Budgeting for your Business

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If your business has been feeling the pinch during the recession chances are you’ve been forced to watch your expenses closer than you would usually. Below are tips on how to create a budget that will get your company through this economic climate.

1. Gather all of your bills together in one place then list them on a sheet of paper. write down what the bill is, what it pays for and the minimum payment you must make every month.

2. Is there anything on that list you can live without? Do you really need that coffee service or can you bring a cup from home? How about that regular lunch you buy for your employees, I’m sure that if it meant greater financial security for their jobs they could live without the free lunch. Get rid of as many of the extra expenses as you can.

3. List all of your sales. How much money is your business bringing in on a monthly basis? Are there opportunities you are missing out on, is one client not taking advantage of a service they might not know about? Send your sales person out to a client review with all of your customers to make sure you are selling as much as you can.

4. Do the math. Are you bringing in enough to cover your bills? If not then increase your marketing efforts. Maybe you have employees that will be willing to take on some of this activity, maybe the best person to do it is you.

If you are making enough to cover your bills, great! Set up an automatic deduction to a savings account for the next emergency or new equipment.

5. Total up all your bills, and make sure you don’t spend more than that amount each month.

6. Cash is king, if you don’t have enough to cover your bills that will make it hard to sell your business or get a loan when you need it. Make sure you are operating within your budget!

My Budget looks like this:

Expenses:

• email marketing: $19
• loan 1: $246
• loan 2: $111
• networking group: $40
• web hosting: $10
• networking group 2: $18
• lunches out: $34
• Payroll: $2200
• TOTAL: $2678

Income:

• client 1: $1000
• client 2: $200
• client 3: $250
• client 4: $200
• other sales needed: $1028
• TOTAL: $2678

Since I took the time to write this down I know exactly how much I need to sell to make meet my monthly expenses every month. This has become a great motivator to keep track. I keep a list of all my income on a monthly basis, if I don’t make my budget by the 3rd week I know that I need to go into sales mode and find someone who needs me in that last week.

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How Can Bookkeeping Outsourcing Services Help Your Business’ Bookkeeping Outsourcing?

It’s necessary for businesses and organizations across the spectrum to keep accounting and bookkeeping in mind. These practices are used for the recording of pertinent business transactions. Having access to quality, CPA approved agents can make or break the success of your business. Although it’s not rocket science, many people think accounting and bookkeeping are complicated systems they’d rather not deal with. However you look at it, outsource bookkeeping helps your business’ accounting policies by increasing efficiency, and maintaining your company’s financial success.

If you are at all like us, it can be nerve-wracking when you need accurate details concerning bookkeeping outsourcing, and it seems nearly impossible to find.

But you’re not alone, not by any means, because we think this is a common experience for many people. So we decided to put some solid and reliable facts together for you aboutBookkeeping Outsourcing.

To decide to turn a blind eye to this part of your business is a detrimental choice. Ignoring this may result in bankruptcy, because realistically, you’re flying in the dark, with no clear picture of your actual figures. Documenting, and maintaining your business financial records are what these services involve. If you can implement solid accounting systems into your organization sooner rather than later, do so.

There’s a lot of services readily available, designed to meet various client’s accounting requirements. This process is vital to any business, yet many entrepreneurs only address it when it’s too late! Fortunately, you have the option of purchasing these services as need for package prices, either bundled or not. With the help of such a service, particularly the outsourced type, you can clean up your accounting issues quickly, and for cheap.

With the help of these accounting and bookkeeping services, you can create custom solutions which help keep your budget in tact, and lessen expenditures. The great thing is that accounting professionals allow small businesses to focus on what they do best, while allowing their business to run smoothly. All while at the same time resting assured that their books are in good order.

Outsourced accounting solutions are very quick and cost effective to set up. Your accounting partners will become a virtual arm of your company. Accounting and book keeping clerks get the job done with accounting data which in turn incorporate those that tabulate expenses, invoices, accounts due and receivable, and also profit and loss. The best way to discover what type of accounting and bookkeeping services you need, it’s important to have at LEAST a basic understanding of what exactly is involved.

