There are many skills an organization has to master to succeed in today’s climate, but few provide a competitive edge like the ability to hire fast and effectively.

Particularly today, with the lowest U.S. unemployment rate in 50 years, knowing how to locate and hire the best people can be the difference between success and failure.

Increasingly, there are more accounting jobs than there are great accountants to fill them. NewYorkJobs.com lists almost 10,000 accounting openings in New York alone! That’s why most companies get by as long as they can before having to hire a full-time accountant. And all good business owners know (or learn quickly!) that they should only bring on an employee when all other avenues no longer work.

Let’s assume, though, you’ve done everything you can do to keep your accounting simple so that you can manage it yourself, and the time has come that you absolutely have to hire an accountant. Or maybe you already have an accounting department and just need to expand.

What’s the most cost-effective way to find great accounting candidates?

Keep the Ones You Have!

One word before we talk about finding new employees. It’s vastly more difficult to find someone new, bring them in, train them, and bring them up to speed than it is to not lose them in the first place. Do all you can to keep your employees happy, and you’ll find yourself having to go through the hiring process much less often.

There is a number of ways to make sure your employees continue to enjoy their work, but they all ultimately boil down to two things.

Make the Work Meaningful

Everyone, ultimately, is looking for meaning. Your employees want to feel like their work matters, and they want to understand how it fits into the larger picture of the organization. Keep them in the loop on things. Communicate with them. Make sure they know that you’re available to talk — about anything. Recognize them early and often when their work is a contributing factor to the company’s success.

Make Them Feel Human

Very few people like to feel like nothing more than a cog in the machine. Let them know that you see them first as people with lives — people who exist for far more than work. Provide as much flexibility as you can so that they can work their work around their lives, rather than the other way around. The less work interferes with their lives — the more they feel valued — the more likely they’ll be to stick around.

Write a Great Job Description

You either create an environment where no one ever wants to leave (leading to your business continuing to grow) or an environment where employee turnover is high. In either case, you eventually find yourself needing to hire. The first step is drafting a great job description.

A quick Google search will provide you several days’ worth of reading on how to write a job description that gets results, and it’s critical to spend as much time as you need really getting this step right. The job description will be the first impression of your opportunity that a candidate has and if it’s not great, it might be the only impression you get.

Remember: Your candidate may have thousands of other opportunities. Yours has to stand out.

When writing the job description, imagine you have 60 seconds to sell an individual on why they should consider your opportunity. Think about what they want to know, and think about how they want to hear it. Facts alone won’t do it, but a pure sales job without any facts won’t either. Put yourself in their position. What would get you to apply for the job?

Once you’re done with the job description, run it by other people who are similar to the candidate you hope to hire and use their feedback to revise what you’ve written. Continue that review-and-rewrite process until you feel great about what you have.

Post the Job for Free

Now that you have a great job description, it’s time to get it in front of candidates. While there are countless websites offering paid posting opportunities, there are two free ones that might be all you need.

Indeed

Indeed is far and one of the most-visited job search websites in the U.S., and it’s completely free to post your job there.

From the Indeed homepage, just click the “Employers / Post Job” link at the top right corner of the page and follow the prompts. It’s very straightforward and easy to do.

Important note: Resist the urge to get cute with your job title. Candidates don’t want to have to guess when looking at job titles and might skip your job altogether if you use something like “ASC 740 Tax Ninja”. Displaying some personality in the job description is perfectly fine, but keep your job title clear, concise, and informative: e.g. “CPA with ASC 740/FAS 109 Experience”.

Indeed does offer paid options to increase your job’s visibility when candidates are searching, but definitely try out the free version first. You might get all you need without spending anything at all, and you can always decide to boost the job later if you find you aren’t getting the candidates you need. Managing your spend can be challenging, so there’s no need to spend time figuring that out if you don’t have to.

Facebook

Job postings on Facebook haven’t been around long, but they offer some distinct advantages.

For one, they’re free like Indeed. For another, they’re attached to your business page so that Facebook users who have already “Liked” your page will automatically see your job postings — people who would be much more likely to consider the opening you have. (There are also options for posting as an individual if you don’t have a business page.)

But the biggest advantage may be that posting on Facebook automatically gets your job into Google for Jobs.

Try a job-related search on Google (e.g. CPA jobs in Boston) and notice the search results. See that large block of jobs at the top of the results? Those jobs come from Google’s own collection of job postings culled from sites all over the web — from major job sites like CareerBuilder to individual employer websites.

(The major exception is Indeed. They do not syndicate their jobs to Google for Jobs, so that’s why it’s important to post with Indeed directly.)

For years now, the majority of job seekers have started their job search at Google. So if your job isn’t there, you’re missing out on great visibility.

All of the job sites that syndicate to Google for Jobs require payment for posting, but Facebook is a notable exception. Posting your job on Facebook means that your job also shows up on Google for Jobs, so it’s a great two-for-one deal — and it’s free!

Conclusion

All growing companies need to hire at some point. Don’t bring on employees before you have to, but when the time comes that you do need to hire an accountant, there’s no need to pay for it, even in a tough labor market. There are outstanding free alternatives, so explore those routes first and save your money for better things!

The post How to Find Great Accounting Candidates – Free! appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

Billions of smartphones with capabilities heretofore seen only in sci-fi movies have entered the mainstream, and customers are engaging with businesses in new and unexpected ways. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still in its infancy but is advancing rapidly.

The companies that will thrive are those that recognize the speed and urgency of this new digital disruption, retool their business processes and retrain their workforce.

Global Trends favor automation

Today, business increasingly takes place all over the globe, 24×7, and on mobile devices. Global trends strongly favor companies that have embraced automation. These companies realize that they must have the ability to react to customer demands and rapidly take advantage of new business opportunities. They must continuously analyze their customer data and improve their processes based on that knowledge. Cutting edge organizations are starting to explore and deploy new technologies like business analytics and artificial intelligence.

Accounting Departments need to be ready

These trends will have an enormous impact on finance and accounting departments, their processes and the everyday work that their employees do. The accounting software market is estimated to reach $11.8B by 2026 and clients are increasingly more demanding of accounting firms. Accounting teams know that they must change and deliver solutions with intelligence (AI) to mine their data and improve their processes.

If your accounting department still runs on Excel spreadsheets with the inevitable workarounds, you don’t even have access to your most important asset – your business data. Without digital data, you can’t mine it, make decisions based on it, improve compliance, or learn from it.unprecedented speed to meet the demands of the modern enterprise.

Is your accounting team maximizing its potential for the 21st century?

Here are some trends we’re already seeing and suggestions for how you can use them to maximize your team’s potential.

