Keying Invoices - Best Practices for Small Biz Owners

Accounting all the invoices and tracking all bills can be tedious for SOHO or small biz owner. If you receiving more than 3 bills a day, then it makes sense to use accounting program, such as Quickbooks. These accounting applications can reduce the cost or processing invoice to under $.35. Well that sound interesting, isn't.

Here're Some basics process you should be doing:

• Mark the data of invoice arrival, due data, and account information
• Every incoming invoice should be field to your accounts payable file
• Credit-card bills should filed as expense on the same day
• Train your staff to file all expenses as per accounting practice
• Make en masse payment for all bills

Double check the payment before sending out checks for your bills. This is one area where I see lot of mistakes due to oversight. Give a second look on check payments.

Virtual Accounts Payable Assistant

About Me

Your search for an accounting expert has reached my corner. If you're looking for a virtual accountant then I can provide personalized & one-to-one support for all your accounts payable issues.

I am a self-driven lady with over 5 years of experience in accounting process related with US and UK clients. During the last few years, I've worked in different programs like Quickbooks, Netsuite. I'm well versed in Excel, work and can handle calls from US and UK.

I've worked in the following domains

• Franchisee accounting for a US client
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• Car Rental ( UK)

Instead of my 9-5 job with accounting firms, I'm now pursing a new profession as Virtual accounting assistant for small and medium businesses. I can take complete charge of all your invoice process, accounts payable, bank reconciliation, credit card reconciliation related work.

Please view my Linkedin profile:

Business Work I can handle:

• Manage accounts payable
• Invoice Processing into Quickbooks
• Help Keeping Books and Working with Quickbooks
• Accounting / Bookkeeping Cleanup
• Communicate with staff, suppliers, vendors
• Manage a budget for company expenses
• and more...

My Skill Sets

• Quickbooks
• Excel
• MS-Word

If you're looking for an long-term or short-term virtual accounts payable or virtual assistant to manage your business then I can fit your bill.

But you don't believe what I say

We talk through Skype or I can do "Free" one week work for you before you decide on skills, capability and how I match with your requirement.

What is Form 10-K (Annual Filing)

At the end of each fiscal year, publicly traded companies must file a 10-K report. This includes a thorough overview of their businesses and finances as well as their financial statements. Forms 10-K are due 60 days after the close of a company’s fiscal year.

Why Is the 10-K Important?

Companies are required by the SEC to file Form 10-k annually. Form 10-K usually provides

the most detailed overview of companies’ financial operations and regulations governing

them.

Reduce Invoice Processing Cost

For businessess for any size the cost to process an invoice makes up a big chunk in the cost of maintaining acccouts

In one of the studies it was found that the cost to process a vendor payment ranging from $5 to $26 an invoice. Studies have consistently highlighted the median cost to process a vendor payment across all respondents of approximately $6.00.

Another facet is the correlation between the cost to process an A/P invoice and the size of the company. In order to optimize vendor payment, it's suggested to benchmark your time require to complete a voice and the number of Accounts payable staffer ration.

Total processing time per vendor invoice in your biz should average less than 3 days.

Streamlined invoice process cost will help you to:

• Drive down costs
• Avoid compliance-related penalties
• Increase productivity
• Insure policies are current
• Keep up with AP methods and technologies
• Maintain necessary internal controls

Please contact me for further information regarding cost-effective accounts payable service. Sign-up for a quick call back.

Basic Components Of Journal Entry

Accounting is a wonderful career to choose. It will be existing until we exchange things with cash. It is a clear method that helps us to maintain a frequent cash flow and identifies the ineffective usage of money.

This post gives you a primary tenants of accounting, i.e. journal entry.

Journal Entry:

Basically, journal entry depends on five components. Journal is foundation on which your accounting stands. The main components in a journal include

• Date
• Account
• Dollar amount
• Description of the transaction
• Entry (debit versus credit)

Let us go through the components in detail:

Date:
It is the date of the transaction. This is the date when you've received or gave money (cash, check or draft) etc. Sometimes, you don't pay money immediately, in such cases you put a backdated to the last day of the previous month in order to adjust the journal entries.

Accounting software gives you the option of adjusting the date and allows you to set up recurring journal entry. Hence, the adjusted journal entries will be programmed to post on the last day of each month.

Account:
Account is the specific format of asset, liability, expense, revenue or equity account. Journal entries should be done under the appropriate accounts according to the type of transaction has taken place. For instance, if you received money through the sales you made, it should be entered under the revenue account.

Debit versus credit:
The vital law of accounting states that assets and expenses are always debited to add to them and credited to subtract to them where as liability, revenue and equity accounts are opposite to them always. This is an unchanging rule in accountancy. All the records should be maintained respect to this rule and there is no exception.

Dollar amount:
You should account for the amount of money that is changing hands or you should account for the amount accounted for(accrual method).

Description:
While entering the transaction, you are suppose to write a relevant description stating the purpose of the transaction. This is mandatory for you to understand why you are spending money. It will be required while preparing the financial documents and filing income tax.

A perfect journal entry shows the debit first. For instance, on Jan 1st a retail company purchases the inventory from Abc corp., The total amount of purchase was $1000 and they paid $400 in cash and the rest of $600 was charged on account. Now let us see how the journal entry will look like:

Date: Jan 1st
Debit: Merchandise Inventory $1000.00
Credit: Cash $400.00
Credit: Accounts Payable $600
Description: To record merchandise inventory purchase from Abc corp.

Finally the totality of accounting is accomplished when the debits satisfy the credits. This balancing act of every credit for every debit and vice versa will help you to accomplish fullness in your accounting.

Roles of different people in accounting

Book keepers keep the Accounting Book - Day-to-day normal Account Receivable/ Account Payable entries

Accountant review the work done by bookkeepers and prepare non-recurring journal (e.g. provision for doubtful debt)

Financial controller reviews the work done by Accountant and oversees the financial statement.

CFO oversees and monitors the finance function and ensures the smooth flow of company’s financing.

Accrual expenses

Accrual expenses are expenses recognized in the books before it is paid for. It is a liability, and is usually current. These expenses are typically periodic and documented on a company's balance sheet due to the high probability that they will be collected.

In accordance with matching principle, we make provision for the expenses which have not been billed by our suppliers or the company has not paid out the expenses, if the underlying services are rendered in the corresponding period. Example for accrued expense, include:

1. Accruals for audit fees, tax agent fees
2. Accruals for Payroll, Bonus & CPF
3. Accruals for rental

etc.

The company can make the accruals based on the agreed quoting from the suppliers. The accruals for expense entry:

Dr. Expense ( P & L)
Cr. Accrulas (Balance Sheet- Liabilities)