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	<title>The Article Library &#187; Bookkeeping</title>
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		<title>What Are The Joondalup Accountants Known For</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/what-are-the-joondalup-accountants-known-for.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/what-are-the-joondalup-accountants-known-for.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kelli-Rue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The metropolitan town of Joondalup is found in Perth, within the West portion of Australia. The Joondalup city is approximately 26 kilometers north of the Central Business District of Perth. It is a well developed urban city that has numerous facilities and services for the general public. This city is named after the well recognized [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The metropolitan town of Joondalup is found in Perth, within the West portion of Australia. The Joondalup city is approximately 26 kilometers north of the Central Business District of Perth. It is a well developed urban city that has numerous facilities and services for the general public. This city is named after the well recognized Lake Joondalup.</p>
<p>The Joondalup town has a history of offering high levels of personal services to all its citizens. The people of this city are supplied with all the fundamental services. People who are more interested in the business field are also provided with all the services they desire to start their respective organizations. In these companies, the Joondalup accountants play a big role to promise the survival and accomplishment of the company.</p>
<p>The job of an accountant is consumed with a lot of responsibility as he or she has to look after and record all the financial transactions and actions that occur within the business. Along with all the knowledge related to basic math and calculations, the accountants moreover need to possess qualities such as patience and calmness when handling important facts and figures of the financial statement so that their thoughts are clear and no room for error is left.</p>
<p>But, despite of all this, the most vital qualities, which every accountant should possess, are honesty, hard work, focus, determination, obedience and the want and want to succeed. These are the characteristics which all the HR managers want to witness within their employees and workers.</p>
<p>In Joondalup, accountants can discover numerous firms, firms or places to work and practice their skills. One such place is the Noble and Associates which was has been in Joondalup since 2003. This firm works tirelessly on providing the suitable technology and service to its employees and accountants.</p>
<p>The firm of Noble and Associates owns a highly qualified, well learned and focused team of workers. Amongst these members of staff, the Joondalup accountants are mainly well known to offer their services with excellence. These workers work very hard to promise the success of the business. They keep record and watch over all the fiscal transactions and information of the organization so that the investors, managers or any other decision maker can properly make use of the organization&#8217;s resources.</p>
<p>The financial guidance and assurance of credit standing, offered by these accountants, additionally assists the owners to make decisions with much more simplicity, as they would know about of the current monetary status of the business. Other than this, the accountant also does functions like designing, modifying or even entirely altering the accounting system of the business, whenever it seems necessary.</p>
<p>The Joondalup accountants have all the qualities that make up an excellent accountant. They are generally familiar with all the accounting principles that even involve taxation. They additionally have remarkable command over the language, written and spoken. So, if an accountant wishes to be successful, within his career, he should have the required analytical skills, good behavior, good interactive skills etc. In Joondalup, accountants commonly have all the fore mentioned skills and that is why they are doing so well these days.</p>
<p>Kelli Rue is a Business Woman who likes to write about anything related to the financial world. She is currently working with <a href="http://www.nobleaccounting.com.au/">Joondalup Accountants</a> to help you manage your wealth correctly.</p>
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		<title>Small Business Bookkeeping Services Free Up Time For Owners</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/small-business-bookkeeping-services-free-up-time-for-owners.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/small-business-bookkeeping-services-free-up-time-for-owners.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>pdelray</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Small business bookkeeping helps owners find time to run their businesses. With more people deciding to open their own businesses, the need for these services has greatly expanded. Owners are finding that they are working more hours for themselves than they did when they worked for others. While many are very happy with this arrangement, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Small business bookkeeping helps owners find time to run their businesses. With more people deciding to open their own businesses, the need for these services has greatly expanded. Owners are finding that they are working more hours for themselves than they did when they worked for others. While many are very happy with this arrangement, they sometimes wonder how they will find time to get all the paperwork done.</p>
<p>These services work with companies of all size but they tend to be the most appreciated by solo entrepreneurs and businesses that only have a couple of employees. People that have to travel a lot for business appreciate the fact that all they have to do is provide receipts or other documentation. Someone else will put all of them together to produce ledgers and reports for them.</p>
