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Small Businesses Services
Bookkeeping Calculator
(View Our
Current Bookkeeping Offers)
As a
small business owner you have more important things to do than to keep
your own books. We take care of your books for you, so you can concentrate
your time and efforts into running your business. We will also come and pick
up all the documentation needed to maintain your books and we will also drop it
off at your convenience.
We
don’t just offer advice to our clients, we come to the table with ideas designed
to help them grow and prepare for the future. Helping clients with all their financial
needs is the goal of our business.
Upon request, we will provide you with the
following services (starred services are provided monthly or
quarterly with our Bookkeeping services at no extra charge):
(if required, Clients Agreement available)
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BOOKKEEPING SERVICES
(Our Brochure)
DAILY
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Record sales invoices from client provided documents
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Record daily bank deposits and merchant account receipts
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Maintain detailed accounts receivable records
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Process vendor invoices into accounts payable
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Maintain detailed accounts payable records
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Record debit card transactions
WEEKLY
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Process client-approved vendor payments against accounts payable
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Process client-approved non-payable payments (rent, utilities, insurance, etc.)
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Record payroll processed by client’s third party vendor
MONTHLY
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Prepare bank account reconciliation
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Record individual credit card purchase transactions
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Prepare credit card reconciliation
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Prepare month-end adjusting and closing journal entries
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Prepare sales tax return
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REPORTS AND
ANALYSIS SERVICES (Our Brochure)
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Unlimited Consultations
We are always available to spend time with you so you
fully understand how to interpret and utilize the financial information we provide.
Our consultations are already included in our prices, so please feel free to contact us whenever you have
a question or concern.
If you'd like to receive a Free Consultation
on our Small Business Accounting Service, please complete this form.
To receive your initial quote, please click
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Accounts Receivable Analysis:
Accounts receivable represent sales for which payment has not yet been collected. If your business offers sales on credit to its customers, the collection on accounts receivable is the most important source of the business' cash inflows.
Knowing the average collection period on these accounts will help determining whether
actions should be taken to increase collection activities and reinforce the business'
credit policy.
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Balance Sheet (view sample):
A balance sheet is a snapshot of a business’ financial condition at a specific
moment in time, usually at the close of an accounting period. A balance sheet
comprises assets, liabilities, and owners’ or stockholders’ equity. At any
given time, assets must equal liabilities plus owners’ equity. An asset is
anything a business owns that has monetary value. Liabilities are the claims of
creditors against the assets of the business.
A balance sheet helps small business owners to quickly recognize the financial strength
and capabilities of the business. A balance sheet can identify and analyze
trends, particularly in the area of receivables and payables.
Balance sheets, along with income statements, are the most basic elements in providing
financial reporting to potential lenders such as banks, investors, and vendors who
are considering how much credit to grant the business.
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Bank Reconciliation:
Bank reconciliation is performed monthly when the business
receives the bank statement. It plays a very important part in a business'
cash control procedures. It verifies the amount of cash in the business' checking
account.
The cash balance in the business' books will never agree
with the balance shown on the bank statement because of the delay in checks and
deposits clearing the bank, automatic bank charges and credits that have not been
recorded, and errors that might have been made in the books. Another important
reason to do a bank reconciliation is that it may uncover irregularities such as
employee theft of funds.
Let us prepare your bank reconciliation so that
you can be comfortable that the account balance shown on your books is up-to-date.
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Bookkeeping:
To succeed in business, one of your most important tools is financial analysis,
based on your business records. Accurate financial records will help you answer
some very important questions. Are you making money, or losing it? How much?
A sound bookkeeping system is the foundation on which all of this valuable financial
information can be built.
As a business owner you have more important
things to do than to keep your own books. We take care of your books for you,
so you can concentrate your time and efforts into running your business.
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Budgeting:
Budgeting is a tool to help you to reach your financial goals. It is
intended to be an organized way to compare income and expenditures over a relatively
short time frame (a week, month, or a year). It should allow you to forecast
your income and expenses, monitor your progress, and make changes as needed to achieve
your goals.
