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Accounting Adjustment Tips during Covid-19

Accounting Adjustment Tips during Covid-19

The spread of the coronavirus clearly had an impact on the general business environment. For many businesses the crisis led to some decline in revenue resulting in making necessary adjustments to navigate the times and not put themselves at risk. While there are revenue opportunities for certain goods and services based on the impact of COVID 19 (i.e. masks), there are also opportunities in business operations. One of the advantages to decreased business activity is companies having time to make operational adjustments like back office accounting. If you are looking to make some changes to your accounting operations, here are some to consider that may help your business emerge from this crisis and any other stronger and better than before.

Get accounting online

Moving your accounting operation online is beneficial to your business, and any small to midsize company or organization should be running their accounting software on desktop or server-based software. Applications such as QuickBooks Online, Intacct, Xero, and others provide full accounting software functionality in a secure environment. We have a client portal for our clients at Motl Accounting which provides access for faster and more convenient communication and document exchange. No software installation on your computer is needed and any user from anywhere in the world can access, which makes it easier for your books to be managed anywhere.

Automate accounting process 

Automating your accounting process eliminates the need for data with sensitive information to travel between systems via paper mail. Most online applications have electronic interfaces to banking systems. This eliminates the need to reconcile paper- based banking statements, as the information from your bank is always seamlessly provided to your online accounting system. These applications also connect to other specialized applications for billing and expensing in many instances, therefore reducing the time and effort required to reconcile through paper documents and manual entries.

Outsource accounting

Outsourcing some or all of your accounting operations is a great way to eliminate costs, decrease risk and free up time for you to focus on your business. Accounting firms are accustomed to cloud accounting and are in many instances more savvy in automating your accounting process. With remote access to software, data and a bookkeeper you will have access to a virtual accounting team that is available to you wherever you are.  Beyond current circumstances, there is a sizable benefit to using an accounting firm like ours. Imagine the freedom to focus on actually running your business, confident that the books are right, having access to all your financials and a team of experts in your corner to help make sound logical financial decisions. This we’ve realized provides business owners and managers with peace of mind. Having the experts handle your bookkeeping, payroll and accounting lets you weather storms better. 

If you are looking to automate and transfer your accounting practices online with a reputable accounting firm, we’d be happy to assist. Our team of accountants, bookkeepers and payroll professionals are ready to help you with your financials during uncertain times like these. Stay safe and connect with us via our website, social pages or call us at 847-426-2100. 

 

Why Bookkeeping is Important – Motl Accounting

Why Bookkeeping is Important – Motl Accounting

Why Bookkeeping is Important

Many consider tax saving strategies as the main reason to do bookkeeping but there are actually more benefits to consider. Great bookkeeping can help with decision making, prepare you for audits, help with taxes and more. A business owner who intends to succeed and grow over time can therefore gain much by having a great bookkeeping system in place. Our bookkeeping process at Motl Accounting provides our clients with financial statements, performance graphs, comparatives and payroll reports at the click of a button for their convenience. We also prepare their income taxes on a timely basis to eliminate most tax season worries, so they are always up to date with all the various taxing agencies. They benefit greatly from this and here are a few reasons why:

Audit Protection 

Having a great bookkeeping system or bookkeeper in place can help you when you get flagged for audits by agencies like the IRS. We have helped several clients with audits who in turn have had great outcomes from the process due to our involvement. They end up accepting how rigid of a process it would have been for them to handle alone without our expertise. As your business grows, it’s beneficial to keep good bookkeeping records you can hand over to a bookkeeper or accountant when you realize how big of a task it is becoming. 

Less Stress

We pride ourselves in providing “peace of mind accounting practices”. We understand how stressful it can be when your books are disorganized, there’s a constant nudge to get to it as you know the importance of it being done. The lack of time to get it done on your part typically reflects how busy you are as a business owner and with that might come the inclination to get a professional bookkeeper. Knowing your bookkeeping is handled professionally and constantly lets you have the peace of mind and more time  to run your business. 

