Small Business Financial Software

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Handling accounts of any business is a Herculean task and requires quite a lot of expertise on the part of any accountant or bookkeeper. Due to the lack of time and hurry, many big or small organizations are approaching small business accounting firms, as these are more capable and also offer perfect solutions to any firm’s accounting woes. Moreover, these firms are being preferred upon by large accounting services providers because they provide excellent services than their counterparts.

Small business accounting has changed the entire meaning of bookkeeping. Thus, it makes more sense for an enterprise to seek services from a professional firm like this. However, if one goes by the fact, then keeping the financial records intact is quite difficult and needs a specialist to take care of these ever growing records especially when you are a businessperson. These firms are getting popular for their proficient abilities amongst the business world. It will be wrong to underestimate them just because they differ in size, but offer qualitative services in a short time with a difference to its clients. However, how big is the company, it needs an expert that can handle its accounting work diligently and efficiently. By and by, many businesses are vouching for small business accounting services because of the busy schedules and mismanagement of time on the part of many large and big accounting service providers; they seek help from them for a profitable growth. Moreover, every enterprise wants to earn profits and at the same time wants to make the business popular; hence, a small business accounting makes this possible by offering up to the mark accounting solutions without any problem. It moreover, provides solutions that are easy to understand and are manageable too.

The other big advantage of such firms is that it allows the business to get organized and also makes them understand the benefits of hiring services from them. Moreover, it has been noticed that running a business is over all an overwhelming experience and thus needs an expert like small business accounting. The firm additionally helps the business to gain the knowledge on its financial standing; and that is the reason, why many organizations are opting for them because of accurate results. However, such firms also help the businesses to curb their incurred losses because of the problems like work force and other resources. Its services additionally enhance the performance of the business in the market at any day. However, it will not be incorrect to say that because of such firms, businesses tend to earn more and are also able to curtail losses that were incurred during the entire year.

The other big reason for hiring these firms is that they have limited clients and are able to donate ample to cater to their needs and requirements. Everyone is getting tech savvy, then how come these firms can lag behind, they are opting for various software solutions specifically developed for accounting purposes. In fact, with the help of accounting software, the process of tracking accounts has become easier and tallying them again and again has also got simplified. This is one of the important reasons for hiring small business accounting experts for golden deals and numerous profits.

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It is easy to build a website for your small business .

Most consumers look on the internet before going to a store. Sometimes it is their only stop: they research, compare and buy online. It goes without saying then that for a small business to reach its potential market, it should have an internet presence.

Small business operators do not often have a dedicated IT person on staff – in the past this is the person who would be given the job of building a website. It’s great news then that there are now beginner-friendly website building packages on the market which are perfect for the small businessperson’s use.

If you can use a word processor you will be able to use most modern web site builders. You simply type on the page as you normally would when writing an email.

The tutorials provided with almost all software suppliers take the novice through the process of building a website in a non-technical, easy to understand way. Having completed the tutorial, one is equipped with more than enough knowledge to launch straight into a website build.

Not all website software programs are easy to use. Small business operators do not need fully blown web design industry solutions due to the steep learning curve. One feature to look for is a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor. This simply means you type on the page as you see it.

There are expenses involved in publishing your own website – you get nothing for nothing. Apart from the cost of the software (there are free web builders however they are more difficult to use or too basic in features), a small business (or an individual or a large company) will need to register a domain name (less than $10) and find a web hosting service (around $8 per month).

Setting up a merchant account with someone like Paypal (free)is something businesses should consider. Having a third party handle financial transactions is always reassuring for consumers and takes away an administration burden. As soon as an order is placed you will receive an alert from the merchant. You can then arrange shipping – or in the case of digital products – automate the delivery.

In any small business time is money, and the time spent learning a new skill like website building with easy to use software must be seen as a good investment. It is possible to build multiple websites so that you can have a website network feeding a central business. This is ideal for multi-brand retailers and multi-branch operators. Having the ability to be flexible with your online presence will be an advantage to the savvy business owner.

Because you have built and are managing your website yourself, you are able to instantly react to changing trends and new opportunities. Avoid delays by not having to wait for your webmaster to make changes. Fresh content on your website is highly desirable.

