Bookkeeping Business Secrets for Goal-Setting Success

Goal setting is crucial to the success of any business, but is particularly important for entrepreneurs in the bookkeeping service business who can become distracted with multiple priorities. Goal setting allows us to be proactive, instead of just being reactive. We’ve all had days where we leap from one crisis to another, but we know that’s not a preferred mode of operation for our bookkeeping services! Goals direct actions, give us something to aim for, and serve as a yardstick for measuring our bookkeeping business’s success.

When setting business goals, I use a successful goal-setting formula that a business coach
mentor taught me. The formula incorporates a strategy or strategies for accomplishing the goal: “I will (goal + performance measure) by (specific actions).”

For example, suppose that you want to increase revenue. First specify the goal: “I will increase revenue this month by twenty-five percent.” Setting a specific goal builds in the criteria you will use to evaluate your success.

In this case, at the end of the month, you’ll either have increased sales by twenty-five percent compared to the previous month or not. Then, specify the strategy that you will use to work towards accomplishing the goal: “I will increase sales this month by twenty-five percent by offering a ten-percent-off sale on all inventory and advertising this sale in the local newspapers.”

This makes evaluating your success or failure easy because your goal is specific rather than general. Suddenly, instead of just having a goal that you may or may not achieve, you have a specific plan to follow to achieve the goal you have set.

If you avoid setting goals, here are a few bookkeeping business secrets for goal-setting success:

Bookkeeping Business Secret #1: Have Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

The first thing I do when setting goals is to consider where I would like to be five years from now. Once I have determined my long-term goal or ideal scene, I work backwards by breaking this ideal scene down into short-term goals and specifying milestones that need to be achieved along the way.

If the task seems too daunting with a five-year plan, establish 90-day goals. Limit goals to three specific things that you want to accomplish. Write out each goal and put a due date next to it. Then write out each step that needs to be taken, by when, and what type of support you need to accomplish that goal. Then schedule in your calendar time to honor the commitment you just made to yourself.

Bookkeeping Business Secret #2: Be Relevant

Goals should help you attain a specific aim. Beware of goals that keep you busy but do not contribute directly to the overall goal you have set for yourself and the success of your bookkeeping business. If you don’t believe your goals are worthwhile, you won’t make the necessary effort to achieve them. For example, several years ago I wanted to work a four-day work week. I set the goal, but did not really believe that I could or should work only four days a week. Guess what? It never happened because I was not truly aligned with the goal.

Bookkeeping Business Secret #3: Review Your Goals Constantly

Review your goals daily. Keep them in plain view – by your desk or next to your computer. Goals are not something that you write down and file in a drawer. The more you embody your goals, the more real they become and the more aware you are of opportunities that cross your path to help you achieve those goals.

I write my goals on colorful 4×6 index cards and keep them by my bedside. I read them first thing each morning and then again before I go to sleep at night. This keeps me focused and moving toward my goals.

Bookkeeping Business Secret #4: Stay on Track

Once you establish clear goals you will begin to notice that opportunities begin to present themselves. When this happens, I ask myself a very important question which helps me to decide whether I should look further into the opportunity or let it go – “Does this opportunity bring me closer to my goal or further away from it?”

By asking yourself this simple question, you’ll be able to take decisive action towards accomplishing your goals. For example, a lovely salesperson from ADP has been calling me to schedule a meeting to show me their services and how they have changed. By asking myself, “Does this opportunity bring me closer to my goal or further away from it?” I have no problem deciding whether or not I should schedule the meeting.

Linda Hunt and Laurie O’Neil are the co-founders of The Bookkeeper’s Referral
Network Inc., the place where business meets great bookkeepers. To get your
copy of The 9 Disastrous Mistakes Most Freelance Bookkeeper’s Make in
Business (and How You Can Avoid Them!) visit http://www.bkpr-network.com

Accounting And Audit Exemptions For Small Companies In The UK

To qualify for being able to file shortened accounts a small company should satisfy at least two of three conditions. The three exemption conditions prior to April 2008 were that annual turnover is less than 5.6 million pounds, balance sheet total is less than 2.8 million pounds and the average number of employees is less than 50.