Decision Making

Expense tracking, budgeting and good record keeping is helpful for sound decision making. Having a process that keeps you informed on your most important financial information like profits and loss by service or product, sales by client/customer and more can be very helpful in knowing the next logical steps to make for your business. Technology now provides access to reports instantly through web portals and apps so you can make decisions on the fly. There are many insights a business owner can get by understanding their books and even more by having a great bookkeeper that can help keep their books organized while they focus on their passion of running their business. 

Need Help With Accounting?

Keeping all this in mind, would you and your business benefit from bookkeeping or accounting services? Assess your expertise and passion for it and if you determine it’s too much to handle on your own, have an accounting firm like Motl Accounting assist you. We have helped many business owners in the Chicagoland area and we would be happy to assist you. Call our West Dundee Illinois location at 847-426-2100 or contact us through our website.   
Bookkeeping Tips for a Growing Business

Bookkeeping Tips for a Growing Business

You had a passion to start a business and provide services or products to many customers and fortunately, you are finally there! Your efforts are making your business grow quickly and you are realizing how busy you are becoming to not have time for all the things you used to. One of those could be your bookkeeping and financials. There are more moving parts to a fast growing business and having great financials to help you run and manage the business successfully is of great importance. Great bookkeeping is vital to measuring and understanding your business, so you can manage it as it grows or have the right records for potential investors or lenders. It ultimately helps you monitor your cash flow and make wise business decisions while staying compliant. Here are a few reasons to consider keeping up to date with your bookkeeping if your business is experiencing rapid growth. 

Cash Flow Management

Keeping up with your bookkeeping daily and weekly lets you know how your cash flow is so you can better manage your business operations. Knowing how much is needed to keep the operation going versus what’s currently on hand gives you the opportunity to make smart and quick decisions. With growth comes the possibility for many financial surprises and opportunities and not understanding your cash flow can lead to stressful times for a business owner.

Operations Management

Well organized books let you know where your profits and losses are coming from. By analyzing your books, you’ll have a bird’s-eye view on what’s working or not operationally before it’s too late. This gives you the opportunity to know where to invest in more or where to cut or reduce cost, production or service. This means your accounting books provide opportunities for you to continuously take your business to the next level. 

Business Funding

Many business owners come to realize they need capital at a moments notice and keeping up to date with bookkeeping can be very beneficial in this instance. Cleaning up several months of your books at once can lead to errors, wrong data and be time consuming. Investors and lenders typically ask for information on your books and mostly assist those who have clean books and a good idea on how they spend and receive money.  There are additional reasons as to why daily and weekly monitoring the financials of a fast growing business is important. When to consider an accountant that can help as your business grows is an important yet sometimes daunting decision. We have helped several clients with making the right decisions to grow their business at Motl Accounting. Our accounting practices provide you the information you need to make sound business decisions during the course of your rapid growth. We have accountants, dedicated bookkeepers and payroll specialists on staff to help our clients. We pride ourselves in providing peace of mind accounting practices so our clients can focus on other important demands of growing their business.  Is your business experiencing rapid growth? Contact us at our West Dundee, IL location at 847-426-2100 or via our website. We’d be pleased to let you know how we can assist your business during the fast growing phase and also how we can help you grow
5 Ways Accountants Can Help Businesses Grow

5 Ways Accountants Can Help Businesses Grow

Growing as a business is certainly of importance to most business owners. After all, you will want your company to flourish and continue to experience growth for many years to come. However, in order for your business to head in a positive direction, it helps to utilize proper financial planning and analyzing…that’s where an accountant comes into play!

Are you aware of how accountants can benefit your own business? Many might believe an accountant just helps with the crunching of numbers, but you’ll be surprised that great accounting practices actually help businesses grow and generate more profits in the process.

