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Running a successful and profitable business is never an easy task, and in today’s economic downturn, the job has perhaps never been harder. Surviving such an atmosphere is not a product or luck or chance, but it is the hallmark of an owner who understands his or her finances and knows how to navigate turbulent waters. One of the most important tools that business owners, and more specifically, small business owners, can use to thoroughly understand his or her organization’s finances and make informed decisions about the best course of action is accounting software. By utilizing programs such as QuickBooks, for example, owners can get a snapshot of their financial position in seconds, not to mention saving valuable time and money by promoting efficiency and organization in their business.

Years ago, virtually all book keeping was done by hand, and most often at the end of the year for tax time. Owners would keep records of all the expenses and income, enters it into a ledger, and holds their breath and prays for a profit (not to mention praying that they would have the money to pay their taxes). This outdated method is sure to sink many ships in this economy. Now, by using software to record income, write checks, and categorize expenses, all it takes is a click of a button to analyze profit and loss statements, revenues, expenses, tax liabilities, and nearly every other financial aspect of a business. Depending on how in-depth a person gets with their accounting software, they can track inventory and efficiency, and the profits and losses on every individual job, leading to valuable information on how best to tweak their pricing and service structure so as to maintain a profit.

Yet another advantage to these accounting software programs is the services that they provide, namely payroll services. By using payroll services (for which there is generally a nominal fee), the owner takes all the hassle out of paying employees. Taxes and withholdings are automatically calculated and withheld, saving untold hours of calculations. By simply viewing a report, an owner can view the amount that he owes the government, and then pay his or tax liabilities to both the federal government and the state. There is no longer a place for surprises in tax withholding bills! Additionally, some companies utilize conveniences such as direct deposit to further simplify their lives. With all these advantages, it is hard to understand why anyone would not want to simplify their business management through these tools!

If you are the owner of any type of business, then you know that it can be a huge hassle to do your company’s payroll. With all the technological advancements out there, you really need to be using a payroll accounting program. These programs are not hard to learn no matter your level of computer literacy and they can really benefit how you do your payroll since you will be saving time and money!

Doing any sort of payroll is an arduous task. You do not want to get it wrong, ever, or else you, the employer, will pay. And pay. And pay. If you do your payroll incorrectly, then not only will you catch grief from your employees, but you will could be fined by the state and the feds. That is why it is advisable that you get a good payroll accounting program so that you won’t face these issues later on. Taxes, compensation, unemployment and all those other odds and ends that go along with payroll accounting will no longer bother you since they are built into the software program. Thus, your payroll process will not be as awful a task as it used to be since everything will be contained in one program.

Small businesses could get away with not having to do extensive payroll since they are either getting started out or they don’t have many employees, so this type of software is not needed at the time. Payroll can be as easy as checking your employees time cards, putting the information into a calculator and cutting a check for them. But as your business adds locations and employees, this process can get more difficult and cumbersome. You have to deal with part time and full time employees, different pay rates, paid time off, sick leave and unemployment taxes which can really start to keep you up at night.

When this type of expansion does occur, you know your business is doing fantastic, but this is also the time when you need to have a more sophisticated system of doing your payroll accounting. The time cards, calculator, check book system will no longer work. There are many payroll accounting programs out on the market right now and they can definitely help you complete your payroll accounting efficiently.

The payroll accounting programs will range in price, but it really just depends on exactly you want to be able to do with your program. You can either get a very advanced program or you can get a basic program to help you with your needs.

You can also search on the internet and find free accounting programs that you can download right then and there! This is a good option for you if you want to be able to test try programs because you don’t know which one to choose. But you should use a little caution when you go with this option. Before you start downloading programs, you should make a list of functions that you want your payroll software to do. Ask yourself what your needs are.

Another good thing to do is research the internet for reviews on different programs. You might find that a program that you are looking at is really hard to work with or is not worth the money you are about to spend.

After you find a payroll accounting program that will fit your needs, you will find that your payroll accounting will not be the beast of burden as it was before.