As you can clearly see, what you will find out about Bookkeeping Outsourcing is some points are far more significant than others. But that can vary slightly, and it really just will depend on how you want to use the information. Of course there is rather a lot more to be learned. Keep reading to discover even more, and what we will do is add a few more important topics and recommendations for you to consider. Some of these tips really are critical to your understanding, and there is even more going further than what is about to be covered.

One thing you may find quite a surprise is the depth and breadth of all there is concerning Outsourcing Bookkeeping. We have covered a number of important points that we know will have a direct impact in many ways. But it would be a oversight to think that is all there is to it. There are certain areas that you need to find out more about if you want real success with this. Plus you can gain a significant advantage if you follow the successful steps and approaches in the following discussion.

If you have been unsuccessful at bookkeeping outsourcing even once; that is one time way too many. Or, perhaps you are scared to succeed? Many people are, you know. virtual bookkeeping is just one powerful piece of information that is clear and uncomplicated.

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Small Business Startup Suggestions – Starting A Company On A Spending budget

For more advice on starting a business visit www.woodardaccounting.com

Beneath really are a few business suggestions you can start on a tight budget. Some can be began by merely making company cards, putting an ad within the paper, or spreading the phrase of you services via buddies.

You can begin a small company merely by making others lives much less hectic. While we all want to be more organized, we rarely have the time to do so. That is exactly where you are able to start your company, if you are great at organization. You are able to provide your services organizing workplace spaces or home spaces. Whilst you might not think you’re the best organizer, it is always easier to prepare someone else’s’ things, because we have a tendency to hold on to less clutter when it isn’t ours. It’s also simpler to organize when we are getting compensated for it. This business venture has minimum startup expenses and also you can begin by assisting buddies, do a good job, and also the phrase will hopefully spread.

Along the lines of creating ones existence much less hectic, all of us have errands to run and frequently minimal time to do so. While working full time jobs and chauffering children about, the smaller errands sometimes get place aside, particularly in the event you work whilst the locations are open. You are able to offer the services to individuals to run those errands for them. They offer a list, going on about their daily obligations, whilst you go do grocery shopping, gift buying, choosing up dry cleansing, and so on. When you have dependable transportation and therefore are a dedicated, reliable person this might be considered a reduced cost company idea for you.

They are just two little business ideas you can run, be your own boss, set your own hours, and be totally independent working in. These work are also valuable if you have small to no start up cash.

Research the links below for more reputable home budgeting advice or explore these fresh home business ideas

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Sale of a Business

are you selling, what do you need to do? visit www.woodardaccounting.com and call us for help sorting through your books to get ready for a sale.