Where the financial year started after April 2008 the parameters increased to, annual turnover less than 6.5 million pounds, balance sheet total less than 3.26 million pounds and average number of employees less than 50.

Medium sized companies may also submit abbreviated accounts and the parameters to be classified as a medium sized company are significantly higher than those for a small company. For example for financial years starting from April 2008 two of the three qualifying conditions for a medium sized company to be satisfied were increased to sales turnover of under 25.9 million pounds, balance sheet total under 12.9 million pounds and average number of employees less than 250.

When a small company satisfies the audit exemption parameters it can maintain that audit exemption for a full financial year afterwards even if the parameters were exceed in that following financial year.

There are benefits in submitting abbreviated accounts as simpler and easier accounting records can be maintained reducing time spent on accountancy work. In addition although potential suppliers and financial institutions may require details of the year end financial accounts it is acceptable not to publish full details.

The main differences that can be produced under the banner of abbreviated accounts basically mean that a small company does not have to include a full balance sheet, profit and loss account or directors report which would normally be required by Companies House.

The small company is still required to submit a shortened balance sheet together with notes that explain the year end balances shown in the balance sheet. Under the audit exemption rules the year end accounts for a small company do not have to include an auditors report. When an auditor has prepared the accounts and submits a special audit report that report should state that in the auditors opinion the abbreviated accounts are being submitted in accordance with the appropriate section of the Companies Act.

Small companies must include a statement in the balance sheet that the year end accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions contained in Part V11 of the Companies Act 1985. For financial periods starting after 5 April 2008 the accounts must be prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and include a statement that the special provisions applicable to small companies have been adopted

The statements to accompany the balance sheet of a small company submitting abbreviated audit exempt accounts are that:

The company was entitled to audit exemption for the financial year under the relevant section of the Companies Act 2006.

The shareholders have not required the company to obtain an audit.

The company directors acknowledge their responsibility for preparing accounts that comply with section 221 of the Companies Act 2006.

The company directors acknowledge their responsibility for preparing accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and the profit and loss for the year.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of the Companies Act relating to small companies

The rules on audit exemption apply not only to the year end accounts supplied to companies house but also those supplied to HMRC. This enables the small company to submit the short version of the corporation tax return, CT600, with the abbreviated accounts for tax purposes.

Terry Cartwright is a qualified accountant in the UK and producing Accounting and Audit Exemption packages for small limited companies in accordance with Companies House submission requirements.

Let’s Get Fiscal : Relaxing The Fiscal Rules

It seems to me that, for large swathes of the public, the two “fiscal rules” that govern economic expenditure are, if not totally incomprehensible, at least too shatteringly dull to care about. One states that borrowing should not exceed the bracket of 40% of GDP whilst the other, the ‘golden rule’, refers to the balancing of the budget over the economic cycle.

It’s not exactly Bad Boys II is it? For the past 11 years these Brownite commandments have largely gone undisturbed. However, with financial storm clouds gathering overhead, it looks like they might not be as perennial as people thought.

The problem with this, naturally, is that if someone starts moving the goalposts, it somewhat throws the match into disrepute. The Conservatives, as one might expect, are practically queuing up to attack the Treasury over the issue. “The last nail in the coffin for Brown’s reputation for prudence” they’re calling it. The shadow chancellor George Osbourne, for example, rather sniffly referred to Brown “giving the prisoner the keys to their own cell”

A couple of rather adroit analogies aren’t they? Well, yes, until you read what Cameron said about these ‘fiscal rules’ at his party’s economic summit only two days previously:

“I don’t believe it’s impossible to try to get some political consensus [with the government]…about tight rules on fiscal policy”

That’s how he decided to phrase his intentions for steadying up the economy. Elsewhere he claimed that he wanted to “Reform the fiscal architecture” Which sounds remarkably like the way Kevin McCloud might describe Labour’s policy of ‘relaxing the fiscal rules’

Of course, as the old saying goes, the duty of the opposition is to oppose, but to describe Brown (and invariably it is Brown and not the Treasury or Alistair Darling… I wonder why?) as some prodigal cad and then hint at proposing the exact same measures is pretty rich isn’t it?