<p>More creatives are using home business bookkeeping services from these companies. Those who make things to sell or create artwork may have less time than others. While some of these folks are able to work full time doing what they love, for many it is a lucrative sideline. They often have a real job that they also work. People in this position can either take time away from what they like doing to put together financial documentation, or they can hire it out. Many will take advantage of the benefits of letting someone else handle these chores.</p>
<p>Balancing checkbooks is not for the fainthearted. Some people very much dislike this task and they may have no talent for numbers. Letting a small business accounting firm do this can help lower the stress level in his or her life. These services can also perform bill paying tasks should the business want them to oversee this task. This is one way to make sure that everything gets paid each month and that all expenses are accurately documented.</p>
<p>Those who have a payroll may also want this type of service. This can help make sure that all taxes are correct for each pay period and they are reported correctly. This can help to provide accurate forms for employees and the employer for each years tax return.</p>
<p>These providers have several ways of managing the details for their clients. Some will come onsite to the business and spend a day or more each month to record data. Others will have the clients drop off paperwork or they will come to the clients workplace to obtain it. Others may work with clients who are geographically elsewhere. These small business bookkeeping services may use scanners, faxes, or mail to obtain information to create the files.</p>
<p>For more information on a <a href="http://businessbookkeeping.com/how-we-work.php">small business bookkeeping</a>, please visit our website.</p>
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		<title>Payroll &#8211; Let&#8217;s Get It Right People</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/payroll-lets-get-it-right-people.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/payroll-lets-get-it-right-people.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>joana2489</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A companys payroll is made up of all financial records of wages, bonuses, deductions, and salaries of employees. From the perspective of a Naperville certified public accountant, payroll is the total sum of money paid by a business to its employees over a set amount of time. Payroll plays a major role in a company [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> A companys payroll is made up of all financial records of wages, bonuses, deductions, and salaries of employees. From the perspective of a Naperville certified public accountant, payroll is the total sum of money paid by a business to its employees over a set amount of time.</p>
<p>Payroll plays a major role in a company for several reasons. From an accounting point of view, payroll accounting is crucial because payroll and payroll taxes considerably affect the net income of most companies and they are subject to both federal and state laws and regulations which include penalties for late or erroneous payments. From a business ethics point of view,  payroll is important because employees are naturally sensitive to mistakes in their pay ; good employee morale requires payroll to be paid timely and accurately.  The main priority of payroll accounting is to make sure that employees are paid properly and on time with the correct deductions, and to ensure the withholdings and deductions are remitted in a timely manner. This includes salary payments, tax withholdings, and deductions from a paycheck.</p>
<p>Although there are plenty of possibilities for mistakes, below are 5 of the most common payroll mistakes to avoid.</p>
<p>What else do you need to know?  Click here to find out.</p>
<p>1. Improper Set Up</p>
<p>A common error results from not setting up the payroll properly. Even if wages are calculated correctly, and payroll done on time each period, you&#8217;ll still end up with errors if your system was not set up correctly with proper business registration, federal, state and local tax withholdings and classification of employees.  To file the correct amount of taxes, you must understand the laws and how much you need to withhold from your employees for all types of taxes.  In addition, you need to know how much you, the employer, will pay in taxes.  That is a whole lot to keep straight, having you system running correctly from the start will begin you on the right path.</p>
<p>2. Failing to Record Transactions</p>
<p>Although this seems like an obvious necessity, when in a crunch, things can slip through the cracks. For example, many business owners, who are often pressed for time, will issue a manual check to an employee and then forget to record the check in the payroll processing system.  This leaves tax deposits in error and the books off balance. Be careful when handing out bonuses as these often get overlooked in the payroll system.</p>
<p>3. Submitting Deposits Late or Incorrectly</p>
<p>Assuming you didn&#8217;t make errors in the first or second items above, and you&#8217;ve withheld the proper tax from employees and contributed the proper amount from the company, you still need to know when and how to make the tax deposit. Monthly? Quarterly? Which form? Electronically? Do you have an account set up to make electronic payments?</p>
<p>4. Miscalculation of Total Hours and Overtime</p>
<p>Although it sounds obvious, it can become cumbersome and confusing.  Every part of an hour worked, no matter how small, must be added up as previously agreed with employees. In addition, rules about overtime must be clear and strictly followed. Employees know, or think they know, how much time they should be paid for.  Any disagreements between an employee and employer, whether its about over or underpayments can be a troublesome and awkward situation that affects morale. Be clear up front, and be certain to keep and enter accurate hours into payroll.</p>
<p>5.  Failing to Pay Your SUI</p>
<p>When your business is notified of a new SUI rate, the payroll system must be updated with the new information,  but not immediately most of the time. Unfortunately,  notifications are usually received well in advance of the time of the change. The key is remembering to make the change at the appropriate time.</p>
