Thursday, July 14, 2016
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Monday, July 11, 2016
Streamline Your Invoicing Process
From the founder of the popular online payments company, Due, comes these 6 tips to streamline invoicing for your business. A big portion of invoicing has to do with consistency in billing, clarity on your invoices, and making your system paperless can help a lot as well!
6 Ways to Simplify Your Invoicing Process
By: John Rampton
How many times have you forgotten to send an invoice? How about having an invoice getting lost? Are you getting overwhelmed with this additional accounting task?
If you said ‘yes’ to any of those questions then it’s time for you to simplify your invoicing process. Not only will it guarantee that you’ll get paid on-time, it will also alleviate all of that additional stress that small businesses always dream accomplishing.
Sound too good to be true?
It’s not by using the following six techniques.
1. Create an Agreement
As a business owner you should already know how important agreements are. Without them, you could be greatly increasing your chances of getting stiffed. For example, if you were a contractor, you wouldn't agree to reinventing an entire office building without a contract in place prior to work. But, let’s say that you did and the job is finished. The problem? The person who hired has skipped town and is nowhere to be found. Without an agreement, there’s else you can do.
No matter what industry you’re in, you and the clients should be both agree on terms like;
Having an agreement not only protects you and the client, it also speeds up the payment process. In fact, those with invoice terms are 1.5x more likely to get paid on time than those without.
When the clients has this information, they’re less likely to ask any further questions when they receive the invoice. It may take a little work in the beginning, but it saves you a lot of time and financial headaches when you and the clients are going back and forth.
2. Easy-to-Understand Invoices
Another delay when it comes to invoicing is when the client has questions regarding what they’re being charged because the invoice is too vague or confusing.
That’s why you should keep your invoices simple, yet detailed.
Use a clean design and layout that is easy-to-read and contains information like;
Again, this takes a little extra work on your end, but it makes sure that the client doesn’t have any questions to ask when they review the bill.
3. Be Consistent When Sending Out Invoices
In a perfect world you would send out an invoice immediately following the completion of a project. However, that’s not always the case.
For example, you client may only do their bookkeeping one the first of each month, so it’s pointless to invoice them weekly. In other situations, you may not have the time to invoice daily - plus that makes it a mess when tracking which invoices have been paid and the ones that haven’t.
Instead, set aside a specific day and time to invoice your clients. It could be every Friday morning, every other week, or the first of each month. Whatever works best for you and your clients. This makes managing your invoices a whole lot easier and keeps the cash flowing back into your business.
Just remember though, the longer you want to invoice, the longer it takes for you to get paid. So try to invoice as frequently as possible.
4. Replace Paper-Based Systems
If you’re still using a paper-based system you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. These relics of the invoicing-world are frustrating, time-consuming, and can be easily misplaced. That’s why you need to make the move to a cloud-based invoicing system.
With online invoicing tools, you can send professional looking emails to your clients electronically. That means that they’ll pay you faster since you no longer have to use snail mail to send invoices and receive a check.
Speaking of payments, cloud-based tools allow you to accept multiple ways of getting paid, such as via credit card, direct deposit to your bank account, or third party payment gateway like PayPal.
Here’s some other awesome features that come with online invoicing software;
These tools can also be used to track your income and expenses so that you can create an accurate budget and files your taxes painlessly.
In short, cloud-based invoicing software handles all of your invoicing needs in one convenient dashboard.
5. Outsource
I understand that money can get tight when running a small business. But, we live in an interconnected world where you no longer have to rely on the local town accountant to handle all of your accounting needs.
There are now freelance accountants who can manage your books - like creating, sending, and following-up on all of your invoices. While there are great sites to find these type of freelancers, try going the word-of-mouth route first. Maybe a friend, family member, or fellow business owner can refer you to someone who can take over your books. Remember, they’re having access to important financial information, so you want to make sure that you can trust them 100%.
6. Limit the Amount of People Managing the Account
I know. I just recommend that you consider outsourcing your invoicing. The thing is, that’s still limited to just two people - you and the person you hired. By limiting the amount of people who have access to your invoices prevents any accounting issues like sending duplicates of the invoice, leaving out certain items on the invoice, or human error like not properly calculating the final amount due or taxes.
With less hands involved, the less likely you’ll run into any severe invoicing mistakes. Still need help? Here is a complete invoicing guide I put together with every step you need detailed out in a 6000 word guide!
To view the original article, click here.
