of financing that have started to gain popularity in the recent years. One alternative is called accounts receivable factoring, also known as invoice factoring.Invoice factoring solves a very simple but common problem. Most companies that sell to other businesses have to wait 30 to 60 days to get paid. However, few can afford to wait that long. This is a major problem for small companies that don't have a strong balance sheet and need funds to pay suppliers and employees. Factoring provides an advance against your slow paying invoices and gives you the working capital to pay employees and suppliers. It puts you on a stronger financial footing, enabling you to take on new businesses without worrying about payment terms.A factoring transaction works as follows. First you deliver your product/service and invoice the client. Then, the factoring company advances you up to 80% of your invoice. This is your first installment. Your company gets the remaining 20%, less the service fee, once your client actually pays for the invoice.So the benefit is simple. You get 80% upfront and the rest once your client pays.Invoice factoring is a great solution if your cash flow is not predictable and if you can't afford to wait 30 to 60 days for your invoices to get paid. It provides you with predictable cash flow, providing you with another tool to grow your company.About Commercial CapitalLooking for factoring financing? Commercial Capital can provide you with a competitive factoring quote. To learn more about our invoice factoring program, please call (877) 300 3258Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marco_Terry

Manage Your Business With Small Business Accounting By Alvis Brazma

Running a business enterprise has never been an easy task. We all know that it is definitely one of the most difficult things to execute and hence, it is very important that apt resources are used to run a business and that these resources are well monitored by a competent person, who is well versed with the various things that are required to run a business. The size of the business can never be a hindrance because each business has to start off one day and then travel through various ups and downs and then get to a stage that all business owners dream about their business. Among all the various divisions of a business, the division that definitely acts as the backbone of any business is the accounting department. Taking the help of small business accounting experts can definitely prove to be an intelligent move by any small business owner because that helps him in getting accurate professional help from people, who are expert in this domain of providing help for small business accounting.There are many firms that provide small business accounting help to small business thus enabling them to get expertise solutions to all their accounting problems and they can be rest assured that they would get the best services. With the help of these services, any business owner, who is running a small business, can definitely breathe the air of relief because this enables them to get the accurate accounting details for their firms and the professionals, who take up the responsibility of this service, make sure that they provide the best services and help the firm that hires their services to get the best results in return. Therefore, taking the help of small business accounting from a firm that specializes in this field is definitely one of the best things that any business owner can do for their business.As there are many firms that provide these services to small business and other similar kind of businesses, one definitely needs to make sure that they opt for the firm that can provide them with the best services and they would be able to yield beneficial results for the firm. For this, it is necessary that one conducts an accurate and extensive research work because only a thorough research can help in getting the apt firm whose services would aptly suit the needs of your business. Moreover, this will also help you to understand the various services that are provided by different small business accounting firms and you also get to know all about the new updates that are happening in this field.Small business accounting for sure turns out to be one of the most favorable things for any small business owner because it is for sure that he or she would get accurate services for his or her accounting department. This becomes even more fruitful because as this is an outsourced program, the cost that is associated with it is much less when compared to the amount, which is paid to the in house staff working for a small business.Alvis Brazma gives advice to business owners about how to manage their business efficiently without any hassles.To know more about Accounting help, accounting outsourcing,bookkeeping help, small business accounting visit this leading internet source: http://www.impacctusa.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alvis_Brazma

