QuickBooks has a training program that individuals can go through to get certified in how to use their software but like most owners you probably do not have the time or the inclination to go through the complete training program. So utilizing a support team for learning how to properly use the QuickBooks’ job costing function makes sense.

You can take this one step further by outsourcing your bookkeeping to a QuickBooks support specialists to actually do your job costing for you. A professional will have in depth understanding of how to use QuickBooks to your advantage, and take the hassle out of your bookkeeping. This will free up more time for you to focus on making money for your business.

Since proper job costing is such an important component of any company’s financial analysis, locating a qualified Ocean County QuickBooks support team is critical to your success. Go online to find bookkeeping services and arrange interviews to verify credentials, experience and comfort levels.

The author: Dawn Contardi, owner of Sharp Bookkeeping Service, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers with 25 years of experience can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharpbz.com

Using an experienced NJ accounting service can provide you with a professional at your side to point out where to make improvements. A good accounting specialist (not necessarily an “accountant“) can help you devise a business plan that will efficiently allocate your available funds, manage your books and show you where to cut costs. The net result will be greater efficiency and higher profits for your business.

Formulating a good business plan, with the advice of an experienced NJ accounting service, will help you stick to clearly delineated goals for your company. Having a clear overall mission statement will facilitate your decision making process as you strive to achieve your short term and long term goals. Knowing where you want your business to go is the key ingredient to sustained long term success.

It’s a cliché but never underestimate your competition. To be successful you must thoroughly analyze the way your competition operates, improve upon it and use it. Intimately working with your customers will help establish the reputation needed for regular quality referrals. Finally remaining passionate about your business is the pathway to staying on track and achieving your goals.

The author: Dawn Contardi, owner of Sharp Bookkeeping Service, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers with 25 years of experience can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharpbz.com

The first step is to identify outsourcing professionals that are experienced and certified in the areas you need assistance. A New Jersey Accounting Service with expertise in bookkeeping, payroll and tax preparation should be qualified to work with “QuickBooks.” QuickBooks is the program that 83% of all small and medium size businesses utilize.  An accounting service should have QuickBooks experts on hand to provide vital financial information about your business and answer your questions in a timely basis.

 Some accounting services can be more helpful than others, depending on where their strengths lie. So make sure during the interview process that in addition to checking out experience and certification qualifications you also obtain referrals. Verifying the results other business owners have had with their accounting service will help confirm your decision making process. The  initial consultations should be free, with a no obligation price quote to help you determine how cost effective their help will be. In making a decision don’t forget to calculate how much time you free up to devote to the profit drivers of your business.

After hiring an accounting service, a routine will developed over time that will enable your financial information to be prepared, presented and analyzed on a regular basis. The regular analysis of your business and the resulting wise business decisions is where the benefits of outsourcing will be made manifest in improvements to efficiency and profits. No matter how big or small, the right independent contractors can do wonders for your business.

The author: Dawn Contardi ,owner of Sharp Bookkeeping Service, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers with 25 years of experience can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharpbz.com.

A firm providing bookkeeping services should have the certification, experience and the knowledge of the QuickBooks Program to do the work at hand. This means that the firm should have qualified personnel that went through a comprehensive QuickBooks training program to learn what specific features QuickBooks has to offer. An accounting degree is not necessary, but they need to know what it takes to input and keep track of your payroll, sales, expenses, accounts receivable and payables for your business.  

Finding and hiring a qualified in house bookkeeper is difficult if not impossible and do you really need the expense of a professional bookkeeper 40 hours per week? CPA typically charge $150+ an hour just to do basic bookkeeping. So engaging the services of an New Jersey Outsource Bookkeeping Service that is certified in QuickBooks can easily cut your overhead and make your business more efficient. They can point out areas of your business where you may be paying too much money, and offer solutions to overspending that you may not be able to see.

Before you begin to search for a New Jersey bookkeeping firm, review what areas you need help, what functions are you comfortable outsourcing and which ones do you want to keep in house. Then arrange for consultations with several firms that provide FREE no obligation price quotes, check out their credentials, ask for referrals and make your decision.

The author: Dawn Contardi, owner of Sharp Bookkeeping Service, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers with 25 years of experience can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharpbz.com

Locating and hiring a qualified accounting service is vital to the success of your business. Besides the assistance in your search for funding, an experienced accounting service can improve your profits by providing accurate and actionable financial reports. You should look for a firm both experienced and certified in your areas of need.

