Bookkeeping and Accounting Blog

Protecting small businesses from fraud
Many small businesses like to think that their size insulates them from fraud. In reality, though, the opposite is true – small businesses are big targets for would-be fraudsters. According to the ACFE Report to the Nations, small businesses are two times more likely to experience billing and payment fraud and four times more likely to experience […]
Four Reasons To Work With A Remote Bookkeeper
While remote work has been suddenly thrust into the spotlight, many of us have been doing it for years. The technologies that allow employees to work remotely have also enabled the rise of remote service providers in a wide variety of industries. Just twenty years ago, you probably choose your bookkeeper from a listing of […]
Quickbooks Online Pros and Cons
Unless you have a dedicated accounting staff who sit together in a consistent office space and handle the finances of your business with little or no input from you, the advantages of Quickbooks Online program can be numerous.  The ability to outsource your accounting function while maintaining onsite access is every business owner’s dream.  However, […]
Reduce your business tax liability with year-end tax planning
Although tax year 2019 is our second year filing under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), provisions of the law are still confusing to taxpayers, particularly as they impact small businesses. The fourth quarter is the right time for tax planning to reduce or defer your tax liability. Here are some highlighted changes that […]
Five Steps To A Better Business Budget
As the end of the year approaches, many business owners are turning their thoughts to strategy and goals for next year. Along with those discussions comes a deep dive into the budget. In some companies, budgeting means copying and pasting from the prior year’s budget, adding a 4% increase across the board, and then adjusting the […]
Are Robots Coming For Accountants?
We spent last week at Xerocon, an annual event that brings together cloud accounting leaders for education, inspiration, networking, and good times (accountant-style). One recurrent theme was automation—perhaps an obvious topic for a cloud accounting conference since we’re all about automated business bookkeeping tasks, but also a prevalent topic in every business field right now. Countless […]
Don’t Endure Another Painful Tax Season
Getting 2018 tax returns done was messy for so many taxpayers due to changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Many people were surprised by smaller-than-usual refunds or even ended up owing money unexpectedly. If you struggled through tax season, now is the time to make sure that doesn’t happen again! After all, these changes aren’t […]
Five Signs You’re Outgrowing Your Accounting Processes
Like most other aspects of your business, your accounting needs change over time. If you started small, you likely used a basic spreadsheet to keep track of income and expenses before investing in a desktop or cloud-based software tool as things got more complex. For most businesses, doing it all in house (whether by the […]
Why You Should Lock Down Your Books Every Month
If closing your books at year-end is key in preparing tax returns, then locking them down at month-end takes them to a whole new level. We all know the importance of having your Balance Sheet tied to the tax return after it’s filed, but do you wait until the end of the year to enter […]
Assets Vs. Expenses: What’s The Difference?
In general business speak, there’s a good chance you use the words asset and expense interchangeably. In accounting terms, however, assets and expenses are distinctly different. They’re coded separately in your books and represented differently on your tax return. Understanding the difference of assets vs. expenses will have important implications for your business taxes. What’s […]
What To Do With Uncleared Bank Checks At Year End
If your business is involved in transferring money in some way (so, virtually every business out there), chances are you’ve written a check that the payee never cashed. Did you know that you’re responsible for reporting and submitting those outstanding checks to your state? That’s right—even though your recipient never cashed the check, those funds […]
Do You Really Need A Business Plan? + 4 Top Accounting Apps
Putting together a business plan isn’t something you do overnight, so it can feel unnecessary when you’re trying to get your business off the ground. As you get into the weeds with your business, however, your business plan becomes a compass for growth and sustainability. Here’s a story from one of our clients about how […]
6 surprising things about starting a new business
When you’re starting a new business, you’re focused on a great idea. Then, all of a sudden, along comes reality—there’s a lot more to running a business than bringing a great product or service into the market. Here are the most common surprises our new business customers encounter in their first year in business. 1. […]
Top 7 mistakes that get new businesses into trouble
Ideally, every business begins by putting some basic processes and structures into place that ensure legal compliance and set you up for long-term success. In practice, so many new organizations start from a less stable place. It’s not uncommon for a business to start growing from someone’s garage, or maybe the founder just doesn’t have […]
When It’s Safe to Shred Your Tax Records
To Shred or Not to Shred… With tax season coming to an end, it’s a good time to organize your documents and properly dispose of any records you no longer need. In most cases, the IRS only has three years after the due date of your return (or the date you filed) to perform an […]
Florida Corporate Annual Reports Are Due!
April 15th has come and gone, but there are still some very important deadlines to be aware of.  The next one is the deadline for your Florida Corporate Annual Report.  While the deadline may vary depending on your state, Florida’s must be done by May 1st.  The penalty for not timely filing your Corporate Annual […]