In the Black Accounting Services

Accounting — Your Management Controls

 Every day millions of business owners operate their businesses without knowing their financial positions, where they have been, where they are, and where they are going.

As your profit and growth expert, our primary role is to ensure that you have the historical data that will tell you where you have been and where you currently are. With that information we can provide a professional consultation that will help you determine where you want to go while creating an action plan that will help you get there.

With this 360 degree view of your business, you can plan effectively and then track your progress against your goals. It will also help you anticipate obstacles so that, when encountered, you can easily maneuver around them rather than allowing them to slow you down.

With our help you can’t go wrong.

Accounting is a core business function, necessary for the success of any business.

You’re probably already familiar with the bleak forecast for new small businesses. While failure rates have decreased considerably in the last few years, recent studies from the Small Business Administration (SBA) indicate that one third of new employer establishments fail within the first two years, and 56% fail within four years.

Poor financial management is often cited as the reason for most small business failures. Often the business owner or a member of the business team manages this crucial function because they want to maintain complete control of their business, and they assume  that outsourcing the accounting would be too expensive. What they don’t realize is that outsourcing is a useful management tool that can save a business both time and money while preventing potential failure.  Outsource to the right accountant,  can be the difference between base survival and profitable success.

The Benefits

There are countless benefits you enjoy when outsourcing your accounting. Here are just a few:

Save Yourself Time. You’re in business because you’re good at what you do. Your expertise is in  the products and/or services you offer. The time you spend setting up and administering an accounting system is time away from your business and your area of expertise, which may result in a loss of opportunity for your business.

In order to be competitive you must constantly be looking for ways to improve and expand your products and/or services, better marketing of your business, and stay ahead of your competition. When you and your team focus time and attention on the accounting, that’s time not spent on these crucial tasks. When you outsource the accounting to a trusted professional, you can use that time to make your business the best it can be.

Save Yourself Money. We all know time is money. The average small business owner spends over 10 hours personally, each month, accounting for the business. If your average billing rate is $50 per hour, you may be spending more than five hundred dollars’ worth of your time! Chances are you can pay for a good accountant and then some with all that money.

Gain Access to Valuable Accounting Expertise, Equipment, and Technology. Reputable accountants have the expertise to not only save you money, but to make your business more profitable. In addition to that, they have access to equipment and technology that most small businesses can’t afford. They will use their resources to your advantage, and save you the time and headache of doing it yourself.

Gain Access to Profit-Building Information. A truly valuable accountant is also a Profit Center Expert. They analyze financial data in order to assist you in making profitable decisions for your business. A Profit Center Expert can inform you which products and/or services to expand, which to eliminate, whether your marketing attempts are successful, where you’re losing money, and where to cut back in order to save and redirect funds in order to become more profitable.

Call us for a free, no-obligation consultation. We can customize a package of services that is competitively priced and designed to save you time, energy, and headache. We offer the following services:

Accounts Payable

• Input vendor invoices to payable system
• Classify invoices to the proper G/L account
• Request and maintain vendor information
• Maintain vendor master files
• Respond to vendor inquiries about payment status
• Retrieve copies of payments as necessary
• Prepare and file required GST forms
• Process requests for stop payments when necessary
• Cut checks to vendors based on due dates or client instruction
• Reconcile vendor statements to accounts payable ledger
• Reporting to organization on detailed aged payables and cash requirements
• Year end Tax forms

Accounts Receivable

• Billings prepared as needed by TAD and mailed out (all billings provided to Client for approval prior to mailing)
• Record and account for revenue
• Input receivable transactions into the accounting system
• Prepare and deliver periodic statements
• Issue client-approved credit memos and refund checks
• Maintain subsidiary receivables ledger
• Process client-approved adjustments
• Apply cash received to customer accounts and resolve “short pays”
• Light phone collections as needed by client
• Client to photocopy checks and provide to TAD
• Client to prepare deposit slips (provide to TAD) and make bank deposits

Cash management

• Process daily sales and deposit reports
• Verify daily deposits and report variances
• Reconcile and verify credit card deposits
• Reconcile monthly bank statements

Journal entry and general ledger

Account reconciliations

Payroll

• Time cards, after approval, will be scanned and uploaded to TAD prior to payday
• TAD completes payroll and client prints, signs and distributes paychecks
• Prepare employee earnings statements complete with current pay period and year-to-date wages, taxes, and adjustments
• Prepare department summaries of month-to-date payroll data in addition to customized reports specific to Client
• Prepares timely and accurate notifications of tax liabilities and deposits
• Completes Year end T4 slips
• Respond to requests for employee verifications
• Process and submit garnishment payments
• Respond to employee payroll inquiries
• Prepare and file new hire tax forms
• Prepare, file, and pay all Federal and Provincial  payroll taxes
• Reconcile health insurance payments and make payroll deductions when required
• Prepare necessary separation forms
• Allocate payroll expenses for multi-store employees
• Prepare and process payroll accruals when necessary

Monthly Closing

Fixed assets accounting & depreciation

Monthly financial analysis and reports

Yearly Business Assessments

Don’t wait another day to partner with a Profit Center Expert (PCE) and make your business more successful. Do what you love to do more; let your PCE take care of the rest. Call now for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Our company provides a balance of good old personal interest, while meeting a broad variety of business accounting needs at a very affordable price.

We want you to feel like you are our only client. If you have a priority, it becomes our priority, and we will quickly get you the answers you need to run your business profitably. Regardless of company size, our clients should expect our utmost attention.

By working with us, you have the resources of a full-service accounting provider. We have the resources to fulfill virtually any of your accounting needs, or aid in connecting you with professionals who can.

There’s one distinguishing difference between tax planning, and tax preparation.  In order to be beneficial,  planning  occurs before the end of the year, while tax preparation  takes place after the beginning of the year. Although we can’t promise to eliminate taxes, we can help you with both the planning and the preparation in order to minimize them.

Tax planning is an important step in reducing taxes. Together, throughout the year, we will discuss various tax strategies that could potentially save you thousands of dollars. This will enable you to make any needed adjustments before the end of the year so that you have some control over how much you pay in taxes.

Then, at the end of the year, with your help, we will see that your taxes are professionally prepared in a timely fashion to avoid any late fees. In order to offer you such service we have on staff certified Professional Tax Preparers that will assess your tax liability.

We trust that when choosing an accountant, you want an expert on your team.

We, here at In the Black Accounting, do take our job as your Profit and Growth Expert very seriously. Our goal is to provide you with accurate and timely information enabling you to maximize your profit dollars. This entails monthly analysis of your financial results, consultation in areas of profit improvement, and directions of how to take advantage of lower tax strategies.

Together, we will examine past experiences, map out where you want to go with your business, and discuss how that can happen. That’s our role as your Profit and Growth Expert.

Only about 1 out of 30 businesses are required to have an audit completed by a Certified Public Accountant, CPA, however some businesses have them performed because the bank from which they seek financing requires it or because they will be publicly traded. Regardless of the reason, an audit can be costly.

An audit must be performed by an independent CPA — one that is not presently involved in the business in any way. Although, as your Profit and Growth Expert, we can’t perform the audit, if you find your business in one of these relatively rare situations, we can assist you in locating an auditor who will provide this service in a professional and cost effective way.

On staff we have qualified individuals with various levels of experience and credentials ranging from Certified Professional Bookkeepers to Professional Tax Preparers to QuickBooks Specialists, all of which can provide you with the peace of mind you deserve.

Too often business owners are  preoccupied with selected parts of the accounting process that they don’t realize just how valuable all that financial information can be. Some business owners focus on preparing the yearly tax statement, while others may worry about that and their cash flow, and still others may just balance their check books. If you choose to have us do your accounting, we can do all that and more, and more importantly, we can help you become more profitable.

It really is quite simple. First you need a reputable accountant, what we like to call a Profit and Growth Expert, to determine your business goals. These goals may include, but are not limited to, growth expectations, marketing plans, profit margins, and overall labor expenses. We ask important questions, like what do you want and why do you want it?

Here is a technical way of looking at bookkeeping:

Bookkeeping: The practice involved in the systematic recording of transactions affecting a company beginning with the data-entry process and ending with the preparation of financial statements. The art, practice, or labor involved in the systematic recording of the transactions affecting a business.
http://www.know-accounting.com/glossary/index.php?terml=b&termid=29

In layman’s terms, bookkeeping is the practice of determining which numbers are important to you and your business. Once that’s decided, we can set up a customized system that will organize the information you want and need. This is how we will come up with Your Accounting System.

In today’s competitive environment, information is power!

You’ll uncover a goldmine of profit-building information as you determine your financial standing, and when used properly, this information can help you better plan for the success of your business.

Call today for a free consultation. There is absolutely no obligation of any kind.

It will be well worth your time!