6 Ways to Simplify Your Invoicing Process
By: John Rampton
How many times have you forgotten to send an invoice? How about having an invoice getting lost? Are you getting overwhelmed with this additional accounting task?
If you said ‘yes’ to any of those questions then it’s time for you to simplify your invoicing process. Not only will it guarantee that you’ll get paid on-time, it will also alleviate all of that additional stress that small businesses always dream accomplishing.
Sound too good to be true?
It’s not by using the following six techniques.
1. Create an Agreement
As a business owner you should already know how important agreements are. Without them, you could be greatly increasing your chances of getting stiffed. For example, if you were a contractor, you wouldn't agree to reinventing an entire office building without a contract in place prior to work. But, let’s say that you did and the job is finished. The problem? The person who hired has skipped town and is nowhere to be found. Without an agreement, there’s else you can do.
No matter what industry you’re in, you and the clients should be both agree on terms like;
- Your hourly/project fees or how much the job is going to cost.
- The scope of the project.
- How long the job will take.
- What types of payments you accept.
- The deposit amount.
- How long the client has to pay after the invoice has been sent.
- The penalties or interest that incur if the invoice hasn’t been paid.
Having an agreement not only protects you and the client, it also speeds up the payment process. In fact, those with invoice terms are 1.5x more likely to get paid on time than those without.
When the clients has this information, they’re less likely to ask any further questions when they receive the invoice. It may take a little work in the beginning, but it saves you a lot of time and financial headaches when you and the clients are going back and forth.
2. Easy-to-Understand Invoices
Another delay when it comes to invoicing is when the client has questions regarding what they’re being charged because the invoice is too vague or confusing.
That’s why you should keep your invoices simple, yet detailed.
Use a clean design and layout that is easy-to-read and contains information like;
- Your contact information.
- Invoice number - this a touch of professionalism, it will also make it easier for both you and the client track during tax time.
- Itemized description of your work - instead of “Wrote 10 Articles,” list each article title, when it was written, and how much each piece cost.
- Final cost.
- The due date.
Again, this takes a little extra work on your end, but it makes sure that the client doesn’t have any questions to ask when they review the bill.
3. Be Consistent When Sending Out Invoices
In a perfect world you would send out an invoice immediately following the completion of a project. However, that’s not always the case.
For example, you client may only do their bookkeeping one the first of each month, so it’s pointless to invoice them weekly. In other situations, you may not have the time to invoice daily - plus that makes it a mess when tracking which invoices have been paid and the ones that haven’t.
Instead, set aside a specific day and time to invoice your clients. It could be every Friday morning, every other week, or the first of each month. Whatever works best for you and your clients. This makes managing your invoices a whole lot easier and keeps the cash flowing back into your business.
Just remember though, the longer you want to invoice, the longer it takes for you to get paid. So try to invoice as frequently as possible.
4. Replace Paper-Based Systems
If you’re still using a paper-based system you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. These relics of the invoicing-world are frustrating, time-consuming, and can be easily misplaced. That’s why you need to make the move to a cloud-based invoicing system.
With online invoicing tools, you can send professional looking emails to your clients electronically. That means that they’ll pay you faster since you no longer have to use snail mail to send invoices and receive a check.
Speaking of payments, cloud-based tools allow you to accept multiple ways of getting paid, such as via credit card, direct deposit to your bank account, or third party payment gateway like PayPal.
Here’s some other awesome features that come with online invoicing software;
- You can create estimates and quotes and then convert them into an actual invoice.
- Set-up recurring or automated payments for recurring clients.
- Knowing when the invoice has been paid - or even viewed in some cases.
- Send automated reminders when an invoice is past.
- Customize invoices by adding your logo, brand’s colors, payment terms, and personalized messages.
These tools can also be used to track your income and expenses so that you can create an accurate budget and files your taxes painlessly.
In short, cloud-based invoicing software handles all of your invoicing needs in one convenient dashboard.
5. Outsource
I understand that money can get tight when running a small business. But, we live in an interconnected world where you no longer have to rely on the local town accountant to handle all of your accounting needs.
There are now freelance accountants who can manage your books - like creating, sending, and following-up on all of your invoices. While there are great sites to find these type of freelancers, try going the word-of-mouth route first. Maybe a friend, family member, or fellow business owner can refer you to someone who can take over your books. Remember, they’re having access to important financial information, so you want to make sure that you can trust them 100%.