In addition to doing your own research on available loan packaging, engaging the services of an accounting firm will open up sources of loan packaging not available through your own efforts. An established accounting service will have more contacts and experience with lending institutions, private lenders and investors. Every dollar counts when starting a new business, so shopping for the best rates and terms on loans is critical to your success.

A professional accounting service will not only be able to help you locate a source of funding but if you outsource your bookkeeping, payroll and tax preparation tasks to the firm you will have access to good numbers to both efficiently manage your business and present to your loan providers.

The authors: Dawn Contardi, owner of Sharp Bookkeeping Service, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers with 25 years of experience can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharpbz.com  John Florentino Jr., EA, Enrolled Agent, owner Sharp Tax and Accounting focuses on advising, representing, tax planning, tax compliance and tax return preparation for individuals, partnerships (LLC’s), corporations, estates, and trusts and any entities with tax reporting requirements. Both can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharptaxnj.com

AccountingAisle.com Article

Are you considering firing your current accountant in favor of a new one? If so, you’re probably not sure if you’re overreacting or if you have just cause. The following warning signs will help you decide if it is time for you to change accountants:

Your accountant does not return your phone calls in a timely manner, if at all.
The bottom line here is you have hired your accountant to work for you. If he/she is not returning your telephone calls, or waits until you’ve left several messages before calling you back, take this seriously. A few incidents here and there are not something to worry about, as your accountant likely has many other clients and may not be in the office for days at a time. However, if not returning phone calls are the normal state of affairs, you should  change.

Your accountant is never in the office.
This could mean he or she is very busy and out with other clients the majority of the time. It could also mean they do not take their business, or your business, very seriously. Regardless, if you have a difficult time connecting with your accountant, it may be time to look for someone who has more time in their schedule to see to your needs.

Your accountant never delivers your financials, taxes, or other forms to you on time.
This is not a good scenario! You have hired your accountant to be on top of the financial aspects of your business. If they are not able to get your forms to you on time, you need to first ask yourself if it is your fault. If you are late getting them the material they need, then it probably has little to do with them, but if they have everything they require from you with ample time – and are still consistently late, you will probably want to consider changing accountants.

Your accountant does not take the time to discuss your financial reports with you.
This is your business. You have the right to understand your financial reports, and if your accountant is unwilling to schedule the time to go over them with you, this is a warning sign you shouldn’t ignore. Think of it this way – if you don’t understand your reports, then you can’t feel confident that the IRS is getting correct information. It is essential to your peace of mind, and to your business, that you understand all of yourr financial reports.

The staff member assigned to your account does not seem competent.
If staff is unable to answer your questions, or if you seem to know more about the accounting aspects of your business than they do, you may want to consider switching accountants.

You begin to receive a lot of IRS notices in the mail.
This is a serious warning sign. If the IRS is sending you repeated notices, then your business’s financial affairs are not being taken care of correctly. Too many of these notices, and your business will be red-flagged by the IRS, which could lead to years of issues every time a form is filed. Speak with your accountant and demand to know what the problem is. If you are unsatisfied with the answers, it is time to search for a new accountant.

Often overlooked, but it shouldn’t be. If your instincts are telling you something isn’t right, pay attention. With any of the above warning signs you may need to move on. Changing accountants isn’t easy, but if you feel it is the right decision, Trust your instincts!

The Business Times

Article: June 1, 2011

Author: John Hildebrand

Change remains a challenge for NJ business owners. Considering outsourcing payroll is no exception. Here are some of the most common reasons business owners and managers choose to outsource payroll.

Consistency. As business owners are well aware, “in-house” bookkeepers tend to come and go. When you outsource payroll processing, you give yourself a “safety net.” Of all the bookkeeping and accounting functions that have to be performed by a business, payroll and payroll taxes are the ones that are absolutely inflexible. If something happens to your in-house person — sickness, accident, a family matter or they just walk out — you can put off your basic bookkeeping until next week. Payroll, however, won’t wait. Our friendly taxing agencies aren’t very forgiving if you miss a payroll tax payment, either. In many cases, a single tax penalty will exceed the cost of outsourcing payroll for an entire year.

Expertise. Here’s a good question to ask about payroll: Are the people who process my payroll up to date on compliance issues? This is a very different question from: Can my person print a paycheck? Federal and State governments enact new labor and payroll laws with great frequency. Between May and June 2010, six new federal laws became effective. There were at least that many State laws in 2010 that affected employers. The cycle of new laws has continued in 2011. Do you know what they are? Do you have the means to find out? They might not apply to your business. But as the old saying goes, “Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.” You should know what laws apply or at least have an easy-to use-tool that gives you access to changing labor and tax laws. Wouldn’t you like to know you’re compliant rather than just hope you are?