<p>Joan Armstrong knows how important it is to keep employees happy. She found this site&#8217;s section on <a href="http://www.kleinhallcpa.com/custom10.php" target="_blank" title="Aurora Certified Public Accountants">Aurora Certified Public Accountants</a> to be very informative. For more information, call 630-898-5578 or <a href="http://www.kleinhallcpa.com" target="_blank" title="Klein Hall &amp; Associates, LLC">visit here</a>.</p>
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		<title>Is There A Difference Between Accountants And Bookkeepers?</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/is-there-a-difference-between-accountants-and-bookkeepers.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/is-there-a-difference-between-accountants-and-bookkeepers.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CLevine</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Bookkeepers and accountants, what&#8217;s the difference and which do I need?&#8221; is a question many business owners need answered. Its quite common for a business to have both of them. Some business owners employ both and others hire one or the other. Sometimes a bookkeeper is referred to as a payroll bookkeeper, a bookkeeper accountant, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;Bookkeepers and accountants, what&#8217;s the difference and which do I need?&#8221; is a question many business owners need answered.  Its quite common for a business to have both of them. Some business owners employ both and others hire one or the other.</p>
<p>Sometimes a bookkeeper is referred to as a payroll bookkeeper, a bookkeeper accountant, or even an accounting technician. This adds to confusion about the roles of bookkeepers and accountants.  The words accountant and bookkeeper are used interchangeably by some since an accountant keeps track of the company&#8217;s books.</p>
<p> Understanding the difference between them will make it easier to decide if you need one of them or both.</p>
<p> Let&#8217;s begin with accountants.</p>
<p>An accountant keeps track of financial transactions and puts in place systematic record keeping processes. Accountants also handle analysis of the financial health of your business. An accountant can handle bookkeeping duties as part of the variety of functions that occur in the normal routine, or oversee the work of an actual bookkeeper.</p>
<p>In either case, the accountant will prepare adjusting entries to record expenses that occurred but are not yet entered by the bookkeeper and make other adjustments to accounts, including the calculation and recording of depreciation and establishing allowances for uncollectible accounts.  After making the adjusting entries, the accountant prepares the company&#8217;s financial statements and helps you understand the financial impact of your past and future decisions.</p>
<p>Certified Public Accountants, or CPAs, are required to follow a rigorous series of practices and requirements and to pass a certification examination.  Our profession is mandated to observe rules of ethics and Certified Public Accountants are subject to civil and legal penalties for malpractice.</p>
<p>Most often a CPA is called on to handle taxation related issues due to the highly complex world of tax laws and tax preparation and the strict guidelines related to the preparation and submission of tax returns.</p>
<p>The role of the bookkeeper is much less extensive.</p>
<p> Bookkeepers keep track of transactions and take care of most of the data entry tasks. This includes entering the bills from vendors, paying bills, processing payroll data, preparing sales invoices, mailing statements to customers. A bookkeeper does not perform analysis of the company&#8217;s financial records.</p>
<p>So to the question of bookkeepers and accountants, what&#8217;s the difference and which do I need, the answer is straight forward, but not simple.  It all depends on the size and caliber of your business.   For overall handling of your company&#8217;s finances, the services of both a bookkeeper and an accountant may be required.</p>
<p>Candy Levine knows how vital it is to choose the right accounting professional. She found this site&#8217;s section on <a href="http://www.kleinhallcpa.com/custom7.php" target="_blank" title="accountants vs. bookkeepers in Naperville">Accountants vs. Bookkeepers in Naperville</a> to be very informative. For more information, call 630-898-5578 or <a href="http://www.kleinhallcpa.com" target="_blank" title="Klein Hall Associates, LLC">go here</a>.</p>
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		<title>Repeal of Last-in, First-out (LIFO) Accounting</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/repeal-of-lastin-firstout-lifo-accounting.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/repeal-of-lastin-firstout-lifo-accounting.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>FEI</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re not an accountant you may not be familiar with the &#8220;last-in, first-out&#8221; (LIFO) accounting method. But repealing it has become part of President Barack Obama&#8217;s 2011 Deficit Reduction Plan. Some companies use the LIFO method to calculate the value of their inventory and as a means of reducing tax liability. What is LIFO? [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you&#8217;re not an accountant you may not be familiar with the &#8220;last-in, first-out&#8221; (LIFO) accounting method. But repealing it has become part of President Barack Obama&#8217;s 2011 Deficit Reduction Plan. Some companies use the LIFO method to calculate the value of their inventory and as a means of reducing tax liability. </p>
<p>What is LIFO? LIFO is the opposite of FIFO, the &#8220;first-in, first-out&#8221; method, which is based on the assumption that the first goods purchased are the first ones sold. Therefore, at the end of the year, the cost of the remaining goods reflects the most recent purchases. Companies have the option of using LIFO instead, which makes the assumption that the first goods purchased are the ones still in the firm&#8217;s inventory at the end of the year. Since the cost of goods is usually rising, LIFO will associate the higher cost to the goods that are already sold so that a corporation can reduce current income and attribute lower values to the end-of-the-year inventory. This allows a business to reduce its short-term profit and thus its tax liability. But it also reduces a company&#8217;s on-paper profitability, and, as such, is not widely used. For 2010, approximately 12 percent of the businesses in the S&#038;P 500 held a total of $62 billion in LIFO reserves.</p>
