Category Archives: Business management

Random small business links

Posted on September 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

I found a couple excellent blogs/articles today that were too good not to share.

First, Seth Godin, always a compelling storyteller, writes about the recession….which he argues is really two recessions. This is the best take I’ve read and really lights the way to where we are going. I especially love the arguments on racing to the bottom to save some kinds of jobs instead of adapting and innovating and creating new jobs.

Second, Norm Brodsky writes a piece in Inc. magazine about keeping your eye on your company’s balance sheet. Most business owners are so obsessed with the other main statement – the income statement – they completely forget (or don’t even know) about the balance sheet.  I especially like the last few lines:

Numbers run companies. It’s your responsibility as an owner to know and to understand not only the income statement but also the balance sheet of your business. You ignore them at your peril.

I am especially in tuned to this as a CPA. Many times I’ve heard a business owner say “I’m making money, but my business is still struggling”. A lot of times we can find answers by looking at the balance sheet.

 

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Posted in Accounting, Business management, General

Inspired by my Community

Posted on September 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

I was tired yesterday morning. Our kids were up late and I just didn’t sleep well the night before. Tuesday mornings I am up earlier than normal so I can drive a few extra miles to my BNI group. I was really tempted to hit snooze and sleep in, but I got up, showered and headed out the door.

Man, I am glad I did. I’ve talked about my group before, but yesterday morning our meeting was absolutely incredible. The energy in the room is always great, but yesterday it was at a new level. We were cracking jokes, enjoying each others’ company and – oh yeah – celebrating our progress for the year – nearly $2 million dollars in closed business in less than a year’s time. You guys are amazing!

Just being in that room with 20 other people, who run cool small businesses and dispel the notion that our economy is in the tank, is so inspiring. Then during the “I Have” portion of the meeting (when we go around and share what we’ve done the past week) I received a very nice testimonial from a customer I started working with within the past year. It was amazing to hear that she appreciated my work and I had a positive impact on her business.

I have learned so much from my fellow members  since I joined the group. But the biggest thing I’ll take away is this – having a group of people that inspire, support and empower you (not to mention are fun to be around) makes getting up early an easy choice.

I strongly encourage every small business owner or self-employed individual to find a community of people that will similarly inspire and support them both professionally and personally. You will not regret it!

Let me know in the comments if you’ve had a similar experience.

 

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Posted in Business management, Gratitude, Relationships

Budgeting & Cash Flow

Posted on August 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

This video is meant for personal finance, but I believe it applies to business as well. You can have a terrific business, but if cash isn’t rolling in, you’re doomed.

 

Here is the original post by Carl Richards.

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Posted in Business management

Numbers+

Posted on August 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Bean-counter. Number-cruncher. 10-key jockey. That is what most people think accountants are.

Yes, we can do those things for you. But I prefer to let technology automate as many of those simple tasks as possible. That’s because I like interpreting the data to see how it can help my customers be more successful.

This article from the NY Times touches on a few examples of how a little accounting knowledge helped save some businesses from early failure.

Are we making money?

Are our customers paying us?

Are we spending our money wisely?

These are a few questions a business needs to ponder, maybe with the help of a friendly CPA. Like this real life example:

Last week I was talking to a customer of our firm. They had been using a software package since I’ve been involved (about 6 years or so) that they had outgrown probably even a few years before then. We advised them nearly every year during our meetings that a new software package might would likely give them better information. But business gets in the way sometimes, so only recently did they commit to a new accounting system. It went live earlier this year.

The customer’s head finance person is sold. She told me the reporting was so much better that they are now actually able to tell how profitable each job is. She said the project managers were in awe of the level of detail they were now getting and were already making changes based on the information. Changes that would help them increase profits and possibly even shut down projects that were not cutting it.

That was a High Satisfaction Day.

 

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Posted in Accounting, Business management

Flow

Posted on July 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

Read this blog a few minutes ago.

Add QuickBooks or whatever accounting system you are using to the “other basic tools” and I’d venture to guess there are a few ways you or your staff could save time.

What would you do with an extra 30 minutes or hour per day? I’d love to come in and sit down with you to see if we can improve your flow.

kevinmccoy.cpa (at) gmail (dot) com

 

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Posted in Accounting, Business management

Small Business Record Keeping 101

Posted on June 16, 2011 | 1 Comment

I’ve recently co-hosted a couple seminars with Lori from On Target Bookkeeping to help small business owners streamline their accounting process and hopefully save them some time crunching numbers. The seminars primarliy focus on using QuickBooks to accomplish this.

As a primer to the QuickBooks tutorial, I introduce some basic record keeping tips and resources, so I thought it would be a good idea to re-post that info here.

Why Keep Business Records?

  • Is the business making money? To me this should seal the deal – how will you know if you’re making money without any data?
  • Who is buying from us or owes us money? (customer info) This type of data can be used for marketing, cross selling or simply to keep track of accounts receivable.
  • Who are we paying? (vendor info)
  • Financial statement preparation – transactional data can be compiled into easy to read financial statements that give management (or third parties in the case of financing) an idea of the health of the business.
  • Tax compliance – income, sales, payroll, etc.
  • Substantiation for items reported on tax returns (no records = no tax deduction = lost money)

What Records Should Be Kept?

  • Gross Receipts – deposit slips, invoices, credit card and cash register reports (if applicable)
  • Purchases for Resale – vendor invoices, purchase orders, cancelled checks, credit card statements
  • Expenses – cancelled checks, credit card statements, receipts, expense reports
  • Assets – when/how acquired, purchase price, subsequent improvements, depreciation schedules
  • Travel/transportation, entertainment and meals have special requirements – see IRS Publication 463.
  • Employment related expenses also need special care – see IRS Publication 15, Circular E for examples.

How Should Business Records Be Kept?

  • Can be as simple as a business checkbook or as complex as a large, multi-user computerized accounting system, depending on the business size and complexity.
  • Technology often allows for automation of routine tasks.
  • Find a system that works and use it – even the most complex system will fail if the data is incomplete.
  • Bottom line: More time spent keeping records = less time spent working on your business

For more information also see IRS Publication 583 – Starting a Business and Keeping Records.

What type of record keeping system do you use? How is it working? What would you change if you could?

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Posted in Accounting, Business management, Tax