Here is a checklist to turbo charge your business in the New Year.
10. Evaluate your service lines. Use your QuickBooks® reports to view your revenues by item. Where are you making the most money? The least? Rank your service lines from highest to lowest revenues. Decide how you will strengthen your top revenue categories for 2009. For your lowest revenue categories, ask yourself whether they are draining your business and should be discontinued.
There are many reasons to discontinue a service line:
You are losing money on it
You hate doing it.
The liability of doing it is giving you an unreasonable amount of stress.
It is not your firms core competency.
Is there a service line you know you need to get rid of? If your clients are asking for this service and you would like to get rid of it anyway, try to find another firm that will do it in exchange for a commission. Know what your strengths and weaknesses are.
9. Start a new service line. Is there a new service that you are ready to start? Is there something your clients have been asking for that you don't do and you are tired of giving away that business?
8. Evaluate your profitability by client. Use your QuickBooks reports again to sort your revenues by client and see which client generates your highest and lowest revenues. Take a look at your top clients: do you need to take better care of anyone? Reward your top clients and weed out your bottom clients.
7. Evaluate your profitability by industry. Sort your clients by industry, and generate a report that shows your strong and weak industries. Are your clients mostly in construction? Health care? Nonprofit? Do you want to be considered an expert in a particular industry? Or do you prefer to spread your client base across multiple industries? Decide on the strategy that will work best for you in 2009.
6. Evaluate your vendors. Generate yet another report to show what vendors you've given the most business to. Do you plan to continue that business? Use your leverage to work out an arrangement with your top vendors. Can you negotiate a discount? How can you work together to get the best deal for both of you?
5. Look for and create new partnerships. Take a look at both your top clients and top vendors. Is there a possible partnership that would make sense? For example, you have a great printing company as one of your top vendors. If all of your clients began to use that printing company, could you gain a substantial discount off of printing services?
On the client side, perhaps you have a florist that your other clients and vendors could begin to use. More business to go around for all will make you look like a hero in everyone's eyes.
4. Evaluate your employees. You won't need a QuickBooks report to rank your employees. Take a hard look at who is performing well and should be rewarded and who is holding you back. Complete the tough steps that you know you need to carry out to turn the situation around.
3. Start a new initiative. Is there something you've been wanting to work into your business for a while, but haven't yet? Perhaps 2009 is the time to start your new initiative. Write some guidelines, communicate your mission, follow your gut, and get started.
2. Set your strategy. You might have an excellent idea of where you want to go with your business, but have you formalized it? All businesses need a written business plan, complete with a mission and purpose. I'm sure you've heard this one before; the question is whether you've tackled it or continue to ignore this advice. Make your mind up to spend time working on your business in 2009, not in it. Work on the big picture and stay out of the day-to-day details as much as you can.
1. Resolve to have an outstanding New Year. Set the intention to have an amazing year. Communicate your plans, goals, initiatives, and strategies to all of your stakeholders - employees, clients, vendors, partners. Let them know where you and your business are headed so that all energies are pointed in the right direction for an outstanding 2009.
Happy New Year.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Beware of Marketing Scams
You might not know it, but you are a perfect target for a marketing scam. A small business entrepreneur just like you is tasty meat for the highly aggressive marketers and scammers that are so plentiful these days. And while not all marketing efforts are scams, even legitimate marketing efforts can be overly aggressive.
That’s why I’m providing you with a checklist. My goal is to help you become aware of overly aggressive, if not illegal, marketing tactics. To keep from getting “conned,” education helps, along with skeptical, rational thinking.
Among potential scams, the most pernicious tactic may well remain the seminar or free lunch. Once you are in an environment that the marketers control, you could be subjected to all sorts of high-pressure tactics. (Of course, some informational sessions are legitimate. You will need to be reasonably skeptical to decide between the two.) If you know and can recognize the high-pressure tactics as they occur, you will be well-prepared to avoid the scam.
Red Flags
Here are some red flags that the marketing effort directed at you could become overly aggressive.