6. Limit the Amount of People Managing the Account
I know. I just recommend that you consider outsourcing your invoicing. The thing is, that’s still limited to just two people - you and the person you hired. By limiting the amount of people who have access to your invoices prevents any accounting issues like sending duplicates of the invoice, leaving out certain items on the invoice, or human error like not properly calculating the final amount due or taxes.
With less hands involved, the less likely you’ll run into any severe invoicing mistakes. Still need help? Here is a complete invoicing guide I put together with every step you need detailed out in a 6000 word guide!
To view the original article, click here.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
3 Simple Reasons to Move to Online Invoicing
Lots of small business owners like a paper trail. It is physical "security" of your payments received, your expenditures among other things. But, in reality, what you end up with is a desk full of papers with no apparent order by the end of the month and a lot of manual data input that you don't have time for. Making the move to online invoicing can save you lots of time and actually enhance organization. Many platforms offer printable or emailable receipts and not only cut your time in half but get you paid faster!
3 Ways Online Invoicing Will Help Your Business
By: John Rampton
Everyone likes getting paid, that is one thing we can all agree on in the business world. Keeping track of payments and invoices can be a nightmare but staying on top of these things are key to your keeping your business alive.
Getting set up with an online invoicing platform that's sole purpose is to make these things easier is a great way for your business to stay on top of its finances.
Here are 3 reasons why Online Invoicing will help your business:
1. Save Time
Sending out manual invoices is a not only a pain but it really is a thing of the past. Don’t waste your valuable time trying to get paid. Invoicing templates are a great way to speed up the task of creating invoices. Many businesses have clients that they invoice regularly and the ability to automatically send those on a recurring basis is a huge luxury. Getting paid should be easy and fast not a headache.
2. Know who pays and more importantly who doesn’t
The whole reason you invoice in the first place is to get paid, so there is no reason you should be unaware of unpaid or overdue invoices. With platforms like due you can always stay on top of the status of your invoices. Being able to send reminders which give your client a notification can help for situations where you have to ask a deadbeat client for money. Nobody likes hearing “the checks in the mail” type of excuses and you want to ensure you are getting paid on time.
3. Get Paid More Often
Your brand is very important even when it comes to the invoicing space. You are 3x more likely to get paid if you add a company logo to your invoice. With the ability to add your logo easily, set due dates, and add specific notes you are increasing your chances of getting paid. You don’t need to be a be a design major to make a nice looking complete invoice. The more professional your invoices look the better chance you have of getting paid, and that's a fact.
Invoicing isn’t about having large stacks of unorganized papers on your desk, it's about getting payments into your client's hands. There is no excuse to be spending excess time to be less organized and less efficient. These are just three of the many reasons online invoicing will help your business.
To view the original article, click here.
3 Ways Online Invoicing Will Help Your Business
By: John Rampton
Everyone likes getting paid, that is one thing we can all agree on in the business world. Keeping track of payments and invoices can be a nightmare but staying on top of these things are key to your keeping your business alive.
Getting set up with an online invoicing platform that's sole purpose is to make these things easier is a great way for your business to stay on top of its finances.
Here are 3 reasons why Online Invoicing will help your business:
1. Save Time
Sending out manual invoices is a not only a pain but it really is a thing of the past. Don’t waste your valuable time trying to get paid. Invoicing templates are a great way to speed up the task of creating invoices. Many businesses have clients that they invoice regularly and the ability to automatically send those on a recurring basis is a huge luxury. Getting paid should be easy and fast not a headache.
2. Know who pays and more importantly who doesn’t
The whole reason you invoice in the first place is to get paid, so there is no reason you should be unaware of unpaid or overdue invoices. With platforms like due you can always stay on top of the status of your invoices. Being able to send reminders which give your client a notification can help for situations where you have to ask a deadbeat client for money. Nobody likes hearing “the checks in the mail” type of excuses and you want to ensure you are getting paid on time.
3. Get Paid More Often
Your brand is very important even when it comes to the invoicing space. You are 3x more likely to get paid if you add a company logo to your invoice. With the ability to add your logo easily, set due dates, and add specific notes you are increasing your chances of getting paid. You don’t need to be a be a design major to make a nice looking complete invoice. The more professional your invoices look the better chance you have of getting paid, and that's a fact.
Invoicing isn’t about having large stacks of unorganized papers on your desk, it's about getting payments into your client's hands. There is no excuse to be spending excess time to be less organized and less efficient. These are just three of the many reasons online invoicing will help your business.
