YEAR END UPON US

I really do hate to be the scrooge of business but I feel I just talk about somethings at year-end that you will want to get a jump on! First let me wish all of you a Happy Holiday season and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR. Early but I get excited this time of year.
Down to business --- For alot of business owners your year-end is based on a Calendar year so you will therefore be closing the books at the end of December -
Some tasks you will want to do from a bookkeeping end.
1. Clean out the Miscellaneous or Suspense account that you so freely used all year.There is no line called Miscellaneous on the tax return so you have to put these items somewhere. If you are unsure where either ask your accountant or make new categories.
2. 1099 forms - These forms must be filled out and send to any subcontractors that you paid more than $600.00 during the year. You will need correct name, address and Social Security numbers for each payee so start gathering them now.
3. Bank Reconciliations - Make sure these are up to date so that you maximize expenses for tax savings.

Should you need any assistance - feel free to contact me at raquelmorphy@rmbizsolutions.com

Automate your business - Cartville Shoppingcart

Select The Right Credit Card Before The Holiday Spending Season Begins

With the holiday spending season just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about strategies for not overspending. Ideally, you’d like to be able to get through to the end of the year buying as little as possible on credit. The average family ends the holiday season having spent between $1,000 to $1,500. Since most people don't plan on the expense of their giving, those holiday costs are typically racked up on credit cards, making your new year miserable with money concerns and busted budgets.

If you begin saving a small amount monthly in January, you won’t be tempted to dip into your credit cards. Contributing $100 a month to a Holiday Spending Account will help you save $1200 annually (not including accrued interest). Even though we’re months away from the holiday season, setting aside $100 to $250 for the next few months will give you a bit of relief from your credit cards come December.
So start your Holiday Spending Account today. If you don’t end up using it this year, at least it will be in place for the following holiday season.

If you are tempted to buy on credit in addition to starting a Holiday Spending Account you should find the credit card that’s right for you. With the large number of credit cards available today, finding the best credit card can be overwhelming.
Below is a four step process to guide you in selecting the right cards for you.

STEP ONE: Define your objectives. Do you want to lower an interest rate on an existing card? Do you need to keep your business expenses separate from your personal expenses? Clearly define your objectives before moving on to step two.

STEP TWO: Know the different types of cards. While Credit cards are separated into seven different categories, we’ll focus on the following:

• Regular Credit Cards: These are the traditional credit cards. They give you a specific credit limit based on your financial history and then charge you an annual percentage rate on your outstanding balance.

• Rewards Cards: A Regular Card with "bells and whistles". As an incentive to use the card, you are provided certain rewards depending on how much you charge. These rewards can range from a cash rebate to air travel rewards or benefits at particular retailers. There are many variations and combinations available.

• Business Cards: For business owners and sometimes employees. These are good if you need to separate business from personal expenses. They are basically a Regular card but may also have Rewards features.

STEP THREE: Know the terms of your current cards. If you’ve owned the same card for a while, you’d probably be surprised at how many of the details you’ve forgotten about your card. If you already own credit cards, take a look at the details to see if you can improve in any of the following areas.

- Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on purchases and cash advances
- annual fee
- balance method used for calculating the finance charge
- are there rewards?

Get all the details, then start comparing your existing cards to the alternatives.

STEP FOUR: Choose a card. Now that you know what your objectives are and are familiar with the terms of your current credit as well as the different types of, you are ready to find the best credit card. As a general rule, how often you pay your bills will have a major influence on the type of card you may want to choose. In short, if you carry a balance, consider a credit card with a low APR. If you’re a business owner, you should consider a business card to keep business transactions separate from personal transactions.

Take time this week to review your current credit cards and last year’s holiday spending habits. A little time can save you money and help you begin the New Year in style.

Children Are Priceless, Raising Them Is Expensive

Ask any parent and I'm sure they'll agree, children are priceless. As a parent myself, I know the joy brought to me by each of my children. But along with each bundle of joy comes a list of bills and expenses. The experts agree, raising a baby to adulthood can cost upwards of $10,000 annually!

If you're a family on a budget, it can be daunting to think of starting a family, or adding to your growing family. Before you give up on your hopes for your growing brood, let's look at some ways to trim expenses.

Housing: Housing is the single biggest expense of raising children. While every parents dreams of giving their child their own room, in some cases that's just not financially feasible. Your child will grow into a safe and secure child, regardless of whether they have to share a room with their siblings.

