
What Is a Reversing Journal Entry And How to Enter it in QBO?
Journal entries can be perplexing for small business owners/non accountants, or accountants/bookkeepers in the early stages of their careers. Reversing journal entries, sound even more complicated.
In this post (and related video tutorial), my goal is to show you that they are relatively straightforward and, once understood, an incredibly useful bookkeeping tool.

Customize Your QBO Reports to Improve Your Bottom Line and Save Time
One of the most powerful features of QuickBooks Online (QBO) is the ability to customize reports. There are a variety of ways in which you can go from a basic financial report to one that gives you insights that can then easily be reviewed or shared with your accountant and/or stakeholders. Perhaps more importantly, the ability to customize your reports can have a direct impact on your bottom line.

What Are Bank Reconciliations and Why Every Business Should Do Them
Many small business and self employed owners take on the responsibility of doing their own accounting. You may do all of your own accounting from set up to preparing your own small business tax return OR you may have an accountant who simply takes care of your year end and tax reporting. Accounting software has made doing your own accounting much simpler and allows for most business owners to do it, regardless of whether they have some sort of accounting background. There is however a learning curve and certain accounting steps that not everyone is aware of and that are very important to ensure the accuracy of your books. One of these is are bank reconciliations.

3 Online Accounting Software Options for Small Business
As cloud computing becomes ubiquitous, the number of cloud based online accounting software options continues to grow. Many small business owners want a software that has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that allows them to bill customers, enter expenses, record bank transactions and generate financial statements and other reports,. We also want to be able to access the software from anywhere (you never know when the desire to do your accounting strikes!) and not be tied down to a specific location Below is a summary of 3 cost effective, multi functional alternatives :

3 Invoicing Options for Small Businesses and Freelancers
If you are running a business of any size, it is essential that you have a system in place that allows you to get paid. A system can range in sophistication from a handwritten receipt to a software generated invoice which is part of an entity wide CRM system. To meet this need there are countless invoicing solutions available and many billions of dollars are spent annually on setting up systems to meet each business’ unique needs.
Almost all accounting software geared to small business owners and freelancers have built-in invoicing modules that integrate with your accounting. This is very useful when doing your books as you don’t have to worry about entering your invoicing manually and it allows you to track your accounts receivable and deposits into your bank account. There are also invoicing solutions that are not full-fledged accounting systems; however they usually integrate with the more popular software.
Is Facebook’s Valuation Justified? A Comparison of Key Financial Metrics to Apple and Google
The recent release of Facebook's S-1, the financial filings that are required to be publicly available prior to filing an IPO, has created a media frenzy. The report has been dissected and analyzed extensively, financial news networks can’t seem to stop talking about it and it seems that people who have never heard of an IPO are discussing it, fittingly, on their Facebook pages. The most controversial issue, of course, is whether Facebook is actually worth $100 Billion.
Although Facebook is unique in its global reach and ubiquity, the starting point for any valuation is to compare it with similar businesses. I have chosen Apple and Google, given the similarity of their business models and their respective global dominance, to compare certain key metrics:
How to Update Wave Accounting for the 2012 QST Rate Increase
As of January 1st, 2012 the Quebec Sales Tax (QST Rate) which had gone up from 7.5% to 8.5% on January 1, 2011 will now increase to 9.5%. The effective sales tax in Quebec will go up from 13.925% to 14.975%. Since QST is calculated on the net amount + GST, the rate is not 14.5% but 14.975% . In other words the effective QST rate is 9.75%. Business owners will need to update their invoicing and accounting systems accordingly to ensure that the rate is properly reflected.
If you are using Wave Accounting, the update to the rates is fairly straightforward, with one little quirk. Since Wave, unlike Quickbooks, does not allow for the QST to be calculated on the GST, the effective rate has to entered manually. This is done as follows:
To update Quickbooks for the tax rate increase, please see “Updating Quickbooks for the 2011 QST Increase”. The procedure is essentially identical except for rates.

Quickbooks Online Banking: Setting Up, Deleting Matched Transactions and Manually Uploading Web Connect or Excel Files
Is Wave Accounting Software a Good Fit Your Small Business
5 Notable Disclosures in Groupon’s Financial Statements and What They Mean.
Since Groupon first submitted its S-1 filing in June, 2011, there has been a wave of negative sentiment around Groupon’s upcoming IPO. Many analysts believe that not only is Groupon not a good investment at the approximate $20 Billion + that its IPO’s initial share price will value it at, but is in fact on the brink of insolvency. They are also some that do not believe that, in the long run, Groupon’s business model is profitable .
In an effort to determine whether Groupon is in fact a raging buy or, as alternatively presented, on the verge of insolvency, I have undertaken an analysis of their latest S-1 , which was filed with the SEC on August 10, 2011. The document, which is required by all companies who want to file an initial public offering, comprehensively reviews its operations, long term viability, business risks (which are numerous) and its financial condition. Some of the more interesting discoveries, as they relate to the 6 months ending June 30, 2011, are presented below:
Apple Vs Google: Comparison of Quarterly Results (Infographic)
20 Interesting Financial Facts About Google
How to Update Quickbooks for the 2011 QST Rate Increase
Update: As of January 1st, 2012 the Quebec Sales Tax (QST Rate) which had gone up from 7.5% to 8.5% on January 1, 2011 will now increase to 9.5%. The effective sales tax in Quebec will go up from 13.925% to 14.975%. Since QST is calculated on the net amount + GST, the effective rate is actually 14.975% (and not 14.5%) . In other words the effective QST rate is 9.975%. The instructions below are equally applicable, except the new QST rate to enter is 9.5%.
On January 1st, 2011, Revenue Quebec will be increasing the QST rate to 8.5% (yay!), bringing the effective rate of QST to 8.925% andtotal sales taxes (GST and QST) to 13.925% (since the QST is actually charged on the net price + GST.) This will impact anyone who charges QST including small businesses and self employed individuals, and invoicing software and processes should be updated to reflect the change. Suffice it to say that there are no major changes in the application of the rates. For those of you using Quickbooks you will need to update the QST being charged on both sales and purchases.