I am all for outsourcing bookkeeping.  However, I am very hesitant to outsource bookkeeping to someone that I have never met it person.  After all, if they do a bad job they could cause me to lose money or end up with a mess to clean up, which is expensive also.

That is why I outsource my bookkeeping to a company that is located within 30 minutes of my office.

Dashboard Accounting can work with anyone, anywhere via the web.  However, if you are looking for Akron Bookkeeping or Canton Bookkeeping – or even Cleveland Bookkeeping – then you are in special luck because Dashboard Accounting is a local outsourced bookkeeping company and you can stop down in their offices and meet the real people that will be helping you better manage your business.

Give them a call and schedule a visit.  They are located just north of Akron, Ohio and it is easy to get to, right off of Route 8.

You might be thinking about better financial management for your New Year’s Resolution.  That is a great one if financial management is a problem for you.

But better financial management does not have to mean you start doing a better job of managing the money in your business all by your self.

It could also mean you work more closely with your accountant.

It should also mean you outsource bookkeeping and make sure someone is keeping your Quickbooks updated.

You might need a Quickbooks Pro to help you buy and set up your system for better financial management.

And you might want to consider a payroll company or a bookkeeper that knows how to use payroll software small business editions so you can make management easier.

Better financial management of your small business is a great resolution for 2010 – but trying to do more yourself could mean you will find yourself right back where you started in a few months.  Why not take advantage of our free consultation and see what Dashboard Accounting can do for you to improve your small business financial management?

Most small business owners I meet are not happy with their bookkeeping.  They may feel like it is OK or they may feel it is a pain, but rarely are they thrilled with bookkeeping.  Even when they have a great person in house doing the books, talk to them when that person submits a 2 week notice and you will find a very panicked business owner.

So what is the best small business bookkeeping strategy?

While one size does not fit all businesses, here are some tips to consider.

1. Outsource bookkeeping to a company with multiple employees and a system in place to handle your needs, even if someone leaves.
2. Use Quickbooks, do not go for cheaper bookkeeping software, because ultimately most book keepers and accountants are used to Quickbooks and it will save you money.
3. Keep your books up to date and document everything.  Playing catch up with your books is more difficult.
4. Record checks as you write them.
5. Review your business books at least once a month.
6. Periodically verify that taxes and bills are being paid if you are outsourcing the payments.
7. Work with a Quickbooks Pro that knows how to get the most out of the business accounting software.

An outsourced bookkeeper can help you protect your data.   Any business that has lost their accounting computer data has a higher chance of business failure.   By using Dashboard Accounting to outsource your bookkeeping, you can be confident your data is backed up and secure. 

There are many different backup methods available.  When choosing the right option, consider these questions:

• Will the data be available when you have a hard disk failure
• Will the data be available in a disaster, such as a flood
• How long will it take to have your data restored
• Is your data secure
• How often is your data backed up

You may need a combination of backups to solve your needs and protect your data.   

Outsourcing bookkeeping to a company is a huge value.   We take away the complexity of determining if your data is safe and secure.   A professional bookkeeping company like Dashboard Accounting does nothing but maintain great people and systems in the United States that do bookkeeping for companies in Cleveland, Akron or anywhere.  There is a good chance Dashboard Accounting can lower your costs, improve your bookkeeping and eliminate the bookkeeper churn headache.

Dashboard Accounting is beneficial to the company that:

• Cannot afford to staff an accounting department, but recognizes the necessity of having one.
• Does their bookkeeping their self, but wants to free up time and needs help
• Has a bookkeeper but is unable to manage them.
• Needs to utilize their financial information to assist with decision-making.
• Wants to reduce costs by outsourcing the bookkeeping.

What Dashboard Accounting can do for your company:

• Function as the Accounting Department for your small or medium-sized company.
• Complete bookkeeping tasks on a daily basis.
• Assist in interpreting your financial data.
• Assist with current year budgeting.
• Assist with forecasting and strategic planning.
• Assist with tax planning and tax filing.
• Ensure a secure environment for all financial data

Dashboard Accounting Services Include:

Accounts Receivable Processing

• Record sales invoices
• Invoice customers
• Send customer statements

Accounts Payable Processing

• Process vendor invoices
• Process approved vendor payments

Payroll

• Record third party payroll
• Prepare payroll
• Prepare payroll tax returns

Reconcile Balance Sheet Accounts

Controller Services

• Supervise and review bookkeeper
• Quarterly phone consultation
• Monthly financial report package
• Monthly “Dashboard Report”
• Quarterly management letter

Control Review

• Review management internal control
• Review standard operating procedures
• Review backup procedures

When looking to outsource, not only should you look at small business bookkeeping services, but make sure you use a small business accountant.