Other tips:

- Consider refinancing when the rate is more than a percentage point below your current mortgage rate.

- Challenge your property tax bill if you think it's too high.

- Make your home as energy efficient as you can.

Food: Food accounts for the next largest overall expense as anyone with teenage boys in their household will easily agree. While it's difficult to cutback on an essential expense, there are a few things you can do. Set limits on the more discretionary forms of food spending. Tell your children they can spend no more than $10 a week on fast food (McDonalds, junk food and soda). Or eliminate junk food from their diet all together.

Consider joining a warehouse club such as Costco, BJ's or Sam's Club. They're not suited to everyday shopping, but they let you stock up on certain items in quantity, often at substantial savings.

Clothing: Anyone with a teenage daughter knows that clothing costs can increase significantly as the years go buy. Why not borrow a tip from the newborn and toddler years and save and share clothes amongst family and friends. Does your child have an older cousin with hand-me-downs or a girlfriend who has had a growth spurt and outgrown the pair of jeans your child always had her eye on?

Other tips: Buy neutral-colored clothing that can be shared easily among siblings, regardless of gender. Shop sales, and shop at the end of season, so you're not paying a premium for your children's clothes. And once your child is old enough to start generating income, make it clear to them that if they absolutely must have a Lululemon sweater or designer jeans, they'll have to cough up at least part of the cost, if not all of it. You'll be teaching them a valuable lesson in budgetting and saving if you do.

Budeting in Three Easy Steps

Summer time is the best time to get your finanical house in order. After all, we're past the tax season scramble and can focus on our financial goals before we get hit with holiday spending.

It's never to late to get started on your financial goals. Perhaps you want to make this year the year you become debt free or you're saving for a major purchase like a home or planning a wedding. While many online entrepreneurs understand the importance of getting professional help when managing their business bookkeeping, only a few think to ask for professional help in managing their personal finances.

In the business world, a budget is a key document that provides guidelines on capital expenditure to prevent overspending and ensures the availabilty of funds should the company run into unexpected trouble and require funds. These same principles can, and should, be applied to our personal lives.

There are countless companies that rely on budgeting and financial reporting to manage their day-to-day operations. Budget-savvy CEOs typically do not make a move without consulting their financial plan. Most people understand that business success relies on creating a budget and sticking to it. The companies like Coca-Cola and Dell rely heavily on budgeting and forecasting. I'm here to tell you that personal success does too.

Everyone talks about setting up a budget and sticking to it, but how do you really go about figuring out what your budget is, or should be? Let’s face it, doing a household budget can be pretty dull. But if you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and crunch some numbers, here are three steps to get you on your way.

1. Assess your financial resources
Calculate how much money you have coming in each month from all sources.

2. Determine your expenses
Determine how you spend your money by reviewing your recent spending. Separate fixed expenses (mortgage, rent, car payments, insurance) from variable expenses (food, clothing, entertainment, charitable gifts).

3. Set goals
Establish a list of the finanical goals you wish to achieve.

Once you've figured out how much money is coming in and where it's going, you can put together a plan that matches your goals with your financial situation. The trick towards saving for a major purchase or paying down debt is to pay yourself first. Simply set aside a certain amount of money each month to go into an account that you will not touch or to be applied to your debt.

If the task of creating a budget seems daunting to you, then consider the services of a professional Virtual Bookkeeper. Working with a bookkeeper reduces the stress of managing your personal finances by allowing them to manage things for you. A good bookkeeper can create a highly personalized budget based on your financial goals and income. You can put your mind at ease knowing that a professional plan will be created and managed for you, allowing you to focus on the things that are important to you. They pay your bills weekly and provide you with a snapshot of your financial picture weekly. They do everything - you enjoy the rewards.

Find me on MySpace

MySpace is most probably now the largest of all social networking website today. Does it surprise you that I'd never really heard of it? With more than 300 million MySpace users and membership growing very fast each day by many thousands (1,001 if you include my new profile!), MySpace is still the king of social networks.

So why am I promoting my business on a social network? MySpace is the online equivalent of your local offline networking venues. Meet & greets no longer take place in your corner coffee shop but it the online forums of places like MySpace and Facebook.

MySpace has the following great features which assist with your marketing and networking:

- One of the basic important features on MySpace is a tool named ‘Friend Adder'. This is a very easy tool which will allow you to add your friends.

- MySpace also allows you to have each member their own blog, and as you know, blogs have become one of the quickest growing trends.

- If you host an event, you can announce it through MySpace (don't ask me how, I don't really know yet!)