Public Cloud is mainstream

The trend towards cloud-based solutions is accelerating. In finance, cloud-based vendors like Freshbooks and Quickbooks have seen rapid adoption and growth. The trend shows no sign of slowing down – investments in cloud computing are expected to grow by 50% over the next 4 years.

The fact is, cloud vendors, invest far more into security and reliability than the vast majority of in-house I.T. teams. Cloud technology has now matured to the point where your data is likely to be more secure and your systems more likely to be available and updated than on-premise solutions.

But it goes beyond safety – cloud accounting enables teams to become much more flexible. When your accounting department is no longer tethered to their desktop, this opens up a doorway of potential for remote working. A recent study from Gallup shows that remote work can increase employee engagement compared to those who don’t provide the option at all.

Automation Isn’t Coming: It’s Here

Accounting automation empowers your team to focus on what they do best and minimizes time wasted on handling paperwork and communication.

Does this mean your finance department will be replaced by robots? In short, No. Automation increases speed, reduces data entry and improves data quality – in short, it removes the drudgery in accounting and gives your team access to information in real-time. But, it’s the human accountants who can now interpret this information faster and provide important business insights.

Take a look at what your employees do every single day – things like your purchasing, sales or internal reimbursement processes. Are these still reliant on Excel or worse, paper forms and email? If so, the first step is digitizing these basic processes.

With manual processes, employees waste time tracking down their approval processes, following up with a manager or VP, and perhaps delaying a critical purchase. Need a signature? It often means printing a form, signing it and scanning it back so it can be emailed on. Errors and omissions mean more time wasted on corrections and unnecessary back-and-forth.

Worst of all, without digital access to your business data, your finance team is already behind the eight balls. How can they provide the business insights you need if they’re busy taking care of the paperwork?

The good news: modern, visual, workflow software makes automating everyday accounting processes easy and affordable.

Automation brings other benefits beyond efficiency – it enables teams to formalize processes. This, in turn, provides teams with:

• Legal protection in case of financial audits
• More efficient communication and collaboration.

Automation is here to empower accountants, not replace them. It enables you to run your department smarter instead of harder.

Blockchain is on the rise

Many people automatically associate blockchain to cryptocurrency, and although crypto works with blockchain technology, the blockchain itself is much more than that.

Blockchain is essentially an electronic notary public. It allows multiple participants to write their transactions into a single ledger. Each transaction is electronically timestamped, verified and distributed so that there is no chance of destroying or manipulating it. Using blockchain, companies no longer need to maintain separate ledgers that must be reconciled and verified by auditors.

For accountants, this means speedier and safer transactions, as well as a more transparent approach to transactions between parties. It’s even possible for an invoice to be automatically paid Auditors and can verify large amounts of data in a short time. The costs of regulatory compliance are sharply reduced.

Does this mean blockchain will replace accountants? No, but the blockchain is already changing the way accountants work. You don’t need to understand the gory details of the technology but you should understand how you can use it to your company’s advantage.

Machine Learning enables Enhanced Data Analysis

“Data is the new oil” – CEOs everywhere.

Your proprietary business data is your most valuable asset. It goes without saying that your data must be digital. So, the first step is automation, which we’ve discussed above. Without that, you don’t have access to your most valuable asset.

Once your business data is electronic, your finance team can analyze and interpret it in near real-time and use it to rapidly provide actionable business insights. That’s a significant competitive advantage.

Advances in Machine Learning (ML) raise the stakes even higher. ML essentially “learns” by analyzing historical data, and then builds a predictive neural net (model) that can make smarter decisions in the future. New technologies like AutoML are making it easier to build these models so they’re no longer the province of experienced data scientists.

ML models get better as the volume of data increases and, of course, they can only work with digital data. It’s particularly crucial in the finance & accounting industries which are extremely data-intensive – think for example about car loans.

Compliance is changing rapidly

Managing compliance and regulatory risk used to be the province of lawyers – primarily a reactive task. With the right mix of technology and digital data, compliance is now much more data-driven.

While still in its infancy in the compliance realm, we see this in the financial services industry where computers check huge volumes of transactions instantly to detect fraud and red flag suspicious ones. They’re really correlating data sets to red flag events, not making actual decisions.

In the near future, we’re likely to see compliance evolve to where an automated decision support system powered by AI and blockchain-based transactions can provide a near real-time, 360-degree view of the company’s regulatory status.

What does it mean for accounting? It means less time spent on tedious screening and more time focusing on decision making, addressing strategic compliance issues and, most importantly, ethics. After all, compliance is really about ethics and that’s likely to remain the province of humans for the foreseeable future.

Conclusion

Like every field, accounting is changing rapidly. At first glance, it may seem like the machines are coming for your accounting department.

But it’s quite the opposite – human accountants will always be important. In fact, all of these trends, from blockchain to the cloud to automation software, empower your accountants to become more human than ever.

Think of it this way – doesn’t repetitive data entry sound like a machine’s job? Is manually copying information from one system to another the best use of your accounting department’s time? Or, would you rather spend time on providing valuable insights based on predictive machine learning models and helping to create a responsible and ethical environment that’s naturally compliant.

The post Is Your Accounting Department Optimized For the 21st Century? appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

Every business owner who wants to play it by the rules knows that the end of the year is an excruciating period. There are many accounting bases to cover in order to keep your finances in order. This is extremely important for two major reasons.

On the one hand, the tax authorities will conduct a thorough analysis to see whether your financial reports and the details of the tax return match.

On the other, it’s imperative to do your accounting homework for the benefit of your own business management in the future.

So, here are some helpful accounting guidelines for the end-of-the-year reports

Ironing out the bank statements

If you’re using one or more accounting software tools, there might be some differences between the software tracking and your bank accounts.

These discrepancies can become a significant issue at the end of the fiscal year for several reasons.

For starters, you won’t be able to identify the exact amount of money you can count on for your future investments. This lack of accurate data could lead to making a bad business plan for the next business year.

Further, not ironing out your bank statements might keep some unpaid invoices or uncashed checks concealed from you.

Finally, you could get penalized by the tax authorities if you fail to provide the exact data regarding your accounts and books.

Most modern software bookkeeping tools can be easily connected with your bank accounts. These options will simplify the entire process of reconciling your bank statements and keeping them in order all year long.

Evaluating your inventory assets

The end of the fiscal year is the right time to ask for tax deductions. Still, you’re not eligible to file an official deduction request if you don’t list the deductible items.

Because of that, it’s crucial to evaluate your inventory at the end of the year.