Choosing the right accountant for your firm should be at the very foundation of your business set-up; get it right and the relationship you have with your accountant will be one of the longest business relationships you’ll ever enjoy. Get it wrong and you could be left feeling bitter and disenchanted with the whole profession.

Many people swear by recommendations from friends, family or business contacts and indeed this is still a vital source of new fees for many accountants; the problem with this is that accountants are not a ‘one size fits all’ type of profession, and so Uncle Peter’s perfect accountant is not necessarily going to work well for you; it is important therefore to do a bit of ground work, make a checklist, ask questions, explore your options, and choose a practice that is right for your business.

Make sure that you choose a qualified accountant; any one can call themselves an accountant but check that yours is a member of one of the main three professional bodies: The Institute of Chartered Accountants, The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants or The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants; if things go wrong you’ll have some redress through their professional association or institute.

Accountants come in all shapes and sizes, so choose carefully; it is important that your new accountant is appropriate to your needs. Be aware of what different accountants can and cannot provide for you; a one-man-band accountant for instance may be harder to speak to as they are spread more thinly between clients, they may not be reachable when they go on holiday; a very large firm may be geared to servicing very large businesses and may have a less personal touch; think about what is important to you and your firm because your accountant will probably be your main business advisor and for small businesses in particular may end up as a sort of unofficial finance director.

Once you have narrowed down your list and have some appropriate, qualified accountants in your sights, there are a few things to ask about when speaking to a prospective accountant; most qualified accountants should be able to get the basics right, the things they term ‘compliance’ work, filing documents correctly and on time, looking after payroll etc. but it has often been said that the difference between an average accountant and a good accountant is that a good accountant will also save you money, so it is important to establish just how seriously each potential accountant takes their firm’s tax advice; check that they keep up to date on tax issues as it is an area that changes very quickly and confirm that they keep their clients abreast of tax information, perhaps with a monthly email.

On the subject of money, fees can be a very confusing pool to dive into, accountants do not all charge in a uniform way, making it hard to compare like-for-like, many charge an hourly rate, still a very traditional way to charge but very hard to budget for, some will provide an estimate for the year, but do be aware that estimates are just that and as such are subject to change, others may advise a fixed fee, probably the most beneficial way to be charged as it allows for confident budgeting, but do ensure that the fixed fee is all inclusive as it is easy to believe your fee was fixed only to receive an unexpected top-up bill for extras at the end of the year. The safest thing to do is to get the fixed fee in writing with a clear quote advising its all inclusive nature. If the accountant also offers a way of paying a monthly amount rather than a lump sum this is obviously of great benefit to the cash flow of your business.

It is probably sensible to get more than one quote (unless you are very enamoured with the first accountant you speak to), but advisable to limit the number to three or four (unless you are completely disenchanted with all that you’ve spoken to) because it is very easy to become bogged down with a surfeit of information.

Good accountants are not always necessarily good communicators and yet good communication between you is essential for the relationship to work, so have a chat with someone at the practice who knows what they are doing and check that a point of contact and or a ‘who does what’ list is something that they provide, as this shows that they care about keeping you connected to what is going on. Another simple sign that a practice is thinking of its clients is a focus on new technology, if an accountant is comfortable using online facilities and email and utilises things such as virtual signature systems, this can not only maximise your security but free up your accountant’s time allowing them to concentrate on the real business of saving you money.

Finally a few myths busted:

It is not essential and in fact it is often counterproductive to have everything in the hands of your accountant, small businesses benefit greatly from doing their own bookkeeping and it will certainly lower your fee. Locale is no indication of quality or convenience, an accountant being next door to your premises does mean that they are necessarily your only or best choice; today’s information technology allows us to explore options further afield. If you are unhappy with your accountant it is easy and painless to change to another and there is absolutely no good reason for remaining a client of an accountant with whom you have lost confidence. Of course a good accountant alone is no guarantee of business success, but when you find an accountant that is right for you and your business you are at least starting as you mean to go on. Good Luck.

