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Showing posts from September, 2022

5 Common Accounting Challenges for the E-commerce Industry

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Every industry has its accounting difficulties, and the e-commerce industry easily leads the charge when it comes to bookkeeping challenges, which oftentimes can be a lot more complicated than other industries. Learn more about the accounting challenges to be aware of when running an e-commerce business. 1. COGS and inventory management Cost of goods sold (COGS) is one of the most important aspects of accounting, it takes into account all of the direct costs involved in the process of selling products, to establish the actual cost of doing business as an e-commerce retailer. Understanding the COGS gives retailers a clearer understanding of their profits and how to manage their cash flow. It also directly affects accounting management and tax calculations. The following basic COGS formula can be used for e-commerce businesses: Direct costs involved in e-commerce inventory can include: raw materials and/or manufacturing costs as well as packaging costs and distribution or shipping cost...

What is the Role of a Controller and Does Your Business Need One?

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With so many different accounting roles within a business, it can be difficult to distinguish the duties of each. Here we take a look at the role of a controller to help you assess the need for this function within your business. What does a Controller do? A financial controller is typically responsible for the holistic accounting functions within a business. This doesn't mean that the controller will necessarily perform each function, they might need someone who is closer to the business operations to carry out the duty, while they manage each step to ensure accurate ledgers within a business that comply with GAAP guidelines. The role of a controller can be thought of as a high-level post within the accounting division that ties all of the outputs of other accounting functions. The greatest benefit of a controller is its strategic role as the go-between the finance division and a business's senior management. Some of the key services performed by an outsourced controller...

Why Your Business Needs Accounting Clean Up Services

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Running the accounting side of your business in addition to daily operations is hard enough to do as a business owner, not only do you need to stay on top of your game when it comes to delivering a good product and keeping clients happy, but you also need to ensure that the numbers in your business meet GAAP guidelines while they are also in line with your business goals. What is accounting clean-up? Accounting cleanup services can be seen as a monthly recon of your books, financial statements, and ledgers to ensure correspondence of the numbers and consistency throughout. Because accounting is a chronological series of your business' income and expenses, bookkeeping cleanup involves researching and cross-checking the correspondence of these entries across all records. The importance of accounting clean up Missing just one transaction in your books can have a ripple effect on the accounting side of your business, and with just a few gaps in your accounting system, your business c...

What is the Role of a Bookkeeper and Does Your Business Need One?

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With so many different accounting roles within a business, it can be difficult to distinguish the duties of each. If your company employs a bookkeeper, do you still need the services of an accountant; and if your business has a lead controller, does it still need a bookkeeper? Here we take a look at the role of a bookkeeper, how this function differs from that of an accountant, and which of these functions are best suited to the needs of your business. What does a bookkeeper do? Bookkeepers play a crucial role in the accounting side of a business, not only are they responsible for providing current and accurate financial information about a business, but they also assist accountants to prepare financial reports that enable business owners' decision-making. Here's a breakdown of bookkeeping duties: - Capturing financial transactions: Accurately recording the money coming into and going out of the business is an important part of knowing the exact financial state of a busines...

Maintaining Clean Accounting Records

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Adequate accounting procedures help to organize the differing transactions within a business. An up-to-date view of the finances helps top-level management make swift decisions that can save your business time and money. Missing just one transaction in your books can ripple effect on your accounting records, which can have knock-on effects on the economic outlook of your business and the credibility of your brand to clients. We take a look at ongoing maintenance and keeping your accounting records clean and current, is of utmost importance to your business. The importance of maintaining proper accounting records Having current accounting records is not only beneficial for tax filing, but it can also empower your accounts team to pick up on theft or bad debtors more easily. Employing ongoing maintenance to keep your accounting records up to date is important for: - tracking accounts and crucial business transactions - keeping records accurate to attract potential investors - avo...