Every single asset you’re using loses the value of a course of time. These value drops can be used to get deductions. For instance, if your computer is long in the tooth, you could get some tax benefits for that matter.

That’s why you should first conduct a stock-take analysis. After you’ve noted down all the items you have in your office, you’ll be able to see how many of them don’t have any market value anymore. If a business item or device is outdated and can’t be resold, you have the right to demand additional tax deductions.

Apart from that, it’s good to get familiar with the condition of your inventory so as to make a plan for getting new equipment and software tools. These items can take a substantial part of your budget for the following year, so make sure to check your inventory on time.

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Delving into the unpaid invoices

Being tolerant towards later payers is an integral part of every business management. Still, this tolerance should never be applied to all your clients and all their payments. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: You can wait for some people to pay you for some time, but you can’t wait for them all the time.

If you don’t take a plunge into the unpaid invoices and late payments before the year ends, your books will be a real mess.

In order to avoid this havoc, think about using automatic reminders for late payers. For instance, you can schedule these messages to be sent once a week. This will yield a two-fold benefit: you won’t have to contact each and every late payer manually, and your financial books will be kept in order.

Also, one of the ways the invoicing and payment process is to start using online invoices as much as possible. These forms will make payment easier for both entrepreneurs and their clients.

What you need to be aware of is the fact that some clients won’t pay you in spite of these automatic reminders. In that case, you can write off one part of those debts – for instance, minor sums that aren’t worth wasting time on chasing those clients – or schedule those payments for the following year. That way you’ll realize what assets you’ve got at your disposal and which ones you can count on for your new business budget.

Tracking your expenses

Every balance sheet needs to contain accounts payable and accounts receivable. While we’ve discussed the latter in the previous paragraphs, it’s also important to take care of your accounts payable, i.e. the expenses your business has in one year.

The most practical thing to do if you want to keep those expenses under control is to conduct monthly analyses.

However, if you don’t manage to write down and calculate your expenses as time goes by, you can still save the day with some simple steps.

First and foremost, put together all the bills and checks you received from your suppliers and vendors. You can use a plethora of apps to record your receipts and later categorize them in accordance with your needs. For instance, you can group them by vendors that issued them, by dates, by amounts of money, etc.

Another great advantage of these software tools is that you can just take photos of your bills or simply scan them and add them to your accounting tool(s). However, throwing away the printed bills and checks isn’t a good idea, because some tax authorities might want to take a look at those tangible documents.

What’s also important when you’re categorizing your expenses is to separate the business-induced expenses, since some of them are tax deductible. In addition to the abovementioned office equipment that has no resell value, you can also claim tax deductions on tickets for business trips and events, as well as any other core business cost.

Conclusion

When you’re getting ready for the end of the financial year, it’s important to leave no stone unturned when it comes to your annual reports. From your payments and inventory items to bank statements and unpaid invoices, it’s important to put all these features in order and keep your small business organized. By doing so, you’ll thoroughly prepare your business for the new fiscal year and meet the demands of the tax authorities when it comes to proper bookkeeping.

The post How to Keep Your Books in Order at the End of Fiscal Year appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

According to a survey stat shared on www.waspbarcode.com, only 40% small entrepreneurs feel that they are aware of business accounting. Being a successful business owner and running a trade takes years of expertise, well-adopted strategies, and organized mindset. You cannot expect your business to run smoothly if productivity gets hampered or in case there’re accounting loopholes. This is where the significance of a good accounting practice comes into play.

As far as statistics are concerned, according to www.statista.com, the accounting, payroll and tax preparation industry in this year is estimated to generate about 156 Billion U.S. dollars.

This is pretty evident that the bookkeeping industry is pretty progressive and one can rely on its expertise. But you still need to have a fair knowledge of accounting, based on your business model. Self-awareness is the most effective tools when it comes to managing business accounts seamlessly.

Well, if you are wondering how you can help your business sail smooth, then consider following these accounting habits.

1) Manage all major expenditure separately

Create a separate fund for office repairing, product maintenance, office supply materials, inventory expenses and the likes.  This will help you maintain the books of account in a smart and better way. Since major expenses are the ones that are of biggest priority, prioritizing this aspect is a sign of good bookkeeping.

2) Prepare yourself for expenses related to tax

There can be no debate on this matter that paying tax is a mandatory practice. It is to be followed by each and every business house. Thus, it is also quite evident that the amount of tax to be paid at the end of the year is supposed to be kept aside separately, so that paying the taxable amount doesn’t prove to be a challenging or intricate task for the business owner. A well-planned preparation along with the availability of enough funds to pay all taxes seamlessly is something which is absolutely essential for healthy bookkeeping.

3) Consider bank reconciliation periodically

Bank reconciliation is one of the most important practices to be considered when it comes to bookkeeping. Always keep track of your bank account and see whether it matches the amount recorded in the book. Consider reconciling your bank statements every month so that there remains no chance of any discrepancy in the long run.

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4) Self-Auditing is always effective

You can measure all your accounting loopholes and minor errors by considering to run a self-audit before anything else. Sit with your book of records once in a while, look through the entries made and figure out if anything is missing. This will help you prevent your business from any major discrepancy and accounting setbacks. Before consulting experts and seeking professional help, self-audit is any day a recommended practice.

5) Never mix personal and business related transactions

If especially you have a small business, then this perhaps is one of the most vital points to be considered. If you maintain a single entry for both personal and business finances, then things would be quite confusing. You might find it difficult to differentiate one from the other in case of any urgent requirements. Thus, it is advised to maintain separate accounts for personal and business finances with in-depth paperwork and clarifications. Opening a separate bank account for your business is something that can help you effectively in this matter.

6) Review your capital expenditure from time to time

It’s imperative that you should always focus on reviewing capital expenditure from time to time. As stated in www.business-case-analysis.com all expensive equipment and capital assets are budgeted and planned via a capital review process. Thus, it can help the company to determine its capital budget effectively, without being subjected to any discrepancy. So, you can opt for this technique for a better flow of business and a more organized bookkeeping process.

7) Refrain from keeping bills unpaid

Whether it’s a credit charge or late fees, ignoring and keeping them unpaid isn’t a wise bookkeeping practice. Even if there’s a sudden crunch or a situation where your business isn’t sailing smooth, never ignore paying bills. It would only result in overdue amounts in the long run. This, as a result, will make you clear all unpaid amounts with extra rate of interest and added charges. A huge bill amount with added charges and interest is always difficult for an individual to deal with. Thus, choose to be safe than sorry, and keep clearing your bills from time to time.