Real Estate Accounting Can Lighten Accounting Encumbers By Alvis Brazma

Real estate is one of the fastest expanding sections; hence, people, who are related to real estate business, are facing various challenges at every step. Global real estate industry is now flourishing and earning unexpected profit but on the contrary, firms and companies that deal in real estate are finding it quite difficult to maintain various aspects of their business. Every year n numbers of sapling real estate firms are joining global real estate industry but unfortunately every few of them are getting success. The major reason behind their failure is incapability to deal with increasing burden of financial activities, as managing endless entries and financial transaction is not possible with limited financial and human resources. Handling real estate accounting is definitely a nig challenge for every accountant, as numerous tactics and calculations are made to perform this task. Firms that can manage to hire qualifies real estate accountants usually, do not face much problem but firms that are unable to do so are badly getting affected by this problem. Hiring real estate accountants is not just about recruiting accounting professionals but it is more about searching people, who possess expertise in this field.Certainly, It is one of the most challenging tasks; hence, real estate firms that are planning to hire accounting professionals should keep some essential issues in mind. The basic issue that should be considered while hiring a real estate accounting is experience and area of expertise, as it helps in getting a trained professional, who is well versed with every tactic that is used for solving accounting problem. Good track record is the second issue that is an essential thing for every accounting professional, as professionals, who make frequent mistakes are not suitable for handling this gigantic task.Accuracy and proper attention is must for handling real estate accounting task, as flaws in any accounting record can cause problems in the long run. Therefore, real estate business owner must be extra cautious about accuracy of the hired accounting professionals. Since real estate industry has frequent unexpected changes, professional who handle accounting task in any real estate firm should be analytical and knowledgeable to incorporate these changes without ant delay. However, they do not get the right to incorporate these changes according to their choice but they should be able to do this task immediately after getting instructions for change.In fact, these unexpected changes make accounting procedures more complex, hence the accountant should be efficient to incorporate and process these changes in a flawless manner. As far as availability of such accounting professionals is concerned, accounting firms that provide their clients with accounting outsourcing services can be approached. Such service providers provide every client with efficient professionals and also negotiate on behalf of both the client and the professional. Cost is not a constraint for hiring such professional, as negotiation provides both parities with affordable option. Therefore, if your real estate accounting task has become complicated and you are unable to simplify them start seeking for a suitable solution.Alvis Brazma gives advice to business owners about how to manage their business efficiently without any hassles.To know more about Accounting help,bookkeeping help, real estate accounting visit this leading internet source: http://www.impacctusa.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alvis_Brazma

Small Business Accounting Firm Ensures Accurate Numbers By Alvis Brazma

When a business is established, the owner tries to fulfill all his dreams and aspirations in the form of this business. A business is not only an entity; it is a dream for many people and people, who are adamant of making their business a big name definitely need to do a lot of hard work and need to put in a lot of good things to materialize their dream. Any big firm was never a big firm. It has to start from starch and from there begins the journey that takes them through ups and downs but it is sheer determination that makes a small business turn into a big name in the industry.Nature and size of two businesses can never be the same and keeping this in mind it is necessary that the accounting departments of all businesses fit the bill of the requirements. The accounting department of any firm is definitely the one department that has a lot to do in terms of performance and in terms of making the fate of the business organization. Keeping this thing in mind, this means that a small business organization would also need to have a competent accounting department in place. However, if this is not possible, then taking the help of a small business accounting firm that is completely competent in providing expert services to any small business firm is definitely an intelligent move by any business owner, who wants to fulfill all his dreams of seeing their organization in the limelight of the industry.Taking the help of a small business accounting firm yields a lot of great results because the people, who work is these firms are CPAs and they know all the exact things that need to be done to take your business to the next level. These professionals, with their competence level and knowledge of the various aspects that are associated with the accounting department of any firm, make sure that all the accounts books in your firm are maintained properly and accurately. After all, accountancy is the game of numbers and if there is a slight mistake in any of the numbers, then it can lead to huge losses.There are many firms that provide small business accounting help for small business firms. Therefore, it is mandatory for you as a business owner that you conduct a thorough research about all the firms that provide this service. This helps you in getting a firm whose services fit to the T with the nature and kind of your business. This also helps you in getting a deal that suits your budget. Moreover, the added advantage of outsourcing work is that it is less expensive when compared to the costs that are associated with in house employees.Therefore, that you know from where and how you can take help of small business accounting firm, you will simply need to contact the firm that you decide to take help from. However, make sure that they are the best support. Moreover, just because you would be handing over the responsibility to some one else, it does not free you from keeping a track of the work. So do ensure that things are taken care of.Alvis Brazma gives advice to business owners about how to manage their business efficiently without any hassles.To know more about Accounting help,bookkeeping help, small business accounting firm visit this leading internet source: http://www.impacctusa.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alvis_Brazma

