Poor financial management is one of the primary reasons businesses fail. It can seem a daunting task to maintain the many day-to-day transactions of a company, regardless of its size or the nature of its enterprise. If you don’t keep up with them from the get-go, you’ll never get a grasp on them. If you are in business, you must know how to handle money.
When your accounting is a mess, and you don't even know how much money you have in the bank, you probabaly need General Ledger Clean-up.
This is definitely a task for a seasoned professional with years of experience in both accounting and general business. Give me a call and we'll clean 'em up.
Most modern companies depend too heavily on computers for file maintenance and don't know how to handle the huge amount of paper created by their operations. As a result, you have so much paper in your office -- on your desk -- and on the floor -- that you can't find anything and ask yourself:
"Where did all this paper come from?"
I can turn you into a Paper Doll.
Here are some things to consider when you work with a bookkeeper; I provide this to all my new clients:
1. Communication and trust are essential. Financial records are only as good as the information provided.
2. I provide detailed work records for day of services, times in and out, and tasks performed. My billing rate is $50/hour + expenses for postage, etc. I do not charge for calls less than 15 minutes, nor texts for brief questions and answers.
3. Bookkeepers should NEVER have signature authority nor information on credit cards, such as expiration date and CVV. All financial accounts are recognized only by the last four (4) digits of the account number: * ----
4. “Read only” and “download data only” access to credit card and banks can be set up by client; this saves me a great deal of time if there are a lot of transactions to post.
5. Drop Box is useful for exchange of transaction dense documents.
6. I insist on good files and keeping records to “audit standards.” If client does not have a proper filing system, I will set it up (my time/no charge) and only bill client for materials (file folders, labels, etc.)
7. I use QuickBooks accounting software for PC only. I do not use Apple, which has less functionality for QB.
8. There are three ways to access the QB data for your company:
· I set it up on my PC at my home office and do all work there, picking up documents on an as-needed basis or receiving via e-mail. This is the most economical as there is no client cost involved.
· We set up QB on your PC, and provide access to me through Log-Me-In, Right Networks, or some other desktop server software. You would have to purchase the QB software and pay for the access software.
· We set up QuickBooks On-Line (QBOL) which allows the client and the bookkeeper to access the data whenever they need to input data or retrieve reports. This will cost you about $30-35 / month.
· I carry E&O insurance and will be happy to provide a Certificate of Insurance upon request.
To set up a bookkeeping system for clients, I ask them for this information:
· Company name, address, phone, principal(s) and contact information
· Type of company (Sole Proprietor, LLC Single Member, LLC Partnership, S-Corp, C-Corp)
· FEI number
· State identification numbers:
· Bank name(s) and last 4 digits of account number(s)
· Credit card(s) and last 4-digits of account number(s)
· Bank and credit card statements from start-up to current date
· List of checks issued to date
· List of all assets and any paid in capital
· Stockholders or investors, names, and funds received
· List of all liabilities such as car/truck notes, loans, etc.
· Chart of Accounts – set up by Bookkeeper to be approved by Client
· Set up “Classes” if necessary, after discussion with Client
· Set up “Items” if necessary, after discussion with Client
I created an entertaining and informative workbook to help new entrepreneurs navigate the waters of business accounting. Depending on what you do from the git-go will determine how rough or smooth your financials flow.
Only $7.99 on Amazon and FREE on Kindle Unlimited.