Insights

Don’t forget – the federal tax deadline is coming up on May 17th!  Is your small business’ bookkeeping up to date and ready for it?  

If you’re not sure, here are 5 quick tips on how to double-check – and get up to speed!

(1) Are your personal accounts (and expenses) mixed in your business records?

Do you have personal accounts connected to your business Quickbooks?  Or a lot of personal expenses running through your business accounts?  Both are big no-no’s!  Try to keep them separate – and make sure all personal expenses are correctly categorized as “owner’s draw” if an LLC or “Shareholder’ Distribution” if a corporation 

(2) Got a lot of negative numbers?

Now, for your loans and other liabilities, this is ok.  But otherwise, this is usually a red flag, especially when it comes to the assets for your business!  Always dig a little deeper into negative numbers to figure out what’s going on 

(3) How old are your unpaid invoices – both for clients + vendors?

There are a couple of reports you can run for this: the “Customer Balance” and the “Vendor Balance” report.  What invoices still have outstanding balances?  And how old are they?  If you’ve got a lot +90 days past due, you probably have some updating to do!

Would you like to keep more of your money in your own pocket? 

Here are 3 bookkeeping tips to help you increase your profit – and put more money in your pocket – without increasing your prices:

(1) DOUBLE-DOWN ON YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMERS

Did you know that it’s 5 times MORE expensive to get a new client, rather than just to keep your current clients happy and buying? So focus on meeting their needs and selling more to them first.

(2) AUTOMATE YOUR PROCESSES

Time is money, right? And if you get the right automation and software set up (like Zapier or QB), you can save HOURS of time.

(3) LOWER YOUR COSTS. 

Where can you bring down your operating costs (COGS)? Can you find cheaper suppliers, or get wholesale rates? Can you spend less on shipping or incur fewer expedite fees? 

(Also, you can just pick up the phone and see if your vendors are willing to give you a discount or special offer for your business. Especially those you have been with for some time!)

Not too hard

… But I do admit – some of these do take a little time to chase down or set up.

Quick pop quiz!  Do you know how often you should be doing your small business bookkeeping? 

Is it:

(A) Every week?

(B) Every month?  Or

(C) Once a year in a panic when your accountant asks about it at tax time?

Now, hopefully, you already know it’s not C (even if that’s the way it may happen for you most years!)

The answer is (B), every month! (At the bare minimum) 

But … do you know exactly which bookkeeping tasks need to be done … and when?  

For example, some bookkeeping tasks only need to be done every quarter – and others should be done every week or every day!

In case you’re curious, here’s a quick checklist summary of what you should be doing and when:

  DAILY – Check your bank account

  WEEKLY – File receipts, review and pay vendors, prepare and send invoices to clients

  MONTHLY – Reconcile your bank accounts, review past due invoices, review financial reports

So, be honest – how many times have you been given unsolicited advice … by people who have absolutely NO business giving you advice?

Dog owners telling you how to parent your kids (because they think the same advice applies to kids and dogs)

Your mother-in-law telling you that you need to update your hairstyle (even though she still wears a 1960s beehive)

Your friend who’s had the same corporate desk job for 11 years and says, “Let me tell you what you SHOULD be doing in your business.”

And if you really did have questions about parenting, hairstyles, and growing your small business … they are probably the LAST people you’d talk to, right?

Because they just haven’t been where you are.

And especially as a small business owner, you want to work with people who really GET the entrepreneur life: the highs, the lows, the creativity, the difficulties – the whole picture.

Guess what?  I do – I get it because I’m an entrepreneur, too

And that makes me a better bookkeeper – way beyond the numbers – with all of my clients:

No need to feel guilty for falling behind – I’m here to help you, and know first-hand how hard it is to keep all the plates spinning in a small business

Do you take credit card payments? Paypal payments?

If you do, AND you have Quickbooks, you likely know that the syncing of the payments and applying them to open invoices can be very cumbersome and often has many hitches that require extra work for you to ensure it is correct.

Here is a great article for you to checkout on the subject.  

Differences between Connect to PayPal app, Sync with PayPal app, and PayPal Bank Feeds

Have you been able to successfully connect your Paypal account to your business’ Quickbooks account?  If so, what way have you done it?

Also, have you considered the in-house payment platform Quickbooks uses? It may be worth the time to research it as it can really streamline your process.

Here is a link with comparisons of some of the most popular credit processing companies around…

Best Ten Merchant Services | Credit Card Processing

Feel free to reach and schedule a call today – We’d love to help take this off your plate, and give you back more of your time!