8) Opt for data analytics

Data analytics is certainly one of the major advancements, which have occurred in the recent days. When it comes to accounting and bookkeeping, the application of data analytics has a major role to play. From enhancing your financial report to detecting fake entries, it has several benefits. Techniques like continuous auditing and monitoring help in dealing with risks more effectively. Since the application of data analytics is more organized and systematic, bookkeeping priorities can be seamlessly taken care of.

9) Don’t get involved in over-classification

You may tend to get involved in over categorizing items and every other accounting detail at times. For considering separate accounts for all office supplies such as printers, whiteboards, water filters can create confusions. If you choose to include all items in a single list, that would be a smarter way to segregate things. The idea is to keep bookkeeping simple and less complicated from every aspect.

10) Always check and verify the last recorded set of accounts

If you have an accountant or in case you manage finances on your own, verifying the last set of accounts is recommended in either of the cases. It will help you keep track of all proceedings without missing out on any vital point. Reviewing the last set of accounts will always help you to manage the current one in a better way. If there’s a need to review your last set of accounts, then a properly maintained book will always be helpful. It can assist you in fetching quick references without any confusion or major discrepancy.

11) Be choosy about hiring bookkeeping experts

If you are planning to rope in bookkeeping experts to handle all essentials, then be a bit choosy in this matter. It is suggested that one must always do a thorough background before hiring a professional. It is important for you to know whether the expert is genuinely experienced. Failing to rope in a helpful and experienced bookkeeping expert might fetch trouble for your business.

12) Prepare profit and loss statements every month

It’s your responsibility to keep track and make sure if the trade is generating profit or suffering a loss. You can prepare and maintain a monthly report in order to manage such things effectively. It will help you monitor the entire scenario and prepare agendas accordingly.

Conclusion

Thus, to end with, it is to be stated that bookkeeping has always been an integral part of every business. If an individual lacks such finance management proficiency, then the business will be affected in the long run. So, a combination of self-knowledge, bookkeeping techniques and taking a look at such informative suggestions are always helpful.

Revenue generation isn’t the only thing that the business owners should concentrate on. They should also concentrate on maintaining a proper book of accounts. So, improve your bookkeeping skills and experience a prosperous business year ahead.

book of accounts. So, improve your bookkeeping skills and experience a prosperous business year ahead.

The post 12 Incredibly Effective Bookkeeping Tips for Small Businesses appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

When starting your own business venture, hiring an accountant will not be at the top of your list. It probably won’t make it into the top 50 things you want to do first either. However, this oversight can cause you some serious hardship down the line, once your business truly takes off.

It is by no means easy to find an accountant. Especially if you are not quite sure what kinds of accounting services you actually need. You don’t need to overcomplicate things and impose complex procedures and reporting systems. All you need is one reliable accountant, who will be there to ensure you have the time to focus on other things, while they keep an eye on the money.

Vetting potential candidates can by mind-bogglingly difficult if you don’t know anything about accounting and taxes. Especially in the business world. Here are five of the questions to ask prospective candidates. They will ensure a smooth ride after the contract has been signed.

1) What is the best way for an accountant to contact you?

This might not be the first question that comes to mind – it might not occur to you at all. However, it is important to agree on communication channels right at the start of your journey together. As tax season approaches, most accountants will enter overload mode. So it may be difficult to get a hold of them out of the blue, as you are most likely not their only client.

In order to avoid any potential communication mismatches, make it clear from the start how often do you need to meet in person, how often do you need to have a call or a video conference, and most importantly – how will they have access to your financial papers. Are you faxing them over or do you have a messenger running back and forth? Do they come into your office to pick them up themselves? Do they have an emergency contact number, in case you have a question that needs a quick answer?

Having all of these systems in place will ensure nothing falls through the cracks, simply because either party was not kept in the loop or notified on time.

2) What services do you offer?

This one will likely be at the top of your list too.

When talking about accounting services, we most often think of taxes. And while having someone on board who will deal with every businessman’s nightmare is key – that is not nearly all they can help you with.

Before you even start looking for an accountant, write down what types of services you are looking for, apart from the obvious tax issue. Consider things like virtual assistants and virtual offices. Bookkeeping services are also something you will likely be going for. Do you need help with registering your company? Or are you perhaps looking for someone who can connect you with investors and financial backers? Do you also need legal counsel, and do you want your accountant to provide it? Are you perhaps looking for a mentor in the finance world?

Now that you have all of this on paper, you can start looking for an accountant or an agency who ticks all or most of these boxes. Make sure to also ask them if they have any special packages. Or if they would suggest a service you haven’t thought of.

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3) What is your experience in my industry?

Not all accountants are created equal.

Despite the quite cheesy line above, you will have realized yourself that you need to find an accountant whose services are tailored to your industry. If you are a Silicon Valley startup, you hardly need someone who works with uptown restaurants. If you are not overly specialized, you can go to an accountant with broad enough experience to cover your needs. Still, working with someone who has worked with similar companies before will give you the edge of having some experience on your team. They will be able to foresee potential pitfalls you may still be blind to.

4) Who will be handling my accounts?

If you decide to work with a company, you should know who the person who will actually be doing the number crunching on your behalf. Some accountancy firms have client liaisons who communicate with clients, while not doing the actual work. Or you may simply interview one person, and end up actually working with another.

Knowing who to turn to is only part of the reason to ask this question. Working with an accountant can be stressful – you are talking about your investments and profits here. If you can’t work with the person well, you are just setting yourself up for more stress.

I have known brilliant accountants who are simply not people persons, and who mostly don’t like to work with, because they are quiet and shy, or simply difficult to communicate with. Find a person that matches your personality, and whom you feel inspires the trust you need to ring them up when you have a question.

5) What are your fees and how do you calculate them?

Finally, a question you might want to ask first if the costs of accounting services are what worries you the most. On the other hand, affordable or cheap services might not be what you actually need. So make sure you do clarify what you will be getting for your money.

Does the accountant you are considering charge by the hour, or do they have package deals? When will you be billed, and how? What happens if you need more than you have initially agreed on? These are just some of the things to keep in mind when you start discussing actual costs. There are also accountants who take a cut of your profits if their services include maximizing cash flow, another fact to keep in mind.

Conclusion

Even if your head starts aching at the thought of handling all that financial paperwork, taking care of the issue early on will significantly help you in the long run. Having an accountant on board from day one (or day thirty) will ensure they don’t come into a battlefield after you have tried to handle things yourself.

Having someone by your side who has already walked the same road with someone else can be a significant boost to your chances of success. Don’t discount them lightly. Making a financial blunder can cost you more than a few nights’ sleep. That’s why you should consider your options carefully, and make a well-educated choice.