__ Higher Priced Industries. Scams are most common in the real estate, stock market, investment, money management, health care, estate planning, personal growth, and business development industries.
__ Free Anything. Is the item part of a lure to make you more vulnerable to high sales tactics, such as going to an event or signing a document?
__ Getting You in Their Environment. While some free educational sessions may be worthwhile to attend, often such sessions simply make you more vulnerable.
__ Becoming Your Friend. We tend to do business with people we like.
__ Getting You to Sign. Once you sign a legal document, it may be all over for you. Therefore never sign anything without reading it thoroughly and understanding it clearly. In scams the document commits you to buy a product or service, or to prevent you from buying the product or service from anyone else.
__ Emotional Appeals. All marketers use some form of emotional appeal, but scammers go for the jugular. Unfair appeals include those to patriotism, wish fulfillment, awe of others who are successful, creating a sense of “us” against “them”; playing on a sense of high mindfulness with inspirational quotes, or working on your self-doubt about being afraid to take risks.
__ Urgency. If you only have ten minutes to save hundreds but spend thousands, slow down and think.
__ Exclusivity. Scammers want you to think they’re the only ones on the planet who can solve your problem, make you rich, or cure your ills.
__ Bargain Pricing. To make you think their $3,000 product is such a bargain, aggressive marketers will force the comparison by comaring the item to something irrelevant like a car or a MBA degree that costs $35,000.
__ Enthusiasm of Others. Once one person (often a plant) rushes to the sign-up table, we can feel like we’re going to miss out. It’s important not follow blindly.
Remember, often the best protection against a scam is to become educated about them and to approach marketing offers with skeptical, rational thinking.
That’s why I’m providing you with a checklist. My goal is to help you become aware of overly aggressive, if not illegal, marketing tactics. To keep from getting “conned,” education helps, along with skeptical, rational thinking.
Among potential scams, the most pernicious tactic may well remain the seminar or free lunch. Once you are in an environment that the marketers control, you could be subjected to all sorts of high-pressure tactics. (Of course, some informational sessions are legitimate. You will need to be reasonably skeptical to decide between the two.) If you know and can recognize the high-pressure tactics as they occur, you will be well-prepared to avoid the scam.
Red Flags
Here are some red flags that the marketing effort directed at you could become overly aggressive.
__ Higher Priced Industries. Scams are most common in the real estate, stock market, investment, money management, health care, estate planning, personal growth, and business development industries.
__ Free Anything. Is the item part of a lure to make you more vulnerable to high sales tactics, such as going to an event or signing a document?
__ Getting You in Their Environment. While some free educational sessions may be worthwhile to attend, often such sessions simply make you more vulnerable.
__ Becoming Your Friend. We tend to do business with people we like.
__ Getting You to Sign. Once you sign a legal document, it may be all over for you. Therefore never sign anything without reading it thoroughly and understanding it clearly. In scams the document commits you to buy a product or service, or to prevent you from buying the product or service from anyone else.
__ Emotional Appeals. All marketers use some form of emotional appeal, but scammers go for the jugular. Unfair appeals include those to patriotism, wish fulfillment, awe of others who are successful, creating a sense of “us” against “them”; playing on a sense of high mindfulness with inspirational quotes, or working on your self-doubt about being afraid to take risks.
__ Urgency. If you only have ten minutes to save hundreds but spend thousands, slow down and think.
__ Exclusivity. Scammers want you to think they’re the only ones on the planet who can solve your problem, make you rich, or cure your ills.
__ Bargain Pricing. To make you think their $3,000 product is such a bargain, aggressive marketers will force the comparison by comaring the item to something irrelevant like a car or a MBA degree that costs $35,000.
__ Enthusiasm of Others. Once one person (often a plant) rushes to the sign-up table, we can feel like we’re going to miss out. It’s important not follow blindly.
