All posts by MJBs Bookkeeping Solutions

Facing the Giant

Facing The Giant – Bookkeeping

bookkeeping, Business Resources, Tax Organization, Taxes, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You’re an entrepreneur looking to expand your business and turn your passion into your livelihood, and ideally profit. Delegating and outsourcing are probably keywords in your vocabulary, giving you more time for the big adventure of delivering stellar customer satisfaction.

Surprisingly, some entrepreneurs still neglect the accounting, intentionally or not, risking the very life of the business. Some reasons we have heard are:

  1. Lack of organization or plan
  2. Lack of financial understanding
  3. Lack of time
  4. Lack of funds or believe they cannot afford
  5. Lack of trust sharing financial information

Fortunately, there are easy answers to all these reasons. Every entrepreneur who is thinking about, or who is a new or existing business owner has resources in their local area to tackle reasons 1 and 2 above:

For those who may align with reasons 3 and 4, the key lies in setting your up your books correctly from the start, a professional bookkeeper can do it in about an hour. Software/banking automation is the second key to eliminating the time excuse.

As to affordability, if the business has completed the setup and automation, you may only need a professional monthly review of 1-3 hours on average, based on the volume and complexity of your business. If you prefer a professional do the bookkeeping, and the books have been set up as above, 20-25 hours a month may be just fine. Alternatively, a hybrid situation where you split the duties with a professional, could save you money as well.

Finally, we understand that sharing financial information is personal, not to be taken lightly. Make a list of what is important to you, such as communication, accessibility, skill,  insurance, and, is there an Engagement/Non-Disclosure Agreement.  Interview several professionals in order to find the best match.

MJB’s Bookkeeping Solutions, LLC, is ready to help you face the Giant and create your clear economic path. We look forward to an interview with You.  Contact Us Today.

Get Acquainted: The 2018 IRS Withholding Calculator Has Launched

Budget, Tax Organization, Taxes, , , , , , , ,

Are you feeling anxious about how the recent Tax Reform will affect your finances?  Did you know that there are several helpful tools at the IRS.gov website to help you navigate the questions about your particular tax situation? Ease the stress and check out the easy to use  Interactive Tax Assistant for topics including Claiming Dependents, Your  Filing Status, Pensions and IRAs, Credit Eligibility and more.

The latest, the  2018 Withholding Calculator has just been launched. Some key changes included are:

2018 Standard Deductions (Personal Exemptions Eliminated):

  • Single or Married Filed Separately- $12,000
  • Married Filing Jointly- $24,000
  • Head of Household- $18,000
  • Over 65 or Blind, add $1300 per person

2018 State and Local Taxes– The itemized deduction is limited to $10,000 for both income and property taxes paid during the year

2018 Misc Deductions– Gone , including unreimbursed Employee expenses and tax prep and investment fees

2018 Child Tax Credit– $2000 per child to age 17; $500 available for other Dependents

One final tip, be sure to review my blog on reviewing withholding. If you have any questions, or need assisting with organizing your business or personal books, Call or Email MJB’s Bookkeeping Solutions, LLC  for a clearer economic path.

 

Tax Triggers For Reviewing Withholding

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Change is inevitable, right?

When was the last time you looked at your tax withholding?  With the recent changes to 2018 Tax Laws, there is no time like the present to complete a W4 Worksheet or similar to avoid under withholding for the current year. Whether an Employee or Business this applies to you.

Do you file  “complex returns” including Schedule A itemizing,  multiple jobs, or major life changes like marriage, divorce, new child, adoption, death of a spouse and/or the start of a new job?  Did you start a new business? These especially warrant a review.

Plan now for the 2018 changes to the Standard Deduction, deductions going away or being limited,  increases to certain credits, and changes to 401K and IRA contributions.

To help with this task, the IRS will be releasing a 2018 W-4 withholding calculator available on the IRS.gov website, soon.