Accounting is the procedure of recording and classifying the financial activities of a business. Accounting help is something that any business requires to board on, in particular if you are working a large size business. If you are running a small or mid-size business than you can simply handle the accounting work without obtaining professional support.

Accounting will assist a business or organization to keep an appropriate record of the entire financial portion. Thus, every individual or business requires keeping a track of all the financial transactions that they do on a daily basis. For the reason that this is the only thing that will measure how well or how bad their business is doing.

Many times it happens that the individual managing the accounting and other financial aspect of the business does not make a habit to keep track on all the financial records on daily or weekly basis. Accordingly, business owner may not get the appropriate picture for their business – how good or how bad business is doing. This is true especially with small and mid-size businesses. It is very important to have all the things well organized and documented, particularly if you are of those who forget things.

There are a number of benefits of Accounting such as:

• It allows people to analyze the productivity of a business
• It allows sound financial decisions
• Helps in preparation of financial reports that provides information about the company to outside parties

As stated before, the strategy, which is compulsory to maintain the accounts of your business appropriately, is different for every business. Therefore, the professional who offers the accounting assistance to your business have to make sure that he is totally conscious about all the various aspects of your business. And, based on this make a judgment – what will be the most excellent way to handle the accounts and finance of your business. Accounting, when done properly, can do wonders to your business.

Exploring basic accounting concepts it is important to get proper understanding of main accounting definitions and terminology, which will help you to learn accounting properly and also master the accounting practice. In this article we will be exploring current asset concept.

What is Current Asset?

If we refer to the exact definition of the current asset we can that it is cash or another asset which can be expected to be realized in cash, sold or consumed within a year or less due to the normal operations of the business. This definition includes several aspects.

• First, cash is indicated separately, since cash is by its nature current asset, which is being constantly used in the operations of the business.
• Second, other assets are separated from cash, so decision on whether the asset is current or not will depend on the analysis of other assets except for cash.
• Third, for the asset to be considered as current way of usage is important, i.e. the particular item will have to be converted into cash, sold or consumed in the operations of the business.
• Fourth, the period of usage, i.e. it should be a year, which is treated a normal usual period of operations for the business and during this period the asset needs to be used in one of the mentioned ways in order to be attributed to the current asset category.

Examples and Relation with the Financial Statements

To support the above definition, the examples of current assets are:

• accounts receivable, where the customers are obliged to pay within a period less than a year (in some types of businesses there might be long-term accounts receivable, which are due within the period more than a year, such receivables are treated as long-term assets)
• inventory, including raw materials, work in progress, finished goods, goods for sale, office and other supplies. These items are also consumed within one year
• marketable securities, prepaid expenses.

Important to remember that current assets are reflected in the financial statements on the assets side of the balance sheet and total value of these assets needs to be calculated. This is important since it shows how much liquid assets the business has and whether it is able to fulfill its current liabilities, which are usually compared with current assets.Use custom trading pins to promote the basic concept of finance while promoting your company.

Did you know that if your business is VAT registered, as well as the standard quarterly VAT returns you need to complete, there may be other VAT schemes available to your business for you to still comply and account for your VAT, but they may suit your business better. The VAT accounting scheme could be an option, but what is it?

Well instead of having to regularly complete VAT returns, with the VAT annual accounting scheme you only have to complete one VAT return per year and so can cut down on your administration time and costs as well as help manage your cashflow, although you still have to make regular payments of VAT to HMRC and keep all receipts and records to support your business and have a means to be able to complete your VAT return accurately in one go. You are required to make interim payments and these can be either nine monthly payments during the year or three quarterly payments during the year. If your business has already been registered for VAT and you have completed a year’s VAT returns, your interim payments will be based on the average of last years’ claim. If you are under twelve months registration, then your interim payments will be based on an estimated amount of VAT that is thought to be owed at the end of the year. When you complete your annual VAT return, you will offset all your interim payments and you will either be left with an underpayment of VAT ie an amount that needs to be paid to HMRC, known as a balancing payment, or you will have overpaid and be due a VAT refund. The Annual VAT scheme is available to your business as long as your turnover (your sales income) is under £1.35 million, but there are some restrictions such as your business being part of group vat registration, you are not upto date with your VAT returns, insolvent or your estimated income exceeds £1.6million. Monthly interim payments will be 10% of your previous or estimated VAT liability or quarterly payments will be 25% of your previous or estimated liability.

