The Benefits of Account Reconciliation in Accounting

Account reconciliation is one of the least understood and most important parts of financial record keeping. Basically, reconciling is comparing your records to your bank statements and noting any discrepancies. Why should you do it?  Reconciling your books regularly is a lot like cleaning your house regularly. If you clean your house on a regular […]

A cartoon illustration of an individual working on their computer with financial symbols in the background to include a bar graph and cash.

Best Financial Habits of Small Businesses

Some small businesses seem to have it all together—the entrepreneurial equivalent of the beautiful mom with the perfect kids. They have budgets, make profits, and know where every penny is—all of which helps them grow into big businesses. But how do they do it? How do they keep on top of their finances with any […]

Working with an Outsourced Bookkeeper

How much does it cost to work with an outsourced bookkeeper? If you have a small business, working with an outsourced bookkeeper or accountant can be the best way to get help with your financial records.  People often ask me how much it costs to hire an outsourced bookkeeper and my answer always is: “It […]

Synching Income and Expenses in Your Budget

Unfortunately, most business expenses don’t conveniently spread themselves out evenly over twelve months. And income? Well, most businesses have seasonal variability so you earn more in some months than in others. Getting income and expenses to synch up is likely to be one of the biggest challenges in your budget process. But it can be […]

The Importance of Customer Service When the Going Gets Tough

Small business owners are always inundated with advice about how to grow their business and acquire new customers. Of course, that’s not bad advice, but what often gets neglected is the importance of retaining your current clients and providing them with good service. This is particularly true during tough economic times like the ones we […]

Planning for 2021: The New New Normal

Preparing for the start of a new year presents particular challenges this December. How do you make plans when the world is facing something that literally has not happened before?  Well, to start with, you have to think about it differently than you did in previous years. Ordinarily I’d advise you to look at this […]

Federal Government Help for Small Businesses

Recognizing that the pandemic and economic downturn has hurt small businesses, the federal government has a couple of programs designed to make life easier. But, as with all things involving the government, that doesn’t mean getting help is actually easy.  Here are some tips for how you might get some government assistance. Paycheck Protection Program […]

What can you realistically accomplish by the end of the year?

“What can I realistically accomplish by the end of the year? “Now is the time to ask yourself that question. It’s only a couple more months until 2020 is over (thank goodness!). You’ve probably already given up on dreams that 2020 will be the year you make it big on Broadway or write a best-selling […]

Cartoon of business professionals standing near graphs and money, concept for forecasting for uncertainty

Forecasting for Uncertainty: How To Do It Right – and Wrong

*Last Updated May 19, 2022 If there is one thing we have all learned through the pandemic, it is this: uncertainty is an absolute certainty. Yes, COVID-19 was a disruption of epic proportions but the truth is, life is more unpredictable than we’d like to admit. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the […]