Monday, 23 September 2013
Steps in Employing Accounting Firms
Accounting firms are made up of professionals who help out with a person's or a business' accounting needs. The help they provide can come in the form of bookkeeping, financial advice and tax preparation, just to mention a few. Choosing such firm is a process that's highly individual since everybody has varying needs.
Accounting firms can certainly help you take care of finances and offer you useful advice you can use in order for you to be in a solid financial state, especially if you happen to own and run your own business. However, don't just go for the first firm you see. Before you go for any of these firms, you should first do the following:
1. Know what you specifically need.
2. Get recommendations from trusted sources.
3. Have a personal talk with these accounting firms.
After you've obtained the recommendations, talk with the firms which interest you. Explain what it is you're looking for and then ask your questions. Observe their answers and be sure you're comfortable with them. You should feel free in asking them about their credentials as well as their experience. You should expect them to readily provide you with these once you've asked.
4. Determine the cost.
When it comes to accounting firms, what's cheap doesn't necessarily mean good. On the flip side, you wouldn't want to get overcharged. Do a bit of comparison to ensure that what you'll be paying will be reasonable.
5. Consider what you feel.
This may sound odd but in working with anybody, especially if they're going to be working with your finances, you'd want to feel both comfortable as well as secure. In case you're comfortable with one, then move on to the next firm.
6. Obtain a timeline.
Be sure you're talking with your prospective accounting firms about the time you'll need to get things done. If you happen to be on quite a tight deadline regarding your taxes, be sure that they could beat that deadline. You must be sure that the firm you go for could provide you with the time you need.
As the accounting firms' relationships with their clients often need something that's ongoing, it's vital that you choose one that you can easily access. However, because of the recent advancements in communication, including remote access as well as desktop sharing, such firm could more easily trade information with you without the need for any physical interaction at times.
Be sure to get the best services from accounting firms. Visit http://ctssac.com/firmprofile.php today for help in contacting accounting firms in Sacramento.
Sunday, 22 September 2013
How to Lower Your Credit Card Processing Costs - Guaranteed!
Accepting credit cards from your customers has become critical to the success of your business, and that's true whether your business is based on face to face transactions or online payments. That's because most of your customers insist on paying for their purchases with a debit or credit card. Without credit card processing your business is at a competitive disadvantage.
However, the fees associated with processing card transactions are getting higher every year. Retail businesses have seen their credit card rates increase, taking a big bite out of their profits. And that's just the rate increases. Those figures don't include batch fees, statement fees, inquiry fees, PCI fees and other ancillary fees.
As a percentage it may not seem like much, but when you add up all the fees, your total bottom line transaction costs can be quite high. When multiplied over thousands of transactions per year this can add up to a huge drain on your company's profits.
Another common problem business owners face with a merchant account is trying to make sense of the monthly activity statement when it arrives. Many have grown so frustrated with this that they no longer even try, they just toss it in a drawer and forget about it.
Single Rate Credit Card Processing Is a Better Way
A single rate merchant account option focuses on the effective rate that you pay rather than just offering you a low transaction rate and then hitting you with a slew of processing fees that increase your costs. There is no substitute for simplicity, and the one rate solution is as simple as it gets. Here's a quick summary of the benefits of this one rate alternative:
· One Flat Rate per Transaction
· USA Based Customer Service
· You Know the True Cost of Every Sale
· Simple One Rate Statement You Can Actually Understand
· No Complicated and Costly Add-on Fees
Most merchants that accept credit cards are overpaying for their merchant services without even realizing it. That's because the true cost of processing their credit card payments is buried in hidden fees, complicated monthly statements, and nearly indecipherable tiered pricing.
This unique solution was designed for businesses that appreciate the simplicity and savings afforded by a single rate card processing concept. This alternative to conventional credit card processing will save the business owner money, and that's something you can take to the bank.
Very few credit card processors offer the one rate solution because it reduces their own profits.
Regardless of your business or industry, STRATEGIC PAYMENT SYSTEMS® has the expertise and product solutions to meet your payment processing needs. Whether you'd like a comprehensive cost analysis on your current merchant account or online payment provider, or a free consultation on a new product or service that could improve your bottom line, STRATEGIC PAYMENT SYSTEMS ® has a solution. And they are one of very few that have adopted the One Rate Solution.