Remember, often the best protection against a scam is to become educated about them and to approach marketing offers with skeptical, rational thinking.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saving is Earning
So we have all heard the phrase "A penny saved is a penny earned", well in these times, it is true. Many people look at spending versus saving and always say, "I need the tax deduction, so I will purchase these items". If you are in the 25% tax bracket, then that dollar spent will only help you by 25%. Yes, we all need income tax deductions, but you don't need to spend money to just get an income tax deduction. Instead of purchasing the item just for the income tax deduction, you may want to save your money.
Saving money is normally a thing of the past. Most people and companies for that matter of fact, do not have emergency funds in place in case something drastic happens. Individuals need at least 3 months of expenses in the bank as their emergency fund. I advise most businesses to try to put a percentage of sales back into savings if possible. Use these funds in dire emergency, for example, like an accident where you had to go to the hospital or your engine failed on you automobile.
Saving is earning. Start saving today because you don't know what your future holds. Just think of all of the grief and heartache that you can save by knowing that you have an emergency fund just in case. Start working on it today. Put some back every week, and be diligent.
Saving money is normally a thing of the past. Most people and companies for that matter of fact, do not have emergency funds in place in case something drastic happens. Individuals need at least 3 months of expenses in the bank as their emergency fund. I advise most businesses to try to put a percentage of sales back into savings if possible. Use these funds in dire emergency, for example, like an accident where you had to go to the hospital or your engine failed on you automobile.
Saving is earning. Start saving today because you don't know what your future holds. Just think of all of the grief and heartache that you can save by knowing that you have an emergency fund just in case. Start working on it today. Put some back every week, and be diligent.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Last minute Tax Deductions that get missed...
So did you wait to file your taxes? April 15 comes and goes, you figure you will get to it later, September rolls around, and you figure, I have time....one more month. Then you look up and it is October 12. Oh no...you have to file your taxes by October 15. So what potential deductions are you going to miss because you were in a hurry?
1. Buy a car? The sales tax on high ticket items may be deductible (especially in Florida where there is no income taxes.
2. Refinance your home? Points may be deductible, and even your mortgage premium insurance (PMI) may be deductible.
3. Purchase a home? Did you get the costs off of your closing statement? Some of the costs on your closing statement is deductible, don't forget those.
4. Job ask you to travel? You may be able to take travel, mileage, uniforms, tools, or protective equipment if they are required by your job.
These are just a few of the deductions that can be missed. The bottom line is, don't procrastinate. If you cannot get your taxes done in April, shoot for getting them done in July.
1. Buy a car? The sales tax on high ticket items may be deductible (especially in Florida where there is no income taxes.
2. Refinance your home? Points may be deductible, and even your mortgage premium insurance (PMI) may be deductible.
3. Purchase a home? Did you get the costs off of your closing statement? Some of the costs on your closing statement is deductible, don't forget those.
4. Job ask you to travel? You may be able to take travel, mileage, uniforms, tools, or protective equipment if they are required by your job.
These are just a few of the deductions that can be missed. The bottom line is, don't procrastinate. If you cannot get your taxes done in April, shoot for getting them done in July.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when a thief uses your personal financial information without your permission to commit a crime or fraud. They may find and use your credit card number on a bill you have thrown out or a stray receipt. They may use a device to capture your card number when you use it. And they may even fill out a change of address card and divert your statements.
Between 500,000 and 700,000 individuals are seriously affected by identity theft in the United States each year. Some victims have spent a lot of money and time repairing their credit rating and financial status. Other individuals have been unable to purchase cars, houses, or other items when they needed them because of their “new” and unwelcome credit rating.
We recommend you do as many of the items below as possible to protect yourself.
· Protect Your Signature. Never publish your real signature on your web site, in an email signature file, or anywhere else publicly. If you throw out papers with your signature on it, shred them.
· Take Care with Financial Documents. Keep a shredder by every trash can where you throw out papers. Take a good look at every paper you throw out and shred every paper that has your Social Security number, credit card number, driver’s license number, or any other personal identifying number or information. This will reduce the risk of dumpster diving – where thieves go through your trash to find personal information.
