STOP Doing That!
Do you balance your checkbook or do you swipe the debit card on a hope & a prayer that the transaction will go through?
Did you go to school for accounting or at least take a bookkeeping class? No? Stop it. (more…)
Do You Know What The Numbers Mean?
Disclaimer: This started off as part of a weekly roundup but as I was writing the excerpt/summary for it, it took on a life of it’s own. Enjoy ~Joyce~
Quote of the Week:
“I knew how to print a financial statement from QuickBooks, but I couldn’t tell you what it meant,” from Basics of Accounting Are Crucial for Entrepreneurs – NY Times
It is my philosophy that just because you can do something, that doesn’t mean that you should! Just because Quickbooks, Peachtree, Xero, and on and on and on… allows you to do the bookkeeping and accounting yourself, it doesn’t necessarily logically follow that you should be doing the bookkeeping and accounting.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am an huge advocate of being self-aware, empowered, doing things for yourself and, extremely important, taking responsibility for the financial health of your business but I’m not an advocate of keeping my valued clients in the dark. We all have the same 24 hours in each day. If that time is better served becoming more proficient at your “front-office” stuff… you know the thing that you do, that thing that you provide to your clients/customers… then you should be doing that – instead of the bookkeeping, especially if you’re not at all interested in learning the ins and outs of accounting (because there are just a few of those to learn).
Food for thought: if accounting was so easy, why do most accountants attend a 4year college to obtain the knowledge that you presume to buy in a box off of a shelf? And why is the CPA exam consistently listed as one of the most difficult exams (ahead of the bar exam and some engineering certification exams)?
Anyway, stick to or pursue what you love. “Do a job that you love & you’ll never work a day in your life” ~Confucius.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know – I’d love to hear from you.
BullsEye Piggyback
Now I’m sure that title created an interesting visual…let me get to what I’m talking about. How it happened and played out was almost like watching a movie… a constant, continuous confirmation that I’m doing what is right for me and right for my business.
Last week I did a post about selecting a target market (Hit The BullsEye), then I read a blog post/article about Charging More Than The Other Guy, then I had a conversation with a “virtual co-worker” that circled around both of those things. In brief, we were talking about a third party, a friend of hers, that is a bit all over the place when it comes to their side hustle. Let me tell you what I mean – said third party is a Jill of All Trades. She is a “fundraiser”, “event planner”, “marketing consultant”, “graphic designer”, “sales consultant”… and that’s just the the stuff that I remember.
Now I don’t profess to be a marketing expert… but I’ve been in business long enough and I’ve read enough articles, blogs, and books to know that people don’t take you seriously when you are all over the place. When you are all over the place, you don’t get (consistent) business or referral business because the person who would have referred business to you doesn’t know what the heck you do… nor are they convinced that you do any one thing well enough to warrant them sticking their neck out on the line to provide you with the referral. And when you’re all over the place, you can only charge “novice” prices. If you’re charging novice prices… well, you can figure out the rest.
By the end of the conversation with my virtual co-worker, we had both turned the spotlight off of the third party and began to focus on ourselves. *scratching head* So that got me to thinking, is my business all over the place? Am I presenting a “Jill of All Trades/Master of None” persona when it comes to my service offers?
I’m sure I’m not the only one in the blogasphere who’s had a business related identity crisis. Have you had a similar issue? How did you handle it? Help me out here! Tell me all about it…
Payment Processing Alternatives
As a small business owner, it’s hard to know where to turn when it comes to payment processing. You want to make it convenient for your customers/clients while being easy for you to manage. As both a small business owner & accountant, I probably come in contact with more alternatives than the ‘average’ smbo. Here are a few that I have encountered, a few I’m sure you have heard of and a few that will be new to you.
Depending on the number of transactions and where you are in the startup process some alternatives may be better than others. Check the websites for their current fees and service offerings.
First tier: You invoice your client (or set up payment buttons) and the client initiates the payment. You are never in posession of their account or credit card information. If you’ve used Paypal as a customer, you’ve used this tier of payment processing.
- paypal – https://www.paypal.com
- intuit payment network – https://paymentnetwork.intuit.com/PaymentNetwork/
- paymeplz – http://www.paymeplz.com/
Second tier: You set up a shopping cart or a checkout interface for the client. The client goes to your website, shops/makes their choice and initiates the payment. Like the first tier, you are never in possession of their bank account or credit card information.
google checkout(editor’s note: google checkout is no longer available, effective Dec 2013)- fastspring – http://www.fastspring.com/
Third tier: You set up a merchant account with the provider of your choice for processing. Unlike the other two tiers, you can initiate payments with the permission of your client, therefore, you have more control over your cashflow & it’s timing… but with control comes responsibility (like making sure you keep your client’s account information safe).
- first ach – http://www.firstach.com
- heartland http://www.heartlandpaymentsystems.com
Disclaimer: I am not endorsing one alternative over another and this is not meant to be an all-inclusive list. I’m just putting it out in the atmosphere as a starting point to let you know that there are indeed alternatives – do your research, get out there/try them and figure out what works best for you and your business.
If you’re reading this and you’ve had a good (or bad) experience with any of these alternatives or you have an alternative that’s not listed…feel free to post a comment!
Good luck – much success!!
~Joyce
Business Builder: How To Start A Bookkeeping (or Accounting) Business
About a month ago, I set out to write an e-book about something I know. So I started with the obvious, starting a bookkeeping or accounting business.
Freebie Alert… but you have to give to receive (read post to the end)
Right now it’s rough for pretty much everyone. So many people have decided to start businesses… so why not you?
Starting a bookkeeping business, or any business for that matter, is not rocket science but it does take some planning and it helps a little bit if you have some guidance from someone that has been there and done that. There will be days when you simply don’t feel like it, when you feel like you can’t do it, when you feel like this hair-brained idea that you had won’t work but I’m here to tell you that with perseverance, it can and will work… you just have to stick with it.
Remember, do what you love and everything will naturally fall into place. You will make tons of mistakes along the way but the more you fail, the closer you will be to success so don’t be afraid to fail. Dispel your fears because they aren’t real after all. FEAR is just False Evidence Appear Real.
For the next week, I’m offering a FREE Preview Chapter, my chapter on Marketing.
Want more info about the ebook? Click Here!
Want the entire ebook ~ How To Start A Bookkeeping Business? Click Here!