Saturday, 21 September 2013
Essential Accounting for Entrepreneurs
An understanding of accounting is essential for entrepreneurs to make their business ventures successful for many reasons. The first reason is to enable the entrepreneur to make predictions about the company's future. This will increase the chance of success and also attract people to work towards a shared vision of where the business is headed.
The second reason is to make more efficient commitments of time, energy, and money. By maximizing the effectiveness of commitments companies can attract more customers, increase their capacity to serve present and future demand while investing in assets that increase productivity and lowering operating costs. The third reason accounting is essential for business is because it measures and assesses progress. Having an accurate measure of progress enables an entrepreneur to increase productivity, reward profitable behaviors, identify trends in revenues and expenses, and change directions when necessary. An entrepreneur's accounting knowledge should include an understanding of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), journals and ledgers, the accounting cycle steps, bank reconciliations, and financial statements.
GAAP maintain definitive rules that provide guidelines and procedures for preparing financial statements, as well as providing objective standards for judging and comparing financial data. It is necessary to have a working knowledge of GAAP to be able to prepare and interpret a company's financial statements. In accounting, a journal is a business diary that records the daily business transactions using the double-entry system of bookkeeping. The double-entry method records the debit and credit changes in individual ledge accounts caused by each transaction. Journal entries will also be entered into the company's ledger, which stores all the accounting information and summarizes the financial transactions.
The accounting cycle is used to process financial transactions and consists of six steps. Identifying and analyzing the transaction as they occur is the first step. The second step is to record the transaction in the appropriate journal. Step three occurs when information from the journal is transferred to the general ledger where debits and credits are posted. The fourth step consists of calculating and adjusting, as necessary, the trial balance to ensure that the sum of the debits is equal to the sum of the credits. Preparing the financial statements is the fifth step. The final step is to close the temporary accounts to owner's equity.
Bank reconciliations analyze and bring into agreement the account balance reported by the bank on the bank statement with the account balance shown in a company's ledger. The balances may differ due to timing differences or errors. Timing differences may include deposits in transit that have not posted to the bank's balance, outstanding checks that have not been presented to the bank, bank service charges that have not been entered into the general ledger, and not sufficient funds (NSF) checks that would require an adjustment be made to the ledger. Bank reconciliations can identify bank or business errors when the bank and book balances do not reconcile. To identify errors and ensure books are being kept in order reconciliations should be done on a regular basis when the bank statement becomes available.
Financial statements will provide entrepreneurs with the most comprehensive information to understand a company's past, current, and projected future profits and productivity. Four basic types of financial statements include the balance sheet, income statement, statement of retained earnings, and statement of cash flows. The balance sheet, also known as the statement of financial position, reports the company's assets, liabilities, and owner's equity at a given point in time. From the information on the balance sheet the quick ratio, the current ratio, the debt-to-equity ratio, and working capital can be determined. The quick ratio, also known as the acid test, measures the company's ability to pay off current liabilities with their current assets, and does not include inventory. The current ratio is the same as the quick ratio, but includes inventory. The debt-to-equity ratio, also known as leverage, is a measurement of how the company finances its assets. Working capital shows the available cash for day-to-day operations. Balance sheets are used to determine the company's financial risk and to aid entrepreneurs with decision-making.
The income statement, also known as the profit and loss statement, reports the company's income, expenses, and profits over a period of time. There is a large amount of information that can be derived from the income statement, including the gross profit margin, operating income, operating profit margin, net profit margin, return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE). Income statements show how profitable the company is and demonstrates productivity. The statement of retained earnings, also referred to as the statement of owner's equity, reports and explains changes in retained earnings over a period of time. The statement of cash flows reports the inflow, outflow, and movement of cash in the company over a period of time and consists of three parts, which are the cash from operations, cash from investing, and cash from financing. This statement of cash flows combines information from the balance sheet and the income statement to demonstrate how money is being generated and used throughout the company.
Having a good understanding of accounting enables entrepreneurs to increase the probability their business will be successful. The information that accounting provides allows entrepreneurs to make predictions about the future of the company, to make more efficient commitments, and to accurately measure the company's progress and productivity. Given the higher likelihood of success for entrepreneurs knowledgeable in accounting, and the wealth of information accounting can provide, everyone who is interested in opening their own business should make an effort to acquire accounting skills.
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