Some website programs are specifically designed to assist the business person become an internet business marketer, and as your knowledge of web design grows, the more you will value search engine optimization and site map generation tools. Having a correctly designed site map helps search engines easily match your site to search requests.

If you decide to look at other ways to earn money through your website without doing a thing, you will no doubt look at including on your site some affiliate marketing and advertisements from non compete companies.

Features to look for:

An active help desk to support you is important. Also you will need instructional videos to shorten the learning curve. Look for testimonials from other business owners to see how they have applied the software.

Getting started is the next step once you arrive at the conclusion that a website is no longer a luxury – it is essential!

Unlike the past, today’s small and medium businesses are built around advanced systems for managing all or most of their practices. They have access to systems and techniques which challenge those of their big competitors. The main contributor of this small and medium business success is Software as a Service applications, which came into being as offspring of high-speed internet. SaaS applications offered a brand new world of technology for competitive costs; a pricing model which lowers with lowering of number of employees (possible application users). SaaS made its debut in late 90’s and the industry is growing more than 12 percent an year; and is expected to fulfill 20 percent of global software needs by 2012.

Software as a Service applications remove the need of software downloading or purchasing, manual installation, in-house database, technical knowledge needed for implementation, maintenance costs, networking costs, etc. Once subscribed, the service/application is implemented instantly and is accessible online though a secure internet connection. The software vendor (known as SaaS vendor) updates the applications regularly free of cost. The product is priced per user per month and thus can be easily estimated (once the expected number of users is estimated). As there no cost related to maintenance or for solving unexpected systems crashes, companies can be confident with their financial planning.

Except money savings, SaaS applications offer many other benefits especially to small businesses. They include the need of minimum technical knowledge, round the clock accessibility across the world, wireless solutions, easy customizable features, easy integration with existing and model business systems, improved user adoption, updated and advanced features and database, integrated contact management systems, real-time analytics and charts, open source solutions, and advanced event scheduling and planning tools. Like any other business system, the advantages one should get will solely depend upon the SaaS application he/she chooses and how he implements it.

Today, there are only a few type of SaaS solutions are available. The most popular and widely adopted SaaS application is On-Demand Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Other popular members of SaaS family include on-demand web conferencing systems, online data-sharing tools, online business scheduling tools, web based Sales Force Management (SFA) software, business account management systems, contact management systems, hosted PBX and VoIP systems, etc. There are both industry-specific systems and general customizable systems available. Many SaaS products now increasingly utilize free web based tools like free documenting, spreadsheet and visualizing tools to maximize the features they hold.

But still there are many things which check the rapid growth of SaaS industry. They include enterprise data security, data ownership, data sharing and data backup problems, increased cost with higher number of employees, hesitation to waste supporting systems and capital spent to implement traditional systems, unavailability of specific products to specific functions, etc.

As small business owner we need to understand the importance of accurate and timely accounting reports where we will need precise financial information to make the very important decisions we make as owners and managers.

Very often I meet small business owners who have put themselves into a pickle by not managing or paying attention to the valuable information provided in many accounting software packages.

Accounting operations to any business, small or large is like the fuel in your car. If you don’t have the right fuel or enough fuel in your car, you will not go very far.

Over the years I am still amazed at how many small business owners fail to see the value in managing the accounting process of their business. I was always puzzled at how small business owners could get away with running their business without even using Quicken or QuickBooks.

I figured it out. Most small businesses grow so fast that some of us don’t have the time to learn if not worry about the accounting side of the business. Why should we worry about accounting when we’ve got orders to fill, customers to make happy and vendors to manage?

Well, the importance of accounting not only lies in the requirement to file and pay the appropriate amount of taxes at the end of the year, but accounting also affords us valuable information in various report formats that allow us to make smart decisions in our small business.

These reports tell us many things about our small business that we would never think of and these reports also allow us to plan the future of our business as it relates to sales and expenses.

Sure some of us have CPAs or accountants that we give information to on a monthly or even yearly basis, where we should be calculating our sources and uses of cash flow everyday if not every week.

