Category: bookkeeping
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How to prepare financial statements for a nonprofit board
If you are a bookkeeper for a nonprofit organization, the focus your job is to present information in a useful form to the organization’s management. What information should be prepared and how should it be presented? The simple correct answer is ‘however the board says’. But it often is not so simple. The problem is…
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Due dilligence and compliance checklist of nonprofit organizations
When associating with a nonprofit organization an accountant, attorney, prospective board member, partner of major business associate should perform a due diligence check of the organization. Additionally, management should undertake a periodic review occasionally just to check to ensure that the organization’s records are up to date. This checklist is prepared to help make that…
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How to invite me as an accountant to be able to look at your QuickBooks Online records
As the owner of a QuickBooks company subscription, you have complete control to invite users, define their roles and information viewable, and track the activities of each user. Often one of the first tasks is to invite an accountant to help complete setup, add advanced functions and enable an informed discussion on the business finances.…
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What to do about bookkeeping?
We seem to be in the midst of a business bookkeeping crisis but until now, I haven’t taken the time to consider why that might be. A CPE course for CPAs that I took this week points out that the most common progression of career advancement in my field is: 1) Bookkeeping, 2) Accounting, 3)…
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Small business accounting updates
Advancing technology continues to change our small business accounting systems at an ever increasing rate of change. Here are two major recent items: PAYMENT SYSTEMS: Last year I set a goal of moving all payment systems to EFT ((Electronic Funds Transfer) and away from paper checks by postal mail. There are many advantages: improved speed,…
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Simple bookkeeping systems for sole proprietors
In general, I try to have a coaching conversation with new clients and prospective clients about the reasonable time and cost allocation for bookkeeping in relation to other business factors. We hope to see this allocation consistent with others who are successful within a business niche and, if a significant difference exists, look more closely…
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Evolution of accounting support services
This message being delivered to post-tax season clients starting today: “My business, like yours and almost all other small businesses and nonprofit organizations, is moving through a period of rapid change in what is being called the “new normal”. In short, we need to ‘step up our game’, gain efficiencies through better use of technology,…
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A Fresh Look at Electronic Fund Transfer Payments
In a perfect world, we should be able to “click and pay” anyone, anytime, securely, and at a reasonable fee. That would be true for businesses as well as individuals. The advancement of technology has enabled that process. However, the evolution of EFT processing in combination with other financial services has muddies the waters to…
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How does your ‘To Do List’ work?
How does your “To Do List” work? I’d really like to know. Here’s my situation: Since I’m an MS Office platform guy (as most government and law offices are), I keep mine on the much improved “Microsoft To Do” app that is prominently positioned on my phone, iPad and PC. It integrates with other functions…
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Withdrawal of universal support for QuickBooks Online
We all know that business and technology are in a constant state of change. Certainly the small business accounting industry has seen plenty of change in recent years. After years of supporting the transition of private businesses and nonprofits’ accounting platform to QuickBooks Online as the core technology platform, I am withdrawing that universal endorsement.…