Small Business Financial Software

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Simple small business software is all many companies need. In fact, choosing powerful accounting software may be a big mistake. You see there’s more cost to an accounting system than meets the eye. The initial cost of a system is just the start. The costs that continue are the ones that may get you. The right accounting programs should save you time, money and stress too. Here’s how…

Simple To Fit.

Many small businesses fail due to poor financial controls. With good controls on the money part of your business, you have a better chance of success. Now you need a system that fits what you do. In most cases there is a ready to use solution already being used by hundreds of companies just like yours. Look at he major software companies like Microsoft, Peachtree, and QuickBooks. Their simpler systems may be just the answer.

Simple To Learn.

A major cost of any software is the learning cost. Training and learning have high costs. Buying more software than you need forces you to pay the learning cost even though you don’t use the power of the software. Don’t buy less than you need, but don’t buy far more complexity than required either. Ask some questions about the learning phase before you sign on for software. Who will you call with questions? How much does support cost? Is there a local resource for training? Often local accounting firms can train you with major software brands. Know where you will get help before you buy.

Simple To Upgrade.

Buying too much software is expensive, but so is buying too little. How will you upgrade if you need more accounting power? If you buy a major brand like Peachtree or Quickbooks, the upgrade path is clear. You just choose the upgrade version and the new version is similar to the old. Go from one brand to another and you get to pay that learning cost all over again. That’s why you should think long and hard about choosing a simple accounting system that’s a dead end with no upgrade version. You’ll pay a high price for dead end software if you make a change. You’ll get to learn a more powerful software that will do the job, but you’ll start your learning from the ground floor.

Simple small business software may be all you need to help you save money, time, and stress. Get software that fits how you do business, but be ready to pay the learning cost. Buy enough system and an upgrade can be relatively painless. Buy too little and you may be looking at a dead end if you need more accounting power. Than you’ll get to pay the learning cost all over again. Often the best solution is a simple version of one of the major selling software brands. Those include Peachtree and Quickbooks and a few others. With a major brand you get low initial cost plus a clear support structure and usually you will find experts that can help you right in your area. That’s a big plus.

Al Bullington is a CPA(retired) who also spent 15 years as a project manager with Fortune 500 companies. His main work focus now is small business start-ups.

Starting a small business out of your home, offering products or services like business consulting, photography, selling on the web or a MLM? You are now faced with tracking all your expenses and revenues for your business and you certainly don’t have the money yet to engage a bookkeeper or accountant. If your business is a sole proprietorship, whether it be a Canadian Proprietorship or a US-based Proprietorship, you do not require an accountant to submit your company financials (books) to the IRS (USA) or Revenue Canada). Your business revenue and losses are reported as part of your annual personal income tax. For this small business start-up, you won’t need to buy fancy accounting software, like Quick Books or AccPac to track your business.

Only as part of incorporating Bizfare Enterprise Inc in 2005 was it a requirement to engage an accountant. My accountant did insist on using Quick Books software for my business accounting. Up until then using a simple spreadsheet template served my business accounting needs for over ten years. This simple spreadsheet accounting stood the test of multiple audits by Revenue Canada (CRA and Revenue Canada Goods and Services Tax. Both the hardcopy columnar pad and an electronic spreadsheet version of my financial books were accepted by Revenue Canada. (BTW the audits disclosed more ways for me to claim back additional taxes for the previous three years! Now that’s my type of audit!)

In your new start-up business venture, you likely will generate somewhere between 10 to 30 accounting transactions per month. These transactions would be items like Expense, Revenue (sales), Liability (Loan) type transactions and Sales Tax (Federal + State/Provincial) Collection/Deductions. These transactions are further broken down into various Business Accounts. All the Accounts you set up for your business is called a Chart of Accounts. Recording your business financial transactions (Journal Entries) can be executed with pen and ink on an accounting columnar pad or electronically with your computer using a spreadsheet program (MS Excel, Open Office, Star Office).

Whether you employ electronic or hardcopy media, you need to develop a simple Journal template to create your Business Synoptic Journal. This Synoptic Journal format has the advantage of allowing you a complete view of all your individual journal entry transactions against all your various Business Accounts. Creating this Synoptic Journal is easier to do than you think and requires no prior accounting or bookkeeping knowledge.

TIP #1: You could further reduce the accounting line items (Journal Entries) by consolidating like items such as ‘all the Sales for the month’ and ‘all parking receipts for the month’ into one totaled line item for the month.

Where do you start to identify the various Business Accounts required for your Synoptic Journal?

If you currently work for a company or government, secure of one of their employee expense forms. Look at each of the areas identified as expenses – meals, mileage, hotel accommodations, taxi, car rental, telephone & cell phone, air fare, office supplies, etc. This is an excellent place to identify the various Business Expense Accounts you need to set up for your business accounting books. To complete your business Chart of Accounts, include a Business Bank Account, Sales, COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), Sales Tax Collection, Marketing Expense and others as required. Each of these Accounts will be a listed as a title across the top of each column of your Synoptic Journal. Each row (line item) will be the individual journal transactions entered by you. The journal transactions are grouped and summarized for each business month; usually, January through December.

So your Synoptic Journal would look something like this Sample Synoptic Journal at http://picasaweb.google.com/carl.chesal/BookkeepingTemplate.