Saving time and money. While cost is seldom the first question asked in conversations about outsourcing, it’s an important one. In many cases, when all the costs a business incurs in processing payroll are tallied, outsourcing can save money. The other thing that happens is that the time spent in the payroll process is greatly reduced. This frees up employees for more valuable tasks.

Help when you need it. Do you remember the television commercial a couple of years ago that showed a guy trying to get his taxes done. He was pulling his hair out trying to figure out a problem and the “box” didn’t have the answers. His wife, who had wanted him to use a tax preparer, picks up the box and knocks him on the head with it, saying “Talk to the box, honey.” The advantage of outsourcing locally is that when you have a question or problem, you can call a real person or even visit with them in person. Considering the various reasons to outsource payroll, it could make sense for your business.

QuickBooks does offer a training program you can go through to become certified in their software system. The problem is most business owners do not have the time to devote to go through such a thorough training program. Even if you did have the time for the training, would you have the time to actually do your own bookkeeping? This is why outsourcing to a Point Pleasant, New Jersey bookkeeping service is such a good idea.

Before you purchase the QuickBooks program for your company sit down with several outsource bookkeeping services to help you understand the financial information that can be provided. Also, determine what portion of the work if any you want to keep in house and what portion to outsource. Having a plan in place that helps you avoid non-core activities and focus on the profit centers in your business will ensure continued growth and profits.   

QuickBooks does change from year to year, so you need to make sure that you work with the most up to date system possible when you start. A Professional Point Pleasant New Jersey bookkeeping service will have the most recent QuickBooks software to keep your business organized. The best tip you can follow is to have a qualified outsource bookkeeping service handle your financial information and your business documents through QuickBooks software to ensure you have actionable information about your business at your fingertips.

 The author: Dawn Contardi, owner of Sharp Bookkeeping Service, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers with 25 years of experience can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharpbz.com

The length of time for leasing a vehicle versus buying it can affect your decision making process.  Vehicle leases are typically at least three years. You will make payments into a car you do not own at the end of the lease. No residual asset value is a concern for some business owners looking for ongoing transportation.

The main advantage to leasing is that you might be able to secure lower payments on the vehicle when you lease it. Leasing is basically an extended rental program where you put money into a vehicle you will never get out of it.  If you want to keep the vehicle for a longer term, you might as well pay for the vehicle so you have some capital for the next one.

Currently low interest rates make payments on the purchase of a new vehicle versus leasing it about the same. Some of the big car company’s like GM and Chrysler have reduced their leasing programs while others are aggressively seeking leases. The calculation used to determine which option makes sense will change if interest rates begin to rise because the payments on a lease will be less than the financing/purchase option. Have your accounting service NJ provide an analysis of the options. An experienced firm will be able to help you compare the advantages between  leasing and financing/purchasing a car for your business.

The author: Dawn Contardi, owner of Sharp Bookkeeping Service, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers with 25 years of experience can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharpbz.com

Sales tax reporting is an inevitable part of running almost any business. The problem is that many businesses do not know how to properly record and file sales taxes. If you fail to properly maintain your records you can either end up owing money or paying too much.  To save time, money and avoid government audits consider hiring a Professional Brick NJ Accounting Service to handle both your books and your sales tax reporting. The process is simple, and it could save you a great deal of money.

The first step in finding the right outsource Accounting service to do your books is to look for experienced individuals that are Certified in the easiest and most commonly used program by businesses today, “QuickBooks.” Set up a consultation with several firms to test their knowledge about bookkeeping and accounting in general and sales tax reporting in particular. Verify their credibility, go to their offices, make sure they are experienced, that they have a web site and get references. 

 Most Accounting and Bookkeeping services are very capable and do not charge the outrageous prices ($150+/HR) CPA‘s charge for handling your books. You will still get accurate books and sales tax reporting but you don’t have to break your budget to do so. During your consultation ask for a pricing breakdown on outsourcing your bookkeeping, sales tax reporting and payroll. You should be able to outsource several business tasks to one firm.

The bottom line is rather than spending time on a task that you are not very good at, look for the right Accounting and Bookkeeping service to take care of your sales tax reporting and other business needs. A Professional Outsource Accounting, Bookkeeping and Payroll service will make sure that everything is as accurate as it can possibly be.

The author: Dawn Contardi ,owner of Sharp Bookkeeping Service, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers with 25 years of experience can be reached at 732-458-3800 or www.sharpbz.com.