What is a Chartered Accountant and Why Should You Hire One? By Monique Holtman

For many people, an accountant is something that they feel they only need once a year when they are doing their taxes, if then - but the truth of the matter is that a chartered accountant is an individual who can help you out in a great many financial areas. Whether you are looking on your own behalf as a private citizen, or you are curious about what a chartered accountant can do for you or your business, you'll find that you can consider some of the following pieces of information.When you are making a comparison between a chartered accountant and a regular accountant, you'll find that there are several important differences. Technically, anyone can call themselves an accountant who regardless of what licensing or education that they have. A person who calls themselves a chartered accountant, on the other hand, is someone who retains a membership in either the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. These organizations will only allow membership after a series of examinations have been passed and after a certain amount of working experience.Essentially, when you are working with a chartered accountant, you will find that you are working with someone who has a certain baseline of experience and certification under their belt. When your financial situation is complicated, or if you find that you are in over your head when it comes to financial matters, you'll find that taking on a chartered accountant can help you figure out how to proceed. You may also feel that retaining a chartered accountant will give you a great deal of peace of mind when it comes to the assurance that your financial matters are being handled competently.When you are looking to retain a chartered accountant, you'll find that the accountants who engage in public practice work will have a practicing certificate which will declare them fit to do so. This means that they have met further requirements and that they have the appropriate professional experience with which to serve you.When you are looking for someone to look over your financial matters, you'll find that a chartered accountant will most likely be the most competent individual in a place to do so. Take some time and make sure that you look into your accountant's credentials and to make sure that you are confident in their ability to handle your affairs.Wilkins Kennedy have been offering professional services to business owners across England and worldwide for 126 years and have the expertise and experience necessary whether your business requires accountancy or taxation advice, or the annual audit is due.Search engine optimization by Web Repair Services.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Monique_Holtman

How to Choose a Tax Preparer By Marvin Crowther

Finding a good tax preparer is not an easy task.Here are a few hints that will help you avoid the problems that many Americans experience when they randomly choose their tax preparer.Does the Preparer Have the Knowledge?Check your preparer's web site to find out if he offers jobs or franchises. Click on the tabs and find out what the preparer requires for someone to buy a franchise or work for them. You will find that most offer franchises without requiring any knowledge of or background in taxes yet they promise to have them up and running within three to nine months with minimal training. This means that most of these tax preparers have minimal knowledge of taxes.Those of you that have attempted to prepare your own taxes or helped someone else do theirs already know that there is a lot of study, research and training involved in knowing about the various schedules, worksheets and the laws that that must be used to take each exemption, deduction and/or credit for which you may qualify.Before a preparer can do an adequate job they must invest several thousand hours in learning Tax Law, Accounting, IRS functions, Tax Regulations and annual changes in The IRS Code. Indeed, by the time a tax preparer has mastered all the knowledge that he needs to do his job he could fill a doctorate program in taxation.Without this investment in mastering federal and state taxes a preparer may leave his clients open to delays in refunds, increases in tax and penalties and audits by the IRS and State tax agencies.Is your Preparer Full Time or Part Time?Once you find a knowledgeable preparer be aware that we are all human and are prone to make mistakes. So the question is:Will you be able to find the preparer if one of you make a mistake on your taxes? Always keep in mind that if you file taxes in April an error notice may come out between May and July and most likely you will want to discuss the error with the one that prepared your taxes. Will your preparer be available?Another situation to be mindful of is: you may have omitted something that could change your tax. It saves a lot of time and expense when the person that did the original can update and amend your taxes soon after you discover the omission.Be aware that there are people out there that will act as preparers just to get your information then use it for illegal activates.Be sure that your preparer can be found latter.Is your Preparer's Main Business Tax Preparation or Loans?Sometimes you can't tell when you go into a preparer's office what his business really is. Often preparers put more effort into getting you to go for a refund anticipation loan then they do to get you to have them do the taxes. Always choose a preparer that is in the business of preparing taxes so he will concentrate his efforts on your tax preparation rather than to trying to give you a loan.Copy Write 2007 By Crowther PublishingThis is an other article written by Marvin Crowther in his series on taxation and way to optimize the amount of tax that you pay. You can visit the web site of MCCrowther Tax Services at http://www.mccrowtherassoc.com or email at listings@mccrowtherassoc.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marvin_Crowther