Differences between Connect to PayPal app, Sync with PayPal app, and PayPal Bank Feeds

So much administrative work…. 

14 minutes and 25 seconds.

According to research, that’s how much time business owners spend EVERY HOUR on administrative tasks.

Not every day – every HOUR. 

That’s 24% of your workday – 10 hours or more EVERY WEEK – spent on non-billable outsource-able behind-the-scenes work.

What would you do with TEN extra hours every week?

Have more time for billable work – and therefore create more revenue and profit?

Sit down and create higher-level strategies for the future, instead of always just reacting to the fire of the day?

Or finally, just slow down to a more manageable pace – and have more time to relax or be with your family (or just to SLEEP)?

When you sit down (probably with a groan) to reconcile your books or update your Quickbooks data – you are saying “yes” to admin work, and “no” to billable work, and rest

Are you ready to start saying “no” to those 10 hours of admin work … and “yes” to fewer work hours and more profit? Because you don’t have to do it all.  You really don’t.

Sending out a new invoice for your business is exciting, right?

But when that new invoice isn’t paid on time … not so much. Late payments are a common problem that can really hurt your cash flow – so how do you keep track of those unpaid invoices in your business? 

Do you scribble a reminder on a post-it note (and then immediately lose it)? We have all been there.

Don’t worry – there are plenty of easy tricks and tools to help automate your invoice reminders.  Here are some of my favorites:

  Not using software yet?  No problem – just pre-write and schedule an email to go out on the day of the invoice due date, as a friendly reminder.

  If you have a Quickbooks Online account, there’s a NEW automatic reminder tool now built into your invoices! All you have to do is set it up for your preferences. (You can learn how to set it up in the link below!)

 Have a Zapier account?  If so, you can also set up automated text message reminders to go out to your clients (pretty cool, right?)

Do you know what you need to do and provide when you apply for a business loan?

Or how important your bookkeeping is for that application? 

(It’s true – remember all of those SBA and PPP loans last year for Covid?  Bookkeepers and accountants were working around the clock trying to help businesses update their bookkeeping records as fast as possible so they could apply!)

And it’s not just bookkeeping – there’s a lot that goes into preparing for a business loan, and usually includes things like:

Double-checking your credit score

Gathering business and personal bank statements

Drawing up a detailed business plan

AND providing up-to-date financial reports, like balance sheets and income statements

So – guess what that means?

You won’t be able to apply for a loan – at least, not successfully – until your business’ bookkeeping is up to date.. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Do you use PayPal to accept payments in your business?  If so, you probably already know what a headache it can be trying to connect it to Quickbooks (never mind trying to manage the transactions) 

Don’t worry – it’s not just you!  

There are actually at least THREE different ways to connect and manage your PayPal account in Quickbooks (confusing, right?).

So if you’re struggling with PayPal, or trying to figure out which is best for your business, here’s a quick overview of the three styles (and a good link below) to help you get started:

PAYPAL BANK FEEDS

This option gives far less detail and automation; for example, it only provides summaries for sales transactions (not details), but it does categorize expenses and transfers.  However, it’s a good option if you need more detailed control over a low volume of transactions.

SYNC WITH PAYPAL APP

This option is a middle-ground blend of detailed automation vs manual input.  Sales transactions are detailed, but vendor payments and transfers still need to be manually categorized.

CONNECT TO PAYPAL APP

This offers the highest level of automation and transaction detail. However, that’s not always the best option – and it will only allow you to choose one income account, and multi-currency isn’t supported.

Do you use PayPal to accept payments in your business?  If so, you probably already know what a headache it can be trying to connect it to Quickbooks (never mind trying to manage the transactions) 

Don’t worry – it’s not just you!  

There are actually at least THREE different ways to connect and manage your PayPal account in Quickbooks (confusing, right?).

So if you’re struggling with PayPal, or trying to figure out which is best for your business, here’s a quick overview of the three styles (and a good link below) to help you get started:

PAYPAL BANK FEEDS

This option gives far less detail and automation; for example, it only provides summaries for sales transactions (not details), but it does categorize expenses and transfers.  However, it’s a good option if you need more detailed control over a low volume of transactions.

SYNC WITH PAYPAL APP

This option is a middle-ground blend of detailed automation vs manual input.  Sales transactions are detailed, but vendor payments and transfers still need to be manually categorized.

CONNECT TO PAYPAL APP

This offers the highest level of automation and transaction detail. However, that’s not always the best option – and it will only allow you to choose one income account, and multi-currency isn’t supported.