Dashboard Accounting offers outsourced bookkeeping and Accounting for small business owners around the Cleveland/Akron area.  Call Dashboard Accounting today to see how they can help you drive your business forward!

Dashboard Accounting

330-908-0888

www.DashboardAccounting.com

Whether your bookkeeping is outsourced or not,  preparing and using budgets is an important tool for your success.  Why spend time budgeting?

• A budget can greatly enhance your chances of success by helping you estimate future needs and plan profits, spending and overall cash flow.
• A budget allows you to perceive problems before they occur and alter your plans to prevent those problems.
• Budgets help you determine how much money you have and how you will use it
• Budgets help you determine whether you have enough money to achieve your financial goals.
• A budget can help convince a banker that you know your business and have calculated its needs.
• Budges help measure performance.
• A Budget can be used to perform “What If” scenarios on changes in income and expenses.

 When you’re running a business, it’s easy to get bogged down in day-to-day problems and forget the bigger picture. However, successful businesses invest time to create and manage budgets, prepare and review business plans and regularly monitor finance and performance.

Dashboard Accounting

330-908-0888

8536 Crow Drive, Suite 120

Macedonia, Ohio 44056

www.DashboardAccounting.com

Press Release on Workshop for Budget Planning

Are you looking for bookkeeping help in Cleveland or Akron?  Have you considered outsourced bookkeeping?

Outsourcing is not a new concept.   Currently, the following services are often outsourced:  Payroll, Pension Management, Taxes, Property Management, Mass marketing campaigns, Legal services and Insurance Services.

The construction industry is an example of a business model which outsources many tasks:   Electrician, Painter, Plumber, Carpenter…   In this arrangement, the General Contractor still has the responsibility for the project’s success.   You cannot delegate responsibility. 

This is often forgotten when a small business outsources bookkeeping.  Outsourced bookkeeping does not relieve the business owner of the responsibility for the company bookkeeping.   You cannot transfer ultimate responsibility. 

The rewards for outsourced bookkeeping can be high as long as the relationship and process is managed.   

Benefits to outsourcing are:

• Operating cost reduction or control
• Reducing current/future capital expenditures
• Flexibility to increase or decrease volume efficiently
• Quality improvement
• Obtaining current and ongoing expertise. 

What are the keys to outsourced bookkeeping while maintaining responsibility?  The keys are:

• Define what you want to outsource
• Review vendor’s certifications.   Do they have CPA’s on staff, Are they in the software they support. 
• Does the vendor have the proper business insurance?
• How will the workflow be handled?
• When will your books be completed/how often?
• Does the company assist you in interpreting your results?
• Does the company have proper segregation of duties?
• Are the appropriate security measures in place to protect your data?
• Is you work completed outside the US? 
• Are written procedures provided for the workflow?

You can fulfill your responsibility while outsourcing by evaluating the answers to the above questions and reviewing your results on a regular basis. 

When you think through this process, it is easy to see that outsourcing bookkeeping to a company is a huge value.    A professional bookkeeping company like Dashboard Accounting does nothing but maintain great people and systems in the United States that do bookkeeping for companies in Cleveland, Akron or anywhere.  There is a good chance Dashboard Accounting can lower your costs, improve your bookkeeping and eliminate the bookkeeper churn headache.  Plus they are offering up to 2 free hours of consultation just to see if there is an opportunity.  Why not book your free book keeping assessment today?

Dashboard Accounting is pleased to announce that QuickBooks 2010 is now available. The 2010 series offers QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Simple Start, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, QuickBooks Payroll, QuickBooks Cash Register Plus, QuickBooks Point of Sale, QuickBooks Point of Sale Hardware Peripherals, and Merchant Service for QuickBooks.

Some Key points to look at that are new for 2010 is…

 Client Data Review. This is compared to spell check, it will help you find errors and fix the client entry errors.

Report Center.  View recently-run Reports, create “Favorites” of the reports you use the most!

Clean Up Company Data Wizard- Maximize efficiency and Condense older transactional data!

Online Banking. You choose, which style you like better, Online banking in 2008 or 2009.

Forms Customization- Improved. Easier and faster to change the forms into what your company wants and needs. Add logo, change color and fonts, add shading and borders. If your company is professional, look professional!

