Accounts Management

Inventory management simply refers to the handling and controlling of acompany 's non-capitalized assets. For most retailers , this involves the overseeing and controlling of finished items that are ready to be sold. The fundamental goal is to keep inventory levels balanced at all times without ever having too much or too little product in stock. So staying on top of ordering, forecasting and storage are key parts of good quality inventory management. Why is inventory management important? A retail business is useless without its inventory . Yet holding this inventory ties up a lot of cash and resources. Being able to manage it effectively and efficiently is therefore vitally important to cash flow and a great way to save money. Save on storage costs Warehousing costs tend to fluctuate based on how much product is being stored and for how long. The longer an item sits on a shelf without being sold, the more it costs a business. Good inventory management...

Here are some key considerations when putting together the annual businessbudget for your operation. Set Up an Easy-to-Access Spreadsheet Since you’re going to access, update, and review your business budget many times throughout the year, you need to keep your spreadsheet accessible. This is an actionable document that you should refer to when negotiating terms with suppliers, discussing terms with your advertisers and evaluating options for small business financing. Choose the option that makes most sense for your way of doing business but try to make it accessible on-the-go. Some options are storing an MS Excel file on your tablet, maintaining a Google Sheet on your Google Drive, or sharing a spreadsheet file on your company’s Dropbox account. Break Down the Year Into Months A budget is the expected future financial performance for a business. While annual totals are useful benchmarks to keep track of your performance , you’ll have more direct control ov...

Many associate the word “budget” with “dread” or “drudgery.” Perhaps the word “ budget” should be avoided altogether. Words like “financial map” or “operational guide” might be suitable alternatives. No doubt, some employees will question the need for a budget . The process of budget preparation is sometimes seen as painful, and it is not always clear how the effort that is required leads to any productive output. Furthermore, budgets can be seen as imposing constraints that are hard to live with and establishing goals that are hard to meet! Despite these dismal remarks, it is imperative that organizations carefully plan their financial affairs to achieve financial success. These plans are generally expressed as “budgets.” A budget is a detailed financial plan that quantifies future expectations and actions relative to acquiring and using resources. Forms And Functions Budgets can take many forms and serve many functions, providing the basis for detailed sales targets ...

Budgets don’t guarantee success, but they certainly help to avoid failure. The budget is an essential tool to translate general plans into specific, action-oriented goals and objectives. By adhering to the budgetary guidelines, the expectation is that the identified goals and objectives can be fulfilled. It is crucial to remember that a large organization consists of many people and parts. These components need to be orchestrated to work together in a cohesive fashion. The budget is the tool that communicates the expected outcome and provides a detailed script to coordinate all of the individual parts to work in concert. When things don’t go as planned, the budget is the tool that provides a mechanism for identifying and focusing on departures from the plan. The budget provides the benchmarks against which to judge success or failure in reaching goals and facilitates timely corrective measures. Operations and responsibilities are normally divided among different seg...

Every time I open up a new company file a lot of thoughts are going through my head. Is the balance sheet correct, have credit cards been properly booked, are the payroll liabilities $0 at the end of every pay period, if they have an organized expense list that is meaningful, or are the QuickBoks accounts reconciled. The expense list (which I'll include as Cost of Goods Sold , Expenses , and Other Expenses) give you a true outlook as to where your business is currently spending its money. For this article I'll list out each category, explain what the category is comprised of, then give you common account names I use for a majority of my clients. To make things easier and relatable we're going to use Homer's business Mr. Plow again to make sense of all of these. If Homer can figure it out then I sure hope you guys can make sense of it. Yes, there will be some grey areas (expenses that don't particularly fit into any one category) but at the end of the day ...

Do you have problems getting some of your customers to pay on time? Does your cash flow ever run thin because of this? Here are some surefire strategies for managing your cash flow and getting your customers to pay you so fast that sometimes they’ll pay you before you even do the job. 1. Make Paying as Easy as Possible However your customers want to pay should work for you. So make sure you’re set up to handle multiple forms of payment including debit, credit, ePayments, and even good old-fashioned checks if that’s how some of your customers still like to pay. Set Up ePayments A lot of your customers probably like the convenience of ePayments, and you should too because it’s basically money arriving at your bank account instantly—no waiting around like when you wait for checks to clear. ePayments come in many forms including: accepting credit card payments in the field with your iPhone or iPad allowing your customers to pay online setting up automatic paymen...

Many businesses want to be able to see how much cash they will have in the bank over the coming days, weeks and months. There are two ways to prepare a cash flow forecast : the direct method and the indirect method . The direct method involves looking at all upcoming cash receivables and payables to forecast exactly when cash will move in and out of the business. The indirect method derives a cash flow from a balance sheet and profit and loss, which is often much less accurate in the short to mid-term. How can I create a cash flow forecast using the direct method? You can build a direct forecast using a spreadsheet, which you update each day with actuals . Or you can start a trial of Float today to create a cash flow forecast using the direct method; twice the accuracy in half the time! The Indirect Method of Cash Flow Forecasting The indirect method uses accrual accounting data and makes adjustments to create a cash flow forecast. This is complex because you must start ...