We understand just how beneficial an accountant can be for a business! We have helped several businesses in the Chicagoland area and provided them with great information that’s helped their businesses. That’s why we have gathered five ways in which accountants can help a business grow by working with an accountant like Motl Accounting in Dundee, Illinois. If you would like to discover what these ways are, be sure to continue reading:

  • Creates Budgets & Forecasts Reporting. It’s important that every business has a plan for their future. Therefore, you will want to set up goals to achieve over the next year, as well as create charts and graphs to keep yourself on track and complete them. By working with an accountant, you can have reports created which will showcase how your fixed and variable costs compare with your sales volume throughout the year, providing you with knowledge of the market conditions that you will need for profitable growth.
  • Discovers Key Performance Indicators. Every business has key performance indicators. If you are in retail, you might use inventory turnover for construction or it might be job costing. Your accountant should assist you with discovering yours, as well as advise on methods to set up reports, allowing you to see how they perform over time so that you can make the best decisions for your business for its future growth.
  • Maintains Cash Flow Projections. If there is one thing you want to understand as a business, it’s your cash flow! After all, without cash your business wouldn’t be able to operate at the level you’d want it to. An accountant will create financial reports right out of your accounting software which will assist you with planning your key performance indicators and properly maintaining your cash flow. It’s important to know how to expand your product lines, increase direct costs and add employees in a way that keeps your cash flowing just as it should.
  • Determines Your Businesses Value. It’s important that you know the value of your business so that you can plan for your future. Seeing as opportunities or life events can present themselves at any time, you will want to know how much your business is worth, given the current market conditions. An accountant can assist you with getting to determine your businesses value, so that you can maximize it and your tax liability. We have professionals we partner with at Molt Accounting that help our clients with business valuations. 
  • Creates Advisory Boards. For your business to remain fiscally strong and healthy, you will want to be advised and know what to expect for the years to come. An accountant will work with you to develop a system so that you can forecast budgets, cash flow management and an overall financial analysis for your business. This way you can monitor your goals and business growth through a dashboard and ensure that it is always headed in a positive direction.

These are just a few ways in which an accountant like us can assist your own business with growing.

Are you ready to work with an accountant in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago to grow your own business and provide your peace of mind in the process? If so, please get in touch with us one of our accounting therapists at Motl Accounting, as we would be pleased with the opportunity to assist you with doing so!

Best Practices for Small Business Taxes

Best Practices for Small Business Taxes

Running a business is no easy task, especially when you have to file taxes each year to ensure that you are in compliance with current regulations. Having the expertise of an accountant throughout the year and especially during tax season can relieve much of the stress you may feel at tax time.  

Making financial decisions for your business without consulting an accountant can put your business at risk and even cost you more money in the long run. However, if you make yourself aware of some of the best practices for small business taxes, you can ensure that your business operations are headed in the right direction.

Every business should have confidence in their taxes! We have done thousands of small business taxes at Motl Accounting and have here for you some of the best practices for small business taxes.

  • Hire an Accountant. Hiring an accountant will greatly benefit your business! Throughout the year, your accountant will track your income and spending ensuring that you don’t have cash flow problems, as well as monitor your gross and net profits. This way, when it comes time to prepare your taxes, you will have all you need to properly file.
  • Keep Records. Keeping accurate records throughout the year of all of your business transactions will ensure that your tax return is correct. With inadequate record keeping, you could be leaving out deductions or even putting yourself at risk for an audit. It’s best to invest in an accounting software to assist you with keeping track of all of your income and expenses.
  • Understand the Difference Between Net & Gross Income. Business owners often forget to take into account the difference between their net and gross income. If your product costs more money to make than you charge for it, you will lose money, regardless of how many units you sell. It’s important to know what your gross and net profits are so that you can better forecast and ensure that your taxes are accurately prepared.
  • Correctly Classify Your Business. By failing to correctly classify your business, you could result in overpaying taxes. Each business classification will have a different effect on your taxes, whether it be Limited Liability or Sole Proprietor. It’s important to consult with your accountant or attorney to discover the best classification for your own business.
  • Manage Your Payroll. The IRS typically checks every quarter to ensure that a business’s payroll taxes have been paid. Therefore, it is recommended that you hire a reputable company to assist with your payroll. Whether you are working with classic fax reporting, paper checks, or even electronic reporting and direct deposit, you will want assurance that yours is handled as it should be.

By properly filing your taxes, you can have confidence in the overall operations of your business. These are just a few practices that you will want to keep in mind when it comes to your own business taxes.

With that being said, if you are seeking an accountant to assist your business, please get in touch with us here at Motl Accounting. With years of accounting experience in the Chicagoland area, we would be pleased with the opportunity to provide you with our tax services that provides business owners peace of mind.