You might be surprised at which papers have identifying information on them. You might need to shred mail that you don’t even want to open – for example, credit card applications. Please be careful to inspect all papers or just make a systematic rule to shred everything.
· Protect Your Records. Be careful who has access to your financial records, even in your own house. If you have lots of house guests, teenagers with numerous friends, or neighbors over all the time, you have a slight risk of exposure. Keep your papers all in one place, and if possible, lock them up for safekeeping and limited access to people you trust. Don’t forget about the papers you leave out on top of your desk or in a mail stack.
· Protect Your Computer. Do you have financial information on your computer? Password protect your financial files, and keep your password in a private, safe place.
· Be Web Savvy. Use good judgment when entering credit cards on web sites of businesses you don’t know or when presenting your card to a business that looks questionable. This will reduce the risk of skimming, where thieves posing as merchants steal your card number as they enter it in their device.
· Be Email Savvy. Never enter your credit card number in an email to someone. Never reply to an email that requests your personal information. If you think the email is real, go to your bank branch in person to check it out. This will reduce the risk of phishing, where the thief poses as a bank to get your information.
· Be Phone Savvy. If someone calls you and later asks for your personal information, be wary. It could be a setup, and it’s very easy to fall for. The caller will get you engaged in solving a big problem with your account and you could let your guard down. Don’t! If there’s a question in your mind about whether it’s real or not, call the business using the phone number on the back of the credit card or in the phone book.
· Be Discreet. Watch how you hold your credit card in a public place such as a line at the supermarket (cover the numbers). Don’t say your credit card number in public, and don’t repeat it on a cell phone. This is a low risk, but cell phone conversations are easily intercepted.
· Stay Vigilant with Statements. Make sure you receive your statements on a timely basis. If a statement is a few weeks late, follow up with the institution to find out why. Better yet, convert to online statements. This will avoid the risk of a thief changing your address and diverting the statements.
· Keep Track of Your Reports. Monitor your accounts, bank accounts, credit cards, and credit reports regularly.
· Spread the Word. Educate everyone in your household about these ideas so that they are fully implemented.
If you discover fraudulent activity on your accounts, there are four things to do immediately (time is of the essence):
· Place a fraud alert on your accounts.
· Close your affected accounts.
· File a police report.
· File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC has more information on their web site to help protect you from becoming a victim of identity theft.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/defend.html
Between 500,000 and 700,000 individuals are seriously affected by identity theft in the United States each year. Some victims have spent a lot of money and time repairing their credit rating and financial status. Other individuals have been unable to purchase cars, houses, or other items when they needed them because of their “new” and unwelcome credit rating.
We recommend you do as many of the items below as possible to protect yourself.
· Protect Your Signature. Never publish your real signature on your web site, in an email signature file, or anywhere else publicly. If you throw out papers with your signature on it, shred them.
· Take Care with Financial Documents. Keep a shredder by every trash can where you throw out papers. Take a good look at every paper you throw out and shred every paper that has your Social Security number, credit card number, driver’s license number, or any other personal identifying number or information. This will reduce the risk of dumpster diving – where thieves go through your trash to find personal information.
You might be surprised at which papers have identifying information on them. You might need to shred mail that you don’t even want to open – for example, credit card applications. Please be careful to inspect all papers or just make a systematic rule to shred everything.
· Protect Your Records. Be careful who has access to your financial records, even in your own house. If you have lots of house guests, teenagers with numerous friends, or neighbors over all the time, you have a slight risk of exposure. Keep your papers all in one place, and if possible, lock them up for safekeeping and limited access to people you trust. Don’t forget about the papers you leave out on top of your desk or in a mail stack.
· Protect Your Computer. Do you have financial information on your computer? Password protect your financial files, and keep your password in a private, safe place.
· Be Web Savvy. Use good judgment when entering credit cards on web sites of businesses you don’t know or when presenting your card to a business that looks questionable. This will reduce the risk of skimming, where thieves posing as merchants steal your card number as they enter it in their device.
