Business and Personal Finance: Understanding Assets

The Basic Accounts – Understanding Assets Assets are those things that your business owns, from the cash in your desk drawer to the file cabinet in the backroom to the delivery van in the drive- way. It does not matter whether they are big or small; all that matters is that your company owns them … Read more

Business and Personal Finance: Pick the Right Accounting Professional

Accounting Is More Than Numbers – Pick the Right Accounting Professional Once you decide you want some help, your next step is to figure out what level of help you’re looking for. Doing that will point you toward the right kind of professional. You may use a mix of professionals—for example, a bookkeeper may handle … Read more

Business and Personal Finance: How Accountants Can Help You

Accounting Is More Than Numbers – How Accountants Can Help You When you are just starting out in business, having a professional accountant on your team can make your life as an entrepreneur a lot simpler. Without a background in business accounting or finance, it’s easy to get the numbers wrong, or sometimes even overlook … Read more

Business and Personal Finance: Who’s Who in Accounting

Accounting Is More Than Numbers – Who’s Who in Accounting The world of accounting is populated with lots of players. There are the people who put the numbers together, the people who analyze and report on those numbers, and the people for whom those reports are compiled. Having a handle on who does what can … Read more

Business and Personal Finance: Different Versions for Different Reasons

Accounting Is More Than Numbers – Different Versions for Different Reasons In addition to you, there may be a lot of people who want to see how your business is doing. This includes your own employees, who may need to track particular numbers to get their jobs done; your accountant, who needs the numbers in … Read more

Business and Personal Finance: Who Uses Accounting Information?

Accounting Is More Than Numbers – Who Uses Accounting Information? Accounting information is used by virtually everyone, in every job, at home and at work. Every time you get a bank statement or a credit card bill, it’s accounting information. Every time you look at your homeowners’ association annual budget, it’s accounting. Every time you … Read more

Business and Personal Finance: Accounting Versus Bookkeeping

Accounting Is More Than Numbers – Accounting Versus Bookkeeping Accounting and bookkeeping are related in the same way as recipes and ingredients. Ingredients are the raw materials you need to create a meal; bookkeeping provides the raw materials you need to develop useful financial reports. A recipe takes that pile of ingredients and tells you … Read more

Business and Personal Finance: Tracking and Measuring Success

Accounting Is More Than Numbers – Tracking and Measuring Success When you first dreamed of starting your own business, you may have thought about happy customers, the luxury of being your own boss, or building a nice chunk of wealth for your family. All those things are possible, once your business starts to take off. … Read more

Business and Personal Finance: Top Ten Accounting Mistakes

Accounting Is More Than Numbers – Top Ten Accounting Mistakes 1. Not knowing your true cash balance: Due to things like automatic payments and bank charges, money that appears in your cash drawer and your checking account may already be spent. 2. Extending credit without checking credit: Until you collect some basic credit information about … Read more