What is a Chartered Accountant and Why Should You Hire One? By Monique Holtman

For many people, an accountant is something that they feel they only need once a year when they are doing their taxes, if then - but the truth of the matter is that a chartered accountant is an individual who can help you out in a great many financial areas. Whether you are looking on your own behalf as a private citizen, or you are curious about what a chartered accountant can do for you or your business, you'll find that you can consider some of the following pieces of information.When you are making a comparison between a chartered accountant and a regular accountant, you'll find that there are several important differences. Technically, anyone can call themselves an accountant who regardless of what licensing or education that they have. A person who calls themselves a chartered accountant, on the other hand, is someone who retains a membership in either the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. These organizations will only allow membership after a series of examinations have been passed and after a certain amount of working experience.Essentially, when you are working with a chartered accountant, you will find that you are working with someone who has a certain baseline of experience and certification under their belt. When your financial situation is complicated, or if you find that you are in over your head when it comes to financial matters, you'll find that taking on a chartered accountant can help you figure out how to proceed. You may also feel that retaining a chartered accountant will give you a great deal of peace of mind when it comes to the assurance that your financial matters are being handled competently.When you are looking to retain a chartered accountant, you'll find that the accountants who engage in public practice work will have a practicing certificate which will declare them fit to do so. This means that they have met further requirements and that they have the appropriate professional experience with which to serve you.When you are looking for someone to look over your financial matters, you'll find that a chartered accountant will most likely be the most competent individual in a place to do so. Take some time and make sure that you look into your accountant's credentials and to make sure that you are confident in their ability to handle your affairs.Wilkins Kennedy have been offering professional services to business owners across England and worldwide for 126 years and have the expertise and experience necessary whether your business requires accountancy or taxation advice, or the annual audit is due.Search engine optimization by Web Repair Services.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Monique_Holtman

How to Choose a Tax Preparer By Marvin Crowther

Finding a good tax preparer is not an easy task.Here are a few hints that will help you avoid the problems that many Americans experience when they randomly choose their tax preparer.Does the Preparer Have the Knowledge?Check your preparer's web site to find out if he offers jobs or franchises. Click on the tabs and find out what the preparer requires for someone to buy a franchise or work for them. You will find that most offer franchises without requiring any knowledge of or background in taxes yet they promise to have them up and running within three to nine months with minimal training. This means that most of these tax preparers have minimal knowledge of taxes.Those of you that have attempted to prepare your own taxes or helped someone else do theirs already know that there is a lot of study, research and training involved in knowing about the various schedules, worksheets and the laws that that must be used to take each exemption, deduction and/or credit for which you may qualify.Before a preparer can do an adequate job they must invest several thousand hours in learning Tax Law, Accounting, IRS functions, Tax Regulations and annual changes in The IRS Code. Indeed, by the time a tax preparer has mastered all the knowledge that he needs to do his job he could fill a doctorate program in taxation.Without this investment in mastering federal and state taxes a preparer may leave his clients open to delays in refunds, increases in tax and penalties and audits by the IRS and State tax agencies.Is your Preparer Full Time or Part Time?Once you find a knowledgeable preparer be aware that we are all human and are prone to make mistakes. So the question is:Will you be able to find the preparer if one of you make a mistake on your taxes? Always keep in mind that if you file taxes in April an error notice may come out between May and July and most likely you will want to discuss the error with the one that prepared your taxes. Will your preparer be available?Another situation to be mindful of is: you may have omitted something that could change your tax. It saves a lot of time and expense when the person that did the original can update and amend your taxes soon after you discover the omission.Be aware that there are people out there that will act as preparers just to get your information then use it for illegal activates.Be sure that your preparer can be found latter.Is your Preparer's Main Business Tax Preparation or Loans?Sometimes you can't tell when you go into a preparer's office what his business really is. Often preparers put more effort into getting you to go for a refund anticipation loan then they do to get you to have them do the taxes. Always choose a preparer that is in the business of preparing taxes so he will concentrate his efforts on your tax preparation rather than to trying to give you a loan.Copy Write 2007 By Crowther PublishingThis is an other article written by Marvin Crowther in his series on taxation and way to optimize the amount of tax that you pay. You can visit the web site of MCCrowther Tax Services at http://www.mccrowtherassoc.com or email at listings@mccrowtherassoc.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marvin_Crowther

Diagnosing Common Errors in Quickbooks Part One - Negative Balances in A-P and A-R By