· Be Email Savvy. Never enter your credit card number in an email to someone. Never reply to an email that requests your personal information. If you think the email is real, go to your bank branch in person to check it out. This will reduce the risk of phishing, where the thief poses as a bank to get your information.
· Be Phone Savvy. If someone calls you and later asks for your personal information, be wary. It could be a setup, and it’s very easy to fall for. The caller will get you engaged in solving a big problem with your account and you could let your guard down. Don’t! If there’s a question in your mind about whether it’s real or not, call the business using the phone number on the back of the credit card or in the phone book.
· Be Discreet. Watch how you hold your credit card in a public place such as a line at the supermarket (cover the numbers). Don’t say your credit card number in public, and don’t repeat it on a cell phone. This is a low risk, but cell phone conversations are easily intercepted.
· Stay Vigilant with Statements. Make sure you receive your statements on a timely basis. If a statement is a few weeks late, follow up with the institution to find out why. Better yet, convert to online statements. This will avoid the risk of a thief changing your address and diverting the statements.
· Keep Track of Your Reports. Monitor your accounts, bank accounts, credit cards, and credit reports regularly.
· Spread the Word. Educate everyone in your household about these ideas so that they are fully implemented.
If you discover fraudulent activity on your accounts, there are four things to do immediately (time is of the essence):
· Place a fraud alert on your accounts.
· Close your affected accounts.
· File a police report.
· File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC has more information on their web site to help protect you from becoming a victim of identity theft.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/defend.html
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
5 Ways to Trim Overhead Expenses
One of the best ways to trim expenses is to look at those recurring monthly business expenses. Here are 5 ares to check:
1- Communications- Prices are constantly dropping for telephone and cell phone plans. Evaluate yours by calling the company and seeing what better rates you can get.
2- Insurance- Once your insurance is up for renewal, make sure you are getting quotes from several companies to get the competitive rates you need. Check to make sure you are not over or under covered. Can you get discounts if you combine policies?
3- Advertising- Try to focus on referrals and public relations exposure instead of costly advertising campaigns. Joining your local chamber is a great way to network and get your name out there for a reasonable cost.
4- Office supplies, printing and postage- This can be one of your most costly areas. Try to digitize as much as possible in order to cut down on paper and other products. Email instead of mailing. Use regular shipping instead of costly overnight shipping.
5- Rent and utilities- Review your space and see if it is possible to downsize. Consider relocation to another area where rent is cheaper. Turn off utilities when not using them. Power down your computer at night. Change your bulbs to energy efficient bulbs.
1- Communications- Prices are constantly dropping for telephone and cell phone plans. Evaluate yours by calling the company and seeing what better rates you can get.
2- Insurance- Once your insurance is up for renewal, make sure you are getting quotes from several companies to get the competitive rates you need. Check to make sure you are not over or under covered. Can you get discounts if you combine policies?
3- Advertising- Try to focus on referrals and public relations exposure instead of costly advertising campaigns. Joining your local chamber is a great way to network and get your name out there for a reasonable cost.
4- Office supplies, printing and postage- This can be one of your most costly areas. Try to digitize as much as possible in order to cut down on paper and other products. Email instead of mailing. Use regular shipping instead of costly overnight shipping.
5- Rent and utilities- Review your space and see if it is possible to downsize. Consider relocation to another area where rent is cheaper. Turn off utilities when not using them. Power down your computer at night. Change your bulbs to energy efficient bulbs.
Do you need an operational review?
In today's times, the old saying "don't leave money on the table" seems a waste of time to say, but many businesses are in fact doing this. Inefficient operations drain your profits a little at the time, and some business do not even realize this is a problem. Make small improvements in the following areas can help stop this problem.
1- Outdated technology. For many small companies, the intimidation of technology often hinders them from making more of a profit. The more a company moves to a digital office, the more efficient the company will be. There are easy programs out there that will help you analyze your business to see where you are losing or making money.
