1. Do you use Mac machines and software?

If you use Mac rather than windows, you have a few options to choose from. With a shop that is all Mac, your best choices are QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Mac.

2. Do you want access on the go?

If you are looking for remote access, QuickBooks online is the best choice for you. Access that you can have anytime and anywhere is appealing for many people. There is also a QuickBooks Pro monthly service so that you can enable mobile and remote data access. However, this also is added to the license fee. If you’re doing business anywhere, the best choice will be QuickBooks online.

3. Do you want a QuickBooks version that’s industry specific?

The best choice for you is QuickBooks Premier. There are features with this that are specific to different industries and it offers increased inventory controls that you may need.

4. Do you build products out of raw materials and need to track your inventory?

QuickBooks Pro isn’t a good idea when this is the case, because you’ll be tracking the inventory both for the finished products and raw materials. So you want to choose QuickBooks Premier.

5. Are you looking for something that handles general accounting for a small business?

The one to choose will be QuickBooks Pro. This is QuickBooks’ workhouse addition and it handles just about anything small businesses need. It also works well with an accountant. If you’re looking for a software package for small businesses, QuickBooks Pro’s the way to go.

These are the questions you want to ask when you’re trying to decide on the right QuickBooks version for your business. They will help you with finding the right one for your needs.

Have More Questions?

If you have more questions about your bookkeeping needs, give EZ Ledger, Inc. a call today at 239-249-8086. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have regarding bookkeeping and how we can help. We offer many services, and we look forward to doing business with you in the future!

Pros

Large Network of Support – QuickBooks is the accounting software that most people use. Because of this, if you have problems or a question, you are going to have a huge support network when you have problems or questions. You’re able to network with other QuickBook users on the forums, where you may discover that people are having the same issues or have had them in the past and can help you with the issue.

Low Cost – It’s usually cheaper to use QuickBooks than to hire a bookkeeper or accountant. There are different options that you can use, either online or by buying the basic package. If you are just getting started as a business and you don’t have a big budget, it’s a great way to help your costs stay down.

Comes with Basics – QuickBooks’ basic version comes with accounting features needed by the majority of small businesses. It has features like accounts receivable and payable, invoices, inventory and payroll. You can process people’s credit cards and create checks with this software as well. You also can access a complimentary trial paid so you can see if it’s the best choice for you and your business.

Cons

Security – One downside is if you’re using QuickBooks’ online version rather than the software program, you could have problems with security. Your financial information could be exposed to hackers on the Internet.

Limitations – QuickBooks’ basic version is made for people who have limited financial and accounting needs. Because of this, it won’t offer everything that professional accounting software offers. You’ll also be limited in how many products you’ll be able to list when it comes to inventory.

Upgrading May be Necessary – It’s possible that you’ll discover you’re outgrowing QuickBooks’ basic version as time passes. They do offer an advanced version that has additional features, but it’s a lot more expensive.

Payment Processing Costs – Quickbooks will default to service all your payment processing needs which can be a bit more costly than other. 3rd party quickbooks payment processing options such as PaymentCollect can be substituted to remedy this issue.

These are the advantages and disadvantages of QuickBooks. If you are looking to save money and get some accounting software for your business or your home, it’s a great choice. It’s affordable, has basic features, and it’s easy to use.

Have More Questions?

If you have more questions about your bookkeeping needs, give EZ Ledger, Inc. a call today at 239-249-8086. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have regarding bookkeeping and how we can help. We offer many services, and we look forward to doing business with you in the future!

1. Get your High School Diploma

This is the minimum requirement for education that you will need for becoming a bookkeeper. While you’re going to high school, you want to take courses that are related to computers, English, accounting, and math. This is going to lay the groundwork necessary to get your next level training, or to get employment.

Think about getting your associate’s degree or a certificate. There are programs for bookkeeping at both of the levels. You can get certification through the AIPB. These types of programs will teach you the way to value inventory, record costs, analyze the financial statements, calculate depreciation and work with the software programs. The courses are going to cover topics in things like bookkeeping, QuickBooks, business, math, payroll administration, and Microsoft Excel.

