Here is a recent article that we did for CoFounders Lab that was picked up by a bunch of other sites too = I’m an accounting and finance pro and have worked with dozens of start-ups over the years. Among the management there's usually great excitement over launching the new product or service - and [...]
Many small businesses consider how best to get the accounting done. It’s not feasible to hire higher-priced and more experienced talent, although sometimes this is needed. On the other hand, a bookkeeper or another employee who is recruited and told to “just figure out the accounting until we hire someone” is a problem waiting to [...]
Cash is King In our May 30th entry we talked about managing invoicing and Accounts Receivable to improve cash flow. Because for small businesses, and especially start-ups, that's what it's all about - cash. Sales, revenue growth, units sold, web site hits, social media mentions and market share - yes they all have a place [...]
As businesses grow, accounting becomes more of a priority. At first the spouse could do everything on the laptop from the kitchen table. But then the volume of work becomes too much and some reports are obviously wrong. Not a good idea to make decisions based on dubious information. Many entrepreneurs then bring on a bookkeeper [...]
Cash-Flow Management Entry 1: Invoicing and Accounts Receivable Most businesses are constantly challenged by cash flow: good cash flow can easily mean the difference between a business that is barely scraping by (or worse), and one that invests in fast growth and has the resources to take advantage of business opportunity. The next few blog [...]
If you’re short on time, the answer is simply YES. I know that this upsets some readers who yearn to think that everyone is honest, but give people an opportunity to steal, and some will; it’s just a fact. Things often start out fine when grateful bookkeepers and accounting types are hired, but as time [...]
Managers at your business are working hard to make all of the details work together and fall into place, from marketing to logistics. But financial people are the ones that really see the total picture. In most firms that I have seen, management does not ask enough questions of these number crunchers, which can often [...]
Introduction to Business and Financial Forecasting One of the main purposes of an accounting system is to accurately describe the past, but this same information can also be the basis for predicting the future. Nothing mystical is involved – we just use the numbers from before, roll-up our sleeves to factor in some changes, and [...]
I see it all the time: a small business is busy and growing and falling behind on the accounting; there are just too many other important things to do. A receptionist or clerical person is found who once paid bills for a trucking company and voila – they are now in charge of accounting. After [...]
Downloading transactions into QuickBooks can be a great timesaver, and eases the tedious task of data-entry since we humans no longer need to type much, but can simply agree or not to QB's suggestions via mouse clicks, sometimes to dozens of transactions at once. This means less time to get all of the data in, [...]