2- Not having a strategic plan. Some questions to answer are: Why are you in business? What do you want to become? Who are your core clients? What will it take to achieve your firms vision? Determine how you will implement these questions into your business.
3- Partner issues. Do not accept non-conformance or mediocrity issues from your partners or employees. They drain more profits than they provide.
4- Serving the unprofitable clients. Determine which clients are making a profit. Cut the clients that are draining your company.
5- Not enough new business. Question your marketing efforts. Determine which ones are making you money and cut the ones that are not.
6- Poor engagement management. Pricing, productivity, cost to serve the client, and client management are the four key activities to engagement management. Make sure you are focusing on each of these areas.
7- Fixation on hourly billing. Learn how to bill on the value of the work to your client. Before you give them a price, ask them what they think a fair price for the work might be. You might be surprised how much they are willing to pay.
8- Poor or weak billing and collection process. Not collecting money of course has a direct impact on your cash flow.
9- Not keeping score. It is important to visually see how you are comparing to others.
1- Outdated technology. For many small companies, the intimidation of technology often hinders them from making more of a profit. The more a company moves to a digital office, the more efficient the company will be. There are easy programs out there that will help you analyze your business to see where you are losing or making money.
2- Not having a strategic plan. Some questions to answer are: Why are you in business? What do you want to become? Who are your core clients? What will it take to achieve your firms vision? Determine how you will implement these questions into your business.
3- Partner issues. Do not accept non-conformance or mediocrity issues from your partners or employees. They drain more profits than they provide.
4- Serving the unprofitable clients. Determine which clients are making a profit. Cut the clients that are draining your company.
5- Not enough new business. Question your marketing efforts. Determine which ones are making you money and cut the ones that are not.
6- Poor engagement management. Pricing, productivity, cost to serve the client, and client management are the four key activities to engagement management. Make sure you are focusing on each of these areas.
7- Fixation on hourly billing. Learn how to bill on the value of the work to your client. Before you give them a price, ask them what they think a fair price for the work might be. You might be surprised how much they are willing to pay.
8- Poor or weak billing and collection process. Not collecting money of course has a direct impact on your cash flow.
9- Not keeping score. It is important to visually see how you are comparing to others.
NeatReceipts
Are you the type of person to shove receipts into shoe boxes and hand them over to your accountant at the end of the year? I have the perfect tool for you. NeatReceipts is a tool that allows you to scan your receipts, business cards, or other documents into an electronic form. From there, you can download the information into QuickBooks or Quicken.
Along with the NeatReceipts software, you receive a scanner that uses OCR (optical character recognition) that translates the data into organized and usable data. While it is not 100% accurate, it saves a lot of time and key entry for entering your receipts. The scanner was made for portability, so i weighs very little and fits easily into your laptop bag. It connects to your computer via a USB cable, and directly charges from your computer.
You can organize your receipts by vendor or expense category. Once your receipts are scanned, you can export them into various programs such as excel or Quickbooks, or even Outlook for business cards.
Along with the NeatReceipts software, you receive a scanner that uses OCR (optical character recognition) that translates the data into organized and usable data. While it is not 100% accurate, it saves a lot of time and key entry for entering your receipts. The scanner was made for portability, so i weighs very little and fits easily into your laptop bag. It connects to your computer via a USB cable, and directly charges from your computer.
You can organize your receipts by vendor or expense category. Once your receipts are scanned, you can export them into various programs such as excel or Quickbooks, or even Outlook for business cards.
Negotiation Tips to Get Better Deals
We are constantly negotiating whether it be for personal or business reasons. Here are some quick tips to improve your negotiation skills:
1- Use a checklist. Have a clear mission and purpose for the negotiation. Have a clear outline of the problems as you see them. Know what you want and what will happen next.
2- Be quiet and listen!
3- Try to determine what your opponent wants.
4- Don't try to show people how smart you are. Don't create a distance by making your self different from them.
5- Don't assume you have to give up something to make the deal happen. You want prospects focused on what you can give them as a service and why you are there to help their business.
6- Don't give up easily.