IntroductionDiagnosing problems in a QuickBooks file is easy once you know what you are looking for. It's usually a matter of glancing at the chart of accounts for anything out of the ordinary. The problem is that most business owners aren't sure what is out of the ordinary and what isn't. This is the first in a series of articles that will explain how to diagnose what the problem is and how to correct the problem once known.Negative Balances in A/P or A/RAlthough this may seem kind of basic for those who have been entering data into QB for a while, for those who haven't this may be new information, so hang in there for their sake. Accounts Payable is the account automatically created by QuickBooks when you enter your first bill. This is the account that all these amounts go into and from which these same amounts are taken when you pay the bill. More often than not, the clients I see for the first time have a negative balance in the A/P and cannot explain why, nor do they know what to do with it.A negative balance in the A/P would indicate that YOU owe your vendor money, and though there are legitimate reasons why you would give a credit to a vendor, a refund for extra material sent, etc., most of the time it is the result of a simple mistake. That mistake is the entering of a payment to a vendor without entering the bill that the payment should apply to. This happens when the data entry clerk is not using the Enter Bills/Pay Bills screens and is simply entering the amounts paid into the check register. Since there is no corresponding bill, (according to QuickBooks) the amount of the check is entered as a credit toward the vendor specified.Likewise, a negative balance in the A/R indicates that there are customers that your company owes money to. And again, there are legitimate reasons you would credit a customer, but often it is a mistake. The mistake that is made is that a customer payment is recorded without a corresponding invoice being recorded. If the invoice isn't recorded, then according to QuickBooks, this customer doesn't owe you anything, upon receiving the payment and recording it, you now have a customer you owe money to, but not really.NOW HOW DO I FIX IT?As with all questions related to accounting, the answer is, "that depends". If these are current mistakes and the bank accounts have not been reconciled as of yet, the method of correction is easy. For the A/P, look for the Pay Bills and enter in the same check number that you used earlier and pay the bill in that screen. The little 'oh-oh' screen will pop up telling you that this check number is already used, ignore it and use that number anyway. When you are done with all of these entries, return to the register and look for those identical check numbers, the ones entered correctly will have BILLPMT in the box below the check number, delete the one without that designation and you will have completed the task. Fixing the A/R is not much different, (assuming that the reconciliations have not been completed!) enter an invoice dating back to the time of the payment received for whatever that customer ordered. The invoice will counter the credit received and will bring the balance out of the negative to zero, unless the customer of course, still owes you for work done.WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS RECONCILED?If the negative balances date back into months that have been previously been reconciled and the bank statements and QuickBooks match, deleting these payments by customers and reentering them applying them to invoices will throw off all reconciliations for the rest of the year. You will then have to re-reconcile the bank accounts and that can be tedious.For A/P corrections after reconciliations, DO NOT DELETE THE BILLS! We have to be a little creative with this so here goes. First, create a fake bank account; call it Adjustment Bank or First Bank of David, whatever you wish. Go to the Pay Bills screen and use the fake bank account to pay the bills you are sure have already been paid.Once you have completed the entries, make a fake deposit from an account called adjustment into the fake bank account for that same amount of the already paid bills. This effectively zeroes out the bank account, which you can then make inactive.For A/R corrections after reconciliations, since the amounts have already been received and deposited into the right bank account that has already been reconciled, simply entering in matching invoices to compensate for the received funds will not affect the bank account, and thus will not affect the reconciliations already done. Just make sure to tie out the payment to the invoice number you create by using the invoice number in the payment memo box. Since the amount won't change you won't have to worry about affecting the reconciled transactions.CONCLUSIONAdmittedly, this is not the ideal solution, and if you only have a few of these transactions and it won't require an entire year of re-reconciliations, you should do it the long way. However, this way gets you done sooner and let's you get on with the day to day business you love to do. I hope this helps you with your QuickBooks issues.David Roberts, CFE, CQBPA, MBA, lives in Kissimmee, Florida with four girls, three dogs, two snakes and one wife. He has been a member of the ACFE for five years and has been studying fraud for longer than that. He is the owner of Homesoon Accounting Services which specializes in Quickbooks Consultations and Fraud Prevention and Detection.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_S_Roberts

