Small Business Services & Accounting
BANK RECONCILIATIONS
Reconciling your business checking account each month allow us to keep your bank account, accounting, and taxes up-to-date.
Having us reconcile your account each month allows you to...
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Identify lost checks, lost deposits and unauthorized wire transactions.
Detect and prevent excess/unjustified bank charges and ensures transactions are posted correctly by your bank.
Detect and prevent embezzlement of funds from within your company.
Know how your business is doing? You can't really know unless all accounts are reconciled and properly accounted for on your financial statement.
Manage your cash more effectively. Proper management of funds not only saves money, it makes money for you.
Protect yourself. By timely reconciling and promptly objecting to your bank about any unauthorized, fraudulent or forged checks presented to your bank and paid by that bank, you can relieve your agency of responsibility for the shortfall and transfer the risk to the bank. This reason to reconcile alone should be enough. Crime exists.
Sleep Better. You will sleep more peacefully at night knowing your bank accounts are reconciled, in balance and that all escrow funds, accounts, checks and disbursed funds are properly accounted for.
REVIEW & CLEAN UP OF GENERAL LEDGER
Good data enables informed decision-making, which is reason enough to clean up accounting records. But clean financials are more than just desirable – in some cases, they are specifically required.
Examination of the books is essential to determine whether a problem exists. Typically, businesses with remarkably messy or incomplete accounting records understand that they have issues that need to be addressed. However, companies with more minor discrepancies or less obvious problems may not have the foresight to understand what the root cause is and the knowhow to remedy the underlying issue.
Key ongoing reviews include:
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Retained earnings
General ledger errors
Cash discrepancies
Withdrawals
Business expenses
Bank fees and penalties
Asset estimation
Fixed asset depreciation
Cash or credit balances
Muddled business loan records
FINANCIAL STATEMENT GENERATION
Balance Sheet
The Balance Sheet provides keen insight to your business's financial position and a unique summary of what your company owns and owes at a point in time. Routine review of your business's financial position can:
Keep your business remain in a healthy financial position for investment or investor relationship opportunities;
Help determine if you need to increase more income-generating assets;
Determine if your business is in a position to expand;
Determine if your business can easily handle the normal financial ebbs and flows of revenues and expenses;
Determine if you need to take immediate steps to bolster cash reserves;
Determine if your business has been slowing down payables to forestall an inevitable cash shortage.
Balance sheets, along with income statements, are the most basic elements in providing financial reporting to potential lenders such as banks, investors, and vendors who are considering how much credit to grant you.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT GENERATION
Income Statement
An income statement, otherwise known as a profit and loss statement, basically adds an itemized list of all your revenues and subtracts an itemized list of all your expenses to come up with a profit or loss for the period.
An income statement allows you to...
Track revenues and expenses so that you can determine the operating performance of your business.
Determine what areas of your business are over-budget or under-budget.
Identify specific items that are causing unexpected expenditures. Like phone, fax, mail, or supply expenses.
Track dramatic increases in product returns or cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales.
Determine your income tax liability.
NEW BUSINESS FORMATION
Thinking of owning your own business?
Opening your own business is exciting and thrilling. It's everything that comes after the excitement and thrill has worn off that dictates whether a small business will make it or not. It's up to you to maintain and stretch out the "thrill and excitement" period forever.
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A methodical plan of action is needed to fulfill your dream or goal of being your own boss and running a successful business. Success lies in the approach you choose to take. We help you avoid the common pitfalls that many new small business owners make when starting their new venture.
We help you...
Prepare an initial business plan to clarify your marketing, management, and financial plans.
Determine your start-up capital needs.
Identify sources of start-up capital and backup sources if needed.
Evaluate and quantify your borrowing power so you know how much money you can get your hands on if needed.
Select a business structure that best fits your needs by evaluating tax advantages, legal exposure, ease of operation and portability should you need to relocate.
Select the right accounting software by evaluating your budget, needs and hardware.
Prepare a Cash Flow Budget so you know exactly how much money you need to keep the business alive each month for the first few years. Unplanned cash requirements are always emotionally painful.
Establish billing and collection procedures to maximize your cash flow.
Establish procedures to monitor and control costs.
Setup a home office so you can maximize your tax deductions.
Prepare and file all required state and local licenses and permits.
Prepare and file your application for your Federal Employer Identification Number.
Provide payroll and payroll tax filing when you bring on your first employee.
Comply with employment laws so you don't get hit with fines and unhappy employees.
Identify your business insurance needs.
Develop a solid Partnership Agreement. This is an extremely important document for all new partnerships and will help prevent a tremendous amount of financial and emotional problems down the road.
Let us help you succeed by getting your new business off to a good strong start. Please complete the form below to learn more about our New Business Formation Services.
ESTABLISH INTERNAL CONTROLS
Here are 17 financial controls every small business should have in place.
1. Keep business and personal finances separate. Never co-mingle business and personal finances. If you do make a loan to your business or take a loan from your business, document it appropriately with a promissory note specifying repayment terms.
2. Conduct background checks before hiring. This is especially important for employees whose job duties involve finances, such as bookkeeping, accounting, payroll or handling cash.
3. Create monthly cash flow projections. If your actual cash flow falls short of projections, investigate to find out why.
4. Review your business’s monthly bank statements in detail. Have bank statements sent directly to your personal email or home address.
5. Review all credit and debit card statements for accuracy. Using payment cards for business expenses can simplify accounting and tax preparation. However, the more employees have company credit cards, the greater the chance of fraud. Require employees to document all business expenses with detailed receipts.
6. Set up inventory control systems. Inventory is often damaged, stolen or lost. Inspect and count incoming inventory to make sure orders were filled accurately. Designate who can sign for incoming inventory or release outgoing inventory. Conduct regular inventory of products or materials.
7. Monitor point-of-sale transactions. Count cash in the cash drawer at the beginning and end of each business day. Use point-of-sale software that requires employees to log in—tracking who is on the register at any given time reduces the risk of theft.
8. Don't put one person in charge of petty cash. Require a second employee to authorize all petty cash transactions. Record all transactions, and balance the petty cash once a week.
9. Review all outgoing payments. Compare payments to invoices. Watch for duplicate invoices, new vendors or multiple invoices from the same vendor in a short time. Embezzling employees often use these tactics to pay themselves.
10. Require vendors to submit detailed invoices. Avoid vague language on invoices.
11. Sign checks yourself. Require all outgoing checks and payments to be signed or authorized by the business owner.
12. Review payroll before it goes out. Watch for any variations in the amount. Use direct deposit to reduce your risk of payroll fraud.
13. Delegate financial duties to multiple employees. If one person is in charge of all your business financials, such as bookkeeping, payments and payroll, it's easy for them to steal from your business.
14. Check up on employees involved with your business finances. Require these employees to take annual vacations and have someone else handle their duties. Embezzlement is often discovered this way.
15. Monitor your use of debt. Your accountant can help you set a maximum debt-to-equity ratio and a minimum debt-to-cash flow ratio. Stay within these bounds to keep your business from becoming overleveraged.
16. Plan ahead for business financing. If you have a sudden cash flow crunch, or find an opportunity that requires a cash outlay, will you be prepared to handle it? Always have a couple of potential capital sources at the ready.
17. Don't be predictable. Put the element of surprise on your side when watching for employee misconduct. Perform your financial reviews and audits at random times.