1- Use a checklist. Have a clear mission and purpose for the negotiation. Have a clear outline of the problems as you see them. Know what you want and what will happen next.
2- Be quiet and listen!
3- Try to determine what your opponent wants.
4- Don't try to show people how smart you are. Don't create a distance by making your self different from them.
5- Don't assume you have to give up something to make the deal happen. You want prospects focused on what you can give them as a service and why you are there to help their business.
6- Don't give up easily.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Extensions - Should I?
Should you do an extension? There are a couple questions that you must ask yourself if you should do an extension:
- Do I have all of my information together and ready to file my taxes?
- Does my tax professional have time left on his schedule to do my tax return?
There are several misconceptions regarding extensions. One is that you will be flagged for an audit if you extend your tax return. This is false. Statistically you have a 2.5% less chance of being audited if you file later in the year. Another misconception is that you don't have to pay tax. An extension is just request for a longer period of time to gather information, you are not given a longer time to pay your taxes. Payment of taxes should be made no later than April 15. The last misconception is that you have to go in (to your professionals office) to sign the extension. This is not true as you don't have to sign anything. Your professional can do it with only a small amount of information.
If you need help with your extension, please feel free to call. Don't put it off!!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
QuickBooks Can Help Fix Problems
QuickBooks can help fix problems in your business, as well as improve cash flow and help productivity. By using Quickbooks custom fields, classes, and job names, you can find out which clients are making you money and which clients are costing you money. Here are a couple of ways to zero in on your problem areas:
-Aging reports tell you who your slow payers are. You can also include credit limits so you can avoid bad debts. You can find this report under Reports/ Customers/ Aging Summary or Aging Detail.
-Reminders can be used to trigger phone calls you need to make, notes about your customers, and bills that might need to be generated and mailed.
-Time tracking can be used on employees to see which employees are helping your bottom line and which employees are costing you money. You can also assign their time to a job to show the overall profitability of a client.
QuickBooks can also help speed up your cash flow. Time and expense tracking helps you bill your clients faster. You can also use progress invoices to produce invoices ahead of time. Collection letters can also be generated from QuickBooks to help with collecting.
Finally, QuickBooks can also be helpful in helping you find transactions that you think might be lost. Let's say you are trying to find every transaction in QuickBooks dealing with a certain project. You can download the QuickBooks search which is powered by Google search. Type in the name you are trying to find and the search engine will produce all the transactions with that word in any transaction in your database. However, this capability takes up a lot of space, so make sure your computer can handle it.
With these tips, QuickBooks can help you build your business and make you more efficient. Please call us if there is anything we can help you with!
-Aging reports tell you who your slow payers are. You can also include credit limits so you can avoid bad debts. You can find this report under Reports/ Customers/ Aging Summary or Aging Detail.
-Reminders can be used to trigger phone calls you need to make, notes about your customers, and bills that might need to be generated and mailed.
-Time tracking can be used on employees to see which employees are helping your bottom line and which employees are costing you money. You can also assign their time to a job to show the overall profitability of a client.
QuickBooks can also help speed up your cash flow. Time and expense tracking helps you bill your clients faster. You can also use progress invoices to produce invoices ahead of time. Collection letters can also be generated from QuickBooks to help with collecting.
Finally, QuickBooks can also be helpful in helping you find transactions that you think might be lost. Let's say you are trying to find every transaction in QuickBooks dealing with a certain project. You can download the QuickBooks search which is powered by Google search. Type in the name you are trying to find and the search engine will produce all the transactions with that word in any transaction in your database. However, this capability takes up a lot of space, so make sure your computer can handle it.
With these tips, QuickBooks can help you build your business and make you more efficient. Please call us if there is anything we can help you with!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Use QuickBooks for Contact Management and Organization
QuickBooks can be very useful as a contact management tool when dealing with customers. In Quickbooks, open a customer and choose the Additional Info tab. You will see a box labeled "Custom Fields." Click on the define fields button and you can customize what you would like to name these boxes. Such fields that might be useful to you would be spouse's name, membership anniversary date, call-back dates, referral source, birthday, shipping date, renewal date, etc.
