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Managing Your Employees After the Pandemic

Managing Your Employees After the Pandemic

Managing Your Employees After the Pandemic 

The COVID-19 crisis led to many changes in how employees work. Employees had to adjust to new routines and organizations had to make adjustments by providing access to work remotely. With normalcy setting in and the return of workers to physical offices, this could be a great time to revisit how to manage your team as they return to their work spaces. Meeting with your human resources and payroll providers to make adjustments that will keep your company and employees safe is advisable. We have a few tips here to consider when it comes to managing your human resources for positive results.

Revisit the Employee Handbook

The employee handbook is to have policies and procedures to help defend you from lawsuits. Ask an attorney to review your handbook to ensure it meets the times and update it as needed. Roll it out through a series of training sessions and have your employees (old and new hires) sign a statement acknowledging their understanding of the updated handbook.  

Revisit the Office Setup

The pandemic led to a new awareness of being extra cautious and safe. Employees will want to feel safe at work and how your office is organized could make a difference. Consider having more space between staff desks and cubes to make everyone feel comfortable. You can also ask your employees for input on what their preferences are and accommodate them based on company policies and resources. 

Be Supportive

Everybody deserves fair and equal treatment at the workplace and supporting your employees in this manner is encouraged. After a tumultuous year, providing the environment and flexibility that supports all manner of employees can make a difference in your business outcomes and in the lives of your staff. Having guidelines and policies that ensure fairness to all your employees should provide them with the peace of mind to carry out their duties effectively. You can also refer to the CDC’s guidelines on general business questions for COVID-19

Summary

As a human resource and payroll company, ensuring our clients are safe with the right information and tools is a main objective. It is important that business owners have the right answers to questions to keep them compliant and that’s where we make a difference. 

Contact one of our Payroll Rockstars at 847-426-2100 to learn how we assist many businesses in the Chicagoland area with their payroll and human resources needs. We’d be happy to assist you and your staff with managing your payroll and keeping you compliant. 

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!

When to Hire an Accountant

When to Hire an Accountant

Hiring an accountant is beneficial for any business! Your company will experience different stages of growth and great accountants assist you with staying on track as your business evolves. From creating business plans to handling tax audits, an accountant will be able to guide you through each experience.

Some business owners however avoid outsourcing accounting services, thinking that it will save them money. However, accounting services can actually offer great returns on investments.

If you are curious as to when you should hire your own accountant, you are in luck! Here at Motl Accounting, we have comprised some great insights for you. If you would like to learn more, be sure to continue reading:

  • Are You Ready to Boost Your Income? If you are ready to increase your income, it’s time to hire an accountant. All businesses rely on a steady cash flow and by hiring an accountant, you can help your business optimize and regularize a revenue stream. They will oversee your accounts receivable, improve debt collection and advise on wise investments. In addition, an accountant can also review market rates for your products or services, so that your prices are adjusted accordingly, allowing you to maximize your income.
  • Are You Ready to Save Time? As a business professional, you are busy! If you are ready to save some time, turn your accounting needs over to an accountant. You have enough on your plate and shouldn’t have to worry about taxes, compliance, bookkeeping or payroll. By hiring an accountant, all of this weight will be taken off your shoulders and will be handled by the professionals.
  • Are You Ready to Prepare Your Taxes? Taxes are a daunting subject for any business. If you are aren’t ready to handle yours, it’s time to seek the services of an accountant. From quarterly payments to annual filings, your accountant should ensure that your business taxes are handled properly, giving you peace of mind. After all, you wouldn’t want to put yourself at risk of an audit.
  • Are You Ready to Create Forecasts? As a business owner, you want to make sure that your finances stay on track as your business grows. It may be time for you to sit down with an accountant to create the right plans for your business. Whether you are preparing to impress an investor or needing to hire more staff, your accountant can create models and projections to assist you with making the right decisions for the upcoming months and years.

As you can see, an accountant is a wonderful asset to a business! We have helped many businesses with all these insights and more.  These are just a few things that you should keep in mind if you are considering hiring your own accountant.

If you are all set to begin working with your own accountant, contact us here at Motl Accounting. Our goal is to ensure that our clients have peace of mind, when it comes to their accounting. We would be honored to work with you and assist you with our accounting services in Dundee, Illinois.  

Benefits of Hiring a Bookkeeper

Benefits of Hiring a Bookkeeper

In order to maintain a successful business, it’s advisable to work on keeping your finances in check. Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions made by your business and is an essential aspect of ensuring that your accounting remains on track.

Overall, bookkeeping is similar to going to the doctor…no one wants to take the time to do it, but it is something that can’t be neglected. Therefore, in order to save you time and to have confidence in your business’s finances, you should consider outsourcing your bookkeeping operations to a vetted bookkeeper.