Many financial commentators have described Brown’s cabinet as standing at a crossroads with this issue. Either, they tighten their belts, raise taxes and feel the brunt of public unrest, or they slacken their belts, throw caution to the wind and indulge in a little more borrowed cash. The choice, clearly, is a tricky one:

ROCK: Oi! Brownie! How can you justify sticking to a set of outdated rules that will unnecessarily burden the public?

HARD PLACE: Oi! Gordon! where do you get off talking about borrowing more money when the financial situation is in such trouble?

Still, I suppose either of the two main positions are better than what Nick Clegg’s thrown into the mix. His ‘fair tax’ party has done somewhat of a u-turn of late and are now saying that they can solve the sticky economic climate by… lowering taxes.

Mmmm…? Well, we’d all like to see how that plans out wouldn’t we Nick? Sure you’ve thought this one through? Because I find it very hard to believe that every other economic advisor has dropped the proverbial clanger and forgot to add up these huge sums of money that are secreted around the different nooks and crannies of public spending. Brown doesn’t keep a penny jar does he?

So what have we learnt? That the government is in trouble; that the opposition will belligerently scratch and claw at everything the cabinet say, and that Nick Clegg could feel the benefit of a nice sit down. Well what’s new? Of course, detractors will rally around to call this the ‘end of the Brown era of economics’ but that only matters if you believed in such short-sighted spin in the first place.

Samantha is a London theatre fanatic and regular West End theatregoer. She writes and researches some of the biggest London shows you can view examples of her work here Oliver and Show and Stay.

What A Medical Billing Company Can Do For Your Practice

Just because a doctor owns his own practice does not mean that he is doing particularly well. It might be true, but it also may not be. A physician does not necessarily have the right business skills to run his office and will not be very successful monetarily. They can be the best doctors in the world but they must have the right skills in billing for their practice to reap the rewards.

If the doctor is smart enough to recognize this weakness, he can hire the services of a medical billing company to take care of all his office needs.

Trained professionals who know all the ins and outs of insurance and medical billing staff a medical billing company. They are capable of handling all aspects of making claims to the insurance company and getting the payments in on time.

Insurance companies don’t make things easy for the medical practice. They have a tendency to deny claims at the drop of a hat.

If the practice is very busy and sees a great many patients there will be a lot of claims that need to be submitted to the insurance company. If only one member of the practices staff is handling this they will have to manually fill out and submit the claims for every patient that goes through the office. If there is one mistake on these claims the insurance company will deny it immediately and send it back. Now that one person has to refill out the form correctly in addition to the new claims that they must do every day.

Even when everything is done right it can still take the insurance company a very long time to send the payment. For a small practice this can spell disaster. If there are a couple of denials and late payments this can effectively put the practice out of business.

A medical billing company can put all of those worries to rest. The staff of the practice will no longer have to do all of the work that is required for the insurance companies. The billing company utilizes professionals who will be able to get all of the claims filled out and filed in a timely manner. They will also be able to use electronic means to file the claims. This gets rid of the manual method of submitting claims.

The professional at the medical billing company will also make sure that the claim makes it all the way through to the insurance company and is paid. They take the time to monitor the claims all the way through the process. Medical billing companies have a very high success rate for getting their claims paid.

When a claim is submitted electronically it will be denied or accepted immediately. When it is accepted the funds will be sent to the practice within a few days instead of the months that it could take with a manual system.

For a smaller practice this is a big deal. To get their money in a timely manner is the one factor that will decide if they are in business in a week. For practices that think a medical billing company is too costly to justify, they should sit down and figure out what it is costing them to do it in their current manner.