The sale of a business usually is not a sale of one asset. Instead, all the assets of the business are sold. Generally, when this occurs, each asset is treated as being sold separately for determining the treatment of gain or loss.A business usually has many assets. When sold, these assets must be classified as capital assets, depreciable property used in the business, real property used in the business, or property held for sale to customers, such as inventory or stock in trade. The gain or loss on each asset is figured separately. The sale of capital assets results in capital gain or loss. The sale of real property or depreciable property used in the business and held longer than 1 year results in gain or loss from a section 1231 transaction. The sale of inventory results in ordinary income or loss.Publication 541, Partnership interests An interest in a partnership or joint venture is treated as a capital asset when sold. The part of any gain or loss from unrealized receivables or inventory items will be treated as ordinary gain or loss. For more information, see Publication 541, Partnerships (PDF). Publication 550, Corporation interests Your interest in a corporation is represented by stock certificates. When you sell these certificates, you usually realize capital gain or loss. For information on the sale of stock, see chapter 4 in Publication 550, Investment Income and Expenses (PDF). Corporate liquidations Corporate liquidations of property generally are treated as a sale or exchange. Gain or loss generally is recognized by the corporation on a liquidating sale of its assets. Gain or loss generally is recognized also on a liquidating distribution of assets as if the corporation sold the assets to the distributee at fair market value. In certain cases in which the distributee is a corporation in control of the distributing corporation, the distribution may not be taxable. For more information, see Internal Revenue Code section 332 and its regulations. Allocation of consideration paid for a business The sale of a trade or business for a lump sum is considered a sale of each individual asset rather than of a single asset. Except for assets exchanged under any nontaxable exchange rules, both the buyer and seller of a business must use the residual method to allocate the consideration to each business asset transferred. This method determines gain or loss from the transfer of each asset and how much of the consideration is for goodwill and certain other intangible property. It also determines the buyer’s basis in the business assets. Consideration The buyer’s consideration is the cost of the assets acquired. The seller’s consideration is the amount realized (money plus the fair market value of property received) from the sale of assets. Residual method The residual method must be used for any transfer of a group of assets that constitutes a trade or business and for which the buyer’s basis is determined only by the amount paid for the assets.  This applies to both direct and indirect transfers, such as the sale of a business or the sale of a partnership interest in which the basis of the buyer’s share of the partnership assets is adjusted for the amount paid under section 743(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 743(b) applies if a partnership has an election in effect under section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code. A group of assets constitutes a trade or business is either of the following applies. Goodwill or going concern value could under any circumstances, attach to them. The use of the assets would constitute an active trade or business under section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code. The residual method provides for the consideration to be reduced first by the cash and general deposit accounts (including checking and savings accounts but excluding certificates of deposits).  The consideration remaining after this reduction must be allocated among the various business assets in a certain order.  To find out more about how to make the allocation among assets in proportion, refer to Publication 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets. References/Related Topics Closing a Business Note: This page contains one or more references to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), Treasury Regulations, court cases, or other official tax guidance. References to these legal authorities are included for the convenience of those who would like to read the technical reference material. To access the applicable IRC sections, Treasury Regulations, or other official tax guidance, visit the Tax Code, Regulations, and Official Guidance page. To access any Tax Court case opinions issued after September 24, 1995, visit the Opinions Search page of the United States Tax Court.

Deducting Business Expenses

If you need help in sorting through your books before tax time, now is the time to get it done. There’s only 9 weeks left this year and you should know where your business stands.

visit www.woodardaccounting.com for more information on what we can do for you.

Business expenses are the cost of carrying on a trade or business. These expenses are usually deductible if the business is operated to make a profit.

What Can I Deduct?

To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your trade or business. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary.

It is important to separate business expenses from the following expenses:

• The expenses used to figure the cost of goods sold,
• Capital Expenses, and
• Personal Expenses.

Cost of Goods Sold

If your business manufactures products or purchases them for resale, you generally must value inventory at the beginning and end of each tax year to determine your cost of goods sold. Some of your expenses may be included in figuring the cost of goods sold. Cost of goods sold is deducted from your gross receipts to figure your gross profit for the year. If you include an expense in the cost of goods sold, you cannot deduct it again as a business expense.

The following are types of expenses that go into figuring the cost of goods sold.

• The cost of products or raw materials, including freight
• Storage
• Direct labor costs (including contributions to pensions or annuity plans) for workers who produce the products
• Factory overhead

Under the uniform capitalization rules, you must capitalize the direct costs and part of the indirect costs for certain production or resale activities. Indirect costs include rent, interest, taxes, storage, purchasing, processing, repackaging, handling, and administrative costs.

This rule does not apply to personal property you acquire for resale if your average annual gross receipts (or those of your predecessor) for the preceding 3 tax years are not more than $10 million.

For additional information, refer to the chapter on Cost of Goods Sold, Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Businesses and the chapter on Inventories, Publication 538, Accounting Periods and Methods.

Capital Expenses

You must capitalize, rather than deduct, some costs. These costs are a part of your investment in your business and are called capital expenses. Capital expenses are considered assets in your business. There are, in general, three types of costs you capitalize.

• Business start-up cost (See the note below)
• Business assets
• Improvements

Note: You can elect to deduct or amortize certain business start-up costs. Refer to chapters 7 and 8 of Publication 535, Business Expenses.

Personal versus Business Expenses

Generally, you cannot deduct personal, living, or family expenses. However, if you have an expense for something that is used partly for business and partly for personal purposes, divide the total cost between the business and personal parts. You can deduct the business part.