To view the original article, click here.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
We Are Moving!
Accounting Works Solutions is moving this week to a new address! In the Westhampton area of RVA, near Grove & Libbie Avenues, our offices will be located at
122 Granite Ave
Richmond, VA 23226
We will be closed this week due to the move besides payroll services and resume normal hours next week!
Mon - Thurs: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Fri: Appointment Only
Please email us with any questions regarding the move!
Friday, June 17, 2016
Good Finances From The Beginning
Having a strong system in place at the inception of your small business is vital to tracking your growth and being prepared for unexpected expenses. I've helped many small businesses put a system in place from the very beginning, which has helped them to continue growing their business and making their finance management easier than they thought it would be!
Starting A Business? Avoid the Usual Pitfalls with Good Financial Management
By Intuit
Looking to launch your own business? There’s good news for you: The small business segment is growing rapidly, and it’s a great time to start a business. According to the Small Business Administration, “While corporate America has been ‘downsizing’, the rate of small business ‘start-ups’ has grown, and the rate for small business failures has declined.”
As an entrepreneur, starting your own business is one of the most exciting times of your life. You wake up every day doing what you love. However, along with the pride and joy of having your own business also comes the often difficult (and daunting) task of managing aspects of your business that you are not an expert in. One such task is managing your finances and understanding your financial footprint. It’s a task that is often feared yet small business owners know that it’s a necessity to the survival of a business.
Small business owner, Nadine Quintero launched her own doula business, Fruits of My Labor Birth, in January of this year. She was excited to embark on her mission-driven business of helping women through the process of childbirth. However, even with 10 years of prior experience working with pregnant women, Quintero, like millions of other new business owners, is fighting against statistics: one-third of small businesses fail within the first two years because they run out of money.
At this point, you may be thinking, “How can I ensure long-term financial health for my business?”
It’s a no-brainer that financing your new business, sustaining the flow of money that comes in and goes out, and ensuring a steady stream of income is essential to the long-term survival of any business. Deeper knowledge about your finances and how to make smart business decisions as a result is also equally important. Similar to Quintero, the majority of business owners are experts on the service or product they build their business on; they’re not financial experts. According to a recent Intuit survey, only 40 percent of small business owners consider themselves financially literate, and two-thirds wish they knew more about their finances.
Good financial management is not just about knowing how much money you have in the bank. You need to understand your finances beyond balancing a checkbook and knowing what your finances indicate about the health and wellbeing of your business. Partnering with a financial expert, and integrating a financial management tool that best suits your business needs are two key decisions you should make early on. Not only should you look to integrate a financial management solution during the early stages of your company, you need to ensure that it can grow and adapt to the changing needs of your company. Once you deeply integrate a financial management platform, you don’t want to change. In fact, Intuit data found that 70% of new businesses buy accounting, payroll or HR services in the first 12 months. Only 7% of SMBs switch suppliers in a given year.
“A strong financial backbone can make or break any small business,” said Karen Peacock, senior vice president of small business at Intuit. “We’ve created QuickBooks to be that backbone, helping small business owners simplify and streamline their finances so they can focus on their customers and growing their business.”
According to a recent Intuit survey, 2 out of 3 small business customers say they’ve become more efficient since they started using QuickBooks. These businesses save an average of 6.4 hours per week on accounting activities since they started using QuickBooks.
In addition to QuickBooks, Intuit has created a number of resources to fuel small business success. Last year, the company launched the OWN IT Network, an online community of small business owners supporting each other in growing their businesses. For aspiring entrepreneurs, Intuit’s created a free tool to guide new business owners through the critical first steps on how to start a business. Finally, the Small Business Center is the ultimate guide for operating a small business, providing guidance, advice, insights and data to arm entrepreneurs with practical resources.
The most important lessons Quintero’s learned while starting her business: to learn from other people’s mistakes and to find the right experts to work with. While Fruits of My Labor hasn’t required extensive bookkeeping quite yet, Quintero is using QuickBooks to keep track of her early expenses and income and will hire an expert as her business grows. Currently, QuickBooks is providing Quintero the ability to track financial data from invoices and payments. And when she’s ready, the software will enable her to scale as her company grows, offering features that are more suitable for complex business operations and potentially even a channel for funding. Furthermore, she relies on experiences from other entrepreneurs to build a strong and successful business.