This type of billing company will be beneficial for any practice, regardless of the specialty.

Peter Geisheker is CEO of The Geisheker Group marketing company. One of the types of clients that Peter helps are medical billing companies and medical billing services

How Medical Practices Find More Time For Their Patients

Medical billing has become one of the most cost effective ways of operating a medical practice. No matter how big or small the practice is, medical billing can reduce the amount of time and energy that is spent filling out and submitting claims forms, allowing you staff to attend to the needs of your patients and office duties. Usually, a medical practice needs to hire one person for this position and most often it is very expensive.

Submitting claims forms to insurance companies can be a tedious and frustrating task. Endless hours are spent filling out forms and sending them to the insurance company everyday. The insurance company reviews medical form and if there is an error, which happens often, it is rejected and returned to the medical provider to be redone. When this happens, the workload for the medical biller is doubled. It can be overwhelming at times.

Another factor is that insurance companies receive millions of claim forms each week. They sit in stacks on employee desks until they can be processed. This can take weeks or even months for the claim to be reviewed, and if it is denied, the whole process starts all over again. It can be maddening, especially if the medical practice is depending on the refund from the insurance company.

A medical billing company can assist a physician practice on many levels. First, the personnel are highly trained and have a working relationship with most insurance companies. They are able to get claims processed faster than a single practice. The next factor of this type of company is that they file all of your claims electronically and submit it to the insurance company computers. This means that your claims do not sit on someone’s desk for an undetermined amount of time. The claim is either accepted or rejected immediately.

The acceptance level of a medical billing company is over ninety percent, which means that your claim will be paid n a matter of days and not weeks or months. If a claim is rejected, the medical billing company will correct the error and resubmit it. They also track each payment to find where it is in process and when the payment will be sent.

This is a great benefit to small practices that depend on the insurance payments to meet weekly or monthly obligations.

Medical billing services can be used by any type of medical practice. Big or small, no matter what the specialty is, the same quality service is offered.

Doing a simple Google search for medical billing will yield you with millions of links. It is important to research the ones that you are interested in as each has their own pricing and terms of service.

Many medical practices that have made the decision to use this type of service have been impressed with the results. They have found that they have more time for their patients and their staff can perform their duties more efficiently because of the time that is saved.

Peter Geisheker is CEO of The Geisheker Group marketing firm. One of the types of
clients that Peter helps are medical billing companies

DIY Accounting Cabsmart Taxi Driver Accounts Software Questions And Answers

Do I have to enter mileage and vehicle running expenses in my taxi accounts.

Entering the mileage covered by the taxi is optional as the cabsmart package automatically chooses the most expensive cost which produces the lowest tax liability for cab and taxi drivers. The cabsmart taxi driver accounts package can be used by either entering your vehicle running costs or the vehicle business mileage.

Alternatively the cab driver can enter both taxi running costs and the taxi mileage in which case the cab smart formulae within the taxi accounts package automatically selects the highest cost to produce the lowest tax bill.

Would the cabsmart taxi driver accounts or the self employed accounts package be most suitable for a driving instructor.

Either accounts package would suffice but on balance the self employed accounting solution would be better as it has greater sales analysis of income not required for cab and taxi drivers. The purchase expense spreadsheet of cabsmart is specific to taxi driver expenses while the self employed package has increased analysis not required by taxi drivers whose variety of expenses tends to be more limited to vehicle running costs.

The cabsmart package is most suitable for taxi, cab, private hire drivers, van and lorry drivers to produce the accounts and complete the tax return.

The taxi fuel expenses and mileage do not appear in the profit and loss work book. The taxi expenses were not transferred from the purchase spreadsheet to the monthly profit & loss account in the financial accounts workbook.

The profit and loss account in the taxi financial accounts file is updated automatically and so if this is not happening the links are not working or there is a data entry error. A data entry error is caused if on the purchase expense spreadsheet you may have entered the taxi expense item such as fuel expenses but have not entered the code letter to analyse that expenditure using the list of letters in the user guide.