2. Get Training on the Job

After you’ve been hired, a lot of employers will offer you a job training that’s quite extensive as a new bookkeeper. A lot of new employees are paired up with one of the experienced bookkeepers and they’ll observe the work policies as well as learn the ways to perform the operations that are necessary in bookkeeping. Every employer is going to have various methods or policies for doing work, so you want to learn the way that the work is done in that specific workplace.

3. Get the Designation of Certified Bookkeeper

In order to get your Certified Bookkeeper designation from the AIPB, you’ll need two years’ experience with bookkeeping. You’re going to need to follow the ethical code that the organization has set in place and pass a test to get your certification. There are four parts to the exam. You can find preparation courses online and at the different colleges to help with preparing.

4. Continue to Train and Get Education for Advancing Your Career

Continue with vocational and educational training in accounting, business administration, or bookkeeping. This will offer you the chance to become an auditor or accountant. Becoming a specialist in a growing industry like insurance, health care, financial or hospitality services will also give you more career opportunities.

If you are looking for a career that will help you to advance, bookkeeping is a great choice. Although there are many bookkeeping programs that can be purchased, many companies would rather have someone like yourself doing it. So you will have a job that is always in demand.

Even when you’re growing a small business, you may want to find as many ways as you can to save on money through tax deductions. When you fail to see how business and personal expenses are different you could end up facing legal consequences such as audits, or worse. Below are four tips for keeping the two expenses separated:

1. Use Different Accounts

Even though this seems like it should go without saying, this is something that a lot of people don’t do. Even when you’re just starting out in your business, this is very important. You want to track your personal finances and business expenses separately, or you may have a lot of problems when it comes to your taxes.

If you’re using QuickBooks, make sure that you’re having two systems for your business and personal financial activity. When you keep clear records throughout the year, it’s going to help you with proving business expenses.

2. Have a Credit Card for Your Business

When you are buying something for your office, like office stationery, or you’re buying a plane ticket for business travel, having a credit card for your business will help greatly with separating the financial activity for your business from what you’re purchasing for your own personal use.

It doesn’t matter how small or large your expense is. You should always keep your business expenses on your credit card so they’re easily tracked later. Having a credit card for your business will also help with building your business’s credit score.

3. Have Your Own Legal Entity

Having a different legal entity that’s just for your business is one of the best ways that you can protect your private funds and personal liability. The structure of your business is going to determine the amount of tax you’re paying, the amount of ongoing costs you’ll have and the responsibilities you have as the owner of the business.

4. Pay Yourself

Whether you’re your sole employee or you have employees under you, make sure you’re paying a salary to yourself and you’re not being stingy about it. Making sure you’re paying yourself the same amount on a regular basis is going to help you keep on track both with your business and personal finances.

Also when you’re setting a salary it means you’re not dipping into your business account to help pay your personal expenses. This also will make it hard to report your expenses. You also should have a business budget and make sure you’re conservative when it comes to what your business is able to afford and what it can’t.

When you’ve established a budget, it means you’re not going to find that you’re pumping extra money into your business account and depleting personal funds anytime there is a shortfall in your company.

When Worlds Collide

Sometimes there are times when you’ve had expenses that you can classify as both personal and business use. An example would be if you’re working from home and you only have one phone line both for personal and business use.

This is when you have to figure out the amount of that expense that is being used for personal and the amount that is used for your business. The reason for this is because you’re only allowed to claim the amount that you’re using for your business. If possible, it’s a good idea to have a mobile phone that you’re using just for your business so that things are a lot clearer.

It’s also important that you aren’t writing off dinner or entertainment expenses on your taxes that aren’t related to work. When you eat out with family or friends, it’s not for your business so you want to make sure you’re keeping everything clean. Otherwise you’re going to run into a lot of problems when you are doing your taxes.

Have More Questions?

If you have more questions about your bookkeeping needs, give EZ Ledger, Inc. a call today at 239-249-8086. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have regarding bookkeeping and how we can help. We offer many services, and we look forward to doing business with you in the future!

Advantages

An Accountant Knows What He or She is Doing

There’s many technical details that are entailed with managing the finances of your small business and even simple mistakes can cause a large problem. This is very true when you are filing your taxes, because accidental omissions or inaccuracies might make the IRS audit you. The job of an accountant is to ensure all the records are free of errors and that your numbers are adding up how they should so that you don’t get in trouble.