The post 5 Questions to Ask When Working With an Accountant appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

Freelancing is attracting more and more working people as time goes by. The concept is intriguing and potentially lucrative: you don’t have a full-time job, but work on different projects for one or more clients. This form of work opens more opportunities for you to express your creativity and get properly paid for your work.

Still, there are some potential dead ends, as well. One of the most dangerous ones are messy finances. As a freelancer, you need to take care of your accounting features on your own. This is something that might throw a few obstacles at your freelance effort. We’ll try to make financial things work well for you with the use of the following accounting tips.

1) Don’t fall behind on financial records

When you replace the traditional 9-5 workday with freelance work, you’ll probably be surprised by the amount of free time. However, if your freelance career takes off successfully, this sudden freedom will soon vanish.

What’s extremely important during this initial period in the freelance niche is not to lose track of your financial records. Every new freelancer needs to be well aware of the fact that they’re on their own now, with all the pros and cons such a status brings.

Therefore, you should schedule one part of your work week for accounting details. For instance, it can be the last portion of your work day every Friday. It’s a great way to close your work week, as well as to identify the weak spots and make a plan how to fix them.  If a weekly schedule seems too often, you can do it monthly.

One of the key features you should keep an eye on are the payments made by your clients. A routine weekly overview will tell you whether all the due invoices have been paid that very week. If not, you’ll have to react promptly and take care of those unpaid invoices.

Further, you should check your business expenses. If they tend to surpass your income, you’ll be able to react at once and consolidate your finances.

Moreover, you should also track your work hours and hourly rates. As time goes by and you keep gaining experience, both categories should increase. Hence, note down all these changes to keep your financial records in order.

2) Don’t throw away the receipts

Every time you buy a piece of office equipment software for your business, make sure not to throw away the receipt for that product.

On the one hand, this is a proof that you’ve spent your business assets for the business itself. Spending business funds on non-business items it frowned upon by the tax authorities. As a matter of fact, you can be severely fined for such expenditure. If you keep your receipts, you’ll be able to prove what you’ve bought with your business money.

On the other, those receipts will come in handy in case any of the purchased items breaks down or stops working. In most cases, you won’t be able to claim the warranty.

Luckily, it’s not necessary to keep all the receipts in paper form. You can simply choose one of the iOS or Android apps for receipt management, scan your receipts and keep them in electronic form.

In a nutshell, throwing away receipts is similar to throwing away money. They’re official documents that show how you spend your business assets, so keep a good eye on them and you’ll have fewer accounting problems.

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3) Work with financial professionals

No matter how proficient you are in your niche, you should always contact professionals for the aspects of life in which you’re amateur if you want to get things done.

While you can easily track your financial reports on your own, especially if you get one of those omnipotent accounting software tools, more complex financial records require professional expertise.

In line with that, prepare at least your first tax return with the help of experienced financial professionals. Here you should follow some simple steps to choose the right tax preparer and get in touch with an expert that will guide you through the entire process.

In order not to omit some details that might be important for your tax return, work with a tax professional even before you set off on your freelance quest.

Similarly, whenever you’re not sure how to deal with some accounting dead ends, you should contact a certified accountant.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should have them on your payroll. Simply find a reliable professional who can assist you in resolving some occasional accounting issues.

4) Save your freelance assets

In business, the risk is the only thing that’s for certain. Nevertheless, every freelancer who started freelancing without any savings knows how difficult it is to gain financial independence. If you don’t have enough assets to keep things rolling in the beginning, you won’t be able to keep your books in order.

Because of that, your freelance budgeting should start way before you find your first client. A rule of thumb is that you should save enough assets to finance the first few months of your everyday living expenses and your freelance costs.

This is something you should take seriously and open a separate bank account for those savings while you’re still an employee. As you start freelancing, keep putting away a certain amount of money from every single project as you get paid for it. For instance, you can put 10% aside after every payment.

These saved freelance assets should be a special category in your books. They can be used for different purposes, from covering the budget holes caused by late payers to investing in new equipment and outsourcers. Your accounting features will be more easily managed if you can always count on a backup plan. If not, you might have to borrow money or take loans, which should really be at the bottom of your business options.

Also, without a special savings fund, you’ll never become a financially independent freelancer but remain a plain wage maker.

Conclusion

Freelance accounting can really be a pain in the neck. That’s why you should keep learning about some useful strategies to make accounting as smooth as possible. The accounting and financing tips analyzed in this article will help you keep your books in order and your finances under control. These two features are mutually dependent, which is why we suggest taking good care of them. Finally, freelance career is more likely to take off successfully if you get the gist of accounting.

The post 4 Tips to Smooth Accounting for Freelancers appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

Food enthusiasts and talented cooks are not hard to find. But what is hard to find are those ambitious business owners who make the best use of their passion for hospitality and food to start their own restaurant venture. However, the majority of those efforts might go down the drain and one of the primary reasons behind the same can be insufficient knowledge about accounting processes.

A large number of restaurateurs across the globe are not seasoned accounting experts and do not have the required financial expertise to run a successful restaurant business. Therefore, the majority of restaurants are unsuccessful as a result of poor financial management of some or all aspects of restaurant accounting. Such situations are not completely hopeless. Your dream of a thriving restaurant can still come true if you ensure that all the accounting protocols are implemented properly. This article focuses on the 9 most typical restaurant accounting errors:

1) Inaccurate Analysis of Your Items

It isn’t unusual and not particularly a bad idea to get an insight into your restaurant’s success on the basis of how your competitors are performing. This is not a mandatory practice to evaluate your net profit, loss or bottom line. In general, a restaurant’s success is dependent on a lot of moving pieces. Particularly the costs that are fixed by your suppliers.

The prices of raw materials provided by the suppliers can increase or decrease in just one day. And these kinds of fluctuations in the prices are very difficult to foresee if you do not have a proper understanding of accounting protocols in the hospitality sector. Taking into consideration that restaurants generally have thin profit margins, it makes more sense to engage the services of a qualified accountant who can help you in assigning the prices to your menu items.

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2) Inadequate Accounting Software

One of the biggest accounting mistakes is using improper accounting software. To put it simply, it has often been observed by people that their accounting software programs are not up to the mark. Sometimes, it may even be the case that the restaurants don’t even make use of an actual accounting system. Making use of such non-competent systems can have an immense impact on the restaurant’s overall efficiency and profits. A good accounting software will help in categorizing and tracking all the expenses and earnings while also concurrently integrating with your payroll, inventory management, and Point-of-sale systems.