Income budgeting: when setting up the business' budget, you should not look
only at the cash outflow (the payments you make), but we strongly advise small business
owners to closely monitor the personal income as part of the budget-creation process.
Budgeting for expenses: although many small business owners would agree that
scrutinizing personal expenditures is a necessary part of a personal budget, setting
up and maintaining control over expenditures is often what you'll find most difficult
and tedious.
Budgeting tools: finally, you can match your income with your expenses and
see what needs cutting back, or where you need to make increases.
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Business Registration:
An important
step in forming a new business is to determine the type of business structure you
will use. There are several business entities to choose from including sole proprietorship,
partnership, corporation, limited liability company, and limited partnership. Each
has advantages and disadvantages as well as tax consequences of which you should
be aware.
You have to decide which of these entities best suits your business objectives and
needs. For help in making this decision, contact A.P. Accounting & Bookkeeping
Services, LLC.
- Sole Proprietorship
A sole proprietorship
is owned and operated by one individual (the sole proprietor). Income earned by
a sole proprietorship is reported on the sole proprietor’s individual income tax
return. Because sole proprietors are not employees of their businesses and income
taxes are not withheld from their income, estimated income tax payments may be required.
A sole proprietor is someone
who owns an unincorporated business by himself or herself. However, if you are the
sole member of a domestic limited liability company (LLC), you are not a sole proprietor
if you elect to treat the LLC as a corporation.
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Partnership
A partnership
is the formal relationship between two or more persons who join together to carry
on a trade or business. The terms of the partnership are generally spelled out in
a formal partnership agreement. Partnerships are not subject to an entity-level
tax and their items of income and deductions pass through to their partners.
A partnership is the relationship existing between two or more persons who join to carry on a trade or business. Each person contributes money, property, labor or skill, and expects to share in the profits and losses of the business.
A partnership must file an annual information return to report the income, deductions, gains, losses, etc., from its operations, but it does not pay income tax. Instead, it "passes through" any profits or losses to its partners. Each partner includes his or her share of the partnership's income or loss on his or her tax return.
Partners are not employees and should not be issued a Form W-2. The partnership must furnish copies of Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) to the partners by the date Form 1065 is required to be filed, including extensions.
- Corporation
A corporation is an entity created under state law with a legal existence separate and apart from its shareholders. In forming a corporation, prospective shareholders exchange money, property, or both, for the corporation's capital stock. A corporation generally takes the same deductions as a sole proprietorship to figure its taxable income. A corporation can also take special deductions. For federal income tax purposes, a C corporation is recognized as a separate taxpaying entity. A corporation conducts business, realizes net income or loss, pays taxes and distributes profits to shareholders.
The profit of a corporation is taxed to the corporation when earned, and then is taxed to the shareholders when distributed as dividends. This creates a double tax. The corporation does not get a tax deduction when it distributes dividends to shareholders. Shareholders cannot deduct any loss of the corporation.
S Corporation: An eligible domestic corporation can avoid double taxation (once to the shareholders and again to the corporation) by electing to be treated as an S corporation. Generally, an S corporation is exempt from federal income tax other than tax on certain capital gains and passive income. On their tax returns, the S corporation's shareholders include their share of the corporation's separately stated items of income, deduction, loss, and credit, and their share of nonseparately stated income or loss.
- Limited Liability Company (LLC)
A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a relatively new business structure allowed by state statute.
LLCs are popular because, similar to a corporation, owners have limited personal liability for the debts and actions of the LLC. Other features of LLCs are more like a partnership, providing management flexibility and the benefit of pass-through taxation.
Owners of an LLC are called members. Since most states do not restrict ownership, members may include individuals, corporations, other LLCs and foreign entities. There is no maximum number of members. Most states also permit “single member” LLCs, those having only one owner.
A few types of businesses generally cannot be LLCs, such as banks and insurance companies. Check your state’s requirements and the federal tax regulations for further information. There are special rules for foreign LLCs.
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Cash Flow Statements (view
sample):
A cash flow statement reports the movement of cash into and out of your business
in a given period. Cash includes currency, checks on hand, and deposits in banks.
