HAPPY HALF YEAR!

The end of June and beginning of July is an important time for savvy small business owners, who'll be assessing their companies' finances and thinking about strategies for the second half of the year.

What have I made? How much have I spent? What are my financial goals? and What do I want to do for the rest of the year?

What can a Mid Year Check Up do for you?

Emotionally:

There is something about seeing your finances in black and white that jolts you on an emotional level. If you see that you have spent much more than you have made, then it forces you to pay better attention to what you are doing - unless you are simply a compulsive gambler.

Tax Wise:

Going through your finances helps you see whether you have made purchases or spent money in areas that can benefit or hurt your tax situation come the end of the year. It also helps you arrange this information, so you have it ready to go for tax purposes and are not running around in a panic during tax season.

Steps for a Mid Year Check Up

Gather: You want to start by gathering all your information in one location. If you use online banking, this is as easy as downloading csv files from your bank and/or credit card.

Income: Income is easy enough to add in one column. It should be all deposits made into your account. Of course, you want to exclude any refunds and credit card payments.

Expenses: Expenses are a bit more complicated. If you want to see how much money you have spent, then add up all the expenses. If you want to see exactly where your money has gone, then you want to go through each expense to assign categories to them, then sort by the categories. Add up the categories as well.

At Off-Site Business Services, our bookkeeping service can help you rest easier - the rest of the year. Call us today for a FREE Initial Consultation.

Let's Clear Something Up, Right NOW

If you are a business owner and do not have a bookkeeper, this is something you have got to do.

Take 1 - 2 hours a month to make sure that your accounts are reconciled, categorized and in shape. The tax filing season is already filled with stress - why add to your problems by letting your accounts languish?

PURPOSES OF A RECONCILIATION

One purpose of a reconciliation is to make sure that all the transactions that have occurred are accounted for. So, if your bank says you have $5000 in deposits and $3200 in expenses, do the books reflect that?

A bank reconciliation also gives you time to actually assess your business. Say you have $5000 in the bank - is all of that business income? Some might be a contribution or an accidental deposit of personal income to the business. You will not catch that unless you are doing a reconciliation.

A bank reconciliation gives you time to categorize your transactions. Take it from a business owner, - it is useful and saves time.

Do not punish yourself by letting it pile up for months at a time. It is too expensive on many fronts to do so. You are not getting an accurate view of your business finances.

If you do not have the time, Off-Site Business Services can help when it comes to weekly or monthly tasks.

We have the resolve to reconcile your accounts!