Business Management Archives - Page 9 of 9 - Number Nerd Bookkeeping Solutions

September 30, 2016

One Reason Your Biz is Seeping Cash

Business budgets are tricky, especially if you’re an online entrepreneur. We see “all the things” online—the new content scheduling tool, the new workflow system, the new course for creatives, the website maintenance tool, the membership site… You get the picture. And when we hear others talk about them, we get FOMO (fear of missing out).

Sure, there are necessities that you need to have in place so your business can run more efficiently. I personally pay monthly or yearly fees for a client management system, content scheduling, bookkeeping (um…duh…I’m a bookkeeper!) and a few other regular and recurring fees. They make my life easier and some of them I couldn’t live without!

Of course, all the bells and whistles are great. If they’re in your budget. And you’re actually using them. If it’s been a while since you’ve audited your recurring fees, it’s time to hop on that train before the end of the year so you can find out why your business might be losing money. Or, at the very least, not sticking to your budget.

Performing an audit on referring fees can save you money and stop the seeping of cash that sometimes happens. You know what I’m talking about: You thought you had the cash in your account, but an auto-renewal bill came due and the funds “magically” disappeared from your account.

They’re hard to keep track of, I know! To put an end to your own cash seep and stop losing money, take these steps:

Log into your business bank account and take note of all the charges you’ve incurred in the last 30 days. In other words, reconcile your checking account. Going line by line, make sure you recognize every debit to your account. If you don’t recognize a charge, make a note of it.
Do the same thing with any credit cards you use for your business. (And just a tip here: Bookkeeping is much more simple if you only use one credit card for business, and you use it only for business.)
Investigate those unknown charges in the last 30 days. On your bank and credit card statements, there’s usually a toll-free number or abbreviated company name in the Description section. Do an online search of the company name and/or call the phone number listed to find out what the charge is for and how to cancel your account. Because if you don’t use the service, it’s time to cancel!
Now that you’ve taken care of your month-to-month subscription-based purchases, it’s time to take care of any yearly subscriptions you may be billed for. Go back 11 months to find those yearly subscriptions that are coming up for renewal soon. Look at your bank statement and credit card statement for 11 months ago, again making note of anything you don’t recognize and contacting the organization you’re subscribed with.
Work your way forward, again looking closely at every month’s statement. By the time you get back to your current month, you should have accounted for every subscription charge and be able to remove that “seep” from your business spending!

Overwhelmed and confused? Taking a proactive stance on business spending can be a challenge, but it’s a necessity if you want to get ahead financially. If you need help, book a free consultation with me and I’ll get you on the right track.

September 22, 2016

I Own My Own Biz. Do I Need a Payroll Service?

When you own a business, you tend to forget to pay yourself. You’re so busy trying to grow the business and reinvest in it that your own paycheck can get “lost in the mail.”

But when you start hiring employees, or even independent contractors, it might make sense to invest in a payroll service. It takes some of the bookkeeping off your plate and ensures that those you’re paying get paid on time.

It’s tempting to find the least expensive service and dive in, but it really is true that you get what you pay for. You’ll want to do your research and make sure that the service you use offers the support and features you need.

Benefits of a Payroll Service

A payroll service can do much more than simply send out the paychecks on time. It will also help you set up guidelines that differentiate an employee from a contractor or temporary worker, while meeting the rules for withholding and other deductions. Most services will also help you determine payroll taxes and send out W-2 forms at the end of each tax year.

Some bookkeepers and accountants also offer payroll as an add-on service if they’re already doing your taxes or keeping your books.

What to Consider

Price aside, you need to make a decision about a payroll service based on the service’s support, accuracy, programs used and compatibility with the software you already use (or the ability to assist you in switching to a compatible software). In the interest of saving time and money, it should also be simple to use for you and any employees or contractors you’ve hired.

Another consideration is the add-on services that the company provides. Some allow you to loop benefits enrollment and time tracking into your payroll system, making it easy for the service to become a one-stop human resources shop.

What Will It Cost?

Prices vary widely from provider to provider and depends on the specific options that you need with your payroll services. But compared to hiring an in-house bookkeeper or doing it yourself, the pricing and time commitment is nominal.