Sources and uses of cash is exactly what it says it is. It defines where are money is coming from (sales) and how are we using it (expenses). The reporting document that helps us determine this process is our Statement of Cash Flow. This report actually tells us in a summary format where our money came from and where it went.

Another very important report is the Income Statement report which tells us how much we sold, how much it cost us to sell what we sold, how much we spent to operate the business and finally our profit from all that work.

There are four pieces or elements of an income statement and they are; sales, costs of goods sold (COGS), expenses (fixed and variable) and income. Some small businesses will classify cost of sales (COS) rather than COGS. Costs of sales are for those businesses that really don’t have to purchase items in the raw material form and re-produce it to make it sellable.

For example, as owner of a consulting firm, we identify ours as COS where if we are a plumbing contractor or a manufacturer of wooden chairs, we would identify ours as COGS because we would have to buy plumbing material as well as wood and reproduce both to get a final product to sell.

The next report that is just as valuable as the previous two is the Balance Sheet report. This report tells us what our business is worth via a particular window of time. For example, I want to know what my business is worth today for the last month. The balance sheet would tell me what I own and what I owe.

This report basically has three really important pieces; Assets, Liabilities and Owners Equity. Each of these sections identifies exactly what it says.

Assets are those things the business deems worth something or those things we can get cash for in a pinch if we needed. This section is also the section banks and other lenders measure a business’ worth.

Machinery, inventory and sometimes your accounts receivables are considered assets. Yes, accounts receivables can be converted to cash via a bank loan, but I absolutely do not recommend this for any business. Although many businesses do borrow against their accounts receivable, I would never do it for any of my clients.

Liabilities are those things the business owes such as short-term loans, long-term loans, wages, taxes, etc. Banks measure this as plain old debt and it’s not good to have allot of it.

Finally, Owner’s Equity is that which is owed to people or groups of investors that pretty much have a right to be paid regardless of the success or failure of the business. It’s just that. We have to identify that other individuals or groups have actually invested into our business outside of a typical bank loan.

Is it OK to have both a bank loan and a particular amount of owner’s equity as a liability? Yes it is, as most businesses do. It is estimated that most business in the U.S. is 80% financed via a mix of both.

So great, now we know about a bunch of reports. These reports are available to you through any accounting software package you use, but you must be using an accounting software package because these reports come from the accounting process that puts the information in the appropriate accounts or sections that will eventually produce these reports.

For every sale there is a corresponding affect within the accounting process that will eventually compile data in one of the reports mentioned above and give you the right information to make a decision. Accounting operations allows us to see our successes and failures day to day, week to week and month over month. We need to review these reports often in order to stay in business.

I have seen quite a few businesses go out of business where when you ask the owners what happened, they will all say the same, “we ran out of money”.

Had those businesses paid a little more attention to the accounting process they might still be in business. Remember, accounting in your small business is like the fuel in your car.

There are many programs out there that will help you understand the basics of accounting where all you have to remember is that accounting functions off of a cause and effect principle.

Every transaction in your business must be recorded where that transaction is managed by an accounting software process that basically works behind the scenes. All you have to do is understand what is occurring.

For example; if I purchase $25.00 worth of office supplies I need to let the accounting software package know what accounts I want that transaction to affect. Another example would be if I sold $200.00 worth of products, I want the accounting side of the business know what I sold via what I purchased to sell.

This last example is a bit complicated and I will save the detail for another article where you should take away the idea that you first recorded the purchase of the raw material, produced something from it, inventoried it and finally sold it for $200.00.

Bottom line is that accounting operations is of paramount importance to your small business.

Often we rely on hiring individuals that say they know accounting but how do we know if those individuals know accounting when we aren’t too sure about it ourselves?

There are many programs available to us as small business owners where we can learn the basics of accounting. Sign up for a seminar or take a class at a local college or university. Your small business is just too valuable to not understand it.

A number of companies today are on the threshold towards becoming a successful enterprise. Mostly, the organizations understand the importance of accounts department in holding the key for corporate success. A growing business demands from you, a thorough knowledge of the financial facts as queries are regularly asked at the business meetings. For a proper answer, an organization should be ready with the answers related to transactions going on there. A small business accounting firm suggests you the directions which are utilized while discussing accounting matters with your employers and bankers, etc. In most of the cases, your own accountant needs to be consulted on the financial matters. A number of techniques and financial tools assist you in a proper management of your business and strategies implemented help the businesses gain a commendable profit.