The column headings might be in this order (from left to right):

DATE | DESCRIPTION | BANK DEPOSITS | BANK WITHDRAWALS | SALES REVENUE | COGS | SALES TAX COLLECTED & REMITTED | OFFICE SUPPLIES EXPENSE | EXPENSE #2 | EXPENSE #3 | ETC

TIP #2: Unless your business is Incorporated or an LLC, you don’t need to go through the expense of opening a business account with your bank. Usually Business accounts charge a higher monthly fee, charge for printing checks (cheques) and don’t offer any interest on your monthly account balance. Instead, open a separate personal bank account (maybe savings). This will show the ‘taxman’ that you are keeping the business separate from your personal banking. Remember you are a sole proprietor and all your business income (and losses) are to be applied directly to your personal income tax submission ( a s per IRS and CRA).

To save you time and make is very simple, I have already created a simple spreadsheet Synoptic Journal template that performs all the calculations for each month and rolls up the 12 business months so it can easily be included in your annual personal income tax preparation. This Synoptic Journal template has Debit/Credit checks and balances, tracks sales taxes, mileage and totals each account for your entire fiscal year. If you want this FREE Bookkeeping template, you can get it at Communicate Innovate. With a few key strokes, which will help identify yourself, I will gladly send you this FREE Synoptic Journal Template and also any future Small Business Tips.

TIP #3: One Rule of Accounting is that every time you record a journal entry (line item which applies the transaction against the appropriate business accounts) the Debits and Credits MUST REMAIN EQUAL at ALL Times. This Debit Equals Credit calculator is built into this FREE Bookkeeping Template. When you have completed entering a line item (journal transaction), check to ensure that the amount the the Debit cell equals the amount in the Credit cell. If they are not equal, you have not entered the amounts properly in your journal transaction. Correct the problem before entering your next journal entry.

You are now equipped to capture your business financial books with some simple accounting software. Happy bookkeeping! And Happy Selling!

The best small business accounting software saves time and money. Whatever you do, don’t buy the wrong thing. Here’s how to get it right.

Choosing the best small business accounting software may help your company survive. Yes, out of control finances kill many a company every year. How do you know when to order inventory when you really don’t know what your inventory levels are? Is hiring a new employee a good idea? How can you decide? Will it pay to buy a new piece of equipment? Many decisions are easier to make and many decisions are almost automatic if your financial systems are under control. Plus having a smooth running financial system is a sure stress reducer and reducing stress helps with decision making too. Here’s how to get the right system.

Your Needs.

Every industry is different and your company is unique. Think about what you need from an accounting system. Maybe inventory is an important part of your business or maybe not. Do you need a payroll system or not? Before you do much shopping for software, think through what you need in the way of information. That way you’re less likely to be sold something you don’t need. Remember too that some of what you may do now to management your business can be done easier and faster. Maybe you check inventory every morning, but a computerized inventory system could keep inventory levels current all the time. You could check inventory levels less often and save time and money.

Easy To Use.

Buy a puppy and the cost just starts. That’s the way accounting software is too. The initial cost is just the start. Learning how to use the software may be a bigger challenge than you think. Sure it’s nice to talk about all the power a computer system has. But the easier, the better. Buy a system to meet your needs, not one that’s much more complex than you’ll ever need. Is this a proven system? Is there somebody who can help you if you get in trouble? Often times local accounting firms are a resource to help you with problems.

Not Too Complex.

You can often get software in different modules. Get the main accounting system, with general ledger and journals in one package. Then you can add payroll or inventory management or other modules. You can even get industry specific versions like construction company versions or retail versions, just whatever you need. Often the best choice may be an off-the-shelf product. Very seldom does a small business need a custom software product. You want a proven product used by businesses much like yours.

Will It Grow?

Need more computing power as you grow? It’s much easier to move to a more powerful version of the software you have than to buy from a different company. That’s true because usually the more powerful version is designed to look and operate like what you have now. That’s why staying within the Peachtree Software products makes upgrading easier. Same with Quickbooks. Upgrading within Quickbooks is easier than switching from Quickbooks to Peachtree. Be careful of a cheap software system with no upgrade product. You’ll be stuck.

Reduce stress and make better decisions too with the best small business accounting software. The best investment you can make when choosing software is to first decide what you really need. Then buy a system that meets your needs, but that’s as simple to use and upgrade as possible. That’s a sure route to cost and time savings. You will be much less likely to buy more system than you need if you carefully think through your requirements as the very first step when choosing accounting software.

I’m just your average joe middle class income. I need some software that tells me what to invest in, how much to invest and checks to make sure my financial house is in order. Any recommendations?

• Lets you create and track all the documents and forms you need to run your business efficiently
• Helps you track sales and expenses as you go, simplifying your bookkeeping so you’ll be ready at tax time
• Simple to learn and use–get up and running in 15 minutes
• Track sales, expenses, and customers in one convenient place
• When your business grows, existing data converts easily into higher-end editions of QuickBooks

Product Description
With QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007, you have the simplest way to track sales and expenses. Simple Start does it automatically, as you create receipts or invoices and make deposits. It reports the totals instantly, so you can see exactly how you’re doing. Start using the simplest way to track sales and expenses! Know how much money you’re making and be organized at tax time. Simple Start helps you track sales and expenses as you go, making your bookkeeping ea… More >>

QuickBooks Simple Start 2007