That was only a few of the improvements that come with QuickBooks 2010.

Do you need Book keeping help in the Northern part of Ohio? Let Dashboard Accounting be your Accounting department. Dashboard Accounting offers great services from outsource bookkeeping to controller and tax work with great prices.

Contact Dashboard Accounting to see how they can help you DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD!!!

If you’re like many small business owners, you handle payroll yourself. Maybe you don’t trust using small business payroll services. Perhaps you get pleasure in personally handling the money, when each of your employees gets paid. Maybe you’re trying to save a few bucks by keeping it in-house instead of using a small business bookkeeping service.

Cutting paychecks once was much easier. But thanks to today’s laws… deductions and the IRS… the simple task of paying your staff has evolved into a time-consuming nightmare.

In fact, many payroll do-it-yourselfers don’t even realize how much time they spend on payroll alone. Recent studies showed that small business owners spend an average of eight hours a month performing payroll functions.

That’s 12 full days a year — over two working weeks! Wouldn’t that be better spent generating sales, prospecting new business opportunities, improving products or services, or servicing customers?

Instead of working on payroll, you could be generating more business so you actually can make payroll. Instead of cutting checks, you could be collecting them – from fresh sales.

In today’s competitive economy, it makes sense to outsource bookkeeping help and payroll, with small business accountant solutions that meet your business’s needs. Letting go of this one task will quickly let you to spend more time doing what you do best… like running your company.

Here’s why you should outsource your payroll:

• Save money – Use your staff more efficiently by letting professionals handle payroll and the associated legal details. This allows you to better contain your overhead, removing expense of specialized employees.
   
• Save time – Outsourced payroll services eliminate the hassle of customizing, updating and maintaining your own payroll system. No more data entry… no more researching updates or stressing about new laws… no more worries.
   
• Worry-Free Tax Filing – Eliminate the risks of calculating and filing your own payroll taxes. Have professional CPAs do it for you. Federal, state and local payroll tax laws always seem to be changing, becoming more complex. Your time can be better spent than researching new rules and updates.
• Easy-to-Understand Payroll Reports – You get a wide variety of user-friendly and accurate payroll reports. For a tiny fee, we can even include union reports, certified payroll, workers’ compensation reports and much more.
• Let the pros handle it - Our professional staff allows you to focus on the core competencies of your business. You get true accounting professionals working for you and with you.

When you’re ready for book keeping service — whether you need bookkeeping Akron or bookkeeping Cleveland — there are many bookkeeping firms and bookkeeping businesses from which to choose. At Dashboard Accounting, we specialize in virtual bookkeeping and outsource small business accounting services, giving our clients the complete financial picture and expert advice — all at a price that makes sense. We’re also QuickBooks certified, and can train you on small business software tax, payroll, and serve as a general accounting software consultant. For more details, go to www.DashboardAccounting.com.

Whether you believe it or not, bookkeeping is a significant part of a business. Of course it might not be the most exciting part of the business or the glamorous, it is however the heart of the company. Many small businesses do seek bookkeeping help, while others choose not to. There are many mistakes one can make but here are the Top Ten.

Not Saving Receipts-

Here there are two main points to look at. One, some business owners think that as long as they have their statements (Bank and Credit Cards) they are ok and do not need their receipts. Statements do not count. The reason is the statements are not like the receipts; statements do not give you a breakdown of the items you purchased. The IRS needs to see the receipts to they can make sure it is business related and not personal.

The other point is some do not keep receipts under 75 dollars. Yes, it is true that the IRS only requires receipts of 75 dollars and higher. However the lower receipts might prove to be useful come tax time. Everyone wants to ensure that they receive everything back that they are entitled to; keeping those receipts would help ensure that.

Doing it yourself-

Many small business owners choose to do their own bookkeeping. Outsource bookkeeping might be the smartest action a small business owner can do. The reason is, as the owner of a small business, your time is the most valuable. There are so many other details you could be focusing on, but you’re spending your time on your bookkeeping. Also not only does it give you more time it will give you peace of mind, knowing that your books are being kept by professionals who know the ins and outs of accounting. Hiring an accounting outsourcing service will prove to be beneficial with the fact that they have the skills needed and the ability to do the job quickly and efficiently.

Dashboard Accounting is available and offers bookkeeping help to small and middle sized businesses. Dashboard Accounting offers their book keeping service to the northeast Ohio, including Akron and Cleveland.