<p>Why is it an issue now? As part of his 2011 Deficit Reduction Plan, President Obama has recommended disallowing LIFO in 2012 as an accounting method for tax reporting purposes. Because LIFO reduces a company&#8217;s tax burden, some experts estimate that repealing it would generate as much as $53 billion in tax revenue  by 2016 for the U.S. government. </p>
<p>Why repeal LIFO? LIFO has been allowed by the tax code since 1939, but was not used heavily by corporations until the 1970s and &#8217;80s when they were trying to diminish the impact of inflation. However, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) do not allow for LIFO; in fact, the practice is only used in the U.S. and Japan. Changing the accounting standards to phase out the use of LIFO over time would be one way to make U.S. standards more comparable with international standards. </p>
<p>Who favors the repeal? Advocates of repealing LIFO point out that the method favors companies that keep a lot of inventory on hand, while the government should be encouraging &#8220;leaner&#8221; companies that turn over their inventory more quickly. Repealing LIFO will also help reduce the federal deficit as companies make a large one-time tax payment on the difference between LIFO and FIFO amounts. After that, however, these corporations will not face a larger tax burden as long as annual prices continue to increase. They also argue that LIFO is not a particularly useful management tool; it only serves as a means of deferring taxation for a fairly small number of companies. </p>
<p>Who opposes repeal? Opponents argue that repealing LIFO would impose a huge one-time tax burden on companies that are already struggling in a shaky economy. They suggest that companies without the money on hand to produce such cash might lay off workers or go bankrupt. They maintain that LIFO is actually a more accurate expression of true corporate profits and serves as a means for companies to handle inflation.</p>
<p>Members of Financial Executives International have resources to help them navigate today&#8217;s political and economic circumstances. Learn more about <a href="http://www.financialexecutives.org/KenticoCMS/Membership/Membership-Benefits.aspx">FEI membership benefits</a>.</p>
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		<title>The Bookkeeper Bath: How to Clean Up Your Financial Records and Polish Your Business</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/the-bookkeeper-bath-how-to-clean-up-your-financial-records-and-polish-your-business.html</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SbSmshelton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The business world runs on numbers. But not all businesspeople are great at collecting, storing, retrieving and publishing their financial figures. Each executive must decide what is best for their business. Either learn how to keep better financial records or hire someone to do it for you. Ignoring your financial records will come back to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The business world runs on numbers.  But not all businesspeople are great at collecting, storing, retrieving and publishing their financial figures.  Each executive must decide what is best for their business.  Either learn how to keep better financial records or hire someone to do it for you.  Ignoring your financial records will come back to bite you at some point whether you are dealing with a funding source, the government or the legal system.</p>
<p>Several key stakeholders have a strong need to get accurate, consistent and timely financial information.  For example, bankers want to see the latest financial reports while reviewing a loan application.  Investors demand an accurate balance sheet before they write a check for desperately needed equity capital.  The tax collector wants to verify its share of your revenue pie.</p>
<p>Today the typical business executive is overwhelmed with the demands to maintain accurate accounting records and produce timely financial reporting. Your time spent on entering, reviewing and publishing financial data is time lost for working ON the business.  Would you like to spend less time working IN the business and more working ON growing your sales, revenue and customer base?  How can you leverage other resources to free yourself from the chains of financial record keeping?</p>
<p>Bookkeeping and accounting services exist for the sole purpose of working with financial records.  Business executives and owners can leverage their expertise to promote a better business life.  The great thing about organized financial records and professional financial statements is the positive effect they have on your financial stakeholders.<br />
Your lender is eager to get regularly published financial information about your business.  They want the information in a clear, consistent and factual format.  Your lender can become more confident about your business risk profile and be a better advocate for your loan application when it passes before the bank credit committee.  When your bank is more comfortable with your financial condition they tend to call and visit less often.  Lenders get nervous and dig deeper when information is incomplete and delivered late.</p>
<p>When your business is described as stable it can open opportunities.  Bankers and investors seek out those prospects that are more creditworthy.  This is especially true during financial crises when loan and investing underwriting gets tougher.  Sometimes funding sources will call you to take their money because your financial records are complete and accurate which paints a great risk profile.</p>
<p>Your accountant appreciates access to complete financial records more than most stakeholders.  Their job is much easier when they can prepare certified financial statements and tax returns using well organized financial data.  Today sophisticated bookkeeping software easily compiles financial data for quick access as needed by different people inside and outside of your organization.  It would be great if your tax accountant sent a giant fruit basket to you after tax season as a thank you for making their job easier.</p>