An Accountant Will Save You Money and Time

It’s important to your accountant that your business is a successful. A way that they can do that is through looking for savings. An example would be reviewing the expenses you have monthly so that they can see where fat can be trimmed or so that record keeping can be streamlined to take less time. When it comes time to do your taxes, the accountant will go through the finances to uncover all of your deductions and credits so that you can focus on other things when it comes to your business. This may be a huge advantage if you’re planning to give more hours to developing some new products, improving on your marketing or expanding your base of customers.

An Accountant Doesn’t Just Crunch Numbers

Along with balancing the books, an accountant can also offer expert advice on things from determining a pricing structure and getting financing. If you’ve made the decision sometime in the future that the business needs to be sold or closed, an accountant will give you some tips on how you should proceed. This great input is very invaluable, particularly when it’s your very first business.

Disadvantages

An Accountant Isn’t Free

You’ll have to pay an accountant for any work they’re doing and sometimes this added amount might really break the budget. The rate of an accountant will vary based on the work, but usually you can pay at least $60 an hour for an accountant and often more. You may pay less based on your business or your relationship that you have with the accountant, but you’ll be increasing your business’ overhead, even if you’re just having them come in part time.

An Accountant is Only Human

No matter what accountant you hire, they are going to be human. They still may make mistakes. If they make a small error and its able to be quickly corrected, this usually won’t be a huge deal. But it also could spell disaster. An example is if they are putting your business’ expenses into the software and they miss a key expense. If this isn’t caught, you may be paying more come tax time because you’ve lost a very valuable deduction.

You can Easily Lose Touch

When you delegate your accounting for your small business to another person, you will save time, but you want to make sure that you are still hands-on. Although the accountant you hire is doing the work, you should still check things regularly and make sure that things are running as smoothly as possible. You should have a partnership with the accountant and each of you should have a role that is active.

Look at where your small business is and what you need currently; this will be the best way that you can guide whether you want to hire an accountant or not. If you don’t want to stare at numbers yourself or you’d rather have someone else take a look at the direction that is important for you to go in next, it’s probably a good idea to bring in another pair of eyes. But if you have the know-how and time, you can always look into buying accounting software and doing it yourself. Only you know what’s right for you.

Have More Questions

If you have more questions about your bookkeeping needs, give EZ Ledger, Inc. a call today at 239-249-8086. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have regarding bookkeeping and how we can help. We offer many services, and we look forward to doing business with you in the future! We’re located in Naples, FL, but service business natiowide in cities like Tampa, Estero, Bonita Springs, Sarasota, and much more.

The actual discovery of accounting is from a monk in Italy named Luca Pacioli. A lot of people say he’s the ‘Father of Accounting’. Back in 1494 he founded what’s called double-entry accounting. The first accounts detailed early systems that were used by Venetian Merchants inventories and accounts receivables using ledgers and journals. He also uncovered methods and principles that are still being used today.

2. An Accountant is Good at Performing Math

This is a huge fallacy that people believe. Accountants aren’t mathematicians, computer programmers, or engineers. An accountant has to work in regulatory guidance and act as a lawyer more than doing math. An accountant is basically a lawyer who uses numbers. Even though they have to be good at subtraction, addition, and some algebra, there are accountants who aren’t good at performing math.

3. All Accountants can do Taxes

There isn’t an accountant alive who hasn’t been asked to do someone’s taxes, but an accountant and an auditor are two different people. Most accountants aren’t qualified to do taxes or to give you tax advice.

4. Technology’s Making Accountants Obsolete

Even though technology makes accountant’s life more complex, it’s going to be years before it actually takes over their jobs. It’s still a career that is very much in demand.

5. It’s Male Dominated

Of the auditors and accountants in the United States, 60% of them are female and the number in Canada is 50%. However, when you’re discussing accounting firm partners, the percentage of women who are partners is only 18% in the United States.

6. Auditors, Tax Accountants, Bookkeepers, and Corporate Accountants are the Same

We mentioned before that a lot of people think that an accountant can do taxes, but this isn’t true. Auditors have the jobs of regulatory guidance and statistical sampling. They don’t account at all. Tax accountants are the ones who will help with doing your returns at the end of the year and knowing what deductions you can take. They won’t file 10-Ks, though. A bookkeeper will usually track financial transactions for a small business and a corporate accountant will do that work on a much grander scale. But they’re all different.