Contact  MJB’s Bookkeeping Solutions, LLC  for help with organizing your personal or business books for a clearer economic path.

Keeping The Edge

bookkeeping, Budget, Business Resources, Tax Organization, Taxes, Thrive, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As with any game in sports, it’s rare that a good offense wins without a good defense to back it up. Your finances are no different.

So how often should You analyze your “game” to determine any weaknesses and reposition resources as necessary? Once a month is the best practice, subject to the unexpected, a flag that could put Your income at risk and elevate expenses.

Having an “A” game in place is good, and having a plan “B” is also recommended for reasons noted above. Here are a few tactics on how to fortify Your game plan:

  • Are there other possible revenue streams You could implement
  • Ideally you already have and are using a budget, and make sure You include Owner Draws in the budget
  • Document all cash purchases to capture any deductible personal or business expenses
  • Save consistently for rainy day and/or the emergency funds
  • Be as debt free as possible, pay off credit cards regularly if possible
  • Rotating credit cards and paying them off affects credit scores in a positive way

Accountancy is all about the numbers, achieving offensive/defensive balance, and being able to quickly adjust to change.

MJB’s Bookkeeping Solutions will work the sidelines to assist You in creating a clearer economic path, so that You can spend your effort and time on what is important.  Call, Email, or Make an appointment for Your No Obligation Consultation Today.

Classifying transactions

Pinpointing Your Niche: Classes…QuickBooks Style

bookkeeping, Budget, Business Resources, Tax Organization, Taxes, Thrive, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September has arrived and many are sharpening pencils as well as skills. If you are managing multiple revenue streams and looking for a good way to assess what is working  and what is not, grab your favorite note taking device and explore the ABC’s of “Classes”, and how it might provide you a clearer economic path.

Maybe you need to track product and service lines in detail. QuickBooks Classes differentiate transactions by departments, locations, product line, service type or other defining category relevant to your business or personal finance preference. QuickBooks keeps it easy and clean using the same chart of accounts across all Classes. Run a report and you will quickly see the line of business metrics.

When setting up Class Tracking think about

  • How do you want to see your business segmented on your financial reports? Classes will capture not only income and expense, but also assets, liabilities, and equity transactions.
  • Be consistent in how you enter class information on registers to be sure that your financial reports are accurate.
  • Need additional specifics? Set up “Sub-Classes” under the main Class.

Once you have mapped out your system you will have the ability to analyze your business finances from different perspectives…using built in reports “by class”.

When you might use Classes

  • A business with two or more locations – like a grocery store – could use to analyze the profitability of each location.
  • A contracting business with both maintenance and installation services may want to track the return on investment of each service separately. Or, perhaps need to track by a single family, commercial, or renovate and sell investment property.
  • A Non-Profit will track income and expenses by grant, event or project.
  • A Property Management Company might track by tenant within a single location, or for each property location.
  • A service business may be interested in tracking the location of current clients, in order to increase marketing in an untapped area.

You want to know if you are getting paid for your hard work – where, how much and when your money is coming and going, and most importantly what’s left for you.  Class tracking is a great tool to do this.

If you have questions about classes or other accounting questions, please contact me or make an appointment now, to ensure that you are focusing your hard work, passion and commitment for creating value in the right direction.

Looking for an organized way to manage your personal or business finances, and save time preparing various tax returns like Payroll, Sales Tax, and State and Federal Tax Returns?

Anyone, business or individual, can use QuickBooks for this purpose, and get organized with less paper and shoebox clutter.  We will customize the learning to You, whether a beginner or beyond. For the beginner we start with a few items like:

  • Easy Installation (The Wizard)
  • Homepage (The Roadmap)
  • Customize for your individual or business with preferences and settings
  • Create Invoices for Customers & Bills from Vendors
  • Basic Financial Reports

For those beyond, sessions will tailored to your specific questions.

Call  or Email Today for more information, or to get started with Your organized financial future. You work hard and deserve more freedom to choos how You use your time.