<p>Your employees are one of the most valuable assets to drive sales growth.  Their time is much better spent working on the business, meeting customers and generating sales than sitting through budget meetings with disorganized financial data.  Imagine the profit gains that could be made with time saved in budget meetings if you had a well organized financial record keeping system.  You could make better and faster business decisions using well constructed financial data.<br />
You have worked hard to build your customer base.</p>
<p>You lead like the captain of a ship looking toward the horizon for approaching danger.  Modern ships have sophisticated electronics to detect changes in weather, ocean conditions and traffic.  The captain takes early corrective action to avoid known hazards.  Business leaders can navigate with greater confidence when they have complete and timely financial data to spot adverse trends within their industry and among their customers.  Timely financial reporting can help you respond early to a bad trend in orders and hold onto a big customer.</p>
<p>Clearly presented and accurate financial data can reduce your business risk profile.  Debt and equity capital can become more accessible at better terms.  Your CPA  can be more accurate with your tax returns which may reduce your audit risk and lower your accounting fees.  Business planning becomes more efficient with shorter financial forecasting meetings.  Key employees have more time to leverage their talent and grow sales.  And most importantly you can respond to financial trends faster and avoid strategic mistakes.  Bookkeeping and accounting services, financial software, and your own record keeping efforts are the best tools for excellent financial reporting to capitalize on these business opportunities.</p>
<p>Michael Shelton is President and CEO of Shelton Business Services which provides executive coaching, management consulting and financial services.  Call 602.463.1199, email <A HREF="mailto:clientcare@sheltonbusinessservices.com">clientcare@sheltonbusinessservices.com</A> or visit <A HREF="http://sheltonbusinessservices.com/">sheltonbusinessservices.com</A> Advance your business ability with our proven executive coaching, objective management consulting and dependable financial services.</p>
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		<title>Mind Your Business: How To Safely Accelerate Your Financial Engine</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/mind-your-business-how-to-safely-accelerate-your-financial-engine.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/mind-your-business-how-to-safely-accelerate-your-financial-engine.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SbSmshelton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Driving without a map can be frustrating, especially for the passengers. The driver may have an idea of the final destination but the road map is hidden from everyone along for the ride. Similarly, a business leader may believe he has the financial condition of his company clearly in mind. He could be wrong and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Driving without a map can be frustrating, especially for the passengers.  The driver may have an idea of the final destination but the road map is hidden from everyone along for the ride.  Similarly, a business leader may believe he has the financial condition of his company clearly in mind.  He could be wrong and other stakeholders are kept in the dark.  This leads to business missteps and financial blunders.  The key is to correctly assess and monitor your business condition and the condition of your competitors through accurate financial statement preparation and analysis.     </p>
<p>So here is the operating manual for your business finances.  Follow these five basic steps to understand your financial condition and make more informed decisions for an enjoyable business growth trip.</p>
<p>Vacuum The Financial Data Crumbs: The first step towards a clear picture of your business finances is to collect all the financial data from the floors, drawers and cup holders in your company and organize it into a readable format.  A financial accounting and bookkeeping software program makes easy work of compiling information.  The data collection and organizing process can be time consuming and tedious but is the strong foundation upon which financial analysis happens.  Hire a professional bookkeeping or accounting service if you need help organizing data.</p>
<p>Unfold Your Financial Map: The next step is to pinpoint your location on a financial map after you have the raw data swept into some kind of financial reporting system.  The three basic folds of your financial map include a balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.  Your balance sheet is a snapshot in time of what you own and what you owe.  Your income statement tells the story of how you made money and how you spent it.  The cash flow statement clears the smoke of accrual accounting for a clear view of the sources and uses of cash in your business.</p>
<p>Understand The Financial Map Legend:  Every business owner should have an elementary understanding of accounting principles.  You don&#8217;t need to be a CPA but you should know the difference between debits and credits, cash and accrual, income and expenses and debt and equity.  There are many sources of basic accounting knowledge including self-help books, traditional college courses and executive coaching services.  Get a solid foundation through executive education and do not take your hands completely off your financial wheel.  Trust is a wonderful thing but be able to verify what your accountant is doing.</p>