“As an early-stage business, I have a lot of decisions to make, from hiring employees to determining the best way to provide customer service to figuring out a payment model,” said Quintero. “While we’re trying to learn how to manage a business along the way, I’m comforted by the fact that QuickBooks helps solve for a fundamental part of my business.”
Intuit QuickBooks is built to fuel small business success by providing a robust ecosystem of cloud-based financial management solutions. Follow this series to learn about resources available to new and aspiring small business owners, including tips, tricks and anecdotes about financial management, aligning yourself with the right partners, and using the cloud and new tech innovations to achieve long-term success.
To view the originial article, visit Entreprenuer.com
Starting A Business? Avoid the Usual Pitfalls with Good Financial Management
By Intuit
Looking to launch your own business? There’s good news for you: The small business segment is growing rapidly, and it’s a great time to start a business. According to the Small Business Administration, “While corporate America has been ‘downsizing’, the rate of small business ‘start-ups’ has grown, and the rate for small business failures has declined.”
As an entrepreneur, starting your own business is one of the most exciting times of your life. You wake up every day doing what you love. However, along with the pride and joy of having your own business also comes the often difficult (and daunting) task of managing aspects of your business that you are not an expert in. One such task is managing your finances and understanding your financial footprint. It’s a task that is often feared yet small business owners know that it’s a necessity to the survival of a business.
Small business owner, Nadine Quintero launched her own doula business, Fruits of My Labor Birth, in January of this year. She was excited to embark on her mission-driven business of helping women through the process of childbirth. However, even with 10 years of prior experience working with pregnant women, Quintero, like millions of other new business owners, is fighting against statistics: one-third of small businesses fail within the first two years because they run out of money.
At this point, you may be thinking, “How can I ensure long-term financial health for my business?”
It’s a no-brainer that financing your new business, sustaining the flow of money that comes in and goes out, and ensuring a steady stream of income is essential to the long-term survival of any business. Deeper knowledge about your finances and how to make smart business decisions as a result is also equally important. Similar to Quintero, the majority of business owners are experts on the service or product they build their business on; they’re not financial experts. According to a recent Intuit survey, only 40 percent of small business owners consider themselves financially literate, and two-thirds wish they knew more about their finances.
Good financial management is not just about knowing how much money you have in the bank. You need to understand your finances beyond balancing a checkbook and knowing what your finances indicate about the health and wellbeing of your business. Partnering with a financial expert, and integrating a financial management tool that best suits your business needs are two key decisions you should make early on. Not only should you look to integrate a financial management solution during the early stages of your company, you need to ensure that it can grow and adapt to the changing needs of your company. Once you deeply integrate a financial management platform, you don’t want to change. In fact, Intuit data found that 70% of new businesses buy accounting, payroll or HR services in the first 12 months. Only 7% of SMBs switch suppliers in a given year.
“A strong financial backbone can make or break any small business,” said Karen Peacock, senior vice president of small business at Intuit. “We’ve created QuickBooks to be that backbone, helping small business owners simplify and streamline their finances so they can focus on their customers and growing their business.”
According to a recent Intuit survey, 2 out of 3 small business customers say they’ve become more efficient since they started using QuickBooks. These businesses save an average of 6.4 hours per week on accounting activities since they started using QuickBooks.
In addition to QuickBooks, Intuit has created a number of resources to fuel small business success. Last year, the company launched the OWN IT Network, an online community of small business owners supporting each other in growing their businesses. For aspiring entrepreneurs, Intuit’s created a free tool to guide new business owners through the critical first steps on how to start a business. Finally, the Small Business Center is the ultimate guide for operating a small business, providing guidance, advice, insights and data to arm entrepreneurs with practical resources.
The most important lessons Quintero’s learned while starting her business: to learn from other people’s mistakes and to find the right experts to work with. While Fruits of My Labor hasn’t required extensive bookkeeping quite yet, Quintero is using QuickBooks to keep track of her early expenses and income and will hire an expert as her business grows. Currently, QuickBooks is providing Quintero the ability to track financial data from invoices and payments. And when she’s ready, the software will enable her to scale as her company grows, offering features that are more suitable for complex business operations and potentially even a channel for funding. Furthermore, she relies on experiences from other entrepreneurs to build a strong and successful business.
“As an early-stage business, I have a lot of decisions to make, from hiring employees to determining the best way to provide customer service to figuring out a payment model,” said Quintero. “While we’re trying to learn how to manage a business along the way, I’m comforted by the fact that QuickBooks helps solve for a fundamental part of my business.”