The benefits for using Annual accounting VAT scheme is that there is only one VAT Return to be completed per year instead of four, you get two months (instead of one) to complete and send in your annual VAT return as well as pay any balancing VAT due, can assist in managing your cash flow by paying fixed amounts either monthly or quarterly and you can also make additional payments as and when suits you and your business.

However, you may find there can be disadvantages to your business’ cash flow when using the annual accounting scheme too. For example if you regularly receive VAT refunds on the standard quarterly accounting scheme, instead of receiving regular refunds you will only get one repayment at the end of the year. Also, if your turnover is likely to decrease, you are still required to continue with your interim payments which may be higher than your VAT payments would be under the standard VAT accounting scheme and you would have to wait again until the end of the year to receive your refund.

You can join the annual vat accounting scheme from either the first day you register or you can complete an application form and apply at any time which suits you. You may also leave the annual VAT accounting scheme and revert back to the standard accounting scheme at any time. HMRC can also remove you from the scheme if you do not calculate your VAT correctly or you are assessed for a VAT penalty or evasion. Once you have left the annual VAT accounting scheme you can not rejoin until twelve months have passed.

You may use this accounting scheme as well as other special VAT schemes available such as Flat Rate Scheme, Retailers Scheme.

The rules and regulations surrounding VAT can be quite complex and it is always advisable that you may seek further professional guidance when considering this or any other aspect of VAT.

For every small time business owner, the bookkeeping part is undoubtedly a heavy burden. But it is important that he establishes an efficient bookkeeping system from the start itself while conducting business. Managing a business which complies with the laws and business requirements warrants the setup and maintenance of some organised system of accounting. For an accounting procedure to succeed, it is fundamental that some mode of financial accounting like the receivables and goings be established, and that all these records present a true bookkeeping picture for analysis as well as for tax purposes.

Bookkeeping is an indispensable part of a business; one can state a number of reasons like: audit purposes, preparation of bookkeeping documents, as a basis for strategic decision making purposes and preparation of investor prospectus and other documents. All said and done, there are still a lot of small scale business owners that do not keep appropriate tabs on their business’ financial part. This can lead to larger headaches when the tax personnel comes knocking, eventually.

In order for someone to maintain sufficient bookkeeping records, one should adopt a policy of keeping the receipts as well as cheque stubs as evidences of income coming in and going out. These documents have to be compiled daily, entered onto a fundamental spreadsheet and have to be filed for later references accordingly. This is bound to enable one to prepare a fundamental cash flow account. It will show the monies coming in and the monies going out on a day to day basis. Keeping a tight tab on this can be of great assistance in dealing with the administrative part of running a business.

One has to make a monthly profit and loss account, and has to take into consideration the cash flow statements one has prepared and any other financial information snippets relevant to the business. Work out the gross profit; to begin with, by subtracting direct costs of sales of goods from the total sales figures. After that, one may continue to find the net profit figure by taking away all other expenses related to the business, including heating & lighting, salary and interest repayments. This will provide you with the net profit and will allow you to find out how much money you have made over the said period.

Finally, one should also embark on preparing the balance sheet as part of the accounting system. This system will keep an eye on all the assets and liabilities of one’s business process. In other words, only short term liabilities are taken into account in the deduction from total assets. The long term liabilities are put in as if they were regarded as assets. Keeping accurate bookkeeping records while conducting business is very vital for marketing and operation purposes, principally when one needs to submit statutory accounts and tax related documents. It is good for the business and one ought to make sure that one is up to date with the record keeping part and accounting documentation aspects so as to prevent problems like tax evasion and fraud.