<p>Scan Your Financial Instruments: So you are driving your company down a beautiful country road and admiring the majestic lending trees, hypnotic marketing vistas and ethereal information technology clouds.  But you are unaware that the company financial engine is overheating because you did not watch the instruments on your data dashboard.  Learn to read and understand basic financial statement gauges including operating, leverage, debt coverage and liquidity ratios.  Keep a maintenance record by using time-series financial statement analysis.  Find out how your company engine measures up to your competitors through cross-sectional analysis before you take another lap on your industry racetrack.  Hire a management consultant, financial analyst or executive coach for training and to help monitor these important performance indicators.</p>
<p>Put Your Financial Top Down: Financial records and competitive information should generally be held in strictest confidence.  However, there are stretches of business road where it is good to put the top down on your business finances and let certain groups see into the cockpit.  Lenders can make more informed credit decisions if they have clearly presented and complete financial information.  Your business might get better loan terms and pricing with full financial disclosure and a solid lending relationship.  You might open your financial hood for potential investors and other stakeholders so they can see the finely tuned engine that will propel business growth.  Consider hiring outside consulting help to assist with strategic planning and financial stakeholder presentations to put your best foot forward.</p>
<p>You can drive your business finances and expertly accelerate your financial engine with the right executive training, education, systems and experience.  Keep the rubber side of your business coupe down and firmly in contact with the financial road at all times.  You will see many company wrecks along your industry highways.  Carefully prepare your business records and monitor the performance gauges to avoid a financial accident.</p>
<p>Michael Shelton is President and CEO of Shelton Business Services which provides executive coaching, management consulting and financial services.  Call 602.463.1199, email <A HREF="mailto:clientcare@sheltonbusinessservices.com">clientcare@sheltonbusinessservices.com</A> or visit <A HREF="http://sheltonbusinessservices.com/">sheltonbusinessservices.com</A> Advance your business ability with our proven executive coaching, objective management consulting and dependable financial services.</p>
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		<title>Do Computerised Accounting Programs Provide Solutions To All Bookkeeping Problems?</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/do-computerised-accounting-programs-provide-solutions-to-all-bookkeeping-problems.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/do-computerised-accounting-programs-provide-solutions-to-all-bookkeeping-problems.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bookkeeper</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;How did you enjoy your week learning to operate the new computerized accounting system, Johnny,&#8221; the senior accounting manager of a medium sized manufacturing operation asked his senior clerk early one Monday morning, just after the start of a new financial year. &#8220;Oh, it was great Mr Robinson,&#8221; Johnny replied. &#8220;Everything&#8217;s going to be so [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;How did you enjoy your week learning to operate the new computerized accounting system, Johnny,&#8221; the senior accounting manager of a medium sized manufacturing operation asked his senior clerk early one Monday morning, just after the start of a new financial year.</p>
<p>&#8220;Oh, it was great Mr Robinson,&#8221; Johnny replied. &#8220;Everything&#8217;s going to be so much easier now. I&#8217;ve never been so excited about coming to work before.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;That sounds good.&#8221; Johnny&#8217;s boss said. &#8220;Now off you go into the new computer room and see if you can put what you learned last week into practice.&#8221;</p>
<p>Johnny smiled and disappeared into the new facility carrying his new manuals under his arm taking a further step along his career path as he did so. The system had been tailored to meet the company&#8217;s needs by an employee of the software company, who Johnny had come to know as Peter. Peter had run the training course for Johnny the previous week, and Johnny had Peter&#8217;s telephone number. Six month&#8217;s free telephone support came with the cost of the package.</p>
<p>Johnny excitedly switched on the brand new computer and accessed the accounting program. Peter had set up the opening balances from the old financial year, and Johnny was able to<br />
start inputting the first month&#8217;s data. Things started well, but within an hour a frown appeared on Johnny&#8217;s face. He had come across a problem and he didn&#8217;t even have a pencil handy to suck on as he thought through it. Eventually he called Peter.</p>
<p>&#8220;Peter, remember you told me never to post to a designated bank account without using the bank entry module, as any directly posted transaction wouldn&#8217;t appear when I performed a<br />
bank reconciliation.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right, well remembered,&#8221; Peter replied. &#8220;What&#8217;s the problem?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Well, how do you post a transfer from one bank account to another? You know we&#8217;ve got five. The debit to the receiving bank account won&#8217;t be going through the bank entry module<br />
and so the bank reconciliation of the receiving account will be mucked up.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Have a look in the balance sheet section of the chart of accounts. There should be an account called &#8216;Interbank Transfers&#8217;,&#8221; Peter answered as he checked his copy of this<br />
particular client&#8217;s chart of accounts which he accessed on his computer screen. </p>
<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t see one,&#8221; Johnny stated after a minute or two.</p>
<p>&#8220;No, you&#8217;re right. I&#8217;ve forgotten to set one up, sorry,&#8221; Peter said. &#8220;Do you remember how to set up a new account?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Yes, no problem.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Well make it a balance sheet account. It doesn&#8217;t matter whether it&#8217;s classified as an asset or liability. I would use an easily remembered code number, say 2-9999.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Okay, consider it done, but how do I use it? Johnny continued.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well, for every transfer you will need to make two entries, one from each bank account, but you&#8217;ll post both to account 2-9999. The payment from the bank account giving the money<br />