For example, if you borrow money and use 70% of it for business and the other 30% for a family vacation, you can deduct 70% of the interest as a business expense. The remaining 30% is personal interest and is not deductible. Refer to chapter 4 of Publication 535, Business Expenses, for information on deducting interest and the allocation rules.

Business Use of Your Home

If you use part of your home for business, you may be able to deduct expenses for the business use of your home. These expenses may include mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation. Refer to Home Office Deduction and Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home, for more information.

Business Use of Your Car

If you use your car in your business, you can deduct car expenses. If you use your car for both business and personal purposes, you must divide your expenses based on actual mileage. Refer to Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses. For a list of current and prior year mileage rates see the Standard Mileage Rates.

Other Types of Business Expenses

• Employees’ Pay – You can generally deduct the pay you give your employees for the services they perform for your business.
• Retirement Plans – Retirement plans are savings plans that offer you tax advantages to set aside money for your own, and your employees’ retirement.
• Rent Expense – Rent is any amount you pay for the use of property you do not own. In general, you can deduct rent as an expense only if the rent is for property you use in your trade or business. If you have or will receive equity in or title to the property, the rent is not deductible.
• Interest – Business interest expense is an amount charged for the use of money you borrowed for business activities.
• Taxes – You can deduct various federal, state, local, and foreign taxes directly attributable to your trade or business as business expenses.
• Insurance – Generally, you can deduct the ordinary and necessary cost of insurance as a business expense, if it is for your trade, business, or profession.

This list is not all inclusive of the types of business expenses that you can deduct. For additional information, refer to Publication 535, Business Expenses.

Do you need an EIN number?

if you need advice about starting or expanding a business call woodard accounting in Rochester NY
You will need an EIN if you answer “Yes” to any of the following questions. For your convenience, clicking on the “Yes” option will take you directly to How to apply for an EIN.Due to a high volume of requests for EINs, the IRS will begin limiting the number of EINs assigned per day to a responsible party. Effective April 11, 2011, a responsible party will be limited to five (5) EINs in one business day. This limit is in effect whether you apply online, by phone, fax or mail. Do you have employees? YES NO Do you operate your business as a corporation or a partnership? YES NO Do you file any of these tax returns: Employment, Excise, or Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms? YES NO Do you withhold taxes on income, other than wages, paid to a non-resident alien? YES NO Do you have a Keogh plan? YES NO Are you involved with any of the following types of organizations? Trusts, except certain grantor-owned revocable trusts, IRAs, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Returns Estates Real estate mortgage investment conduits Non-profit organizations Farmers’ cooperatives Plan administrators YES NO

QuickBooks 2012 Excel Improvements

For quickbooks help please visit WoodardAccounting.com for more information.

Article from sleeter.com, written by Charlie Russel.

QuickBooks has your data, you want to get it into reports that are formatted the way that YOU want. You can customize or modify QuickBooks reports, but the options are limited. How do you get things to look right? Many QuickBooks users will export to Microsoft Excel and then reformat the reports. If you are one of those users, you will enjoy the Excel integration improvements in QuickBooks 2012.

Intuit spend a lot of time studying how people use QuickBooks and reporting tools. They knew that many of the complaints about QuickBooks revolve around hassles with generating reports. Sure, there are a lot of great reporting tools available that integrate with QuickBooks at an extra cost, but Intuit wanted to improve the built in features. If you have QuickBooks Enterprise you have the ODBC driver, which you can use with Excel, but ODBC is complicated (and an extra charge if you have Premier or Pro). Intuit’s research shows that most users are comfortable with Excel, but that they want to get in and create their reports quickly. So, they’ve worked on improving the Excel integration with QuickBooks.

If you export a QuickBooks report to Excel you will probably be changing the appearance, adding columns, adding formulas and more. Unfortunately, once you create your modified report you can’t easily import new data from QuickBooks. You have to reformat everything again. With QuickBooks 2012, though, you can create a template report and retain many formatting elements, such as the following (more options should be available in some upcoming revisions):

• Change the fonts in row and column headers.
• Create new formulas.
• Rename column and row headers.
• Change report titles.
• Resize columns.
• Insert columns and rows.
• Insert text (when entered as a formula).