Cash Flow Statements are broken down into three sections:
Operating activities
Investing activities
Financing activities
Operating activities (all transactions and events that normally enter into the determination
of operating income) include cash receipts from selling goods or providing services,
as well as income from items such as interest and dividends. Operating activities
also include your cash payments such as inventory, payroll, taxes, interest, utilities,
and rent. The net amount of cash provided (or used) by operating activities is the
key figure on a statement of cash flows.
Investing activities include transactions and events involving the purchase and
sale of securities (excluding cash equivalents), land, buildings, equipment, and
other assets not generally held for resale. It also covers the making and collecting
of loans. Investing activities are not classified as operating activities because
they have an indirect relationship to the central, ongoing operation of your business
(usually the sale of goods or services).
All financing activities deal with the flow of
cash to or from the business owners (equity financing) and creditors (debt financing).
For example, cash proceeds from issuing capital stock or bonds would be classified
under financing activities. Likewise, payments to repurchase stock (treasury stock)
or to retire bonds and the payment of dividends are financing activities as well.
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Corporate Taxes:
Corporate Taxes are imposed by the federal government and the local state government
on businesses based on the profit made.
Preparing your own income tax return can be a task that leaves you with more questions
than answers. According to a study released by the US Government's General Accounting
Office last year, most taxpayers (77% of 71 million taxpayers) believe they benefited
from using a professional tax preparer.
If you own a small business
and haven't kept up your bookkeeping, don't worry. We can help you. We'll prepare
your bookkeeping for the year, prepare a full Schedule C, as well as your personal
income tax return.
If you'd like to receive more information about our Tax Preparation Service, please
complete this form.
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Credit Card Reconciliation:
Reconciling revolving credit card debt can be a challenge for many small
businesses.
Entering the charges as the credit card is used will eliminate the need to do it
when the statement comes each month, plus recording the transactions throughout
the month will result in more accurate interim financial information. In many situations,
for a variety of reasons, this is not practical for some businesses.
There are other alternatives. You could:
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Enter one charge for the month for the total amount purchased using the credit card and
manually reconcile the receipts to the statement. The detail lines can be entered as splits
so the general ledger remains accurate.
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Enter one charge for the month for the total amount purchased and code it to a credit
card clearing account that will be reclassified based on the receipts.
This method can be more cumbersome.
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Enter the detail transactions individually when the statement arrives
and any transactions without a receipt are noted as such in the memo field (so a
report can be generated and cleared as receipts are obtained) or coded to a credit
card clearing account pending reconciliation with the receipts.
The methods mentioned above requires a business owner to spend his/her time and resources
in tasks that take time away from the business. Let A.P. Accounting and Bookkeeping
Services take care of all your needs, so, you can concentrate on spending your time managing
your business' growth.
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Financial Planning:
Financial planning is the task of determining how a business will afford
to achieve its strategic goals and objectives. Usually, a company creates a Financial
Plan immediately after the vision and objectives have been set. The Financial Plan
describes each of the activities, resources, equipment and materials that are needed
to achieve these objectives, as well as the timeframes involved.
The Financial Planning activity involves the following tasks:
- Assess the business environment
- Confirm the business vision and objectives
- Identify the types of resources needed to achieve these objectives
- Quantify the amount of resource (labor, equipment, materials)
- Calculate the total cost of each type of resource
- Summarize the costs to create a budget
- Identify any risks and issues with the budget set
Performing Financial Planning is critical to the success of any organization. It
provides the Business Plan with rigor, by confirming that the objectives set are
achievable from a financial point of view. It also helps the CEO to set financial
targets for the organization, and reward staff for meeting objectives within the
budget set.
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Financial Statements Analysis
"The objective of financial statements is to provide information about the financial
position, performance and changes in financial position of an enterprise that is
useful to a wide range of users in making economic decisions."
Financial statements should be understandable, relevant, reliable and comparable.
Reported assets, liabilities and equity are directly related to an organization's
financial position. Reported income and expenses are directly related to an organization's
financial performance.
Financial statements are intended to be understandable by readers who have "a reasonable
knowledge of business and economic activities and accounting and who are willing
to study the information diligently."
