Monthly Archives: April 2010

Does your paperwork keep you up at night?

bookkeeping, simply accounting, small business accounting, Uncategorized

Are your businesses finances disorganized? Does your paperwork keep you up at night?


Do receipts, invoices, credit card bills, and financial statements take up space on your desk and in your mind?

There is a way to organize your business finances. By creating a simple, yet functional way to organize your business you will find it easy to sleep at night and increase your creative flow.

1. Purchase Accounting Software –You will want to talk to a consultant that can perform a needs based analysis on your business and help you purchase the right software for your needs. An accounting software consultant will be able to advise you on the ability to upgrade when your business is ready for a more robust system.  You also want to be sure you are tracking your profits and losses using the right tools and analyze your financials monthly. 

Soma recommends Simply Accounting ™, but there are others. Try to begin tracking sales and expenses from the beginning of your business, don’t let it get behind! If you do not want to do the bookkeeping, hire a Professional Bookkeeper right away and be sure to check their credentials. One of the largest bookkeeping associations in Canada is at www.ipbc.com. (Institute of Professional Bookkeeping of Canada).



2. File your paperwork -.  Keep all receipts, credit card statements and bank statements (make sure to reconcile these monthly), sales tax remittance and payroll deduction remittance for seven years.  At the end of each month, run a Profit and Loss Statement and a Balance Sheet (collectively known as Financial Statements).  The Financial Statements become the separator for each month.  Consider purchasing a scanner. They come with software that allows you to sort the receipts into categories. You will never have to dig thru paper files again.


3. Close each year – At the end of each year, reconcile all your accounts, print/scan your annual Financial Statements, and close out your year.  Give your accountant a copy of your accounting software file to prepare your income tax return.

Nightee Night

Dianne Mueller CPB – Certified Professional Bookkeeper

Soma Small Business Solutions

www.simplysoma.com

Start Right Systems for Long-term Success

Uncategorized

 

Effective and successful entrepreneurs will develop internal systems to organize their financial information right out of the starting gate. Proper record keeping starts and stops with a good accounting software program, receipt retention and bookkeeping done in a timely manner.

Inaccurate records make planning and decision making pointless because there is no way to keep track of your progress. It is also essential if you plan to sell your business down the road or acquire financing to support your growth.

  • Errors in your accounting system will cost you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to find the mistakes and correct them before a banker or buyer will even talk to you.
  • Don’t forget about Revenue Canada. You are required by law to keep records… RC4409 on the CRA webpage

Whether your business is taxed at a corporate entity level or your profits flow through to your personal T1 tax return, the taxes owing must be kept up throughout the year. Finding out you do not have enough cash flow to pay your tax bill on time and that you will be slapped with penalties and interest can all be avoided by accurate bookkeeping records.

Receipts should be entered into the accounting system in a timely manner and filed so that it can be retrieved quickly. An additional benefit to doing this will allow you to find warranty information on your equipment purchases if needed.

Every business needs to be using computerized bookkeeping software. Soma Small Business Solutions recommends Simply Accounting™ for all their new startup clients.

Simply Accounting™ is the better option for a Canadian business for many reasons, but the most important is that it meets the standards requirement set out by Revenue Canada and is GAAP compliant. With good bookkeeping practices, your financial statements will reflect what is going on in your business. If you have set up the software correctly and addressed any error messages, your financial statements will guide you through the growth of your business.

In all our efforts to be greener, you should also consider purchasing an electronic storage system. Look for a program that will allow you to scan documents, receipts, and be able to add notes. Be sure you have two backup systems in place, at least one of which is online or offsite.

Canada Revenue requires a 7-year history of support document used to support any business transaction and or tax return. In addition, your insurance company may require you to maintain documentation even longer.

The first order of business is to, establish good record keeping practices. Buy and install your accounting software right away, and decide on a filing system that will work for you. 

 

Dianne Mueller CPB-Certified Professional Bookkeeper

Soma Small Business Solutions

How to Sync Simply Accounting 2010 with Outlook

bookkeeping, simply accounting, small business accounting

How to Sync “Simply Accounting 2010” with Outlook

  1. In Simply Accounting

Click on the customers & sales tab on the left hand side of the home screen.

    (This may be labelled differently if you have customized your system)

Select “Customers” and open the customer ledger record.

On the options tab, place a check in the box that is labelled “Synchronize with Microsoft Outlook”(Remember to repeat this for all customers that you want to synchronize).

 

  1. Insert your Simply Accounting software CD into the CD-Rom drive on your computer.

The Simply Accounting installation window will appear.

Select install Simply Accounting. When or if a warning message comes up stating you currently have SA installed just ignore it and click “OK”.

Then select “Add/Remove Program Components” and click “Next”

Scroll down the list (screen shot below) and click on Add-in for Microsoft Outlook and click “Next”.

Click “Finish”

  1. In Outlook

You will see that the Simply Accounting toolbar has been added to your Outlook toolbar.

From the Simply Accounting toolbar, select the path to the Simply Accounting Company file that you want to synchronize with your Outlook contacts. Click “Synchronize”.

Tip

Repeat Step 1 to also synchronize your suppliers or vendors contact information with Outlook.

Dianne Mueller

Soma small business solutions

www.simplysoma.com