We understand just how important it is for your business operations to run smoothly! Our award winning accounting services provide bookkeeping for several businesses in Dundee, IL and neigbouring cities  That’s why we at Motl Accounting  have gathered some benefits of hiring a bookkeeper for your own business. If you are looking to gain some great insights, here they are:

  • Prevents Errors. Even the most experienced business owners make mistakes when it comes to their books. From data entry errors, missing entries, double entries and even mixing up types of expenses, there is certainly a great deal of room for errors to occur. By hiring a bookkeeper, you can ensure that their keen eye won’t miss any errors.
  • Saves You Time. You are busy as a business professional! Do you really want to spend time managing your books and paying bills when there are other areas of the business that need more of your attention. Bookkeepers know when it’s time to spend within your budget, along with accurately invoicing and handling your accounts receivable. By hiring a bookkeeper, you can have more time to focus on your business operations, while also having confidence that your bills are paid on time.
  • Provides You with Insight. As a business owner, you may believe that you have a good sense about the state of your business’s finances. However, having another pair of eyes overseeing yours could provide you with some surprising insight! Bookkeepers typically provide reports that show you how your business is doing each month, where the funds are going and how your efforts are paying off. This way you can see the big picture once the numbers are crunched and learn of areas where you may need to make improvements.
  • Saves You Money. Without money you wouldn’t be profitable as a business. Therefore, saving it in any way that you can is certainly of importance! The salary and benefits of hiring an in-house bookkeeper can be significant. So by outsourcing your bookkeeping services, you can save a great deal of money while still having your finances taken care of.

A bookkeeper is a wonderful asset to a business! Our clients appreciate the relationships they have with their dedicated bookkeepers and the technology we have for them to have access to their statements at their convenience. These are just a few of the many reasons as to why you should consider hiring your own.

If you are ready to learn about our bookkeeping services, or ready to have us assist you,  please get in touch with us here at Motl Accounting. As a leader in the Northwest Suburbs, we would be pleased to have the opportunity to assist your business with our award winning accounting services.

Benefits of Outsourcing Payroll

Every new business owner begins with a vision of how things will be a few years down the line. What you probably never imagined were piles of paperwork and payroll headaches! It makes sense to handle payroll processing by yourself when you only have a few employees – there isn’t too much to keep track of, and you can easily resolve problems quickly. As your company scales up, what was once a small task can quickly become something that’s not as manageable. You might even have a run in with the IRS if you make a mistake. Feeling helpless? An outside payroll service like Payroll Vault may be just what you need to get back on track.

Our payroll service, overseen by Blair Motl, provides unmatched client service and powerful scalable solutions that meet the needs of all types of businesses. The benefits of outsourcing your payroll can make a significant difference in the success of your business and your work-life balance. Here are some of the benefits of outsourcing your payroll:

You’ll Save Time

A few hours spent on payroll every week can really add up throughout the year. Whether you’re processing the paperwork yourself or hiring internal staff to do it, you’re in a fight against the clock. There aren’t enough hours in the day for one person to handle the responsibilities of several full-time employees. Payroll tasks are a lot like the backstage of a theatrical production — important, but what really matters is what happens on the main stage. For businesses, your sales and other revenue generating activities should be front and center.

You’ll Save Money

As the saying goes, time is money, and that is especially true for business owners. It’s typically more costly to hire an internal accountant or payroll specialist than to outsource the job. When you choose Motl Accounting, you get all the benefits of an in-house accountant, without the added expenses. What that means for your business is that you can call our Motl Accounting office in Dundee, IL at any time and speak to a member of our accounting bookkeeping and payroll team. Someone that is familiar with your account will be available to answer your payroll concerns. It’s a fast, reliable and easy way to handle tasks that could otherwise cause financial headaches. Our Payroll Vault team assists by ensuring you have the right tools in place to save you money.

Our systems are used by an amusement park in the Dundee area and Payroll Vault helps them ensure employees are correctly logging in. This, in turn, helps the business save money since payroll is done digitally and not through physical time sheets which are prone to more errors.

You will Stress Less

We all know the feeling of spending extra hours in the office to get things done. Sometimes workplace responsibilities mean that business owners can’t give their friends and family the attention they’d like to give. When this goes on for too long, it can take a toll on a person’s mental wellbeing. Payroll should never get in the way of your personal life. When you start to dread going to work because you know payroll responsibilities are coming up, it’s time to look into outside options. Our co-owner and EA Brent Motl always stresses the fact that we at Motl Accounting and Payroll Vault are in the business of providing peace of mind to our clients.

You Will Get Payroll Experts

Payroll is a meticulous process with small details you may not have the expertise to handle on your own. Tax tables, regulatory changes, new government forms and withholdings are important pieces of the payroll puzzle. In the past, only large corporations were able to stay on top of every payroll detail. Small and medium sized businesses were often left to fend for themselves and many relied on a costly accountant on staff. Outsourcing your payroll to the Motl Accounting team makes sense — both from a business and common sense perspective. Our team is highly experienced and trained on the ins and outs of payroll processing.

Running a business has its perks, but taking care of payroll isn’t one of them. There’s nothing glamorous about devoting your attention to pay stubs, direct deposit or tax forms. So when you feel like your head’s about to explode, allow yourself the luxury of calling Payroll Vault to check all the payroll boxes for you. You will be able to devote more attention to growing your business and the more you grow your business, the more employees there are to handle payroll for. We understand that you don’t take business decisions lightly, so contact Blair Motl and the Payroll team to see how we can help with your payroll. Start growing without unnecessary stress today! We work with businesses all throughout the Chicago area.