- Owners and managers require financial statements to make important business decisions
that affect its continued operations. Financial analysis are then performed on these statements to provide management
with a more detailed understanding of the figures. These statements are also used
as part of management's annual report to the stockholders.
- Employees also need these reports in making collective bargaining agreements (CBA) with the
management, in the case of labor unions or for individuals in discussing their compensation, promotion
and rankings.
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External Users: are potential investors, banks, government agencies and
other parties who are outside the business but need financial information about
the business for a diverse number of reasons.
- Prospective investors make use of financial statements to assess the viability of investing in a business.
Financial analyses are often used by investors and is prepared by professionals
(financial analysts), thus providing them with the basis in making investment decisions.
- Financial institutions (banks and other lending companies) use them to decide whether
to grant a company with fresh working capital or extend debt securities (such as a long-term bank loan or debentures) to finance expansion and other significant expenditures.
- Government entities (tax authorities) need financial statements to ascertain the
propriety and accuracy of taxes and other duties
declared and paid by a company.
- Media and the general public are also interested in financial statements for a variety
of reasons.
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General Ledger Clean-up:
The general ledger is the core of your company's financial records. These records
constitute the central "books" of your system. Since every transaction flows through
the general ledger, a problem with your general ledger throws off all your books.
Having us review your general ledger system each month allows us
to hunt down any discrepancies such as double billings or any unrecorded payments.
Then we'll fix the discrepancies so your books are always accurate and kept in good shape.
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Income Statement (view sample):
An income statement, otherwise known as a profit and loss statement, shows an itemized list
of all your revenues and subtracts an itemized list of all your expenses to come up with a
profit or loss for the period.
An income statement allows you to...
Track revenues and expenses so that you can determine the operating performance of your business
Determine what areas of your business are over-budget or under-budget
Identify specific items that are causing unexpected expenditures. Like phone, fax, mail, or supply expenses
Track dramatic increases in product returns or cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales
Determine your income tax liability
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Quarterly Taxes
Do you need to pay quarterly taxes on your business? Do you even know if you need to pay
quarterly taxes on your business? Here's how you can figure out if you need to pay
quarterly taxes on your business. If you do need to pay quarterly taxes on your
business, here is how you can do it properly so that you do not get in trouble with
the government.
How to tell if you need to pay quarterly taxes on your business?
The people who need to make estimated quarterly tax payments are those whose income
tax withholding will not end up covering your tax liability for the next year. The
people who generally need to pay estimated quarterly tax payments are those people
who are self employed, those people who are landlords, and also investors. If you
fall within these categories, you need to make estimated tax payments to the government
every three months. You need to make these quarterly payments because otherwise
any income tax withholding that is made for another job may not cover your federal
income tax by the time that the year ends. You do not need to be nervous about paying
your income taxes. Let the professionals at A.P. Accounting & Bookkeeping
Services do it for you!
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Sales and Use Taxes
In Connecticut the state sales and use taxes are generally imposed at the
rate of 6 percent. The Connecticut sales tax is imposed on the retailer (or
service provider) measured by taxable gross receipts. However, the retailer is entitled
to collect reimbursement of the tax from the purchaser. The use tax is based
on the retail sales price for the storage, acceptance, consumption or other use
by a person in Connecticut. The use tax is not imposed on sales or services that
are subject to the sales tax.
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Ratio Analysis
Financial ratio analysis is the calculation and comparison of ratios which
are derived from the information in a company's financial statements. The level
and historical trends of these ratios can be used to make inferences about a company's
financial condition, its operations and attractiveness as an investment.
We will provide the analysis of your business' liquidity and debt ratios, so, you
can identify where your business is going and make plans as to how you would like
your business to grow.
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Cash Flow Analysis
Cash flow analysis is the study of the cycle of your business' cash inflows and outflows,
with the purpose of maintaining an adequate cash flow for your business, and to
provide the basis for cash flow management.
Cash flow analysis involves examining the components of your business that affect
cash flow, such as accounts receivable, inventory, accounts payable, and credit
terms. By performing a cash flow analysis on these separate components, A. P. Accounting
& Bookkeeping Services will identify cash flow problems and suggest ways to improve your cash
flow.
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