will debit the Interbank Transfers account and the receipt by the receiving account will credit the same account with the same amount. At the end of each period, you  must ensure that the balance of account 2-9999 is zero. That&#8217;s why it doesn&#8217;t matter whether it&#8217;s classified as an asset or a liability.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Okay, I think I understand, but will I not need five such accounts.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;No, you can use the same account no matter which bank account the money is coming from and which bank account the money is going to. The debits will always cancel out the credits. But you must remember to check that the balance of account 2-9999 is zero at the end of every period, in case you&#8217;ve miss-posted a payment or receipt or forgotten to post a bank account&#8217;s transactions completely. You should add that check to the end of month checklist I made up for you,&#8221; Peter suggested.</p>
<p>&#8220;Consider it done,&#8221; Johnny replied. &#8220;Thanks, and I try not to bother you any more.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m here for,&#8221; Peter responded. &#8220;And if I don&#8217;t hear from you with a problem at least every other day, I&#8217;ll be surprised. But you&#8217;ll find that there&#8217;s always a solution. You&#8217;ve got a good knowledge of double-entry bookkeeping and that is what the program is based on, just like your old manual system, so you&#8217;ll understand the solutions without too much trouble. Bye for now&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Bye,&#8221; Johnny replied before hanging up the telephone. As he did so, he thought, &#8216;there I was thinking that I had wasted all those years studying double-entry bookkeeping. How wrong I was!&#8217;</p>
<p>Phil Ramage CA (Scot) CA (Aust)</p>
<p>For more information and, if needed, assistance, go to:<br />
<a href="http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com">www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com</a><br />
<a href="http://www.phil-ramage.blogspot.com">Goto Phil&#8217;s blog for more</a></p>
<p>(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved</p>
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		<title>Why Modern Accountants And Bookkeepers Should Also Be Spread-sheet Experts</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/why-modern-accountants-and-bookkeepers-should-also-be-spreadsheet-experts.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/why-modern-accountants-and-bookkeepers-should-also-be-spreadsheet-experts.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bookkeeper</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The efficient use of spread-sheets can be of immense benefit to both basic bookkeepers and high level accountants, as well as to all levels in between. There are two main areas where a skill in the use of spread-sheets will prove to be beneficial to bookkeepers and accountants of all levels. These areas can be [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The efficient use of spread-sheets can be of immense benefit to both basic bookkeepers and high level accountants, as well as to all levels in between. There are two main areas where a skill in the use of spread-sheets will prove to be beneficial to bookkeepers and accountants of all levels. These areas can be classed as &#8220;Pre General Ledger&#8221; and &#8220;Post General Ledger&#8221;.</p>
<p>In both areas, the knowledge of V.B.A. (Visual Basic for Applications) will be very useful to automate repetitive tasks, although, even without macros, well designed spread-sheets with relevant formulas will simplify and speed up many tasks. Lotus 123 macros, are much easier to create than V.B.A. macros, but now Excel seems to have become the &#8220;industry standard&#8221; the creation of macros require a knowledge of the more difficult V.B.A. It is recommended that, in an organization of any size, with an accounting department of (say) five people or more, at least one staff member, who need not necessarily be the departmental head, should be given the opportunity to gain the skill of writing macros using V.B.A.    </p>
<p>1) Pre General Ledger</p>
<p>Some examples of tasks in this area of accounting are set out below. </p>
<p>a) Salaries and Wages<br />
Spread-sheets can be a great substitute for specially written software for the calculation of wages and salaries, especially if the payroll is not particularly large, say less than 50 employees. </p>
<p>b) Cashbooks<br />
Now that online-banking has become so popular, many sites give the user the option to download transaction lists in Excel readable formats. Quite often the format used is &#8220;C.S.V&#8221; (Comma Separated Values) but Excel can easily convert this to the normal &#8220;xls&#8221; or the more up-to-date &#8220;xlsx&#8221;. In all probability quite a lot of formatting will be required to make the report more readable, but a V.B.A. macro could be written to do this<br />
automatically. Very good spread-sheet designers can even automate the allocation of common types of expenditure into individual columns to reduce the amount of posting into the<br />
general ledger, and, indeed, some more sophisticated accounting programs can accept entries directly from spread-sheets. </p>
<p>c) Fixed Asset Registers<br />
Fixed Asset Registers are ideally suited to spread-sheets. The calculation of depreciation can be done with formulas in whatever style the organisation&#8217;s accounting policies demand,<br />
and journal entry formulation can be automated.</p>
<p>These three examples are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tasks that can be simplified and speeded up with the use of well-designed spread-sheets, whether they use V.B.A. macros or not. The pricing of goods, jobs, or services is another area where spread-sheet skills can come to the fore. But it&#8217;s not only pre general ledger tasks that can benefit from the use of spread-sheets. Read on for examples of tasks that can be<br />