The P&L account would also not be updated if you have changed a file name.

The third potential reason is that when the cabsmart financial accounts file was downloaded you opened it first before saving and that has caused the link structure to corrupt. The simple solution is to download the taxi driver accounts templates again and save before opening and the link structure is preserved.

Taxi was sold and the sale value entered in the assets schedule but now the profit and loss account is showing a REF error message everywhere.

The REF message is an indication that a data entry error has been made. It is likely that you may not have entered the date the taxi was sold or you have not entered the written down value of the vehicle. Check those items and enter them and the REF message on the fixed assets schedule will disappear and when that goes then the REF message throughout the profit and loss account in the taxi financial accounts will also disappear.

I bought the cabsmart taxi driver accounts package several months ago but have lost it as my computer crashed. Do I need to pay again.

No problem and no need to buy again. Return to the confirmation link that was sent to you after purchase and download the taxi driver accounts package again. If you no longer have that email forward a copy of your paypal receipt and the link to the cab smart download page will be resent immediately.

What capital allowances can I claim from using my private vehicle for my taxi business.

Enter the vehicle description and cost in the fixed assets schedule in the category for vehicles less than 12,000 pounds and the capital allowance will be calculated automatically. As this is a private vehicle which is not wholly used as a cab the percentage of private vehicle use can be entered in the box provided and the capital allowance on the taxi will be adjusted accordingly.

Cars used as cabs or private hire vehicles are not subject to the first year allowance or the annual investment allowance which was introduced. Writing down capital allowances can be claimed for vehicles used as a taxi and were 25 percent of the written down value prior to 5 April 2008 and 20 percent after that date.

It is also worth pointing out that hackney cabs are in fact classed as a commercial vehicle and the first year allowance or the new annual investment allowance is claimable on those taxi vehicles. Commercial vehicles such as hackney cabs are treated for tax purposes in the same way as plant and equipment.

How do I enter a new taxi purchase in the taxi driver accounts.

Enter the total purchase price of the taxi in the expenses spreadsheet showing the date of purchase, description and total purchase cost. Use code letter F to analyse the expenditure to fixed asset.

Visit the fixed assets sheet and enter the date and description of the taxi plus the total cost. The formulae within the cabsmart taxi driver accounts package automatically calculates the capital allowances which it also places in the boxes on the tax return.

Terry Cartwright, CEO DIY Accounting, a qualified accountant in the UK, designs Accounting Software on excel spreadsheets and Payroll Software for small to medium sized business providing a complete accounting solution and also supplies Company Formation packages for new limited liability companies

DIY Accounting Software Installation Questions And Answers

Client asked for user name and authorisation code or password when attempting to download accounting software.

The client is probably attempting to login to the paypal site or has found another area on the website where a user name and password are required such as the DIY Accounting affiliate member area. The client has made an erroneous assumption of how to access the accounting or payroll software. The correct solution if the client was not returned by paypal directly to the download page is to click the URL sent in the confirmation email which was sent following the accounting software purchase.

After payment client was not returned to the website to download the product

This can happen when payment is made by credit card or the paypal sequence is interrupted in some way. All internet purchases from DIY Accounting receive a confirmation thank you note which contains a link to the download page from where the accounting or payroll software can be downloaded.

How do I download the product from the website.

Create a new accounts folder on your computer. Right click each of the links on the download page and save each accounting template directly to that folder on your computer hard drive. If the spreadsheets are opened before saving this can cause problems as the original links could be changed to temporary links.

The accounting software files do not link together.

Problems with excel spreadsheets that have been downloaded link together but may not if the structure has been inadvertently changed.

If the name of an excel workbook has been changed the links from that file to other files will be broken unless the name change is made in a specific way, that way being to open all linking workbooks so that when the new file name is changed the linking structure is preserved. It is strongly recommended that the names of the accounting workbooks are not changed, the simplest solution is to either change the file name back to the original file name provided the changed name had not been saved or download a new file with the original linked name.