Intuit QuickBooks is built to fuel small business success by providing a robust ecosystem of cloud-based financial management solutions. Follow this series to learn about resources available to new and aspiring small business owners, including tips, tricks and anecdotes about financial management, aligning yourself with the right partners, and using the cloud and new tech innovations to achieve long-term success.
To view the originial article, visit Entreprenuer.com
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Small Business Accounting Software: Use Free Software or Pay?
A big part of what Accounting Works Solutions does is help small businesses implement a user-friendly system (including software and accounting platforms) to meet with current and future accounting needs. Whether that means invoicing, inventory cost estimation, tracking expenses, or payroll - it's important to plan for growth. My experience is that when small businesses start from the ground up working with a professional accountant, they save time, hassle, and money. If you get started with the correct platform right away, it can not only grow along with your needs but it can save you from having to learn an entirely new system once you've achieved your growth goals.
How to Choose Between Free and Paid Small Business Accounting Software
By: Juan Martinez
As your company matures, it's important to determine whether or not you need a software upgrade to streamline business processes. This is particularly true in saturated industries. If dozens of reliable partners are available to meet your needs, how do you determine who to choose, how much to spend, and whether or not your choice tool is secure enough to handle your data? Perhaps no other industry creates this dilemma like the accounting software market.
With freemium, small business, and enterprise tools available, it can be difficult for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) to determine which solution is right for them. You might have the money to buy expensive software such as Cougar Mountain Denali Summit and Microsoft Dynamics GP, but do you really need all of that customization functionality and scale? Conversely, you might be able to get away with using free tools by companies such as Wave, but is the tool smart enough to handle more complex tasks?
To find out what SMBs should look for when choosing paid accounting software, I spoke with Scott Davisson, co-founder of Acclivity, provider of desktop-based small business accounting tool AccountEdge. I asked him about pricing, flexibility, security, and customer service.
1. Does Your Paid Software Do More Than the Core Four?
Davisson said most of the free accounting tools can handle account management, expense tracking, invoicing, and sales. These are the bare minimum tasks that any tool should be able to help you accomplish, regardless of how much you're willing to pay.
"That's the core," said Davisson. "If all you need is to do that, then you're probably fine on a freemium model. As those needs get more complex…that's where you might start to evaluate your needs about what's out in the market and how much it costs."
Additional needs might arise that your freemium tool can't handle. If you need software that can handle things such as billing for time, inventory tracking and payroll, you're probably going to need to invest in a paid tool. Also, although most free tools can handle sales data, if your business has multiple departments, you might want to consider going with a more complex tool because most freemium tools won't allow you to enter sales data by department (rather, you'll need to enter the data as one lump unit).
2. How Flexible is Your Accounting Tool?
One of the main reasons businesses select enterprise-level accounting software over lower-cost or freemium applications is that enterprise tools often provide limitless customizations that can bend and layer the software specific to each client's needs. Small business tools, such as the one provided by Acclivity, won't offer that level of complexity.
However, this doesn't mean you're stuck with what comes out of the box. Think about what third-party integrations your SMB software offers. Does it integrate with a customer relationship management (CRM) tool? Does it pull in data from your e-commerce software? If a small business accounting tool can provide you with multiple integrations and add-ons, then you might not need to spend big bucks on an enterprise-level platform.
"The software needs to be flexible enough to meet your needs," said Davisson. "But it's a tricky goal. Our software isn't for one specific type of industry. We need to have a solution that fits your needs, but we don't have that out-of-the-box customizability. We're sort of like a Swiss Army knife. Our add-ons give customers additional components that bolt onto the software to continue to make it relevant to their needs."
3. Is Your Software Secure?
One of the main points of differentiation that you'll find between enterprise-class, SMB, and freemium accounting software is the level of security that your vendor intends to provide. If you're not paying a cent for your software, do you realistically expect Fort Knox-level security?
This is one of the reasons Davisson said his clients prefer on-premises software to cloud-based tools. "A lot of people are pulled to the cloud against their will," he said. "But they don't trust their finances in the cloud. It's about security and control."
AccountEdge is a desktop-based tool that can be expanded into the cloud with a companion app. However, Acclivity doesn't offer a cloud-only version of the tool. "Part of why we're seeing a lot of activity and interest is because, once we license the desktop software, you can put it on your own network, behind a firewall, it's yours," Davisson said. "In terms of security, that gives you the ultimate control."