simplified after whatever system is in use to produce the trial balance.</p>
<p>2) Post General Ledger</p>
<p>Many more sophisticated computerised general ledger packages include an integrated report generator. These vary in flexibility and ease of use. In many cases it is easier and more flexibility can be obtained by exporting a trial balance into a spread-sheet and then, either manually or using a V.B.A. macro, format reports using the spread-sheet software. Another benefit of using spread-sheets to generate reports is that it is easy to produce graphs to highlight important points. Some reports that derive their figures from general ledgers and can be formatted using spread-sheet technology are:<br />
a) All aspects of End of Financial Year Financial Accounts<br />
b) Periodic Management Accounts showing current period and year to date figures<br />
c) Periodic Management Accounts showing what percentage each category of sales and expenses are of total sales<br />
d) Periodic Management Accounts showing budgets and comparing actual figures to budgeted figures either as positive or negative amounts or percentages<br />
So the list goes on, limited only by the imagination of the users and the needs of the organisation.</p>
<p>This article has only scratched the surface of why it is important that finance department staff should be good spread-sheet operators. For example it has not touched on the production of budgets, the production of cash flow forecasts and many other aspects that are important to any well-run enterprise.</p>
<p>Phil Ramage CA (Scot) CA (Aust)</p>
<p>For more information and, if needed, assistance, go to:<br />
<a href="http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com">www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com</a><br />
<a href="http://www.phil-ramage.blogspot.com">blog: </p>
<p>http://www.phil-ramage.blogspot.com</a></p>
<p>(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved</p>
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		<title>Double-Entry Bookkeeping &#8211; The World&#8217;s Reclusive Necessity</title>
		<link>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/doubleentry-bookkeeping-the-worlds-reclusive-necessity.html</link>
		<comments>http://articlelib.com/accounting/accounting-bookkeeping/doubleentry-bookkeeping-the-worlds-reclusive-necessity.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bookkeeper</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bookkeeping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The majority of the world&#8217;s population, especially in developed countries, are aware of the use of accountancy within all kinds of organisations, whether they be commercial, governmental, charitable or any other kind of enterprise involving the use of money. Accountants produce accounts of several different types. Accounts to help run the organisation as efficiently as [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The majority of the world&#8217;s population, especially in developed countries, are aware of the use of accountancy within all kinds of organisations, whether they be commercial, governmental, charitable or any other kind of enterprise involving the use of money. </p>
<p>Accountants produce accounts of several different types. Accounts to help run the organisation as efficiently as possible, accounts to meet conditions set down by governments, accounts to satisfy the requirements of taxation authorities and, in larger enterprises, accounts to keep shareholders and other interested outsiders informed of how well the organisation is operating.</p>
<p>The majority of the world&#8217;s population also understand that the main basic skill of a house builder is bricklaying, and that the main basic skill of a successful author is an above average skill in the art of writing. However, what percentage of the world&#8217;s<br />
population knows what the basic skill of an accountant is? A small minority, I would suggest.</p>
<p>The basic skill of an accountant is the art of double-entry bookkeeping. Double-entry bookkeeping was first evolved in Italy, late in the 15th century. But it is still the basis of all manual accounting systems, and all accounting computerised software available today, from the most simple, to the most sophisticated. It is used to control the finances of the smallest corner-store to the World Bank. </p>
<p>Without double-entry bookkeeping, the world could not operate as it does today, but, despite its importance, only a very small proportion of the world&#8217;s inhabitants have any idea of how it works and a huge percentage of the world&#8217;s population doesn&#8217;t even know that the term exists.</p>
<p>So why is this ancient art called double-entry bookkeeping? Why not just call it bookkeeping? If an accountant needs to record a transaction, surely that&#8217;s what he or she does? He or she records a transaction. Why is there a need for the word &#8220;double&#8221;?</p>
<p>The answer lies in the fact that all transactions in fact affect two or more aspects of the enterprise, so that two or more entries are required. For example, when a business makes a sale, it may be for cash or it may be on credit. If the sale was for cash it has<br />
to be recorded that the total sales made have increased, and also that the total cash owned by the entity has increased. If the sale was on credit it has to be recorded that the total sales made have increased, and also that the customer now owes the entity money that has to be collected in the future.</p>
<p>There are a million other examples but, in each case, more than one category needs to be adjusted. Double-Entry Bookkeeping is a skill that more people, especially small business people should be much more familiar with. Don&#8217;t you agree?</p>
<p>Phil Ramage CA (Scot) CA (Aust)</p>
<p>For more information and, if needed, assistance, go to:<br />
<a href="http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com">www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com</a></p>
<p>(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved</p>
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