Accounting is a process of sorting financial data. Through sorting the data, the accounting process creates products. The products are reports. These reports are useful to the management team, business owners and shareholders or investors. The reports also play a pretty vital role in helping your accountant file your taxes.
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How to Increase Your Revenue /
The funny thing about money is that it’s an artificially limited resource controlled by The Federal Reserve. The Fed tries to manipulate our economy by changing the amount of money in circulation, the money supply. It’s not a precious metal or non renewable resource and it’s not backed by gold. It’s printed on a machine. Most transactions these days aren’t even done in printed cash, they happen through bits and bytes and binary codes going from one bank server to another.
Read MoreHow to Tell If Your Business Is Doing Well /
You don’t need to do a lot of digging to determine whether or not your business is doing well. You can feel it by just observing the day to day operations. When you’re able to pay all your bills, pay yourself and your employees and you have money left over in your business, it’s pretty obvious that things are going pretty swimmingly.
But instead of flying by the seat of your pants or letting your socials statistics determine the health of your company, let’s observe some factors that will allow actually you to determine the health of your business. There are a variety of measurements to choose from. They range from simple observations to more complex ratios.
Read MoreWhat Is a (Business) Line of Credit? /
Lately I’ve been working with a lot of small businesses that are growing rapidly. It’s awesome to watch this unfold, but one thing I’m learning quickly is growth comes has a cost. Whether you’re selling products, providing a service or manufacturing something, in order to grow, you need to invest in the business.
As I’m sure you’re painfully aware, business doesn’t happen in a neat timeline. Cash flow timing issues are very real. For example, there’s the furniture designer who is bringing on more staff, expanding to be a bigger storefront and signing new accounts. There’s the retailer who needs to make a purchase from the manufacturing company and the larger order comes at the best price. And then there’s wedding photographer who needs to pay her tax bill during the slow season. A line of credit may be an option to help bridge the gap.
Read MoreHow Your Invoicing Impacts Your Cash Flow /
I've worked in financial service since I was in college. In fact, my very first job was as a collections agent for a big, evil bank. For four hours a day, five days a week, I'd sit in a call center in suburban Southern California with a fugly headset on, connected to an automatic dialer. I would speak to people who were past due (bank speak for late on making a payment) on their auto loans. The majority of the time the person on the other end of the line just spaced and forgot to make their payment.
The bank had entire department dedicated to closing the gap between revenue that was owed to them (AKA receivables) and cash. The gap is entirely created because of how, when or if a customer will pay their bill or invoice. As a small business owner, you probably experience the drawbacks of this gap like not being able to pay your vendors or yourself or your other bills. But there are things you can do to help minimize the gap. This is called managing your cash inflow.
Read MoreHow to Price Your Services /
If you work for yourself or dream of working for yourself, I'm sure one of the motivating factors is to make a profit. Making a profit can depend on a lot of different factors. Some of those factors are outside of your control like the market and the competition. You can move the needle on other factors like leadership, management, location and the number of locations. But one of the most important factors that have a direct impact on your profit is pricing. Pricing is how much you charge for your service.
Read MoreHow to Earn Money /
Whether you're in business for yourself or working for the man, the woman or the big faceless corporation, the principles of how to earn money are the same. Understanding these principles and applying them consistently are key. Progress comes from consistency.
Read MoreHow to Get Out (and Stay Out) of Tax Debt /
If you owe taxes to the IRS, but you don’t have the money to pay them, it can be an overwhelming feeling. That sucks. But the good news is, you can totally come up with a plan to pay it off. The IRS is good like that. As scary as their certified mail notices can be, they definitely want you to be able to settle up with them.
Read MorePayroll 101: What Is Payroll? /
I scream, you scream, we all scream for payroll!
If you're an employee who has ever gotten a paycheck, getting paid is a pretty awesome feeling. As an employer, payroll is pretty damn costly. It tends to be the biggest expense for most businesses and not just because of the actual cost of salaries. There are taxes too. Payroll can have complexity and any missteps may cost you. According to an IRS report, roughly 40% of small businesses incur an average of $845 per year in IRS penalties for errors with payroll tax filings and payments.
Read MoreThe Minimalist Guide to Finances: Tidying Up Your Finances /
Ladies, gentlemen, non-binary friends and humans of all identities, yes you can tidy up your finances. Sí se puede, guys. Trust me. And once it's there, it's all about maintenance. Getting there could require some effort and energy, but it's worth it. Gone will be the days of you expending mental bandwidth thinking about an old 401(k) account you know you should rollover but you haven't.
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