10 Tips to Help you Keep More Cash in Your Business
One of the biggest challenges for many small business owners, particularly in the initial and growth stage, is ensuring that they maintain sufficient cash flow. Many businesses with great potential have suffered an untimely demise due to their inability to pay their suppliers, employees and revenue agencies. In many cases, this can be prevented through a better understanding of your small business’ cash flow requirements and making sure that you implement relevant processes that can handle cash flow issues as they arise.
Should You Do Your Own Small Business Accounting?
Any potential business owner knows that there are some many facets to starting a small business that it is easy to be overwhelmed . Consequently we tend to focus on what is immediately important while we let some of the more technical aspects of our business be deferred until we can no longer avoid them . One of the often overlooked aspects of business is accounting, which arguably (I’m a bit biased) is one of the most important parts of running a business as a good accounting system will let you know if you are financial viable. While many business owners can cobble together a sense of their financial situation through (as a former boss of mine used to say)” back of the envelope” calculations and reviewing their bank balances, there is still a need for an accounting system which at its core can validate your calculations and provide you with data to ensure that your business is going in the right direction
4 Accounting Transactions that Use Journal Entries and How to Enter them in QBO
Accounting software has come a long way in the past few years. Although a good bookkeeper can be invaluable, It has become fairly easy for business owners and their support staff to take on the responsibility of entering day to day transactions while they employ accountants for the more complex aspects of their accounting and tax. While entering the majority of transactions in software, such as Quickbooks Online is fairly straightforward, there are transactions that require somewhat special treatment discussed below:
19 Features to Consider When Selecting Small Business Accounting Software
A good accounting software can be an invaluable tool for businesses. Before choosing an accounting software it helps to have a detailed understanding of what your accounting system can do for you . This involves analysing the key aspects of your business, determining what is essential (eg. invoicing, expenses, banking, reports) and what you would like to have (eg. time tracking, credit card payments, banking downloads etc.). By reviewing your requirements in advance and building a checklist, you can make a better decision about something that goes to the very foundation of your business. Below are some important features to consider:
How To Close Your Year End (or Period End)in QBO
Doing your own accounting in accounting software such as QuickBooks Online (QBO) is relatively straightforward especially if you have set up your QBO file optimally. You periodically enter invoices, expenses, bills and allocate transactions from the banking download. And while QBO is designed for non accountants, it is also equally appreciated by many accountants for its simplicity and user friendliness (although, as with any software product, there are grievances).
There does come a point, however, when you might notice that some things don’t look right. The bank balance or credit card balance might not match to the QuickBooks balance or your income and/or expenses might seem much too high or inconsistent with previous years. The solution to identifying and fixing these discrepancies is to perform what accountants refer to as year end (or month end) closing procedures, that if done properly, should correct any discrepancies that crop up. The ultimate goal of closing the books monthly or annually is to ensure that you can rely on the integrity of your data.
Why a Separate Bank Account is Essential for Your Small Business
If you are self employed or a small business owner taking care of your own accounting and business finances, you have probably discovered that this can be time consuming and occasionally frustrating. It can sometimes be difficult to know if you are doing things correctly. Consequently, you procrastinate, which makes things worse at year end or tax time. To combat the problem it is important to have tools in place to facilitate the process and make it less painful, which could include accounting software and/or a bookkeeper as well as a good organization system for your documents, whether you have a paperless office or a manual filing system. Another very simple measure that you can take is to have a separate bank and credit card account for your business.
10 Year End Financial and Tax Tips for Your Small Business
As the end of the year approaches, some of us find ourselves overwhelmed by top 10 lists, the shopping masses and endless renditions of Christmas Music. Businesses tend to experience a slowdown, which makes it the perfect time for small business owners to take a closer look at their overall business, financial and tax situation. When you are not buying gifts for your customers, family and friends, a review and analysis of your business will allow you to optimize your current financial situation, implement some beneficial changes that can help avoid last minute tax preparation stress and also prepare for the future.
How The CRA AII Program Increases the Tax Deduction for Computers and Other Fixed Assets
In the fall of 2018, the federal government decided to introduce a tax incentive called the Accelerated Investment Incentive (AII). The purpose of this program was to stimulate business investment by increasing the amount of capital cost allowance (CCA) on depreciable property (the terminology, sadly, is a bit less stimulating). In layman’s terms, it means you could claim a higher amount of depreciation on assets such as computer, equipment, furniture etc, in the year of purchase, thereby reducing your taxes in the short term.
9 Tips for Building a Sales Forecast
Having a dynamic, regularly updated sales forecast can be essential to the success of a small business. By forecasting your sales revenue you are helping to control for its unpredictability, an inherent risk in any business venture, and prepare for the decisions that are essential to your business profitability. Whether your sales are increasing, decreasing or static, it is always better when decisions are made proactively rather than reactively.
Building your small business sales forecast can be as simple as you want it to be and does not require an accounting degree , particularly when your business is in the early and/or startup stages. Below are some tips to help you create your sales forecast: