Your accounting is like the back of the truck, or your top desk drawer. It can get messy. It takes discipline to get things cleaned up and keep them that way. And discipline makes all the difference to your success. So, let's get the financials tight and right by year end 2014. Here [...]
Budgeting. UGH. I call it the "B Word" because so many people are resistant to the word BUDGETING. Nobody wants to Budget, right? Budgeting is all about deprivation and doing without. It's like...gulp...dieting. Budgeting doesn't have to be a soul-sucking, frustrating experience. The way I teach it is fun, easy and powerful. From Main Street [...]
Imagine…you discover the certified letter in your mailbox from the IRS, announcing you have been selected for an audit. No worries! Once upon a time, I made a “Slinky-knot” mess out of my QuickBooks™ file. Fear of an audit – and a growing pile of unpaid bills – encouraged me to get it sorted out. [...]
Business is pretty easy. I wish we taught accounting and finance basics in sixth grade. Alas, I didn’t even learn how to balance a checkbook during my high priced stint at a private college for a Business Administration degree. However, once I learned business basics – stumbling through our family business and with the help of great [...]
I’ve spent a lot of time over the last 20 years helping people clean up financial messes. The messy mess (the smelly smell for Sponge Bob fans) is payroll. Payroll entries are complicated. There is the expense to you and the cash requirements and the amount you withhold, then submit, for payroll taxes for you and [...]
My rookie year… Once upon a time, I quit my real job (restaurant manager – good salary, benefits and someone to cover for me when I wasn’t around) and went to work for my husband, Hot Rod, in his contracting company. It was the dumbest decision I have ever made. It was hell. I left [...]
The following story is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. If you think this story is about you…you are probably right. The Martyr and The Intimidator Leslie is the owner of a roofing company, a business she inherited from her father. Back in the day, her father managed a small crew [...]
If you were driving 80 miles an hour, in the dark, with your lights off, heading towards a cliff, would you like someone to yell, "STOP?" OK. Stop! Do you produce financial reports – the balance sheet and income statement – every week? Do you analyze sales, costs, cash flow, and debt every week? If [...]
You’ll be at a KFP when: You can generate Income Statement and Balance Sheet reports and trust that the information is current and accurate. You can go through the reports line by line, account by account, and understand what each dollar amount represents. You need a good accountant. Most accountants just prepare tax returns. A [...]