You can then customize reports to include the information you have added to these fields. In the customer contact list which is located under reports/ customers, you can include the spouse's name as a column so that you can have this information for thank you notes or other various items you would send. You could also include the contract date or renewal date or other items that might be relevant to your business. You can also memorize this report so that it will be handy next time you need the information quickly.
QuickBooks will also include this information on labels (File/Print Forms/Labels) or letters that you can print from QuickBooks. In order to create letters, choose company then prepare letters with envelopes. Here you will find a list of predefined templates for various letters including collection letters, customer letters, etc.
QuickBooks can be a great tool for managing customer relationships. Many users do not realize they do not need to purchase additional software such as CRM software to manage this information. If you need additional information, or would like further training on QuickBooks, please do not hesitate to call our office.
You can then customize reports to include the information you have added to these fields. In the customer contact list which is located under reports/ customers, you can include the spouse's name as a column so that you can have this information for thank you notes or other various items you would send. You could also include the contract date or renewal date or other items that might be relevant to your business. You can also memorize this report so that it will be handy next time you need the information quickly.
QuickBooks will also include this information on labels (File/Print Forms/Labels) or letters that you can print from QuickBooks. In order to create letters, choose company then prepare letters with envelopes. Here you will find a list of predefined templates for various letters including collection letters, customer letters, etc.
QuickBooks can be a great tool for managing customer relationships. Many users do not realize they do not need to purchase additional software such as CRM software to manage this information. If you need additional information, or would like further training on QuickBooks, please do not hesitate to call our office.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
How to Pay LESS to Uncle Sam
I always get clients and friends that always ask me, "How do I pay less taxes?" For me it is simple, here are several easy, proven techniques to pay LESS:
- Get a professional to prepare your taxes. This gives you a chance to "pick" their brain for additional deductions
- If you don't know, Bring it and Ask...I have had countless clients just ask one simple question that will get me down a path (that I did not know existed) unless they asked
- Always and I mean Always try to itemize. If it saves you an extra $200 in tax savings, and it only took you an additional hour to get the info together...I would love to be paid $200 per hour to look for items
- File on time...or get the extension on time, millions of people do not extend their tax return timely, thus costing penalties when they do file, and
- Plan...Plan...Plan...Last year is gone focus on the current year so you can take full advantage of the tax laws. Pay for an hour of your accountant's time, it may be well work it. (One of my clients bought 3 hours of my time last December, we were able to save him over $20,000 in taxes...very nice trade-off).
Put these proven techniques to use, and pay Uncle Sam LESS.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Itemized Deductions
As you may know you get to take the greater of either The Standard Deduction ($10,700 Married Joint) or The Itemized Deduction. So what is an Itemized Deduction then? The most common deductions are:
- Out-Of-Pocket Medical Expenses (limited)
- Real Estate Taxes
- Sales Taxes (Florida has no Personal Income Tax)
- Home Mortgage Interest
- Charitable Contributions, and
- Non-Reimbursed Business Expenses
These are a few deductions. If the items above are more than $10,700 (Married Joint), then you can itemize. You should always get your tax preparer to check to see if you qualify for itemized deductions. If you would like to get a checklist you can take to your Tax Man, you can download a checklist from the "Forms" section of our website. You can always call if you have questions regarding itemized deductions.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
May Rebate Checks (Do you qualify?)
So do you qualify for the rebate checks that will be mailed in May? Here are the requirements:
- Have to file a 2007 Income Tax Return
- Max of $1200 Married $600 Single
- Minimum of $600 Married $300 Single
- Each child you receive an additional $300
- Your rebate check is based on your tax liability and the amount of money you make
- If you don't qualify you may be eligible for a credit on your 2008 Tax Return
These are the quick and easy items to know if you qualify for the rebate. If you do not know if you qualify, you can always give me a call and I can help you figure it out.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
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