Whether you're just a little way behind where you expected to be by now or are starting your business partway through the year, it's okay to now know quite where your business plan should line up. But partial year planning doesn't have to be a pain! Here's a quick look at some tips to help you catch up or get in gear. Start by determining where you fall if you already have a business plan in place. If you're too far behind, you'll need to revise your plans going forward, but if it's not too bad, see if you can schedule some extra time in to catch up quickly over the next month or so. Even taking an extra few hours a week can help. If you are far behind, you'll need to take a look at whether
Whether you're hiring an accountant for the first time or are simply looking at changing firms due to some reason or another, hiring a new accountant can be a stressful time. How do you know that the accountant you're considering is a good choice for your company? Will they do a good job or leave you in a lurch? Here's a quick look at what to look for in your new accountant. Do you need an outside accountant, a bookkeeper or a CPA? Start by knowing what level of responsibility will be needed for your company and you'll be able to better determine whether to outsource the work, hire in a clerk or look for a serious certified professional. What level of financial security and reporting does yo
When you want to make some strong change to improve your business' overall value, a business valuation is a great way to go to get a well-qualified outside opinion on the matter. Though they've typically been used for changes in ownership in the past, the process of generating the company valuation provides you with business insights into where your company is strong or weak. Here's a quick look at how you can use a business valuation report to drive positive change in your company. When you have a business valuation performed on your business, the appraiser looks at a number of different aspects of your business. Where do you stand financially? Is your business being run efficiently? Can yo
Whether you're just starting your first business or have someone else doing your accounting because it's not your area of expertise, there can be a lot of confusion over the difference between business accounting and financial planning. Fortunately, you don't need to understand the ins and outs of each specialty to understand the broad strokes of what each entails. The shortest way to contrast these two specialties is that accounting looks to past financial activity, while financial planning looks towards the future of the business. This doesn't mean that these are their exclusive domains, but more of a general approach, as financial planners will consider the past in forming a future strate
When your business involves service rather than products, how much difference does it make when you're planning its future? Whether for a formal business plan or just decisions made on a daily basis, service businesses need to handle those decisions differently than retail or wholesale companies. Here's a quick look at these differences Assets: In a retail business, a good portion of your assets are tied up in your company's inventory. That inventory loses value as it ages by becoming obsolete or unusable overall. When you provide services to customers, your assets are your people, who often still need to be paid, even when you don't have enough customers to keep them busy. Either asset cost
If you're familiar with the TV show NCIS, you may have some idea how criminal investigations take place. But what about when money is involved and an accountant needs to develop an idea of what happened with a specific set of finances? Forensic accounting is the process of looking at the evidence and deducing what really happened with finances, whether it's for a business after a disaster has caused the loss of records or to assist an actual criminal investigation through a law enforcement agency. Here's a quick look at forensic accounting and what it's about: Much like a criminal investigator, a forensic accountant is a specialist who deduces what has happened with finances for a specific r
Business travel is rough, but the advent of mobile devices and apps can make it go much more smoothly. Here are a handful of awesome apps that are available in Android and iOS to help you stay on top of your business travel like a boss: Flio does more than the standard airline apps combined with Google Maps, it makes your layover go much more smoothly overall. In addition to mapping, it provides you with flights for your current airport, automatic connection when available to the airport's WiFi service, gives you access to VIP lounges and can even give you coupons or discounts for your airport purchases. Flightview Flight Tracker provides you with real-time information on the location of you
When your business is dependent on seasonal shifts, staying in the black can be difficult at best. How can you adapt your business operations to keep your cash flow moving and your company operating profitably? From diversification to cash-management planning, here are a few ideas to help you keep your company on the level. Minimize your offseason expenses. Hire seasonal staff and then let them go during the offseason and prepare equipment for seasonal storage to prevent repairs as you ramp up again. Maximize onseason profits. Are you getting every penny you can when things are crazy? Those profits keep you going in the offseason. Don't throw away profits by being ill-prepared for the onseas