This doesn't mean that cloud-based tools are inherently less secure than desktop apps. For example, Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus stores data on firewall-protected servers where the data is encrypted. When your data leaves the web browser, it's transmitted over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology. Intuit also lets administrators limit who can access specific types of data inside the tool should they decide to make certain information available to executive-level employees only.
4. Customer Service
This one should be a no-brainer. The more competitive a market becomes, the more important customer service has to be. Can you reach your accounting software vendor if and when something isn't properly working? Can you reach them on the medium of your choice or do they force you to pick a specific communication platform? Are the service representatives speaking your language or did the vendor outsource its help desk team?
These are incredibly important questions you should ask each of your prospective vendors. It's highly likely that enterprise-level accounting software will offer 24/7 support, especially if you're willing to make five-figure annual payments or more. However, if you're trying to choose among a list of freemium and paid SMB tools, you'll want to closely investigate your service options.
To view the original article, click here.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
How to Maximize Your Refund!
From Fox Business, comes great advice on how to maximize your return! That is - if you haven't already spent it somewhere else...!
5 Simple Steps to Triple The Value of Your Tax Refund
By: Chuck Saletta
According to the IRS, the average refund taxpayers received during the 2016 filing season was $2,732. That's a substantial chunk of change, but what if I told you that you could take that money and potentially triple its value for you by the end of this year?
Indeed, you can turn that average refund into over $8,000 toward your retirement by the end of this year, with absolutely no impact to your lifestyle. All you need to do is follow these five simple steps.
Step 1: Contribute your refund check to your IRA
For 2016, if you or your spouse are working, you can potentially contribute up to $5,500 each to either a Roth IRA or a Traditional IRA. If you're age 50 or up, that potential contribution increases to $6,500.
A refund check of $2,732 fits easily within those limits, which makes it a straightforward way to turn your tax refund into money for your retirement.
Step 2: Increase your contributions to your traditional 401(k) or equivalent plan at work
Your tax refund isn't a gift from the Government. It's the return to you of an interest-free loan you handed Uncle Sam during the year by over-withholding your taxes. Take that money back and put it to productive use for yourself. You can contribute pre-tax money to your traditional 401(k) and get not only your money working for you but also money Uncle Sam would have otherwise taxed from you.
To fully make use of your refund check, increase your 401(k) contributions by enough to make up for both the refund itself and the tax you won't be paying on the contributed income. The basic math is Refund / (1-marginal tax bracket). If you're in the 25% tax bracket and got that typical refund, that would turn into $2,732 / (1-0.25) = $3,642.67.
Step 3: Adjust your withholding at work to get it closer to break even
In step 2, you invested the money that you had over paid Uncle Sam, but in doing so, you did decrease your take home paycheck. Key to making this plan neutral to your everyday lifestyle is to decrease the amount Uncle Sam withholds every paycheck. Using IRS Form W-4 or your employer's substitute, you can adjust your withholdings to make it so you won't be making another large interest free loan to Uncle Sam this year.
When you're making this adjustment, your objective should be to get close to break even when it comes time to filing your taxes next year. If you reduce your withholdings too much, you could have to pay underpayment penalties on top of any taxes you owe. The key is to be within one of the IRS' "Safe Harbor" limits. For 2016, the key Safe Harbor limits are:
Step 4: Thank your employer for its 401(k) match
Many employers offer a match to encourage employees to contribute money toward their own retirement. Matches vary by company, but a common practice is a $0.50 match for every $1.00 the employee contributes, up to some percentage of salary. On that $3,642.67 contribution you made in step 2, a 50% match would be an additional $1,821.33, contributed into your retirement account, on your behalf.
Step 5: Count your cash
Your $2,732 IRA contribution from your refund check plus your $3,642.67 contribution to your 401(k) plus your employer's match of $1,821.33 brings your total to $8,196. That's triple your original refund amount, now working on your behalf to help fund your retirement.
Perhaps best of all, you just figured out how to save that $8,196 with no impact to your everyday lifestyle. Every penny of that money came straight from your tax refund this year, from the money that would otherwise have been a tax refund next year, and/or from your employer's matching program.
How often can you come up with $8,000 that easily?
As fun as it might be to hold that $2,732 refund check, wouldn't it be even more fun to see it turn into more than $8,000 this year? On top of that, once you've taken these five steps, that $8,196 will be in your retirement accounts, where it can grow tax-deferred on your behalf for the rest of your career.
