Accounting Articles

Accounting | By Christine Harrell @ Monday, 1st March 2010 @ 10:09 PM

Tax planning is a year round endeavor but the last quarter is a good time to implement a few simple strategies that can substantially reduce your taxes. By adjusting your revenue and expenses, taxes can be deferred until the next tax year. Start by Consulting with a Good Accountant Business taxes and finances are complicated. To ensure your organization receives all the benefits it is entitled to, you should start by putting your books in the hands of an experienced professional. C... more...

Accounting | By Christine Harrell @ Monday, 1st March 2010 @ 10:09 PM

Companies dream of the customers who can provide six- or seven-figure revenues to the organization. While there is considerable competition for these contracts, most sales representatives make basic mistakes that quickly knock them out of the running. Smart marketing and a close relationship with a virtual accounting department will put you on the fast track to landing top clients. Know Your Stuff Wealthy clients don't spend their money frivolously. They will want to know not ... more...

Accounting | By Christine Harrell @ Monday, 1st March 2010 @ 10:07 PM

In medium to large businesses it's easy to get so involved with details of daily operation you lose sight of the reason for your company's existence: making money. All other considerations are secondary to that. Never forget this lesson. Everything Is a Path to Profit Companies emphasize different aspects of doing business. One might work to create a better quality product. Another could push great customer service or employee morale. Still others might put high sale... more...

Accounting | By Christine Harrell @ Monday, 1st March 2010 @ 7:00 PM

Organizations choose to help non-profit organizations for a number of reasons, both altruistic and otherwise. There are many benefits and basically no downside, but it is important to consult your virtual accounting department so the relationship can be set up in the most mutually beneficial manner. Tax Benefits of Sponsorship From a pure accounting point of view, a common reason to sponsor charities is to improve a company's tax situation. Since charitable donations are tax d... more...

Accounting | By Christine Harrell @ Monday, 1st March 2010 @ 6:56 PM

This job of a virtual accounting department is not simply a matter of adding assets and subtracting liabilities. An organization's financial operations are governed by a maze of local, state and federal regulations that dictate how activities are to take place. These laws come from many sources. Tax regulations prescribe when taxes are to be paid and what expenses are deductible. Securities rules govern a company's issuance, purchase and sale of stocks and bonds. Newer regulatio... more...

Accounting | By Christine Harrell @ Sunday, 28th February 2010 @ 3:49 PM

Put the Best Face on the Business Potential buyers are going to look at the company's history in order to predict future profitability and recent history will be most important. This is a good time to embark on new marketing campaigns to boost customer traffic and improve revenue. If the company is losing money, you won't be able to get a good price for it. Operating strategy just before a sale is not the same as the strategy for an ongoing business. Your outsourced accou... more...

Accounting | By Wade Anderson @ Monday, 22nd February 2010 @ 10:22 AM

A basic service that the Certified Public Accountant provides to the company is the compilation of financial statements pertaining to the financial statements of the company. This compilation is not as exhaustive as an audit nor is as detailed as an accountant review report. The main purpose of accounting compilation is to conform to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP, for short. The need for accounting compilation arises when certified Public Accountants are called in to prepa... more...

Accounting | By Wade Anderson @ Sunday, 21st February 2010 @ 7:51 PM

When a company wishes to have its management practices performed in relation to its general, as well as financial aspects, in the best possible manner, it usually takes recourse to setting up a number of specially designed procedures that will promote and protect such aims. These sets of procedures are known as internal accounting controls. With these internal accounting controls in place, a company can get access to reliable and trustworthy information pertaining to its finances that will h... more...

Accounting | By Dominic Donaldson @ Thursday, 18th February 2010 @ 12:23 PM

When it comes to making payments over the internet everyone is a little skeptical about security. It can be quite a daunting thing to put your most trusted numbers into a machine when every day we are being warned about the increase in scams on the internet. Thankfully there are some companies and banks that take this quite seriously and they have come up with a number of schemes to make it safe and secure to perform financial transaction on the internet. One of these systems is BACS payments.more...

Accounting | By Andrew Stratton @ Tuesday, 16th February 2010 @ 1:14 PM

Selecting an accounting firm to handle business or individual financial needs is an important decision. Whether one needs someone to simply do their annual tax paperwork or will require ongoing services throughout the year, there is a firm out there that is an appropriate match. The expertise of the practice doing the job can have a profound effect on how much money stays in their clients' pockets, as well as whether their customers remain in the good graces of the IRS. Here are 5 things to... more...