3) Accounting Mistakes in Bookkeeping

The hospitality sector is one of a kind in the way that most of the earnings are made in cash. This simply cannot be a justification for lousy bookkeeping! Should there be one area wherein your restaurant cannot take the leverage of having a laid-back attitude is with regards to its record keeping. Dollars and even cents are going to add up ultimately, thus, precisely accounting for every single penny is crucial. Your bookkeeping records can help you in identifying how ideal your rates are and if any kind of modifications ought to be done as per the industry standards.

4) Problems in Accounts Payable

It is a common perception that spare time is practically non-existent to all business owners. They need to handle all the burdensome chores of paying the suppliers, going over their invoices, and drafting checks. Simultaneously, however, paying your vendors’ invoices in a timely manner is crucial to running your restaurant. Considering that they provide most of the day-to-day products required for running your eatery. What your eatery needs are a reliable and automated accounting program. Which makes sure that all the suppliers are paid by the due date in a smooth manner.

5) 4-week Accounting Period

Another exclusive facet of restaurant accounting procedures is that you need not close the books at the end of every month. Accounting for restaurants is based on a time period of four weeks. Every week in this time period begins on Monday and ends on Sunday.

There are a plenty of reasons behind following this time period for accounting and a few of them are: The outcome of comparing the P&L of a specific month of the year to the same month of the previous year would be inaccurate. For instance, June 2017 must not be compared with June 2016. Why? The number of Saturdays and Fridays in June 2017 were not the same as those in June 2016. Fridays and Saturdays are amongst the busiest days for restaurant businesses so your P&L would not match. If you follow a weekly schedule, the yearly comparison would then make some sense since you are going to have the same number of days for comparing.

6) Forgetting to Reconcile Your Accounts

Not conducting a comprehensive reconciliation of bank account and credit card statements can result in a lot of problems for the restaurant businesses. All things considered, accounting mistakes are determined with the help of reconciliations. Listed below are a few quite tangible reasons why you should reconcile from time to time:

• You can find out if all your payments have been made.
• Can have an insight into your per-month or weekly income and expenditures; this is going to streamline year-to-year evaluations
• You can figure out if you are below, above or perhaps within the pre-determined financial budget
• Also, you can view where exactly your money is going – occasionally this requires evaluation
• You can view and forecast where existing, past and future deficits might happen
• You can take a look at the bigger picture of the economic health of your restaurant

7) Cash-based Accounting for Your Restaurant

As a business that ought to file tax returns and produce financial reports, you have the option to make use of either the cash-based accounting or accrual accounting. Let’s understand what these terms actually mean. Cash-based accounting is performed by recording your expenses and earnings any time the physical cash transaction is done. It can either be a debit or a credit.

Accrual accounting, on the other hand, is when the entries are made into the books as they occur. Even if the payment for the same has not been made or received. With regards to the restaurant industry, expenditure needs to be assigned to the time period when actually it was incurred. This makes accrual accounting a viable option for restaurants. Also, if you adopt accrual accounting technique to manage your books, it would provide you a better and deep insight into your profit and loss scenario.

8) Inadequate Weekly Inventory

Maintaining a weekly inventory is the primary aspect of your restaurant business as it helps in calculating your cost of goods sold. A restaurant’s food prices can increase or decrease in no time. So it important that you remain abreast with these kinds of changes. Which may not be possible if the inventory is evaluated monthly. Furthermore, take into account the point that a lot of restaurant food items, as well as beverages, are perishable in nature. You can’t purchase a perishable product at the start of the month and presume it to be in a good condition by the end of the month. Which will result in huge losses. Thus, a weekly inventory is a must to keep your kitchen a lot more systematized and avoid any accounting mistakes!

9) Employing an Accountant Who is Not an Expert in Hospitality

If you work with a CPA or restaurant accounting company to manage your books, ensure that your choice carries sufficient and strong understanding of the restaurant sector. The restaurant industry is unique and every single day more changes and rules are being unveiled. The accountancy firm must have a specialized expertise in your trade. Making sure that they can present you with the best guidance when required.

Conclusion

Should you be concerned about the current situation of your business, don’t fret. Almost everything can be taken care of if you seek help from the appropriate people to maintain your books. You should have a clear picture of where your money is going. Also, what it is being utilized for, in order to attain success in the restaurant business.

The post 9 Accounting Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Restaurant Business appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

Running a startup includes far more responsibilities than being a mere company employee. If this is the first time you’ve been a business owner, you might get tangled up in the number and scope of different duties. This can lead to inefficiency in various aspects in your business, but you’ll see the most serious effects of a poorly managed startup in accounting. If the financial figures don’t match, you’ll have problems with your employees, business associates, and the tax authorities. As a result, all this can put your entire startup to risk.

That’s why we’ve prepared some basic accounting tips that will help you keep your books in order.

Don’t run out of cash

As a business owner who has to spend long hours at work and deal with demanding challenges, you won’t be able to cope with too complex accounting procedures. However, you need to take an active role in the following one – ensuring a backup plan regarding your business assets.

Business advisers often claim that every business owner should have a special fund in which they’ll always have enough money to survive 3-6 months without an additional cash inflow. This money refers to all the expenses that need to be covered if you want your business to keep rolling even in the dry season. Although you should always do your best to maintain a seamless cash flow, you can never tell what’s waiting behind the corner.

As for the actions that will help you save assets for the backup fund, it’s advisable not to accept new projects and hire new staff if you haven’t put this fund to practice. Grow your business step by step and always take care how to save it in case of a crisis.

Encourage early payments

Many business owners complain about irresponsible business associates who don’t make their payments on time. Truth be told, there will always be businesspeople who won’t do their share of work as you would expect from honorable people. Since you can’t change them, you can modify your soft attitude in business and become much more assertive when it comes to payments.

That way, you should reduce the payment periods for the goods and services you sell as much as possible. Forget about NET 60 or NET 90 payment terms. You’re a startup owner and every single payment they owe you is a potential nail in your coffin.

What you can do to turn the tide is to encourage and reward early payments. For instance, if a customer pays you within seven days from the invoice date, you can give them a 20% discount coupon for their next purchase. Similarly, if they make the payment one or two days after the invoice date, this discount can go up to 30%. Of course, these are only some tactics that can speed up the payment process.

Likewise, you should provide your customers with the best payment experience, meaning that they should be able to pay you in as many ways as possible – via credit cards, online payment solutions, offline bank accounts etc. The more options you offer, the larger number of fast payments you can expect. Simply put, this is the digital age and you need to utilize all its advantages to accelerate the payment process.

