Blog

Prior to COVID-19, many small to mid-size businesses were renting out (or considering) office spaces from other businesses rather than maintaining their own permanent location. Co-working spaces act as shared office spaces for employees of various businesses to come together for a place to work, hold meetings, give presentations, and more. Now that we are living through a global pandemic and times are tough, many small to mid-size businesses have found themselves with high rent payments and an empty office space with employees now working remotely. Are you considering selling your permanent location to rent out a co-working space? 

Whether you’re opening a brand new business from scratch or re-opening after a temporary closure, there are some financial “don’ts” for getting your business up and running. It can be easy to become overwhelmed, get lost in poor habits, or take on too much when you’re so focused on becoming successful and profitable as soon as you can. 

An unfortunate truth in business is sometimes people don’t pay on time. What steps can you take to avoid this? Be consistent and timely with sending your invoices, and establish payment terms prior to doing work together to make sure everyone is on the same page. However, if a client fails to pay an invoice on time, there are certain steps you should take to act on this. 

The first step when dealing when a client who won’t pay is to simply send a polite remindervia email, attaching the invoice again. This is usually enough for them to remember to pay you - life gets crazy and sometimes we forget things, it happens. 

The software programs Quicken and QuickBooks have a couple things in common, including being founded by Intuit and beginning with the word “Quick.” However, the similarities end there. Let’s discuss the differences. 

Quicken

Quicken was released in 1983 as a personal management tool for individual users. It uses the single-entry accounting method and assists with your personal accounting needs, like recording your transactions. It categorizes your expenses to show where your money goes, and has budgeting features to help you take control of your finances. There are a variety of Quicken software programs available: Starter, Deluxe, Premier, and Home & Business.

The truth is, somebody has to do the bookkeeping for your small business, or else it won’t get done. If you have made the decision to do the bookkeeping yourself, it can be overwhelming until you get the hang of it. We have six reminders for you when it comes to getting your books done accurately and efficiently. 

Startup businesses often make the same mistakes that lead to the decline of their business. As an entrepreneur or business owner, you put too much time, money, and effort into your business for it to fail. Learn from the mistakes of other businesses and work to adapt accordingly.

One big mistakes startups make is not working with a CPA to plan, predict, and broadcast. CPA’s will point out important items to keep an eye on, and help you create a complete plan. This includes tax planning. Don’t forget about taxes or this will cost you down the road.

If you’re a small to midsize business, you need to be using QuickBooks Online (QBO) to manage all of your finances. QuickBooks Online makes life easier by helping you, not adding to the stress in your life. With just over 5.6 million users, it’s hard to deny it’s benefits.

So, what’s the big deal? There seem to be an endless number of efficient features in this accounting software, so we

The New Year is one month away, is your business plan ready? If you haven’t started thinking of how you want to approach a new year then it’s time to start. Assess your business based on the goals you accomplished throughout the year, and strive for more in 2019. The first step to thriving is having a game plan.

Your business plan should contain three components: a mission statement, a vision, and a strategy. In plain terms, you need to know who you want to be, where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there. Establish clear and specific goals.

There’s a saying out there that says owning a small business is not for the faint of heart. It’s for the brave, the persistent, and the ambitious. Small businesses stem from passion and succeed because of dedication. Running a small business becomes your way of life.

With Small Business Saturday just days away, we wanted to get you in the spirit by sharing some cool facts we’ve learned about small businesses along our journey. This Forbes article has insane facts but a couple stood out like neon lights. The majority of businesses in the United States are actually small businesses! A whopping 99.9% of businesses are considered small.

According to Forbes, 8 out of 10 businesses fail. That statistic alone is enough to scare some people from even trying. Why do so many businesses fail? Although there is a myriad of reasons, there are three common deaths to businesses.

There’s so many “what not to do’s” with your money that sometimes you’re not really sure what to do with it at all! Part of running a business is being able to control where your cash goes and how it’s being used. Being proactive and preparing for the future is the best course of action when it comes to running a business. Don’t let surprise expenses stress you out. Instead, beat them to the punch. 

As tax season rolls around, it’s important to know your options and to choose what’s best for you. This includes whether to have a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) do your taxes or TurboTax.

For a little background, TurboTax is an American tax preparation software. It’s the #1 best-selling tax preparation software, which means it must be the best choice for everyone, right? As a matter of fact, if you have opened a small business or own one, hiring a CPA during tax season is the way to go, not a software program.

A common misconception is that small businesses do not need a business lawyer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Regardless the size of a business, it’s always a good idea to have an attorney. It may be crucial to the success of your business. If the time ever comes that an unfortunate event arises and your company is in trouble, it could be too late to hire a lawyer.

When hiring a lawyer, make sure they are familiar with your industry and its legal environment. You should also be cautious of hiring an attorney that represents your competitors. As always, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

No matter what kind of business you own or you’re a part of, it’s important that we all utilize the same resource that is here to help us all—America’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Michigan’s SBDC is headquartered in Grand Rapids but have over ten different locations throughout the state. They have helped over 5,500 businesses across Michigan and helped start 445 businesses in 2016. Their main goal is to help us - if you haven’t looked into the SBDC, now is the time.

Accounting is an essential component of every business regardless of size. It’s important to keep in mind the basic do’s and don’t’s of accounting that not everyone may know, but should! These are common and often unnoticed mistakes that can lead to future problems.

Cash Flow vs. Profit

Don’t assume that profit also means there’s cash flow. What’s the difference? Cash flow is the inflow and outflow of money while profit is the extra money left over after expenses are deducted. It would be nice to assume that profit leads to cash flow, but that could give you a distorted view of how well (or not) your business is doing.

Bad Bookkeeping Records and Communication

Not taking your bookkeeping seriously nor communicating with your bookkeeper enough are simple mistakes that need to be avoided. Effective bookkeeping begins with recording each and every transaction. This includes not forgetting to record small transactions—these add up over time. Not only should your transactions be recorded, but they should be categorized. Organization is important for accurate records.

To have these transactions recorded appropriately and accurately, you must communicate with your bookkeeper on a regular basis. They should know what is going on within your business. Not enough communication can lead to unreliable records, as well as more work for both you and your bookkeeper. By avoiding these bookkeeping mistakes, you will be given a more reliable picture of where your business stands.

Em

At Skynar Bookkeeping, we utilize QuickBooks as our preferred accounting platform for many reasons. The first being it is the best accounting software for small and mid-size businesses—it is ranked number one among all other software for small business accounting. It is user friendly and can be used for any type of business. We strive to make our clients’ business lives easier and QuickBooks helps us do so.

[caption id=”attachment_228” align=”alignright” width=”200”]