How to Choose a Tax Preparer By Marvin Crowther

Finding a good tax preparer is not an easy task.Here are a few hints that will help you avoid the problems that many Americans experience when they randomly choose their tax preparer.Does the Preparer Have the Knowledge?Check your preparer's web site to find out if he offers jobs or franchises. Click on the tabs and find out what the preparer requires for someone to buy a franchise or work for them. You will find that most offer franchises without requiring any knowledge of or background in taxes yet they promise to have them up and running within three to nine months with minimal training. This means that most of these tax preparers have minimal knowledge of taxes.Those of you that have attempted to prepare your own taxes or helped someone else do theirs already know that there is a lot of study, research and training involved in knowing about the various schedules, worksheets and the laws that that must be used to take each exemption, deduction and/or credit for which you may qualify.Before a preparer can do an adequate job they must invest several thousand hours in learning Tax Law, Accounting, IRS functions, Tax Regulations and annual changes in The IRS Code. Indeed, by the time a tax preparer has mastered all the knowledge that he needs to do his job he could fill a doctorate program in taxation.Without this investment in mastering federal and state taxes a preparer may leave his clients open to delays in refunds, increases in tax and penalties and audits by the IRS and State tax agencies.Is your Preparer Full Time or Part Time?Once you find a knowledgeable preparer be aware that we are all human and are prone to make mistakes. So the question is:Will you be able to find the preparer if one of you make a mistake on your taxes? Always keep in mind that if you file taxes in April an error notice may come out between May and July and most likely you will want to discuss the error with the one that prepared your taxes. Will your preparer be available?Another situation to be mindful of is: you may have omitted something that could change your tax. It saves a lot of time and expense when the person that did the original can update and amend your taxes soon after you discover the omission.Be aware that there are people out there that will act as preparers just to get your information then use it for illegal activates.Be sure that your preparer can be found latter.Is your Preparer's Main Business Tax Preparation or Loans?Sometimes you can't tell when you go into a preparer's office what his business really is. Often preparers put more effort into getting you to go for a refund anticipation loan then they do to get you to have them do the taxes. Always choose a preparer that is in the business of preparing taxes so he will concentrate his efforts on your tax preparation rather than to trying to give you a loan.Copy Write 2007 By Crowther PublishingThis is an other article written by Marvin Crowther in his series on taxation and way to optimize the amount of tax that you pay. You can visit the web site of MCCrowther Tax Services at http://www.mccrowtherassoc.com or email at listings@mccrowtherassoc.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marvin_Crowther

Diagnosing Common Errors in Quickbooks Part One - Negative Balances in A-P and A-R By

IntroductionDiagnosing problems in a QuickBooks file is easy once you know what you are looking for. It's usually a matter of glancing at the chart of accounts for anything out of the ordinary. The problem is that most business owners aren't sure what is out of the ordinary and what isn't. This is the first in a series of articles that will explain how to diagnose what the problem is and how to correct the problem once known.Negative Balances in A/P or A/RAlthough this may seem kind of basic for those who have been entering data into QB for a while, for those who haven't this may be new information, so hang in there for their sake. Accounts Payable is the account automatically created by QuickBooks when you enter your first bill. This is the account that all these amounts go into and from which these same amounts are taken when you pay the bill. More often than not, the clients I see for the first time have a negative balance in the A/P and cannot explain why, nor do they know what to do with it.A negative balance in the A/P would indicate that YOU owe your vendor money, and though there are legitimate reasons why you would give a credit to a vendor, a refund for extra material sent, etc., most of the time it is the result of a simple mistake. That mistake is the entering of a payment to a vendor without entering the bill that the payment should apply to. This happens when the data entry clerk is not using the Enter Bills/Pay Bills screens and is simply entering the amounts paid into the check register. Since there is no corresponding bill, (according to QuickBooks) the amount of the check is entered as a credit toward the vendor specified.Likewise, a negative balance in the A/R indicates that there are customers that your company owes money to. And again, there are legitimate reasons you would credit a customer, but often it is a mistake. The mistake that is made is that a customer payment is recorded without a corresponding invoice being recorded. If the invoice isn't recorded, then according to QuickBooks, this customer doesn't owe you anything, upon receiving the payment and recording it, you now have a customer you owe money to, but not really.NOW HOW DO I FIX IT?As with all questions related to accounting, the answer is, "that depends". If these are current mistakes and the bank accounts have not been reconciled as of yet, the method of correction is easy. For the A/P, look for the Pay Bills and enter in the same check number that you used earlier and pay the bill in that screen. The little 'oh-oh' screen will pop up telling you that this check number is already used, ignore it and use that number anyway. When you are done with all of these entries, return to the register and look for those identical check numbers, the ones entered correctly will have BILLPMT in the box below the check number, delete the one without that designation and you will have completed the task. Fixing the A/R is not much different, (assuming that the reconciliations have not been completed!) enter an invoice dating back to the time of the payment received for whatever that customer ordered. The invoice will counter the credit received and will bring the balance out of the negative to zero, unless the customer of course, still owes you for work done.WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS RECONCILED?If the negative balances date back into months that have been previously been reconciled and the bank statements and QuickBooks match, deleting these payments by customers and reentering them applying them to invoices will throw off all reconciliations for the rest of the year. You will then have to re-reconcile the bank accounts and that can be tedious.For A/P corrections after reconciliations, DO NOT DELETE THE BILLS! We have to be a little creative with this so here goes. First, create a fake bank account; call it Adjustment Bank or First Bank of David, whatever you wish. Go to the Pay Bills screen and use the fake bank account to pay the bills you are sure have already been paid.Once you have completed the entries, make a fake deposit from an account called adjustment into the fake bank account for that same amount of the already paid bills. This effectively zeroes out the bank account, which you can then make inactive.For A/R corrections after reconciliations, since the amounts have already been received and deposited into the right bank account that has already been reconciled, simply entering in matching invoices to compensate for the received funds will not affect the bank account, and thus will not affect the reconciliations already done. Just make sure to tie out the payment to the invoice number you create by using the invoice number in the payment memo box. Since the amount won't change you won't have to worry about affecting the reconciled transactions.CONCLUSIONAdmittedly, this is not the ideal solution, and if you only have a few of these transactions and it won't require an entire year of re-reconciliations, you should do it the long way. However, this way gets you done sooner and let's you get on with the day to day business you love to do. I hope this helps you with your QuickBooks issues.David Roberts, CFE, CQBPA, MBA, lives in Kissimmee, Florida with four girls, three dogs, two snakes and one wife. He has been a member of the ACFE for five years and has been studying fraud for longer than that. He is the owner of Homesoon Accounting Services which specializes in Quickbooks Consultations and Fraud Prevention and Detection.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_S_Roberts

