October 17th, 2010
When it comes to some things, ya just never know.
Take Sales Tax, for example:
In most states, the general rule is that products are taxable, but service is not. We often see this in car repairs where the parts are taxed, but not the labor. In a similar vein, photographers, for instance, usually charge tax on the photographs they sell, but not on the labor of shooting the images, cropping, or otherwise modifying them. Makes sense, right?
WRONG!
The finished photo is considered a manufactured product, and thus the entire product, including all processes that are part of its production, are taxable. I have seen more than one photographer get in hot water with the State over this.
Sound complicated? You have NO IDEA!
That’s one example of why entrepreneurs and small business owners should hire a bookkeeper. Let your Business’ Bookkeeper deal with the tsoures instead of letting it make you meshuge!
P.S. If the Yiddish is unfamiliar to you, go to: http://yiddishdictionaryonline.com/
Posted in BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS, Business Tips Of The Day | 2 Comments »
October 12th, 2010
I once negotiated with the Branch Manager of the manufacturer for the purchase of a state-of-the-art printing press. At the end of this bloody battle, he said “You know you got a good deal when both sides feel like they got screwed.”
I never did business with him again.
There are choices in how to do business – and make money, but I have always found it more satisfying to avoid the Zero-Sum deal, i.e. a situation where what’s good for me is bad for you, and vice versa. There are many ways where both sides win – and long-term success is a much more likely result when both parties benefit from one another’s advantage.
Don’t know how? Get in touch and we can ponder your particular circumstance. Odds are that we can convert that Zero-Sum into a Hero-Sum, where everybody gains!
Posted in BFOs, BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS, Business DOs & DONTs, Business Definitions, Business Tips Of The Day | 5 Comments »
September 23rd, 2010
A few business facts for your consideration.
1) More than a third of small businesses don’t reconcile their checking accounts
2) More than half of small businesses do not handle Workers’ Comp properly
3) Two-thirds of small businesses handle sales tax incorrectly.
In many cases, the consequences are small. But just ONE error can be very costly.
If any of this describes you, call your bookkeeper at once – preferably Bookkeepers-PLUS! That can save you time, money, and worry by making certain that you are playing by the rules.
It may even keep you out of jail!
Posted in BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS, Business Tips Of The Day | 2 Comments »
September 13th, 2010
Not-For-Profit organizations – those with 501c3 tax status.
– What is different about them?
Well, for example:
■ Instead of Customers or Clients, they have Members, or Donors, or Grant Providers.
■ A business may choose to watch different types of sales for its own purposes, but since Donations and Grants often have restricted use, they MUST be tracked.
■ The FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) requires nonprofits to report revenues and expenses for each activity – something not required of commercial businesses.
■ Fundraising is a major component of a nonprofit organization’s financial structure.
Why should you care about such minutia? YOU SHOULDN’T!
But every nonprofit SHOULD.
They should talk to Bookkeepers-Plus to lower their costs – and Raise Their Funds!
Posted in BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS, Business Tips Of The Day, Not-For-Profit | 10 Comments »
September 6th, 2010
Doctors have Hippocrates and philosophers have Plato. But who is the father of modern bookkeeping? It turns out that it was an Italian; A Renaissance man; A colleague of Leonardo da Vinci; A man by the name of Fra Luca Pacioli.
Now, records of debits and credits date back to the 1300′s. Why? Because business boomed in Europe after the Dark Ages, and merchants needed a system to handle the transactions. Several systems were developed, yet only one survived. That we owe to Pacioli.
Although he did not invent double-entry bookkeeping, in 1494 he published the first complete textbook, ["Summma de Arithmetica, Geometria: Proportioni et Proportionalita"] describing the system in such detail that it became the standard for keeping accounts. And so it remains to this day worldwide!
So who do you know who doesn’t give a damn about history, but DOES want their books to be both correct AND useful?
Call me, Andy Cohen, at Bookkeepers-PLUS. We don’t just keep your records, We Read The Story That Your Books Tell.
