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The Importance of Strategic Planning in Business

March 13, 2014 Categories: Business Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Ofir Gabay
Strategic Planning Graph

Graph Strategic Planning

There are so many businesses that are struggling today, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, only 1 out of every 20 businesses becomes profitable and survives 10 years. There are many reasons for this statistic, but in this blog post I wanted to focus on just one of the reasons, the lack of a strategic plan. A strategic plan can be defined as the strategy and process a business will pursue in an effort to head in a specific direction.

There is a quote by Lewis Carroll that demonstrates the importance of having a specific direction, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there.” This is the way many entrepreneurs and business owners run their business, without a specific strategic plan for their company. As a result of not having a plan, they usually end up going through the motions of their daily operations until one day they are faced with an obstacle they did not foresee and is too great to overcome.

My goal is to help business owners realize the importance of setting a strategic plan for their company, followed by specific goals in order to push their company in the direction they desire. Through the use of key performance indicators (KPI) a business can measure their progress towards their goals. (I will write more about KPIs in a later blog post, so be sure to subscribe).

A strategic plan does not have to be complicated. You can start off with a simple plan that will lay out how the company will grow in the upcoming years. After you have a core plan in place, you can build on it by starting to include specifics pertaining to your product/service types, marketing strategy, etc. The important thing is to have a plan in place for you, your manager and employees to work toward so that everyone is on the same path. Once everyone in the organization is working on the same goals the business will continue to achieve new successes.

How to account for customer deposits using QuickBooks Online – QuickBooks Online Tutorial

March 3, 2014 Categories: Bookkeeping Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Ofir Gabay

This is a quick blog post describing how to account for customer deposits in QuickBooks. I have also made a YouTube video showing step by step instructions, followed by a example of accepting a customer deposit and later on invoicing that same customer.

Instructions for accepting a customer deposit

  1. Set up a new “Other Current Liabilities” account in your company file’s chart of accounts called “Customer Deposits.”
  2. Create a new product/service item in your item list called “Customer Deposit,” the income account associated with this item will be the Other current liability account we created in step 1.
  3. Accept a deposit from the customer or client using the Sales Receipt option under your customer center.
  4. Continue to filling out the sales receipt as usual and when choosing an item, choose the Customer Deposit item and input the amount of the deposit.

As always, if you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact us at 954-358-9487 or fill the contact form below to have us contact you. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Microsoft Excel for Business – Payroll Modeling

February 28, 2014 Categories: Bookkeeping Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Ofir Gabay

Microsoft Excel is an extremely powerful tool that every business owner should have in his arsenal. Excel spreadsheets can be used in a number of different ways, some of which include;

  • Creating company budgets and cash flow forecasts
  • Keeping track of inventory
  • Basic business bookkeeping
  • Expense and Payroll Modeling

This list can go on almost indefinitely, but I will stop it right there for now. Looking over this with just a few examples of how you can use Excel in your business, it is easy to see how this software can be a great asset in formulating your business plan.

Please check out the video I made below showing how I used Microsoft Excel to create a payroll model for a specific business that pays the greater of an hourly rate or base commissions. I will be making more videos on other uses for Excel and business tips in general so please subscribe.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them below or e-mail me at [email protected]. I hope you have a great day!

Why is Bookkeeping Essential to Your Business?

January 28, 2014 Categories: Bookkeeping Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Ofir Gabay

January 27, 2013

Accurate bookkeeping is essential to every business.  Below are some examples of bookkeeping benefits, by establishing proper bookkeeping practices:

  • You will be able to maintain and grow your business where others have failed. There are many benefits to having accurate books for your business, and the goal of this post is to go over some of these benefits.
  •  You will be able to provide information regarding the financial affairs of a business.
    Bookkeeping Help

    Bookkeeping Help

    These financial affairs are represented in the form of various reports, the most commonly used reports are the Profit & Loss (income statement), Balance Sheet and the statement of cash flows. These reports provide a wealth of information ranging from the profitability of a company to its net worth.

  • Once your company’s financial reports are available on a routine basis, you will be able to take this information and analyze it by comparing your current progress to previous periods and other businesses in your industry.  Comparing the current profit and loss statement with that of the previous period will provide you with the information needed to spot areas and trends that need attention.
  • Whether your company needs to increase sales (prices, quantity etc.) or lower expenses, these financial reports are your key to problem solving and prioritizing internal issues. Eventually these records will allow you the opportunity to construct the best strategy for your business, which is truly priceless.
  • Keeping accurate books will also help when the time comes to file taxes. By having the proper reports to give to your tax preparer, you will save time, money and the stress of having to go through receipts and bank statements with the hopes of coming up with accurate figures for your tax return. Being prepared for tax time with reports that have been reviewed on a routine basis helps to ensure that there will be no unwanted surprises.
  • Inadequate bookkeeping will also inevitably result in the oversight of revenue coming in, or expenses going out which can lead to disastrous consequences.  In the fast paced business world of today, it is all too common to forget about a transaction that could have a big impact on your financial records. Reconciling your accounts and reviewing your financials habitually will decrease the chances of this occurring.

Unfortunately, a common mistake that businesses make is to short change their accounting/bookkeeping budget. This mistake is very costly because improper or inadequate bookkeeping will often result in more expenses down the line in the form of the agonizing, time consuming repair process of your company’s financial records. When it comes to bookkeeping, just like many things in life, it is a best practice to do things right the first time around. Please feel free to contact us if you need support or have any questions regarding your company’s bookkeeping.

Written by Ofir Gabay