People First

Be aware of tax requirements for your business and stay up to date on changes in tax laws. This will help you avoid penalties and ensure that you’re properly reporting income and expenses.

You want to keep your receipts organized. The best way is to keep receipts organized by date and category and consider using a digital system to store them and manage them. This will make it easier to track expenses and prepare for tax season. Accounting software allows you to upload receipts under each transaction, saving...

Track expenses consistently. Make it a habit to track expenses as they occur rather than waiting until the end of the month or year. This will help you stay on top of your finances and avoid missing any deductions. Don’t count on your memory a year later to record an expense.

Keep personal and business finances separate to avoid confusion and ensure accurate reporting. This means having separate bank accounts and credit cards for business expenses. Too many times the small business owner co-mingles their accounts, which leads to poor accuracy of financial reporting. This can even cause issues when it comes to taxes.

A chart of accounts is used to categorize income and expenses and makes it easier to track financial activity. This will also help with tax preparation and reporting. You wanna make sure you think through the development so that you have a clear and concise listing. I’ve seen too many cases where not enough thought...

You want to regularly reconcile bank and credit card accounts to ensure that all transactions have been recorded accurately and to catch any errors or discrepancies. With so much fraud going on these days, reconciliations are a way to catch them before it’s too late to recover. Having accurate books that are reconciled enables you...

While many businesses do just that, I recommend the use of accounting software in the long run. It saves you time and provides a check and balance system. No need to understand debits and credits. The software does it for you. What’s the best software? Well, it depends upon your needs, but most small businesses...

It amazes me when I meet a potential client and see that their records are a mess. That’s why I’ve coined the phrase I love shoe boxes. Keeping accurate records is essential if you want to know the health of your business. In addition, there are compliance and legal reasons. You want to have those...

The first thing to do is be informed. I always recommend having an HR professional on your team. Let them do what they do best so that you can do what you do best, and that’s run your business. You need to stay informed, ensure you have updated policies and procedures, ensure employees are properly...

First, conduct a needs assessment. You don’t wanna offer a benefit that no one is interested in. Next, know what’s going on in the industry. Work with a knowledgeable agent who can be creative with your benefit package. Communicate and be transparent. Let the employees know what you did and how you arrived at the...