The financial problems are aggravated on a much larger scale if the company is on a loss making spree. Sometimes, business ventures have to shut the shop due to these reasons. Thus, strategizing things and implementing them accordingly shows the way. A small business accounting firm often finds the accounting work often hectic and thus people working in this particular department have to be extra careful with the details. Regular updates help the small firms to keep pace with changing rules and regulations for a proper functioning of the accounts department. The professionals are excellent in this arena as well and add value to your upcoming organization. Even if the business needs of small businesses are lesser, the balance sheet never loses its relevance. This is an aspect which provides you with an actual value of your business and the profitability factor is thus assured. Small business accounting firm are leaders in these areas and can handle the small business projects quite successfully.

In case, if there are no receipts, financial transactions can still be entered in the accounting records. To provide an audit trail, only adding up the total of invoices is not enough and submitting the written list of the sales invoices should be carried out. A small business accounting firm is able to fulfill these criteria in perfect way. Errors are checked and re-checked regularly for the final preparation of financial reports so that the damages occurring later on are checked in the first step itself. The professionals working in these firms are thorough with each financial detail and have a complete hold over the techniques involved in the process. After properly analyzing tax details of your organization, you are able to find exactly your position amongst the competitors in the market. A methodical approach saves the day for the upcoming business organizations which is implemented with the help of these accounting experts.

Outsourcing accounting services are a guaranteed way towards the reduction of costs and are a boon for small business ventures. With a small business accounting firm, you are assured of efficiency in maintaining the accounts, but before that satisfy yourself with a proper research. This research should be carried to save your precious time and energy which can be diverted towards attending other important details. An online mode is the perfect way to select a proper outsourcing firm which is registered and should have the relevant software. Confidentiality of the official data is assured here with foolproof security systems, through which even the employees of these firms are regularly checked.

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.

Tip #1: Keep it Separated

Too many business owners mix and mingle their personal and professional finances. Even if you are a sole proprietor keep you business business, and your personal personal. Set up separate checking accounts and if you need some funds from your small business, write yourself a check, or make a cash withdrawal. This will help come tax time when you need to separate business expenses. Even though the form of business is a path-through, you should still make sure a separation takes place. This will make expense tracking and budgeting much easier on you.

Tip #2: Keep Up to Date

Falling behind on your bookkeeping will only make matters worse. Set a specific time aside to deal primarily with recordkeeping. This will make tax time easier and quicker for you or your accountant. If you simply do not have the time necessary to complete the task, then look at outsourcing the work, or bringing in a part-time bookkeeper. This necessary function of business is so crucial to the success of the business that if cannot be put off and forgotten.

Tip #3: Use Your Numbers

Your financials can tell you a lot about your business, you just have to know what to look for. Check with your financial guru (CPA, bookkeeper, financial analyst, and/or consultant) at least quarterly and have them give you a thorough breakdown of your financial position. These individuals should be able to give you a written and oral report on how your business is functioning. Which areas are weak, and which are strong. Along with that they should also provide advice and an action plan on how you can go about strengthening your financial position.

Tip #4: Know When to Recognize

Recognizing revenue and expenses can make a difference in how your business performs month-to-month and how your taxes are calculated. If you use the accrual basis accounting system your year and month end numbers will be quite different then the cash basis accounting. Be sure you know what accounting method you are using, and how to recognize revenues and expenses correctly.

Tip #5: Check, Check, and Double Check

If you do not use an automated accounting software program (QuickBooks, Peachtree, Great Plains, etc) then there is a chance you will not balanced at the end of every period. By using a Trial Balance you can catch mistakes early and often, this saves from year-end headaches and added expense from your CPA while he/she finds the problem associated with your calculation error. Even if you use accounting software you can still enter erroneous information, be sure to reconcile your bank account against the program every month, this will allow you to catch errors that may have happened when filling out checks, invoices, or journals entries.