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Work with a neutral accountant

Like we’ve already said, you can’t expect too much from yourself when it comes to the accounting management of your business. Every startup owner invests too many emotions in their business, which is why they’re often incapable of making rational decisions. This is no wonder because you launched a startup because you wanted to make your business ideas come.

This is why keeping your startup accounting under control should be done in collaboration with a neutral accountant. When we say neutral, we mean that this person isn’t on your payroll as an employee. When you present your financial reports and your ideas for the future to such a professional, they’ll know what parts of your plan should be retained and which ones are to be discarded.

What’s also useful when working with such an accountant is the fact that they probably work with more businesses. Because of that, they have a bigger picture of the market than you. As a result, they can predict more precisely what’s going to happen and what you can do to improve your business.

If you pay them as outsourcers, rather than full-time employees, they can keep their neutral position and not succumb to your opinion just because you’re their employee.

Create a strategy for alternative financing

Having a special fund for difficult times is a must for every reasonable startup owner. However, it’s not the only alternative that you should seek to establish. You need to bear in mind that a period of recession can devour that fund in a couple of months. It would be a shame to close down a business that’s been working well for years only because of a few months.

As an alternative to such an ending, you should establish contact with different financiers when your business is at its peak. Banks, private lenders, government administrations for the SMB-niche, individual investors – you should communicate with them and show them your books when you’re on a winning streak. During that period, make sure to start using some of their services, just to keep your name in their databases. You can treat that cooperation like a raincheck just in case you need it.

In case of an economic crisis or any other plague of the market, that raincheck could help you keep your head above the water and survive the financial tsunami.

Modernize your accounting software

Modern accounting software tools are gaining more and more options as we speak. That way, you can automate a large portion of the accounting procedures a startup can have.

For instance, you can connect the aforementioned payment options with software tools and have payment reports generated at once.

Apart from that, you can track and analyze your business expenses on the go. The option to access your accounting data from any device your gadget in the world is an extremely practical advantage of accounting tools. It will help you to discuss the current affairs with your accountant (the neutral one) no matter where you and that person are at that particular moment.

Further, accounting software solutions give you the comfort of pre-setting invoices, so that these tools automatically send them when the time comes.

All these options will make it possible for you to get familiar with some accounting features in a simple and time-saving way. That will improve your work efficiency as well as the overall productivity of your business.

Conclusion

When you’re launching a startup, you should expect a rocky road, rather than a bed of roses. Still, you’ll learn most things on the go, as you work and come across new challenges. Accounting is a bit trickier because it takes more time to become prolific in that niche. So, make sure to keep a good eye on your incomes and expenses, but don’t go too deep into accounting. Having a professional accountant by your side and a reliable accounting tool installed on your computer will help you get the most of accounting for your business.

The post How to Keep Accounting Simple and Efficient in a Startup appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

As an independent business owner, keeping accurate tax records should always be a part of your bookkeeping habits. It’s also essential to your success. Poor accounting can lead to financial loss, poor cash flow and even tax penalties and implications.

Whether you choose to handle the bookkeeping side of the business yourself or pay to outsource it to a responsible accountant, you simply cannot operate a successful business without having a strong handle on the financial side. Here are some important facts to consider and habits you need to adopt that will simplify the accounting side of your business.

1) Have an Active Hand in the Accounting Process

If you choose to outsource your accounting to a professional, you still need to take an active role in some of the basics of your business accounting. It is essential for you to review income and expense reports to take notice of changes in profits and expenses. It is also important to keep a watchful eye on things like accounts receivable and payable.

2) Hire a Professional Tax Accountant

Hiring a professional to prepare your taxes is not only a huge time saver, it can also save you a considerable amount of money. You created your business to focus on its core model, not to have to prepare financial reports and sit down with a tax accountant each year. When you outsource accounting and tax preparation, you get to focus exclusively on your business model and not worry about the finite details.

Professional tax accountants not only prepare and file your returns, they can also quickly and easily pick up on ways to maximize your deductions so that you get more money back in your pocket each year. A trained tax professional will also offer suggestions and tips for simplifying your accounting process; this will save you more time and money throughout the year.

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3) Invest In Good Quality Accounting Software

This is one area of your business where you do not want to cut corners. Using an accounting and invoicing software should be part of your top bookkeeping habits. There are a lot of good-quality accounting software programs that track everything from taxes to accounting, expenses, and profits with ease. Accounting programs used to be catered exclusively to accountants and tax professionals. Modern bookkeeping software programs can be purchased and customized to suit your individual business needs.

You will want to look for an accounting program that is thorough and complete, without being too complicated to master; this is especially important if you will be overseeing the accounting side of your business, and you are not a professional accountant. A good accounting software program will simplify the financial side of running your business. With a few simple clicks and inputting a few numbers, you can generate bar graphs, charts, and detailed expense reports.

4) Keep Expense Receipts for Every Single Transaction

It is relatively easy to keep track of expenses when you are making business-related purchases on a credit card. Cash transactions can get lost in the abyss if they are not being tracked properly. This means you are leaving money on the table when it comes to filing your taxes each year. You should keep a small notebook in your office and company vehicle to log any cash expenses as they incur. You will be much more apt to track the expenses if you have quick access to a notebook and pen to jot them down.

There are also a lot of great accounting software apps that allow you to take pictures of your receipts and take notes on cash purchases. It stores them safely within the app, and many also offer a backup option. That way you can use a laptop or cloud for safe keeping if something were to happen to your phone.

You should also purchase a cash receipt booklet if you tend to do a lot of cash-based transactions. Most receipt booklets have ample room to notate transaction details, totals and signatures if needed. A cash log book is great for people who travel a lot for business or have an inventory-based company.

5) Track Your Receivables one of the Bookkeeping Habits

It is not enough to simply keep track of your invoices. Many successful businesses run into issues when it comes to tracking the receivables side of the business. The issues arise when the invoices are tracked but are not marked as paid. An up-to-date log is essential for determining whether an invoice was partially paid or was paid in full. You should also be keeping track of payments that are made on time or late.

Many invoicing services like Invoicebus keep track of all receivables and will send your client alerts when an invoice or payment becomes overdue. This makes it so easy to generate reminder emails or set aside time to call your clients directly as it pertains to late payments. So make sure you make this one of your bookkeeping habits.

6) Change the Way You View Your Accountant and Tax Preparer

Many entrepreneurs view their accountants and tax preparers as another expense. And they only touch base or meet up during tax time or when it is time to prepare the quarterly income and expense reports. Your accountant and tax professional should be viewed as a business partner, and you should aim to integrate them into the financial side of your business. With this type of inclusive approach, accountants and tax professionals can offer invaluable insight and advice on ways to simplify your processes, maximize profits and reduce costly business-related expenses. In many cases, a professional accountant or tax professional can also spot financial, tax-related and business mistakes before they arise.