Weathering the Possibilities

bookkeeping, Budget, Business Resources, Thrive, , , , , , , , ,

Do you pay attention to the bright and sunny days and the cold, dark storm clouds brewing? Do you risk going out without checking? Do you do that with your business?

You probably heard it when you first thought about starting your business, “the lack of planning and control of financial resources is the top reason for the failure of many small businesses.” You owe it to yourself to develop a barometer to measure the potential success of your business.

The words planning, budgeting, and forecasting, or their derivatives, ought to be staples in your business vocabulary.

Financial reports, the Profit and Loss (Income Statement), Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement that are best created monthly, are indispensable for finance managers to produce budgets and forecasts. An added benefit, they are the radar that finds and isolates trends both good and not so good, allowing you to respond quicker and make mid-course corrections to your business’s advantage, to weather the times.

Our purpose and passion are genuine. We believe in You. Contact us, or go ahead and make an appointment today to a clearer economic path.

The Vitals, Heart of a Personal or Business Operation

bookkeeping, Budget, Business Resources, Tax Organization, Taxes, Thrive, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Have you ever considered that accounting is the health sustaining organ of an operation, and that its health has an impact on success or failure? An operation will survive when there is sufficient cash flow, however, what about when expenses are exceeding the income for a prolonged period? Perhaps an analogy will help clarify this concept.

The human heart is divided into two flow systems, which continuously pump oxygen and nutrient rich blood to sustain life. The Income flow from the organs and tissues of your body enters the right side of your heart, pumps to the lungs to remove waste and recharge with oxygen, and returns into the left side of your heart. The flow then Expenses to all parts and organs, ensuring oxygen and nourishment for your body to work efficiently.

Finances also have two flow systems, Revenue (income) and Expense (outgo). To gain a better understanding of financial health, a tool is also used that helps identify where the transactions are going and that’s the Chart of Accounts (COA). Arteries and capillaries organize and direct your blood on a path to where it’s needed, the COA organizes your finances in a way so that you see how your cash flows, and determine if the income/outgo flow is healthy.

Independent of the operation type, size, industry, or structure all use a chart of accounts, generally organized the same with bank accounts, assets, liabilities, equity, income, and expenses. From there, the unique personal or business aspects will determine the necessary customization of the COA.

  • Bank: where cash is deposited (petty cash, checking, savings, mma)
  • Asset: bank accounts, accounts receivable, or other current assets (prepaid expenses or loaning money to someone for example), and fixed assets (major purchase like furniture and equipment).
  • Liability: accounts payable, loans or lines of credit, credit cards, security deposits from customer, sales or payroll tax.
  • Equity Account: track money invested in or money taken out by owners or shareholders.
  • Income: money earned from sales of product or service, residual income, commission.
  • Expense: categorizes money spent immediately during normal operations, not purchased as accounts payable (office supplies, rent, advertising, utilities, etc.).

Company finances can be very complicated, however, with the proper tools it is very possible to keep track of your operation’s health. Whether you are using the old-fashioned paper and pencil or using accounting software, it is vital to know where the money is coming from, and where it is going. Categorizing expenses properly gives insight into ways to adjust and improve health, and assists in getting every tax deduction entitled to.

As you would seek out professional advice to ensure that your body’s heart is functioning properly, consider the professional advice of a professional bookkeeper or accountant to safeguard the heart of your business.

To Your Health

Who’s Managing Who? Lassoing The Runaways

bookkeeping, Budget, Business Resources, Thrive, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sooo, how do you keep your finances organized? Shall I expect your reply to include a sour look and an attempt to change the subject real fast? Many would rather be stuck in a huge traffic jam or go sit in the dentist’s chair rather than think about organizing their finances. But the truth is, if your costs, both business and personal, are running amok… then perhaps you might be throwing money to the wild, or down the drain.