Top 7 Tips For Solicitors - Bookkeeping By Lisa M Newton

Solicitors' accounts can be a minefield. Solicitors have enough on their plate without the additional stress of trying to remember and apply all the Solicitors Accounts Rules (SARS) that exist, and so for this task, they may well rely on their Legal Cashiers. In this article, we attempt to outline the top 7 tips that all solicitors should know when it comes to Legal Accounts.1. Purchase invoices/counsel / expense receipts must be retained for VAT purposes. It doesn't matter what the amount is, any expenses need to be supported with a receipt. If a vat inspection took place this information needs to be produced.2. Outstanding bills with money in client account - need a weekly report. SARS states that monies in client accounts, relating to payment of bills need to be transferred 14 days from receipt. If these are left for more than 14 days you will be in breach of SARS. So solicitors do need to be on top of their books, to be able to ensure that the relevant postings are made in good time.3. Balance in client account must be returned it to the client. It is important the balance is not billed to clearall funds. Any balance must be returned to the client regardless of the amount. For small amounts for example, anything under �1.00, then it's best to return that in the form of stamps as you often find that many people won't cash small value cheques, and so you are left with lots of unreconciled cheques waiting to be cleared in the bank. Many solicitors have small balances going back many years. As an exercise, it might just be worth trying to contact these past clients and returning their funds to them. It will simplify matters, and who knows, they may need your services again - you could be contacting them at the right time.4. Use the office account when you want to draw a cheque against uncleared funds. You actually don't have to sit and wait for funds to clear... if you get the authority from a practise partner, then you can draw a cheque against uncleared funds. On the one hand, this can save you time in your practice, but you need to be aware, because if the cheque is returned as unpaid you are in breach of SARS. Drawing funds, which ultimately turn out to not exist will result in an overdrawn client account. This is not allowed, because it means you've used client A's fund to support the activity of Client B. Client B needs his own money. Overall, the best way to avoid any of the above is to have your unpaids go through the office account.5. Have a process for sending funds back to the client. This is similar to tip 3, but it's slightly deeper. Despite many solicitors 'knowing' that they really ought to return clients funds to the client, very few actually get around to it. Failing to do this results in cumbersome books, and you don't want this. What you need is a process for sending funds back to the client - particularly when the cheque has not been cashed. You can't just close these accounts, if they have uncleared cheques sitting there. Nor can you just keep the money. You need to show that you have attempted to return the funds more than once. Failing this, then the solicitor needs to make an arrangement to send the funds to the Law Society. They have a Benevolent Fund, and they make the decision whether it will go to the charity or whether you can keep it. If it's for under �50.00 then it can normally go to a charity of your choice e.g. The MS Society. But what you cannot do is send the client a bill for it. Some solicitors do it, but it is wrong.6. Cheques drawn should be sent to the client immediately. Large cheques drawn and not banked after two weeks should be queried. If you haven't sent it out, it should be returned to cancel with possible interest added to the cheque. Solicitors have been known to draw cheques and sit on them while they benefit from the interest. This is wrong.7. Documentation for yearly audit must be retained and filed in date order. Paying in books, bank statements and bank reconciliation's signed by partner, are items that the auditor needs to refer to, to perform the yearly audit. Ideally, archive the records, and keep them for 6-year minimum in case an Inland Revenue inquiry arises.To avoid the headache, you can always outsource the legal bookkeeping job to an experienced bookkeeping company such as Boogles Ltd. Visit: http://www.boogles.org or call 0844 8844 622 for more details.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_M_Newton