If the accounting templates were opened first before saving then these files are stored on your computer with temporary links for you to view them. If that file is then subsequently saved then what is being saved is the temporary links not the original links which causes the files not to link together and the accounting software is prevented from updating the financial accounts template. The easiest solution is to delete the file and resave from the download page direct to your accounts folder without opening the files first.

None of the accounting spreadsheet templates opens.

This happens if you do not have excel installed on your computer as the accounting spreadsheets are written on excel spreadsheets and if excel is not installed your computer does not recognise the file type. Alternatively the excel spreadsheets will open if an open source spreadsheet package has been installed on the computer.

In a similar manner when the accounting templates are saved to a CD Rom the status changes from active to read only. This is because excel is not installed on the CD. The excel files automatically change back top being usable when the templates are then moved back to a computer where either excel or an open source spreadsheet package has been installed.

Having saved the accounting templates from the download page when I click the file name my computer tries to connect to the internet.

This is because the client has often not actually downloaded the accounting workbooks to their computer but instead has saved the links from the download page. As these links are linked to the source of the templates which are stored on the internet the client is returned to that source. The solution is top revisit the download page and actually download each file to your computer by clicking the link to the accounting template and then clicking save in the dialogue box.

When I open the monthly accounting template there are no tabs along the bottom of the page to navigate from one sheet to another.

This is because the client has possibly saved the links not the excel files themselves and is looking at a single accounting worksheet rather than the whole accounting workbook on the internet and not an accounting template saved on your computer. The solution is to revisit the download page and right click each link to actually save the accounting workbooks to your computer.

It is also worth pointing out that when the square box at the top right of the worksheet has been clicked to reduce the size of the spreadsheet and that spreadsheet is located further down the computer screen so the bottom part is not visible then this may also result in the navigation tabs being hidden from view. This is corrected by clicking the square box to reveal a full page view.

Terry Cartwright, DIY Accounting, a qualified accountant in the UK, designs Accounting Software on excel spreadsheets and Payroll Software for small to medium sized business providing a complete accounting solution and also supplies Company Formation packages for new limited liability companies

DIY Accounting Payroll Software Questions And Answers

HMRC will advise the new tax code change from 543 to 603 which was announced in May 2008 and the date the new tax code to be applied which is expected to be September 2008. The amended tax code is entered as a new tax code on the employee details tax amendments section of the payroll file and the tax reduction is then automated at the date the new tax code is applied.

The income tax deduction calculated by the DIY Accounting payroll package is different to the inland revenue CD Rom.

Small differences can occur because the DIY Accounting payroll system has in the past used the revenue manual tax tables whereas the inland revenue employers CD Rom use a percentage calculation. In fact the manual tables jump in pounds and tax tables can increase by four pounds between different look up rates which can create small differences.

In the current financial year many of the financial income tax and national insurance calculations have been changed in the DIY Accounting payroll calculations to a mathematical percentage basis. Differences can still occur where the subject of the calculation is rounded to ignore the pence.

All these differences are minor and immaterial and adjust themselves since tax is calculated on a cumulative basis. HMRC percentage calculations also differ from the calculations using paye look up tables for similar reasons.

Employee gross pay was entered and no national insurance contribution was calculated.

The national insurance contribution table applied is shown in the column to the left of the employees name on the payroll sheet and you will probably see the letter C when because this employee is of working age and not a second employment the national insurance table letter should be A. Check the date for both for this employee which may have been omitted or entered wrongly.

Income tax deducted for my employee who is on a normal tax code was much higher than normal.

The income tax code column to the left of the employees name on the payroll sheet may appear as zero which should show the tax code. To resolve the tax code check the employee starting date has been entered and the numerical value of the tax code in the employees details and the date that tax code should be applied.

When I try to enter wages on the payslips a dialogue box appears with the message that the payslip spreadsheet is protected.