You need to use MySpace for your business marketing! I'll be reporting back here periodically on my success. Or you can visit my profile yourself -- be sure to add me to your friends!

Just click the image below to be whisked away to MySpace!

Save Time, Energy & Money By Hiring A Virtual Bookkeeper For Your Online Business

Typical Online Entrepreneurs or Coaches, especially ones starting out, believe they can keep their own books. Used to wearing all the hats in their business, they think they just need to find a good accounting software program, one that practically enters the matching debits and credits by itself, and they’ll be well on their way to saving money and keeping a close eye on their expenses. After all, when you’re the only one writing the checks and balancing the accounts, how can you not keep track of you’re expenses?

The truth is, you can’t.

The bookkeeping requirements of anyone doing business online differ greatly from the needs of a bricks and mortar business. Different tax rules apply. Multiple sources of income may need to be tracked. Payments to affiliates and joint venture partners need to be accurately calculated to ensure they are getting their dues. Most accounting programs don’t even have templates for the Chart of Accounts required by the online infopreneur.

In the long run, a bookkeeper is not just someone who keeps track of your revenue and receipts, but a key member of your online management team. But it’s important to select a bookkeeper who is an expert in your industry. You don’t want to have to train your bookkeeper on your industry language, income and expense categories and other basics. The more versed your bookkeeper is in the needs of your industry, the faster she can hit the ground running and the sooner you will have good data and meaningful reports.

A bookkeeper is a valued partner in your business. A knowledgeable bookkeeper will get your bookkeeping done quickly and efficiently, meaning less time spent on bookkeeping. Having your books in order will give you the data you need to make informed business decisions. Plus, a skilled bookkeeper can help you track your cashflow and work towards your personal financial goals. In short, specialists are worth their salt because they know how to save you time and money.

Not sure if you can afford to outsource your bookkeeping. Here’s a quick exercise you can try. Using a spreadsheet, calculate how much your time is worth. If you’re a coach or consultant, it will be fairly easy to put a dollar value on an hour of your time. Then compare that figure to the cost of hiring an in-house employee to do bookkeeping. Consider factors like adding a desk and a computer and software, as well as the wage expense. And finally, calculate the cost of hiring a virtual bookkeeper, someone who has her own office, computer and software and is ready to get into action immediately.

Even though adding an in-house or virtual bookkeeper to your management team will increase your expenses, the cost can be justified. Imagine how much more efficient and inspired you will be if you have more time to devote providing the core service or marketing the signature product of your business? Every hour you spend bookkeeping, takes away from being able to earn income. There are added health benefits too. As a solo-entrepreneur, self-care is of utmost importance to the success of your business. Yet that is the aspect that is most often overlooked. Imagine the freedom of releasing yourself from the books and buying back an hour a day to get out and take a long walk or do a 30 minute yoga practice.

What To Look For In A Bookkeeper

As stated previously, it’s important to get a bookkeeper who is an expert in your industry. If you sell products online, your bookkeeper should be familiar with all of the tools you use in your business: your shopping cart, your merchant account, your paypal account, etc. If the bookkeeper you hire will be in charge of your books, rather than just fulfilling a specific bookkeeping function like accounts payable, then it’s important that they have a thorough understanding of your online business.

Here are some quick guidelines to follow when hiring a bookkeeper:

Ask your potential bookkeeper what types of companies they have worked with. If they don’t have experience with online businesses, they aren’t the right bookkeeper for you. It is essential to find a bookkeeper who has experience with businesses similar to yours. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting time and money.

Ask about their rates. Qualified bookkeepers generally charge from $40 - $60 per hour. It’s often worth paying more if your bookkeeper will be in charge of your books and providing detailed reports and helping to achieve your financial goals. An efficient bookkeeper will charge you for less hours and you’ll save money and time in the long run. On the other hand, if your bookkeeper will be doing pure data entry, then you shouldn’t pay much more than $35 per hour.

Inquire about their business structure. Does the bookkeeper do it all or is there a team of qualified junior bookkeepers who are employed to do data entry on your books? Ensuring your bookkeeper has the support of a team, ensures that someone is always available to keep your accounts up to date.

Talk to potential bookkeepers about your business and your needs. An experienced bookkeeper should be able to relate to the specific issues you are facing and should have the experience to know how to anticipate and prevent problems in your business.

With the right bookkeeper on your team, you can save time and money and release yourself from the tasks you don’t like to focus on growing your business.