Accounting For Small Business- Tips for Healthy Cash Flow Management

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At Outsourced Bookkeeping, we perform regular audits and suggest optimization to our clients to help them achieve their cash flow goals. In this blog, we identify and list our top 5 tips that have resulted in positive cash flow for the majority of our clients. 5 Tips for Healthy Cash Flow Management: Invoice swiftly to reduce DSO (Day Sales Outstanding): The most common mistake small and medium businesses make is to wait until a pre-set amount of time to send an invoice which delays the payment. The faster you send an invoice more time it gives you vendor to send the payment and quicker the payment ball rolls.   - Having an accounting software will helps a lot in this regard by giving you access to quick invoice templates. - Simplify and ease the payment methods, offer discounts for early payments. Every step you take to increase the payment speed contributes to more cash at hand and a healthy cash flow. Accounting software accelerates this invoicing by cutting and avoiding err...

Here's Exactly Why Your Business Must Consider Outsourced Accounting Services in 2022

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  Accounting is rated among the hardest jobs to fill in the US. As you hold this fact in your hand, now know that the job growth rate of bookkeepers and accountants is 10% lower than that of other professions. So, even though the job to applicant's ratio shifts in favour of employers, it has become hard to find the right candidate for the accounting job. This can be a big damper for businesses and CPA firms alike. Whether to minimize the tax, improve the cash flow of your business, or benefit from financial forecasting for growth, expert and accurate accounting becomes a prerequisite for every business. As for the CPA firms, it can be difficult for them to latch on to new growth opportunities without adequate staffing. Fortunately, outsourced accounting services can solve this problem for you. That is not all about it. Outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping in 2022 comes with a myriad of benefits which can further sweeten the deal for you. Here's Exactly Why Your Business Mus...

Using Outsourced Services to Increase Cash Flow and Stay A float

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Inflation has recently increased by the largest amount in 40 years in the United States. An estimated 45 percent of households are currently struggling financially due to inflation. Inflation causes customers to have less to spend on services and products, and the cost of doing business increases. Plus, when employees' salaries are shrunk by inflation rates, that means they're, in effect, incurring pay cuts. That can lead to lower job satisfaction, reduced engagement and productivity, and increased turnover costs. Below, we discuss two big ways medium-sized businesses can significantly increase cash flow even during extreme inflation. The Inflation Rundown Inflation is the rate at which a currency's value declines during a particular period and the effect of the decrease of its purchasing power in causing rising costs. Currently, because the dollar has lost a significant amount from its usual range of value, consumer prices have increased as product and service suppliers ...

Don't Get Caught Making These Accounting Mistakes

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As a business owner, handling accounting in-house and with manual processes may seem like it will save you the immediate expenses of a professional, but it could be costing your business much more in the long run. A business's accounting is only as accurate as the figures that are fed into it. Without guidance from a professional, you run the risk of costly errors, tax errors, cash flow disruptions, and more that can negatively impact the financial health of your business. If you find yourself making those mistakes, we've chosen a few common mistakes that businesses make with their accounting that could be costing you. Incorrect Use of Software (or lack thereof). Utilizing accounting software may seem like the quick and easy solution to solving your accounting issues. Unfortunately, your software can not stop you from entering incorrect data or misunderstanding the data that is outputted. When used correctly, high-quality accounting software can be a useful financial tool, bu...

Outsourced Accountancy Services- What It Is And Why It's Trending

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What are Outsourced Accountancy Services? Outsourcing accountancy services means that an accounting firm/practice hires an external accountant or an outsourcing accounting services company to handle its clients' tax, bookkeeping, and accounting needs. It is a common practice among individual accountants and even the established accounting practices today, and it is trending across the world. Accounting outsourcing services are trending globally because, not only the services are affordable and professional, but it also keeps accounting firms free and available for important business activities. Moreover, another reason for their popularity is affordability. Outsourcing accounting services are cost-effective, time-saving, and can be done easily with the help of an outsourcing company like Affinity Outsourcing. If you are new to the term, outsourced accountancy services, then we would like to inform you that accounting outsourcing services in the USA are for all-- from individual a...