Accountant Log
The Journal
Practice Keeping Track of Your Personal Expenses
Try to keep track of your personal expenses for a few days. You’ll probably find it surprisingly hard. Here are some reasons why: We don’t notice small expenses. When was the last time you had to stop and think about whether you could afford a $2 cup of coffee? We don’t notice large expenses. When […]
Understand Your Finances: Make Good Decisions About How to Spend Your Money
Personal financial planning is not necessarily about managing money effectively. It’s also about understanding how you are managing, or mismanaging, your money. This is because financial plans are normally about the future, which is always uncertain. The dice are rolled every day, but the outcome of each roll depends on an enormous number of variables […]
Find Out If You Need to File at All
The first thing to understand is that most people don’t need to file, ever. The only people who have to file are those with earnings over a certain amount. So the first thing you have to do is find out what that amount is. If your income was below the threshold, you don’t have to […]
Put Together Your Net Income
Put together your net income for the year. If you had some big expenses, like a car or a home, be sure to include them.Now subtract the following things: – income tax – insurance – social security – phone That is your net pay. How much of that do you get to keep? If you […]
The Easiest Way to Do Your Taxes Is to Have a Simple Individual Tax Return
A simple individual tax return is one that lists all your income and expenses, but where you don’t have to calculate anything. Instead the government does all the calculations for you. An example of a simple return is the 1040EZ form in the United States. To use it you only need to give your name, […]
Manage Your Money Better by Keeping Track of Where It Goes
Keeping track of where your money goes is a useful discipline. Sometimes it will reveal ways to save money; sometimes it will alert you to ways you are wasting money; and sometimes it will show you that you’re doing things that don’t make any sense at all. I never found a four-leaf clover, but I’ve found […]
Liquidation of a Business Under Common Accounting Methods
Liquidation of a business under common accounting methods involves many arbitrary estimates, judgements and assumptions. If the business is being liquidated by a receiver, an auditor or an accountant, for instance, they must value the shares in the business at their estimated market value. But this value cannot be determined for certain until it has […]
Interview Your Accountant
Your accountant is the person most likely to know your business backward and forward. He is also the person least likely to tell you what you want to hear. The most important thing for you to do is to ask questions. You can get a long way just by asking questions. Often, you’ll want to […]
Discuss Outsourcing Vs. In-House Bookkeeping.
I think it is clear that outsourcing bookkeeping is more efficient than doing it in-house. The people who would do the accounting in-house are probably better used doing other things, and even if they weren’t, you should be able to hire competent accountants for a fraction of the cost of keeping them on staff. Accounting […]
Set Up an Easy to Use Bookkeeping System That Will Track Everything You Need
Set up a good, easy to use bookkeeping system. It will eventually pay for itself many times over, and it’s a lot easier than trying to do everything by hand. Don’t worry too much about getting your accounting perfect while you’re small; it will be a lot easier when you’re bigger. The best method I’ve […]
Why You Should Outsource Your Accounting and Administrative Work
A lot of small businesses hire people to handle their payroll and other administrative tasks. I don’t think it’s a good idea. Most companies that do this think of themselves as “buying time”. It’s cheaper than hiring extra employees, and the time they buy is mostly spent on things that someone with a business degree […]
How to Strategize an Accounting and Bookkeeping System for Your Small Business
Strategizing an accounting and bookkeeping system for your small business requires a different approach than setting up one for personal use. The complexity of the project, the limited amount of time you have to devote to it and the need to ensure that your system is comprehensive and up-to-date all require that you approach the […]