When you’re comparing prices, you’ll want to know how many checks you need issued each month and how the service charges for additional tax forms and changes to employee information.

Where Do I Go?

There are more payroll services out there than I could possibly include here, and they are all over the place when it comes to offerings. However, these are some of the services that my clients have used in the past. You will need to do your research to find the service that is right for your business.

Intuit (QuickBooks Payroll) – An industry standard, even the basic service includes features like direct deposit and worker’s compensation. All levels of service currently come with support, which is a big bonus.
ADP Run – A great small business solution, this service has more limited function than its bigger brother, ADP. There are three tiers of offering and an a la carte selection of add-ons.
Paychex – Doing your payroll at 2 a.m. is no problem here, with 24/7 support. Beyond payroll, you can also use HR services such as COBRA administration, employee background screenin and other add-ons.
Gusto – This is my personal favorite, and it integrates with Xero and QuickBooks for a seamless payroll experience. You can even let payroll run itself, which frees up even more time for you to run your business.

Like any outsourcing solution, there are things to consider when looking for payroll services. If you’re not sure what you need, talk to your CPA, accountant or bookkeeper. They’ll know enough about your books to help you make an informed decision—and might even be able to take payroll off your plate for you!

September 15, 2016

4 Reasons it Might be Time to Jump on the VA Bandwagon

We all have pieces of our business that we’re not in love with. I mean, you’re a business owner because you’re passionate about the core of your business—whether it’s practicing law, serving customers in a brick and mortar store, designing artwork or something else. But let’s face it: owning a business includes a lot of regular tasks that you don’t love (or aren’t qualified to handle).

In today’s business world, you also need to worry about maintaining an online presence, keeping up with ever-changing tax laws, making sure your clients are happy and myriad other parts of business that you’d rather not think about.

As your business grows, these undesirables become more important than ever, and if you’re like a lot of business owners (myself not included—haha!) you spend more and more energy trying to avoid them. Trust me—denial doesn’t make them go away.

And this is when you start thinking about hiring a virtual assistant.

But is it worth it? Do you have enough work to commit to another member on your team? Here are some reasons why it may be time to hire out some tasks you’d rather not think about.

1. You’re overwhelmed, but you don’t have enough work for an in-house assistant.

One of the best things about using a virtual assistant (aside from taking work off your plate) is that they’re a contract employee. That means you’re not responsible for insurance or for coming up with tasks to keep the assistant busy for 20 hours a week.

Most VAs offer packages that include a set number of hours for the month, and those hours typically carry over to the next month if you don’t use them all. You can also pay for hours as you need them, though usually the hourly fee is a bit higher for that.

2. Your business seems to have stalled because you’re spending too much time doing office work.

As your business grows, you have more clients to communicate with, more office expenses, more invoices to send (and pay), more emails to respond to. More, more, more. And, of course, more income too!

But when you have all that “more” on your to-do list, you end up with less time to do what you started your business to do. Which means your business will stall out because there simply isn’t enough time in the day to get it all done. A VA can take some of that administrative work off your plate so you can focus on doing what you love.

3. You put off doing tasks that need to get done—simply because you don’t want to do them.

Getting the oil changed in the car, having that yearly exam, visiting the dentist. These are things we all put off, right? And when it comes to some of the back-end work in your business, you likely put off tasks there too. When was the last time you sent a nurturing email to your clients? How old is your “latest” blog on your website? If it’s something you don’t want to do or that doesn’t relate directly to the work your clients are paying you for, you likely push that task until “tomorrow.” (How many times do you do that before you give it up?)

4. Your systems aren’t working as they should.

While everyone is their own worst critic, in business we often can’t see the forest through the trees. We’re so involved in what we’re doing that we don’t notice that there’s an easier way. Or maybe we do, but don’t know what to do about it. Stop ignoring what isn’t working. Hiring a VA, especially one that’s experienced in systems, is a great way to get a fresh set of eyes on your business so you can move forward with streamlining and kicking butt.

Of course, hiring a VA isn’t for everyone or every business. But if you’re starting to feel like you’re busting at the seams and are ready to scale up, a VA could be exactly what you need. Start looking around to find one that fits your personality and your needs. I can attest to the fact that you won’t regret it.