Good accounting software can help your company track important data such as revenue, net profits, accounts receivables, expenses and payroll. As your company grows larger, accounting processes that take hours in the past will now take days to complete if you do it manually. Without accounting software, you are going to waste a lot of time and effort.

Your time is valuable and you should spend it on things that you do best to grow the business. To save time, getting the right accounting software is the answer. However, before you buy any software, you must first evaluate whether your company really needs it. Not every company needs an accounting system. In this article, let me share with you some points to consider before getting an accounting program.

1. Ask yourself what features you need. Most software provides basic functions like accounts receivable tracking and sales report. But there are some programs that offer additional functions like payroll tracking. Programs with more features will cost more. Therefore, before you purchase any software, make sure you identify the needs of your business first.

2. Does it make sense to buy an accounting program? If your total company size is less than 10, there is no need to buy one. You can just use Excel spreadsheet to do the job. But if your company has more than 10 employees and is growing every week, then you definitely need a good accounting program. This will save you cost and time.

3. What brands to go for? This is the time when you need to go to Google and do a little bit of research. There are many popular accounting programs such as QuickBooks and MYOB. Go online and read the reviews on blogs and forums. Look for distributors that offer free trial for you to try out the systems.

4. Does the software company provide trainings to you? When you introduce a new system to your company, you need to train your staff to use it. If the company provides trainings, you can save a lot of time and effort. The least that they should do is to provide training courses, whitepapers and video online so that you reduce your learning curve.

5. Can you upgrade the software when needed? When your company grows larger, you definitely need more advanced features. Therefore it is important that you can upgrade the software when needed so that you do not need to buy a new one.

Accounting software is a very powerful tool for your business. If you can utilize it well, it is definitely worth the investment.

Access to the environmental insurance marketplace. Simply put, this is one of the main reasons why agents from around the country work with environmental wholesale brokers to find environmental coverage for their clients.

Having options is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and commitment to your clients. Clearly, this is a good approach with new business opportunities, but marketing a renewal and encouraging your client to switch carriers on an existing account needs to be carefully considered. In today’s market, many accounts are marketed to try to achieve a better price. While that is certainly a worthwhile goal, changing carriers on a renewal account may cause real problems. Here are a few issues to consider:

· The agent needs to be fully aware of the specific coverage differences between the expiring policy and the new policy. Although both forms may be appropriate for the insured’s needs, there may be discrepancies between them that could potentially create gaps in coverage.

· There will always be differences in the carrier offering the coverage. Where one may have a solid A.M. Best rating and a history of handling claims effectively, another may have a lower rating and not have a successful track record. Service and stability add a great deal of value.

· If the agent is aware that there are enhancements on the expiring policy that may not seem too significant; yet they are not offered on the newer form-and a claim is filed-the agency may be held liable and have an E&O issue.

· Aggressively marketing a risk every year gives the insured a reputation in the marketplace. Many accounts do not get reviewed by companies because they see them every year and never write them. Unfortunately, there may be a time where the insured really needs to switch carriers and the carrier declines to quote.

Here are some steps that wholesale brokers will want to take if you are considering marketing an account at renewal:

1 – Review the account 90 days before expiration.

2 – Discuss the coverage options that may exist in the market to assess if there is a better product being offered.

3 – Assuming the insured is happy with the coverage and carrier on the risk, it is important to determine the target price or rate goals for the renewal.

4 – Confirm with the insured that if that premium or rate goal can be achieved with the incumbent carrier, they will renew.

5 – If the carrier cannot accommodate the requests, there is still time to go to other carriers and try to achieve the insured’s coverage and cost goals elsewhere.

This allows you to give the insured what they are looking for without running the risk of reducing their coverage or any of the other pitfalls of moving coverage to a different carrier. Even if alternative proposals from other carriers are requested, agents are still encouraged to send renewal information to the incumbent carrier. The insured should not move the program elsewhere without comparing any new proposals to the expiring policy.