No entries are required to the payslips file. All entries are automated from the payroll file and the protection prevents corruption of the formulae in the payslip file. The entry on the payslip file can be changed by entering the required gross pay on the payroll workbook and the payslip will automatically update itself from there as part of the paye system.

I cannot see any tabs at the bottom of the payroll software workbook.

After entering the employee details navigate to the month in which you wish to enter gross pay by clicking the tab buttons at the bottom of the excel spreadsheet. If you do not see any tabs at the bottom of the sheet you may not be viewing the full sheet. Click the square box at the top of the menu bar to view the full sheet and the tabs should then be visible.

When I open the payslips file I receive an error message saying read only, non repairable error has occurred.

This is likely to have been an interruption during the download process that has corrupted the payslip file. Download the payslip workbook again direct from the confirmation email sent to you after purchase.

We bought the up to 20 employee payroll package and now have 23 employees.

Make a second copy of the payroll software, saved into a separate folder and split the payroll into two parts. Perhaps use one package for one department and the other package for a different department or use one for existing employees and the other for new starters.

Do I purchase a new payroll software package each financial year or can the payroll software be updated for more than one year paye purposes.

The payroll software include that years tax rules to
enable the packages to automate the production of that year tax returns. Each year has new tax rules embedded and being on excel rather than a database then it is necessary to purchase a new package each year.

Does the payroll software automatically generate the amount payable to the inland revenue each month.

The payroll package automatically calculates the income tax and national insurance and collects the information on a paye payments schedule so you know exactly how much to pay each month. The paye calculations also complete all the revenue forms including the P35 annual employers return which is required when you file the paye information with the revenue at the end of the financial year.

The payslip workbook is not automatically updating from the payroll spreadsheet.

The payslip updates automatically and there are no calculations on the payslip file or links out of that file. The most likely cause is that the payslip file was renamed and has broken the links from the payroll file. If you have saved the file after breaking the links by renaming the solution is to download the payslips file again without changing the name.

Terry Cartwright, CEO DIY Accounting, a qualified accountant in the UK, designs Accounting Software on excel spreadsheets and Payroll Software for small to medium sized business providing a complete accounting solution and also supplies Company Formation packages for new limited liability companies

How To Set A Financial Goal to Reduce Personal Debt

Firstly, what do I mean by a financial goal? For most of us, that would generally be a goal to either increase income or reduce consumer debt. Of course there may be times in our lives where we want to increase consumer debt to acquire goods and services sooner or to reduce our income as a trade off to have more time but in this article, let’s set those situations aside. In particular, let’s look at the scenario of reducing consumer debt by 50% in six months.

My standard formula for goal setting is to select a coach, have the required resources in place and to have a plan-A and a plan-B in place so let’s see how a financial goal fits in with this.

Selecting a financial coach these days is difficult indeed. Most financial advisors will only try to sell you products, thereby limiting their own risk in a highly litigious environment. If your goal is to reduce your personal debt by 50% in 6 months the financial advisor might be dismissive if there is no chance of selling a product into your situation.

Similarly, a debt financer will try and sell you a product that appears to reduce your debt but in fact does very little. Finally there are educators, who provide information but are prohibited by law to give financial advice. While they can give illustrations or tell you what they did, they cannot specifically advise you what to do and therefore cannot really be your coach.

I am aware, however, of some wealth creation companies that provide ‘integrated’ solutions providing all of the required professionals in a single meeting. By nature, however, the cost of this service is out of reach of many. One solution might be to use self-help websites and software to help resolve this situation, in conjunction with education and perhaps a visit to a financial advisor if necessary.

What resources do you need to reduce personal debt? Well first of all, you must be able to measure and control what you are spending. Yes, I am talking about the dreaded budget. With internet banking and plastic cards, it is relatively easy to download transactions from all of your banks and put them into a spreadsheet. I believe that the most important tool, however, is the banking system itself. With high interest-earning no-fee accounts available it is possible to use the banking system and the utilities to do a lot of the budget accounting for you.