Conclusion

While some entrepreneurs may view the financial side of the business as mundane and time-consuming, other business owners enjoy taking a hands-on approach to the accounting and tax preparations. No matter which category you fall into, it is essential to have the proper software programs. Also, you should have team members in place to help you dissect all of the important financial-related business matters.

When you stay up-to-date on your records, profits, and expenses, you reduce your stress. And you have a greater handle on how your business is performing. Investing a little bit of time each day to input numbers and jot down transactions saves many days and weeks of a headache during tax time. If you neglect the financial side of your business throughout the course of the year you’ll certainly run into problems. So make sure you employ these six bookkeeping habits for your business good.

The post 6 Bookkeeping Habits for Entrepreneurs appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.

New business owners have a lot on their plate, especially when it comes to accounting and financing. Mastering and managing each of them requires acquiring some additional skills.

While a rookie entrepreneur should learn how to keep a proper balance sheet, as well as track their expenses and incomes, there are always some vague accounting terms. That’s why you need to sit down with an SMB-accountant and ask them to give you answers to the following questions.

What type of business to register?

Basically, your accountant should inform you that there are four basic business types: an LLC, a sole proprietorship, a partnership and a corporation.

Each of these forms of business has both advantages and disadvantages. Your choice will depend on the size of your business and your business plan for the near future. Also, the selection of your business structure will affect the tax reporting.

A limited liability company (LLC) is a great choice for a businessperson who is planning to grow fast and soon employ some additional staff. The term limited liability here refers to the owners’ assets. Namely, if the company can’t cover its expenses, the owners’ assets aren’t in danger. Still, the owners share their tax obligations.

When you launch a sole proprietorship, you’re a one-man band. This means that the owner and the business are one inseparable unit. That way, in a worst-case scenario, you’ll be personally liable for the debts generated by your business. Still, there’s a great benefit of this business form – you can quickly and easily set up this kind of business.

A partnership is a joint business effort of two or more partners. If your business can’t cover its expenses, the owning partners are charged for the debt their partnership has generated.

A corporation is a business type where owners’ assets are legally separate from business assets.

When your accountant puts all these offers on the table, they’ll take a look at your craftily made business plan and find the most suitable business type for your needs.

How to set apart important from trivial records?

Every entrepreneur needs to know what financial records they should keep and which ones can be discarded.

In a nutshell – the largest portion of the receipts and bills you get need to be properly stored.

That way, every purchase you make pertaining to business equipment is eligible for tax deductions. The same goes for the receipts you get when making business trips, either by car or by other means of transportation. We’ll delve deeper into tax deductions in the next paragraphs.

Apart from that, you should track all your expenses, as well as income bits, so that you always know what amount of money you can count on.

What’s also vital for every new business owner is to save the data about the payments made to your contractors and employees. The tax officials are more than curious about those financial details, so make sure that your accountant applies an equally meticulous approach to the payments.

An experienced accountant will show you some hacks of keeping your financial records in order and getting that work done while saving some time along the way.

In addition to that, you can use some of these record-keeping apps, recommended by the British Government.

How to deduct taxes from my income?

One of the most obvious goals of every entrepreneur is to learn how to keep a few cents on their accounts. This is where tax deductibles can help a lot. However, a novice business owner probably won’t know too much about taxes in the first place.

This is why you should inquire about tax deductions when talking to your accountant.

For instance, you can deduct some expenses if you work from the comfort of your home. What’s important here is to keep your home office separate from the rest of the home. If you don’t do that, you won’t be eligible for these deductions – and they can be substantial. For instance, you can deduct parts of your home-related bills, from electricity and heating to the Internet, as well as some equipment you use in your home office.

Moreover, you can also deduct the expenses incurred by the travels performed for the sake of business negotiations or any other business purpose. Similarly, whenever you use your car to do some business tasks, you can deduct some of the expenses from your tax return.

These are only some of the matters regarding tax deductions you should discuss with your accountant. They’ll give you detailed instructions about some other deductibles, as well.

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How to curb late payments?

Not being paid on time is one of the biggest issues that new entrepreneurs are facing these days.

Since this problem could bother your business from day one, make sure to find out more about dealing with late payments in advance. That’s why it’s crucial to talk to your accountant even before you’ve registered your business and made your first professional decisions.

Your accountant will probably instruct you to shorten the payment period. Giving your clients and up to 15 days to make their payments – also known as the NET 15 payment term – is a fair option for both interested parties.

Further, you should always take some up-front money for the project you’re starting working on. That way, you’ll reduce the risk of being paid late, or never.

What’s more, your accountant will probably tell you that you should offer some incentives for immediate payers. These can vary from discounts on the work you’ve done to offering better rates to an early client for their future projects.

When you’re discussing the payment terms you’re going to stick to in your business deals, don’t hesitate to ask your accountant any question you may have. It’s crucial for a new entrepreneur to gather as much information as possible before they enter the business battlefield. As a result, they’ll be well-prepared for the challenges they’ll be facing and the payment problems that might arise.

How to register my collaborators?

Sooner or later every successful business owner has a need to form a group of business collaborators. The only question here is how to register those associates?

Although the rules and regulations are different from state to state and from country to country, there are some common terms that need to be discussed with your accountant.

First and foremost, you should decide whether those people will be your employees or contractors. If you realize that your business goals require having several people by your side for a longer period of time, registering them as employees sounds reasonable.

Still, your accountant will tell you that there will be some additional costs for these employees. You’ll have to take into account all the pros and cons of hiring those workers and make up your mind.

Also, you need to take care of the employee turnover. Your accountant should help you add certain appendixes that will impose the conditions when an employee can leave your business.

As opposed to that, you can register your temporary collaborators as your contractors. They have fewer rights than full-time employees and they’ll affect your budget to a lower extent.

It’s extremely important to already have a certain plan what you want from your business and those collaborators before you start discussing these conditions with your accountant. On the one hand, they’ll be able to quickly come up with the best solution for your needs. On the other, the workers in question will sooner be legally ready to start contributing to your business.

Conclusion

Your accountant will be your greatest business ally. Their knowledge and experience can help your dodge some cumbersome obstacles in your quest to establishing a lucrative business. Before you get in front of the accountant, read the questions from this text once again and add any other dilemmas you might have. Covering as many accounting bases as possible in advance will enable you to run your business in a financially successful way.

The post Delving into SMB-Accounting – 5 Questions to Ask Your Accountant appeared first on Invoicebus Blog.