Have you ever been surprised by that pesky late fee, then again, and again in rapid succession? Have you ever complained to the credit card companies that you never received the bill, only to find months later it had fallen behind the desk?

The cost of disorganization is not only financial, it can waste time and take a toll on our mood (and the unknowing around us). Consider how much replacing lost tools, recreating lost files, or time putting out fires costs your business. And there’s more… consider the losses involved with forgetting to send invoices to customers, paying for overtime labor and dealing with employee turnover. Disorganization costs money and could lead to measurable losses in profitability. It is time to stop the stampede, break in and bridle!

The good news is that it only takes 5 simple steps to help lasso in your business costs. You probably already have heard of that nasty “B” word, budgeting?

  1. Figure out your monthly net income (if it fluctuates, take the previous 12 months divided by 12 for the estimated monthly)
  2. Figure your monthly fixed expenses (rent, utilities, lease, insurance etc.)
  3. Figure variable expenses – commodities that don’t have a fixed price tag each month (office supplies, groceries, repairs and maintenance, meals and entertainment etc.)
  4. Figure a monthly contingency or reserve expense for the unexpected (trust me the unexpected is inevitable)
  5. Review the budget versus actuals monthly and fine tune your numbers

Your budget is a very useful tool to help plan for near and far range, and be able to go the distance. You might think you lack the time to organize your expenses, however, a few hours of organization with a professional accountant/bookkeeper, could spur you on towards being knee deep in clover sooner than later.

Make today be the day for changing horses. Decide to run free and keep up with the finances monthly yourself, contract a professional to saddle up on a regular basis, and/or occassionally opt for a bookkeeping/accounting audit to know that you are on the right track. The important thing is to corral the dark days.

Run for the roses.  Unwrap your Daily Double by Contacting Us Here and sending a message.

Does Math Really Count?

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Guest Blog by Barbara J. Waite, Your Chief Priority Officer – Projects, Your Way

How many of you have had that experience in high school where you were wondering, “Now how in the world will math be useful to me in real life?” Well it wasn’t until I was asked to tutor a high school student on the fundamentals of algebra did I develop a real appreciation for the language of numbers. The real cool thing about this language is that it ties all humanity together… math is a universal phenomenon whether it is represented by the dollar, euro, yen or peso. As I began to ponder over this implication, I could clearly see how math is so immersed in our daily routine that our life would be chaotic without it! Here are a few examples of what I mean:

  • MATH HELPS US BUILD THINGS: Creating something that will last and add value to our home requires creativity, the right set of tools, and a broad range of mathematics. Having the ability to do minor home improvements will save a lot of money and headache. Armed with math, we will also have the ability to check the work and project estimates, ensuring we’re getting the best value.
  • MATH HELPS US BECOME GREAT CHEFS: More math can be found in the kitchen than anywhere else in the house. After all, recipes are really just mathematical problems or self-contained step-by-step sets of processes to be performed.
  • MATH HELPS US MANAGE OUR TIME: With only 1,440 minutes in a day, we really need help in prioritizing what we need to accomplish and thankfully, with the help of math, we can! By assigning each task a number and the higher the number, the more priority it receives. This mathematical to-do list allows us to dedicate yourself to the most important and time-sensitive tasks first.

And most importantly,

  • MATH HELPS US MANAGE OUR FINANCES: Experts agree that without strong math skills, people tend to invest, save, or spend money based on their emotions. Someone who thoroughly grasps the concepts of exponential growth and compound interest will be more inclined to better manage their finances.

These are but a few ways in which math helps us to make better daily decisions… not only in our personal lives but also our business, where the accounting system is the heart of the operation and the state of its health can mean success or failure. Simply put, math is about solving problems and it plays such an integral part in our daily activities both personally and professionally, it’s no wonder why our high school math teachers were so intent on teaching us this very valuable language skill.

If math makes you squirm or you just want a second opinion, consider an external Bookkeeper/Accountant Doctor for your finances.