Do you have a customized accounting or bookkeeping system? Take This Quiz:

Can you answer these 10 questions about your business?

1. Were my total sales up or down last month and were they designated by category?
2. What was my total gross profit last month and was it designated by sales category?
3. What is my gross profit per item?
4. What were my expenses by category last month?
5. Who owes me money and how much?
6. Who’s behind in paying me and by how much?
7. How much inventory do I have: in total and by item?
8. To whom do I owe money and how much?
9. What was my profit last month?
10. How much do I OWN, and how much do I OWE?

Were my total sales up or down last month and were they designated by sales category?
You need to know: If your sales are up, you’ll need extra cash to buy replacement inventory. If your sales are down, you’ll want to pull back on inventory purchases. Sales increases in a category can mean a new growth opportunity. Sales decreases need to be investigated to determine the reason for the loss.

Back to questions

What was my total gross profit last month and was it designated by sales category?
You need to know: Gross profit shows the profit remaining from sales after subtracting the cost of the products or services you sold. Changes in gross profit show whether or not your pricing strategies are working. Cutting prices to increase sales can hurt you if it reduces your gross profit.

Back to questions

What is my gross profit per item?
You need to know: Pricing should be based on profit goals rather than simple conjecture. By raising the prices on some items and selling others near or below cost, you can change your inventory mix and increase gross profits. An increase of just 1% may add thousands of dollars to net profits. You can give sales incentives that will cause employees to sell the most profitable items instead of the easiest ones.

Back to questions

What were my expenses by category last month?
You need to know: Are payroll costs too high? What about other costs, such as insurance and utilities? In order to cut back on expenses, you must first know which costs are excessive. Also, recording your expenses each month ensures that you get the maximum tax deductions.

Back to questions

Who owes me money and how much?
You need to know: You can’t expect to get paid in full unless you tell customers exactly what they owe. An itemized, neatly printed, and up-to-date monthly statement tells customers that you expect to be paid on time and according to your payment terms.

Back to questions

Who’s behind in paying me and by how much?
You need to know: Customers who fall behind need to be contacted immediately and continuously so that it doesn’t become a habit. It is essential before you approve a new order from a customer, that you know if that customer paid you on time for the last order.

Back to questions

How much inventory do I have: in total and by item?
You need to know: If you’re running low on an item, you can reorder in advance and never run out, therefore avoiding rush delivery charges. If you have too much of one item, or too much inventory in general, you can cut back on your inventory investment. Also, you can compare a physical count to the books and identify a shortage problem before it threatens to put you out of business.

Back to questions

To whom do I owe money and how much?
You need to know: Many vendors offer discounts for paying bills in less than 30 days, which can add up to big savings on an annual basis. Paying your bills on time will increase your chances of qualifying for business credit, plus, you can plan for your cash requirements and reduce the need to borrow from a bank or your own funds.

Back to questions

What was my profit last month?
You need to know: A monthly profit figure gives you the financial bottom line, and lets you know where you’ve been and where you’re going as well  as saving you thousands of dollars, on year-end tax return fees, and plan for taxes in advance.

Back to questions

How much do I OWN, and how much do I OWE?
You need to know: Keeping track of your current assets and liabilities allows you to plan for your cash needs, and helps you stay in compliance with loan agreements. This enables you to be ready to respond to questions on demand from suppliers or potential customers.

Back to questions

Which of the following best describes Your Accounting System?

I do it myself
Your time is so much more valuable than that! You are the World’s #1 expert in running your business. While you are busy managing the books, your competitors are designing new products and services, preparing new advertising, collecting past-due accounts, and shopping for less expensive suppliers. These are essential to the growth of your business. Are you sure that your accounting system conforms to proper rules and procedures? Even more importantly, do you get all of the valuable information described here from your system?

I have an accountant
Does your accountant or bookkeeper provide you with all of the information described here? Does your accountant take the time to explain what the numbers mean, and how you can use them to manage your business more profitably? Do you feel you are getting the best possible value for the fees you are paying?

I don’t have a system
There isn’t a better time than right now to get started! Studies have shown that small businesses often fail because they don’t have a good accounting system in place. We will work with you to develop a system for your specific business that is so easy to use that you’ll be amazed. If you can drop a piece of paper into a file folder, you already have the necessary skills to use it! You can obtain all of the valuable information described here as well  as having an understanding as to  what the numbers mean, and how you can use them to manage your business more profitably, therefore having a better control of your future.