Posted in BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS | 19 Comments »
August 23rd, 2010
The Platinum Rule – the Rule You Need for Business
We all grew up with The Golden Rule, something on the order of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” While this sounds nice, you may notice a flaw in the thinking. I, for instance, like “toys” – you know, mp3 players, computers, techie stuff in general. Get me a new toy and I’m a happy camper. My friend Anne, on the other hand, uses technology no more than she must, but loves gardening. In this context, doing unto her as I would have her do unto me is doing her no favor at all.
Thus, The Platinum Rule: Do unto others as they would have you do unto them!
Simple, really. Give people what THEY want, not what YOU want.
Posted in BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS, Business Tips Of The Day | 1 Comment »
August 14th, 2010
You have often read on this blog about 3 MUSTS of Business:
SALES – CASH FLOW – PROFIT
So now I’ll contradict myself, since Not-For-Profit organizations, those with 501c3 tax status, aren’t ALLOWED to have profits.
Yet they still need Sales, though that term may not be used. They still need Cash Flow in order to function. And, in most cases, they need something that a commercial business does not, i.e. FUNDRAISING!
Many are quite adept at this. Many others…Not so much. If your nonprofit fits the latter description, perhaps it should look at QuickBooks NonProfit Edition for its bookkeeping, and GiftWorks for its Fundraising and Contact Management. These are the two most popular tools in the marketplace and, many would say, the two best.
If you are interested in more information about how to incorporate these tools into your Not-For-Profit organization, feel free to contact me.
Posted in BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS, Not-For-Profit | 1 Comment »
August 7th, 2010
In the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” the two main characters first meet at a hot dog cart in Manhatten. In this scene, Luke gives Rebecca $20 just to get rid of her. She comments “You just spent $20 on a hot dog,” to which he replies “Sometimes Cost and Worth are very different things.”
How much is something worth? Most often, it depends.
If you were about to collect a million dollars, you’d gladly pay $1000 to get the last cab that could get you here in time.
If the reports for your best client were due Monday morning, you’d not hesitate to pay extra to get your computer fixed on Sunday!
Yet, Value is not always about money, either. If it were, nobody would pay more to get a more comfortable car. Everyone would hire the cheapest CPA or attorney and “Damn the quality of their work!” There are people who travel ten miles out of their way to save ten cents on a gallon of gas. Good price? Sure. Good value? Not so much.
The next time you need to make a judgment about how you spend money on your business – for equipment, supplies, vendors, professional services…just about anything – consider the Value.
“When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight…”
Posted in BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS, Business DOs & DONTs | No Comments »
August 1st, 2010
I grew up with a guy who made National Honor Society, was acceptd to all the best undergrad colleges and the top grad schools. He was an academic genious. But Saichel (Yiddish for Common Sense)? Not so much.
He decided to start a small business. I had been pretty successful moving in that direction, so he talked with me and chose to follow a similar path. So far, so good. UNTIL…he selected a house cleaning business. No matter how hard I tried, I could not convince him that he’d better like doing whatever his business did, cuz some days, fer sure, he’d be doing the work himself. Sadly, my reality came to pass, and my friend (who had never in his life even cleaned up his own room!) found himself closing his business and digging his way out of $100,000 of debt!
My point? CHOOSE A PATH YOU WANT TO FOLLOW! Your odds of financial success increase by orders of magnitude when you’re income depends on doing something you enjoy. and – perhaps even more important to your life success – you’ll be a happier person.
Posted in BUSINESS ADVICE FROM BOOKKEEPERS-PLUS, Business Tips Of The Day | 2 Comments »
July 25th, 2010
A comment was made at a meeting the other day about how important it is for an organization to maintain contact with its customers/clients/patrons. This is NOT News. It is about as basic a business principle as there is.
A day later, I was in contact with an organization that was about to debate raising some of its prices. Naturally, I laid my “Stay In Touch & Ask Questions!” BFO on them, to make two points:
1) If you want to know how your clientele feels about something, there is no better way to find out than to ASK THEM!
2) This is a great chance (a.k.a. excuse) to STAY IN TOUCH!
Most business relationships are lost, not on the basis of a dispute, but simply because “nobody called.” Like many other valuable business tricks-of-the-trade, this is not widely practiced.
Just like life…If you want to know what someone is thinking, Ask Them! More often than not, they’ll appreciate your interest and be glad that you Stayed In Touch. BFO!
Posted in AFD and Other Fun Phrases, BFOs | No Comments »