Accounting | By William Davis @ Tuesday, 9th February 2010 @ 2:05 AM

Here are some things to look out for to help you improve your time management and get more balance in your life: * Not prioritising what is important: The evening before or at the start of the day, pick the top three things you want to get done. Doing the most difficult or boring tasks first means you will look forward to the easier ones rather than dreading the difficult ones. If you get to lunchtime, and you have already done your top three, guess what that will do for your performance?... more...

Accounting | By William Gold @ Monday, 8th February 2010 @ 2:08 AM

QuickBooks Voucher Checks are created using one of the most enduringly popular of accounting applications available on the market. QuickBooks Voucher Checks came about with the best-selling accounting software known by the same day, made by Intuit in order to offer small businesses the same degree of user-friendly automation in business accounting that the company's previous hit Quicken provided for the average home user. Whereas Quicken focused on household budgets and personal finances,... more...

Accounting | By William Davis @ Sunday, 7th February 2010 @ 2:08 AM

Small and medium-sized practices are perhaps the most vulnerable to the 'always on' culture of overworking. Increasingly dependent on mobiles, Blackberrys, email and internet, it's easy to get caught up on a treadmill of endless work tasks that diminish your time for leisure, friends and family. In the worst cases this leads to stress. Small businesses lose an average of 7 days a year to absenteeism, according to a survey by the Small Firms' Association, and the bigges... more...

Accounting | By Elle Wood @ Friday, 5th February 2010 @ 2:43 PM

We all know that tax preparation can be a huge headache. Everything that needs to be done in order to prepare can be one of the most stressful times of the year for everyone. This time of the year doesn't have to be a problem when you know how to survive tax preparation each year. Here are 3 secret tips to help everyone get through the season as painlessly as possible. The first tip in tax preparation is in the word preparation. Preparing properly can save tons of time and energy at ... more...

Accounting | By Elle Wood @ Friday, 5th February 2010 @ 12:51 PM

When looking at an accounting firm it's important to ask the right questions in order to ensure that your needs will be met. Not all firms are created equal, and they certainly don't behave the same. It's your money, make sure you are choosing people to handle that money that you know you can trust and will serve you and your needs as best as possible. Here are 3 questions everyone should ask when evaluating an accounting firm. The first question is simple, do they care? A ... more...

Accounting | By William Gold @ Friday, 5th February 2010 @ 2:23 AM

Printable Deposit Slips are a great way to save on time and money for your business. They are available in a wide variety of preprinted layouts so that all you have to do is fill them out on your computer and print them out over your laser or inkjet printer. Printable Deposit Slips and voucher checks help you eliminate the possibility of error when dealing with boring repetitive tasks that can cause attention to wander. You can create your own through the easy user-friendly interfaces provided... more...

Accounting | By William Davis @ Friday, 5th February 2010 @ 2:23 AM

It goes without saying that good staff relations are essential to maintaining a happy and healthy workplace. Nevertheless, a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development last year revealed that only 37 per cent of employees have confidence in their senior management team and 34 per cent trust their senior managers. Evidently there is plenty that managers can do to foster better staff relations. By taking the following steps, you can also nurture a unique working environment wit... more...

Accounting | By Terry Mickelson @ Thursday, 4th February 2010 @ 11:17 AM

Forensic accounting involves the understanding of business information and financial reporting systems, along with accounting and auditing standards and procedures, and also gathering of evidence and investigative techniques in the litigation processes. It encompasses both litigation support, for example accounting of matters involving existing or pending lawsuits and investigative accounting. It is not only the utilization of accounting, auditing and investigative skills when performing an inve... more...

Accounting | By Adriana Noton @ Wednesday, 3rd February 2010 @ 2:06 PM

In recent years, the housing market has been on a very bumpy financial ride. Due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis which resulted in millions of homeowners losing their homes due to the inability to pay their monthly mortgage payments, President Obama's mortgage refinance stimulus plan was implemented to help people stay in their homes and encourage people to buy a home. The plan included lowering interest rates so that people could take advantage of the savings. Now that the economy has sho... more...

Accounting | By William Davis @ Wednesday, 3rd February 2010 @ 2:18 AM

It's probably one of the least favourite tasks for a manager, but not formally ticking off a staff member when they're out of line will cause the matter to linger, if not worsen. Disruptive behaviour by an employee, in a meeting for example can annoy or distract other members of staff and affect their performance in the workplace. If it occurs when a client is present, it can impact on their view of the business and possibly lead to losing them as a client. If disruptive ... more...