Diagnosing Common Errors in Quickbooks Part One - Negative Balances in A-P and A-R By

IntroductionDiagnosing problems in a QuickBooks file is easy once you know what you are looking for. It's usually a matter of glancing at the chart of accounts for anything out of the ordinary. The problem is that most business owners aren't sure what is out of the ordinary and what isn't. This is the first in a series of articles that will explain how to diagnose what the problem is and how to correct the problem once known.Negative Balances in A/P or A/RAlthough this may seem kind of basic for those who have been entering data into QB for a while, for those who haven't this may be new information, so hang in there for their sake. Accounts Payable is the account automatically created by QuickBooks when you enter your first bill. This is the account that all these amounts go into and from which these same amounts are taken when you pay the bill. More often than not, the clients I see for the first time have a negative balance in the A/P and cannot explain why, nor do they know what to do with it.A negative balance in the A/P would indicate that YOU owe your vendor money, and though there are legitimate reasons why you would give a credit to a vendor, a refund for extra material sent, etc., most of the time it is the result of a simple mistake. That mistake is the entering of a payment to a vendor without entering the bill that the payment should apply to. This happens when the data entry clerk is not using the Enter Bills/Pay Bills screens and is simply entering the amounts paid into the check register. Since there is no corresponding bill, (according to QuickBooks) the amount of the check is entered as a credit toward the vendor specified.Likewise, a negative balance in the A/R indicates that there are customers that your company owes money to. And again, there are legitimate reasons you would credit a customer, but often it is a mistake. The mistake that is made is that a customer payment is recorded without a corresponding invoice being recorded. If the invoice isn't recorded, then according to QuickBooks, this customer doesn't owe you anything, upon receiving the payment and recording it, you now have a customer you owe money to, but not really.NOW HOW DO I FIX IT?As with all questions related to accounting, the answer is, "that depends". If these are current mistakes and the bank accounts have not been reconciled as of yet, the method of correction is easy. For the A/P, look for the Pay Bills and enter in the same check number that you used earlier and pay the bill in that screen. The little 'oh-oh' screen will pop up telling you that this check number is already used, ignore it and use that number anyway. When you are done with all of these entries, return to the register and look for those identical check numbers, the ones entered correctly will have BILLPMT in the box below the check number, delete the one without that designation and you will have completed the task. Fixing the A/R is not much different, (assuming that the reconciliations have not been completed!) enter an invoice dating back to the time of the payment received for whatever that customer ordered. The invoice will counter the credit received and will bring the balance out of the negative to zero, unless the customer of course, still owes you for work done.WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS RECONCILED?If the negative balances date back into months that have been previously been reconciled and the bank statements and QuickBooks match, deleting these payments by customers and reentering them applying them to invoices will throw off all reconciliations for the rest of the year. You will then have to re-reconcile the bank accounts and that can be tedious.For A/P corrections after reconciliations, DO NOT DELETE THE BILLS! We have to be a little creative with this so here goes. First, create a fake bank account; call it Adjustment Bank or First Bank of David, whatever you wish. Go to the Pay Bills screen and use the fake bank account to pay the bills you are sure have already been paid.Once you have completed the entries, make a fake deposit from an account called adjustment into the fake bank account for that same amount of the already paid bills. This effectively zeroes out the bank account, which you can then make inactive.For A/R corrections after reconciliations, since the amounts have already been received and deposited into the right bank account that has already been reconciled, simply entering in matching invoices to compensate for the received funds will not affect the bank account, and thus will not affect the reconciliations already done. Just make sure to tie out the payment to the invoice number you create by using the invoice number in the payment memo box. Since the amount won't change you won't have to worry about affecting the reconciled transactions.CONCLUSIONAdmittedly, this is not the ideal solution, and if you only have a few of these transactions and it won't require an entire year of re-reconciliations, you should do it the long way. However, this way gets you done sooner and let's you get on with the day to day business you love to do. I hope this helps you with your QuickBooks issues.David Roberts, CFE, CQBPA, MBA, lives in Kissimmee, Florida with four girls, three dogs, two snakes and one wife. He has been a member of the ACFE for five years and has been studying fraud for longer than that. He is the owner of Homesoon Accounting Services which specializes in Quickbooks Consultations and Fraud Prevention and Detection.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_S_Roberts