7. An Accountant isn’t Necessary for Your Business

This is true if you want your business to fail. But if you want to be a success, you want to get a full-time external or internal accountant. They will help you with organizing the finances of your business in a way that’s timely so that you can take advantage of any opportunities that come up for growth and make financial decisions that are good for your business. They’re going to be really helpful when it comes to your taxes.

The next time you meet an accountant, make sure that you remember how hard they work and what’s expected of them. Then give them a bit of respect.

With everything that comes with running a business, you have to wonder if you’re going to have the time to do your own bookkeeping. It can take a lot of time from actually running your business, time that could be used for other things like, marketing, business strategy, sales, etc. So you have to determine if it is beneficial to take the extra time to do your own bookkeeping, or pay a professional to do it.

2. Are You Comfortable Doing It?

A lot of people aren’t comfortable doing math, even older people. So you want to ask yourself if you’re comfortable doing your own bookkeeping with all of the intricacies involved. And it’s not necessarily being comfortable with actually doing the work, it’s being comfortable with your capabilities of doing the work. If you don’t think that you can do the work entailed in bookkeeping, then you should probably think about hiring a professional to do it for you.

3. Do You Want to Take a Chance?

There are a lot of things that can go wrong if you don’t do your bookkeeping correctly, especially if you have multiple employees. So you want to think about whether it’s worth taking a chance on doing it wrong, or if you want to hire someone that can do it correctly. The last thing you want is to do all the work, only to find out that you did it wrong, then have to go back and correct all your mistakes and start from the beginning.

If you ask yourself these three questions and your answer is no to any of them, you should look into hiring a bookkeeper. These are some of the advantages of a professional bookkeeper:

· They have training

· They do the work so you have the time for other things

· They will make sure everything is correct.

Many people believe that doing their own bookkeeping is better since it saves them money. But if you go this route and make a costly mistake, you will find it’s more expensive to fix the problem than to hire a professional to do it in the first place.

A bookkeeper’s tasks:

• Track payments, sales, receipts and payments
• Take care of organizing, collating and recording financial information each day and storing the data inside ledgers
• Record a business’ financial information in a simple way so accountants are able to access it

Why should you hire a bookkeeper?

If you’ve started a business, chances are that you love running it, and that you concentrate on your favorite tasks. However, if you’re like the majority of business owners, you don’t like recording your financial transactions.

If you own a restaurant, you’re going to have things like:

• Invoices from suppliers for food items
• Sales that are recorded through your POS system
• Cash transactions
• Credit card transactions,
• Wages for staff

This is a lot of information that needs to be tracked and recorded, especially if you don’t like bookkeeping or you don’t understand it.

Without performing proper bookkeeping, it’s really easy for the transactions to not be recorded and they can just be piling up until the month’s end. There could be mistakes, and there could be important details forgotten or lost. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a bookkeeper. A bookkeeper is able to lighten your business load. They also can record your business’ daily transactions such as invoices and receipts.

What does a bookkeeper actually do?

A bookkeeper uses the same methods for recording finances as an accountant. This is done so that the accountant is able to process the business’ financial information in a quick, easy manner.

The bookkeeper will:

• Take your invoices, receipts and other details of transactions
• Record that information using accounting software and the right methods for accounting
• Work together with you so that the numbers make sense

But there is actually a lot more to the bookkeeping process than recording the transactions that happen each day. People doing this work usually are very skilled at using software for accounting.

Bookkeepers give you advice on:

• Solutions for streamlining the workflow of your business
• Payroll services for simplifying how you are paying staff
• Fixing mistakes that inexperienced staff makes
• Training for your small business regarding using accounting software

How are bookkeepers different from accountants?

A Bookkeeper will perform work each day and make sure that accounts are accurate and very detailed. They can also give you advice on issues which could affect you soon, like problems with cashflow or late payments on invoices.

An Accountant will examine the accounts that were created, a lot of times, every three months. They also will make any small adjustments that are needed. They will then use that information that the accounts record in order to file official reports like tax reports. They’ll also give advisory services of the highest level.

In order for your business to run smoothly, you should have a bookkeeper and an accountant. The bookkeeper will do the work daily, and the accountant will be handling the official reporting and giving you business advice.