6 Bookkeeping Tips For Starting Your Own Business (small business coaching)
No commentsBy Zacharias Allred
Starting your own business can be a very rewarding experience. You will enjoy freedom and flexibility you never imagined. You will also work harder than you ever have before but it feels completely different when you are working for yourself. Here are some tips to help you get off on the right foot with your record keeping.
1. Keep Receipts For All Transactions From The First Day Onword. If you pay for everything with a check, debit card, or credit card this may not seem necessary. As a tax accountant I can assure you that it is. The IRS will disallow deductions if you do not have receipts to accompany your bank and credit card records.
2. Avoid Cash. I can tell you the easiest way to get into hot water with the IRS is to pay for things with cash and then not have a receipt. For many of us we are in a habit of using cash from the time we were kids. For your own business though, you need to avoid cash.
3. Deposit All Your Income. It is very tempting to withhold cash from your business receipts but I advise you do not. Instead be aggressive with your expenses. If you are in an industry where cash deals are common the IRS will look for evidence of cash deposits in your checking account. If they are absent you will have a lot of questions to answer.
4. Use QuickBooks. Inuit owns 80% of the small business accounting software market and for good reason. Their software is easy to learn and easy to use. Within a few hours after installing you can be producing your own professional financial statements. It is the software I use for my own accounting/tax business and also what I use to produce client Financial Statements and Payroll Reports.
5. Report Employee Earnings Timely. There are several services on the market that will be glad to do your Payroll Reports and process your employee checks. Shop around and get the best deal. This market has become more competitive which means there are some good deals out there for you. For example, if you are in a high risk industry you can get a reduced WCF rate with a company like ADP. With the amount you save in disability insurance for your employees your Payroll Tax preparation expense is essentially free.
6. Use A Business Credit Card. Using a business credit card has many benefits. You can usually find one with no annual fee, 0% introductory interest rate and even cash rewards. But for the purpose of this article one of the primary benefits is for your record keeping. At the end of the year you will receive a summary of all your expenses by category. Give this to your accountant along with your other records at tax time. This will make your accountant’s job easier which should lower his/her fees.
There are many other items to consider when starting your own business and I recommend you speak to an accountant as soon as possible. If you already have someone preparing your tax returns then you can start with them. Make sure they are familiar with hiring your spouse and children, medical reimbursement plans, business plans and entity structuring. Do not stay with an accountant who is not familiar with these because you cannot afford to.
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Zach Allred is a tax accountant with a desire to provide tips about good credit card practices. You can visit his site to compare business credit cards. You can also visit his home based business site for other resources and free articles.
Tips for Choosing Profitable Affiliate Programs
By Cory Blanchette
Affiliate programs have been responsible for many online business success stories. Many people dream of being able to work from home, and affiliate programs provide a lucrative way to do that. This is why the affiliate programs industry has become competitive. There is a lot of money still to be made with affiliate programs, as long as you choose your program wisely. Consider the following tips when choosing the affiliate programs you want to promote.
Choose Something You Know About - While affiliate programs are profitable and you can work from home, you still have to work. When you are just starting out learning how to promote affiliate programs, it is easiest to choose a subject you know something about. In fact, choose something you are passionate about. If you are interested in the subject of your affiliate programs, promoting them will be a simple joy. If you have to do hours of research just to be able to take the first step in promoting affiliate programs, the road will be a lot more difficult. For example, if you know a lot about playing poker, but not the first thing about making clay flowerpots, choose affiliate programs about poker and stay away from the ones promoting flowerpot-making kits. If you know about your subject, you will work to promote it.
Choose a Product That People Need - To make serious money with affiliate programs, choose one where you will promote products that people need. By choosing to promote products that people “need,” you don’t have to create a desire to make them “want.” If your product is valuable to everyday life, half of your promotion is done. People need natural gas service in their homes. People only want cute clay flowerpots. In addition, make sure your affiliate programs are for growing industries. Don’t promote soon to be outdated products through affiliate programs.
Choose a Quality Product - Anyone can promote any product and make at least one sale, but if your product is dependent upon repeat sales or the word of mouth from others, make sure you choose a quality product. Search the Internet for reviews on the products available from affiliate programs. Read the sales pages of affiliate programs. If you see bad grammar, misspellings, a cheesy design, or sales pages that do not make you want to purchase the product immediately, move on find other affiliate programs.
Choose to Take Action - You can sign up for as many affiliate programs as you want, but unless you take action, your commission accounts will remain empty. You have to get out there and tell people about your product, generate traffic for the affiliate programs website or your own website and affiliate link. Employ free and low cost marketing tactics like pay-per-click marketing, article marketing, forum postings, and social networking. Don’t ignore offline marketing. Tell people, promote your web address and affiliate link, even put a bumper sticker on your car! If you always promote, you’ll always make sales.
Affiliate programs offer a great way for people to make serious money from home. By following these tips, you will choose the best affiliate programs for you, setting you on your way to a lucrative home business.
Cory Blanchette and his associates have specialized in online ventures. They have also tested many programs and have written reviews on these programs that are being sold on the internet.
http://www.theofficialhomebusinessguide.com
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Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
