QuickBooks and other great things in Fairfield

Most new business owners got into business for themselves because of a passion or an excellence they have for a product or a service.  They want to do what they do best, whether that is rebuilding car engines, or creating sculptures, or writing books, or landscaping, or selling home accessories.  However, we all know that they need some sort of accounting for their business for all kinds of reasons. 

Where to start?  Some of the most common questions I hear from business owners include:   Is it best to do the books myself or hire an accountant to help me?  What system should I use?  What will help me minimize my taxes?  How will I pay my employees?   What is easy to use that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

Depending on your time and interest, I would either recommend that you outsource your bookkeeping to a professional, trusted local service who will keep your books up to date as well as advising you on general business principles and tax savings strategies; alternately, you might wish to have your accountant set up your books for you and train you on its utilization.  A few hours with a Certified QuickBooks consultant is money well spent to get you on the right path.  Once you have established a relationship with a QuickBooks consultant, check in with them occasionally to help you solve complex problems you may come across.  Whatever the problem, there is certainly someone who has been through it before and knows the best solution!

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Recent stock market fluctuations may have made you a little nervous about holding stocks.  But if you’re saving for goals that are decades away, stocks probably should continue to hold a major position in your portfolio.  The lesson we should learn from recent stock market fluctuations is that our portfolios should be diversified.  A properly diversified portfolio will help protect its value during market declines, while still offering higher return potential.

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As I sit in my office on a Sunday catching up on all the work that didn't get done during week, I lament the gorgeous day outside that I am missing.  Then I recall back to last weekend where I didn't work at all, and find myself summarily satisfied with my ability to control my own time and prioritize all the little things in life.  I also checked the temperature and see that it is 95 degrees, and I know that all the SPF 50 sunscreen in the world cannot protect my fair skin from what would be a miserable sunburn.  So I'll work until the day eases up a bit, and head outside once the sun begins to dim and all the creatures of the evening garden emerge...and do my best to find my place with them and with this beautiful world we live in.   

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Quickbooks POS offers a great importing feature to use when setting up your beginning inventory in the system.  You can use the QB default spreadsheet and either import the information from your old system, or manually input to the fields and import all your inventory in one step.  Be extremely careful to place the right information into the right fields because, as they say, garbage in garbage out!  I recently went through a conversion with a client who had trouble with their initial import, and we ended up starting over from scratch with a fresh company file and a new import.   To prevent this, check and double check your data before importing it into your new POS system.  Also make sure to immediately perform a Financial Exchange and check your values in QuickBooks Financials before receiving new inventory or making sales.

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While you typically won’t have to pay for anything charged by an identity thief, you will have to work to restore your credit and to ensure all fraudulent accounts are closed.  That can be time-consuming as well as expensive.  To help protect your financial identity, only give out your Social Security number when it is required, shred financial documents, cut up old credit cards, and review your credit reports periodically.

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