That's an amazing opportunity available to you simply by choosing to no longer offer Uncle Sam an interest free loan, instead putting that very same stack of your own money to work for you. So get started today, and turn that tax refund into the foundation for your financial future.
To see the original article, click here.
5 Simple Steps to Triple The Value of Your Tax Refund
By: Chuck Saletta
According to the IRS, the average refund taxpayers received during the 2016 filing season was $2,732. That's a substantial chunk of change, but what if I told you that you could take that money and potentially triple its value for you by the end of this year?
Indeed, you can turn that average refund into over $8,000 toward your retirement by the end of this year, with absolutely no impact to your lifestyle. All you need to do is follow these five simple steps.
Step 1: Contribute your refund check to your IRA
For 2016, if you or your spouse are working, you can potentially contribute up to $5,500 each to either a Roth IRA or a Traditional IRA. If you're age 50 or up, that potential contribution increases to $6,500.
- Your taxable compensation for the year, if your compensation was less than this dollar limit.
A refund check of $2,732 fits easily within those limits, which makes it a straightforward way to turn your tax refund into money for your retirement.
Step 2: Increase your contributions to your traditional 401(k) or equivalent plan at work
Your tax refund isn't a gift from the Government. It's the return to you of an interest-free loan you handed Uncle Sam during the year by over-withholding your taxes. Take that money back and put it to productive use for yourself. You can contribute pre-tax money to your traditional 401(k) and get not only your money working for you but also money Uncle Sam would have otherwise taxed from you.
To fully make use of your refund check, increase your 401(k) contributions by enough to make up for both the refund itself and the tax you won't be paying on the contributed income. The basic math is Refund / (1-marginal tax bracket). If you're in the 25% tax bracket and got that typical refund, that would turn into $2,732 / (1-0.25) = $3,642.67.
Step 3: Adjust your withholding at work to get it closer to break even
In step 2, you invested the money that you had over paid Uncle Sam, but in doing so, you did decrease your take home paycheck. Key to making this plan neutral to your everyday lifestyle is to decrease the amount Uncle Sam withholds every paycheck. Using IRS Form W-4 or your employer's substitute, you can adjust your withholdings to make it so you won't be making another large interest free loan to Uncle Sam this year.
When you're making this adjustment, your objective should be to get close to break even when it comes time to filing your taxes next year. If you reduce your withholdings too much, you could have to pay underpayment penalties on top of any taxes you owe. The key is to be within one of the IRS' "Safe Harbor" limits. For 2016, the key Safe Harbor limits are:
- If you owe less than $1,000 in taxes for 2016 when it comes time to file in 2017
- You've paid at least 90% of what you owe for 2016 (66 and 2/3% for farmers and fishermen)
- You've withheld or paid via timely estimated tax payments at least 100% of what you owed for 2015 (110% if your income in 2015 was above $150,000 or if it's above $75,000 and your filing status is "married filing separately")
Step 4: Thank your employer for its 401(k) match
Many employers offer a match to encourage employees to contribute money toward their own retirement. Matches vary by company, but a common practice is a $0.50 match for every $1.00 the employee contributes, up to some percentage of salary. On that $3,642.67 contribution you made in step 2, a 50% match would be an additional $1,821.33, contributed into your retirement account, on your behalf.
Step 5: Count your cash
Your $2,732 IRA contribution from your refund check plus your $3,642.67 contribution to your 401(k) plus your employer's match of $1,821.33 brings your total to $8,196. That's triple your original refund amount, now working on your behalf to help fund your retirement.
Perhaps best of all, you just figured out how to save that $8,196 with no impact to your everyday lifestyle. Every penny of that money came straight from your tax refund this year, from the money that would otherwise have been a tax refund next year, and/or from your employer's matching program.
How often can you come up with $8,000 that easily?
As fun as it might be to hold that $2,732 refund check, wouldn't it be even more fun to see it turn into more than $8,000 this year? On top of that, once you've taken these five steps, that $8,196 will be in your retirement accounts, where it can grow tax-deferred on your behalf for the rest of your career.
That's an amazing opportunity available to you simply by choosing to no longer offer Uncle Sam an interest free loan, instead putting that very same stack of your own money to work for you. So get started today, and turn that tax refund into the foundation for your financial future.
To see the original article, click here.
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