Tag: bookkeeping services los angeles

Personal Accounting: What to do when you are financially in over your head?

Rick_E_Norris,_An_Accountancy_Corporation_Personal_Accounting_What_to_do_When_You_are_Financially_in_Over_Your_Head

So you just added up your credit card statements, and you got that sinking feeling. What                                                                           will I do now?

Our society is run on consumerism. We have seen in the last year, that without it, the US is sunk. But what if you spend more than you make? What can you do in personal accounting habits? Here are a few tips:

  1. Change credit cards. If you still have good credit and receive zero interest credit card teasers in the mail, it could be a good thing. Try rolling over your debt onto a zero interest card, temporarily. This personal accounting move can give you a little time in paying off the debt before accruing more interest. However, there is a danger. If you do not change your spending patterns, you will be worse off than before. Use the new card in your personal accounting strategy to eliminate your debt, not incur more. So, this means that you may have to cut up all the other cards until you arrive at a zero debt level.
  2. Pay cash and stop using credit. Pay cash for as many things as you can without running your bank balance into your overdraft account. This personal accounting strategy can really teach you how much you spend each month, and on what items. There are few things more sobering than seeing your cash disappears out of your wallet.
  3. Try to cook most of your meals. Yes, yes I know. You can’t cook. But, the internet is full of quick recipes that can make you a real chef Boyardee in no time. If you must go out, go to restaurant.com and get discount coupons, or buy an Entertainment Book. This way you could cut your dining cost in half, and still enjoy yourself. In this economy, even 5 star restaurants like Lawry’s the Prime Rib are offering deals. Look for them.
  4. Don’t borrow money from friends and family. They don’t need your problems, and it may be the last time they talk to you for a while.  This of course may not apply in catastrophic circumstances where families pitch in to help each other.
  5. Make a personal accounting cash flow statement. Schedule out your expenses each month, and consider where you can cut. Be honest with yourself. You want to be debt-free before the holidays, in which at that time you can spend responsibly on gifts.

Cash has been and always will be king.

Cost of CFO and Bookkeeping

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Many business owners who retain such individuals fail to look at all the components.  To compute the real cost of a CFO or bookkeeper, a business owner must add their salaries, payroll taxes, worker’s compensation charges, sick leave, vacation leave, training, parking, to name the basics.  Then, you may send your CFO or bookkeeper to seminars or outside training.  That’s a double-whammy.

But now comes a cost of an internal CFO or bookkeeper that is new to smaller owners, health insurance.  Under the new laws, most smaller businesses will be required to provide health insurance.  Even with the credits, probably not available to a company for a CFO, the cost will take a chunk out of the bottom line.

Now some businesses need an internal controller, a CFO, or a bookkeeper.  They function quickly with inventory shipments and cost analysis.  But many companies don’t need both a CFO and bookkeeper because of the advancement of technology and the web.

Many business owners are not familiar with paperless and remote accounting technology.  As a firm that provides outside CFO and bookkeeper services, we do.  We fill that gap for the business owner, usually at a fraction of the cost of a CFO and bookkeeper.

How do we do it?  Our bookkeepers are trained like the staff accountants.  They provide the small business owner with the skill set to manage the bookkeeping function while being guided by our accountants who act as outside CFOs.  A client does not need the constant skills of a CFO and bookkeeper if they have other employees, like an office manager that fills the day to day functions.  As outside CFOs and bookkeepers, we provide a specific skill set that targets the needs of the business owner from bookkeeping to accounting, and tax services to strategic planning.  As outside CFOs and bookkeepers, we help manage your business.  Our business connections provide a whole host of referrals for such things as insurance, financial planners, pension consultants, etc.  Our skill set provide the business owner with much more than an accounting function like a CFO or bookkeeper, we provide a whole business startup and operation specialty.

But we don’t stop there.  Within our function of acting as an outside CFO or bookkeeper, we help owners increase their top line by strategic planning.  Unlike a CFO or bookkeepers who restrict themselves to historical information, we look to the horizon and strategically help the business owner grow their business.  Yes, we provide the usual function of a CFO or bookkeeper in this manner, but how does that help a business owner grow his or her business?

The time has come of age for the external CFO and bookkeeping staff for many companies. The cost of keeping such a staff in house does not make sense for the on-hands business owner who is trying to get to the next level.