The Plan-A is what you will do if you are on track to achieve your goal. Is there some kind of reward for achieving your goal? Clearly to reduce personal debt, you must have a system to control what you spend, so at a minimum a separate card account and bills account but more likely around 9 high interest no fee accounts and one card account per partner, preferably a debit card (or secured credit card).

The Plan-B is to identify the biggest risk and what to do if it happens. If, for example, you think that your car might need $1,000 of repairs but you can’t set aside that much money over the next 6 months, what will you do? Will you change the deadline, or cut costs in other areas? Can you do without a car?

Finally, tracking a financial goal and measuring the level of success is straight-forward when you have the right tools in place, such as internet banking.

Glen Smith aka Glen The Goals Guy has been running both goal-setting and budgeting workshops.
Visit http://QuickStartGoals.com or http://BillBanisher.com

DIY Accounting Small Business Accounting Software Questions And Answers

A number of questions are asked by clients either before purchasing or after downloading the accounting software. Many of these questions and the answers are the same the most typical of which are produced here.

Why is the monthly profit and loss account not updating from the sales and purchases entered.

Updating the profit and loss account in the financial accounts file is automated. If the financial accounts file is not updating automatically the links from the sales accounting spreadsheet and or the purchase accounting spreadsheet are not working. This may be because the file names have been changed which breaks the links between the files.

The most common reason is the way the files were originally saved when initially downloaded from the website by opening the files first before saving them. When a file is opened first before saving the computer stores that file in a temporary internet folder and changes the links to temporary links within that temporary folder.

When that file is then saved it is those temporary links which are being saved and not the original links. Those temporary links would not be recognised by the other files which form the link structure. The solution is to delete the files and save the files again direct to your accounts folder without opening them first thereby preserving the original links.

Accounting entries on sales and purchases appear on the profit and loss account but do not appear on the list of expenses on the self employed tax return.

The self employed tax return required to be completed in the UK is dependent upon the sales turnover. Small business with total sales income exceeding 64,000 pounds for the financial year ending 5 April 2008 are required to complete the full self employed tax return while businesses with a turnover under 64,000 pounds may complete the short version of the self employed tax return.. Coincidentally the threshold is the same as the vat threshold.

In addition if the sales income is less than 30,000 pounds then it is not necessary to complete all the individual expense classifications. The excel formulae within the financial accounts file automatically fill in the short or full tax return and only fill in the detailed expense classifications if required to do so.

Does the package produce my quarterly vat returns when a vat flat rate scheme is being operated.

The user guide contains notes on how to enter the value added tax flat rate percentage on the sales bookkeeping spreadsheet. The bookkeeping single entry of the flat rate vat percentage on the sales sheet updates throughout the package including the subsequent months on the sales sheet and also each month on the purchases bookkeeping spreadsheet automatically calculating value added tax at the flat rate percentage and expenses value added tax paid on purchases at the zero vat rate producing a quarterly vat return.

Does the self employed accounting software package produce a balance sheet.

Producing a balance sheet is optional for self employed small business and not an essential requirement of completing the self employed tax return. The self employed package is based upon single entry bookkeeping and does not produce a balance sheet which requires double entry bookkeeping while the limited company package does produce a balance sheet as it is a legal requirement for a limited liability company.

As the self employed accounting software includes sales and purchase spreadsheets and also cash and bank spreadsheets it is possible to manually produce a balance sheet if required but the accounting software does not produce it automatically.

Do I purchase a new software package each financial year or can the accounting software be updated for more than one year accounts.

As the accounting software and payroll packages include the current financial year tax rules that enable the financial packages to automate the production of that years tax returns then each year has new tax rules embedded and being on excel rather than an accounting database then it is necessary to purchase a new accounting or payroll package each year.

Terry Cartwright, CEO DIY Accounting, a qualified accountant in the UK, designs Accounting Software on excel spreadsheets and Payroll Software for small to medium sized business providing a complete accounting solution and also supplies Company Formation packages for new limited liability companies

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