All posts tagged money management

Tips to Stay Up on Your Accounting

Tips to Stay Up on Your Accounting

With that nasty tax deadline creeping up on us all, it’s time to assess the way you handle accounting for your business.  Whether you’re a master of bookkeeping or a filler of hastily labeled shoeboxes, there are several resources available to you and lots of different ways to make accounting a manageable task that will keep your money in your pocket where it belongs.

  1. Create a system to make your own.  Categorizing and organizing receipts, bills, and other accounting documents can be overwhelming to say the least.  Some keep alphabetical files, some keep files by month and year, and others keep files by kind (mileage, supplies, travel, etc.).  There is no one right answer except that you need to choose or create one that will be most efficient for your business.  For example, a direct seller of jewelry whose business consists mostly of home parties would be best suited by organizing her files by kind as the bills get paid and receipts come in.  This way, all she has to do come tax season is to add up what is in the files to complete the IRS tax form.  Bottom line: design a system of organization tailored to your business’s needs.
  2. Track EVERYTHING.  Every expense and every penny of income must be logged in some way.  Even though chances are slim that you would be audited, make sure that everything is documented in case you are.  Tip: Back up your data.  Many banks keep online statements for 18 months, but the IRS can audit you going back three years (up to six if a major error is found).  Consider scanning any documents of which you don’t have electronic copies.
  3.  Go digital.  For those who want to de-clutter and are looking to deal with less paper, there are many websites that can help you do just that.  Shoeboxed, for example, allows you to scan, upload, or mail in documents.  Scanning can be done from a printer or from a mobile phone.  From here, they will extract the data and categorize it into your own online account.  Similarly, The Neat Company allows you to transform documents into a sort of digital filing cabinet.  Services like these can be especially valuable for those who do business on the go.
  4. Be a regular.  You should have a regular frequency with which you handle your accounting.  Twice a month works for most small businesses, but this would be another thing to assess based on your own needs. Choose and stick to a time when you are going to sit down and pay your bills; integrate that time into your regular schedule.  The more regularly you address this area of your business, the more manageable and less time-consuming it will become.  As an added bonus, you can catch any errors before they accumulate and cause major damage.

Keeping track of your accounting as you go is the most efficient way to stay on top of all the paperwork. Not having any system in place will result in inaccuracies that will cost you hard earned cash.  How do you stay on top of your accounting?  Please share with us in the comments section!

DSEF & CBBB: Pain at the Pump: Gas Climbs to $5 per Gallon

DSEF & CBBB: Pain at the Pump: Gas Climbs to $5 per Gallon

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB):

Pain at the Pump: Gas Climbs to $5 per Gallon

BY VERONICA BROWN – FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Get ready for gas prices to shoot through the roof. Many Americans may begin to pay $5 per gallon, reports USA Today.

The surge in prices comes from not only rising prices in oil, but also lower refining capacity, tensions in the Middle East, and also the fact that spectators are driving up the price. The price of gas this February is up 42 cents from last year, with a record high of $3.65 per gallon.

On average, gas currently costs $4.20 in California, and $3.91 in New York. These prices are expected to keep climbing. A Washington state refinery that recently suffered damage from a fire could drive up prices in the region even higher this weekend.

In reaction to increased pain at the pump, consumers have begun to cutback on their gas purchases. Consumption fell 1.4 percent through February 17th, amounting to about 18 million barrels a day. This is the lowest since April 1997.

To read the full article, visit http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2012-02-22/gas-prices-average/53229358/1

DSEF and Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) fosters honest and responsive relationships between businesses and consumers—instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all.

About the Better Business Bureaus
As the leader in advancing marketplace trust, Better Business Bureau is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Every year, more than 87 million consumers rely on BBB Business Reviews® and BBB Wise Giving Reports® to help them find trustworthy businesses and charities across North America. Visitwww.bbb.org/us for more information. 

How To Offer Incentives Without Cutting Your Price

How To Offer Incentives Without Cutting Your Price

Offering incentives in small business can be a bit of a challenge, but it can also benefit you in terms of customer relations, customer retention, and of course sales.  However, it can be risky to base all of your incentives on price cuts, so consider some alternatives when creating them.

  • Tokens/Tickets/Vouchers  – One cupcake shop in Columbia, South Carolina created a special incentive to attract customers on last fall’s Small Business Saturday movement.  For every dozen cupcakes purchased at regular price, the customer would receive four tokens, one each good for a free cupcake.  To sweeten the deal (pun intended), the owner allowed the tokens to be redeemed right then and there if the customer wanted.  This was a brilliant idea, because most businesses, big and small, make customers wait until a future visit to redeem such an incentive, and often with an expiration date that creeps up sooner rather than later.  Using tokens, tickets, or vouchers and rewarding your customers on the spot shows your appreciation for their patronage.
  • Loyalty Programs – A great deal of businesses have some form of a loyalty program in place for frequent shoppers, but take this idea to the next level by offering your customers something really special.  For example, the children’s clothing giant, Carters, gives each customer a card that gets a stamp for every $20 spent.  After 5 stamps, a 10% discount is applied to the next purchase.  This is pretty standard, but you can use this idea to your advantage.  Instead of a discount, you could offer a special shopping day where he or she would have exclusive access to new products before they’re made available to the general public.
  • Individualized Product or Service – Based on a customer’s purchase history, you could offer a product/service that he or she would be particularly interested in.  For example, say a customer regularly buys a certain type of hair product from your cosmetics business. Because you know what this person wants and needs, you could offer a free consultation for a new hairstyle, color, or shampoo and conditioning treatment.  Providing individualized service to your customers improves relationships and gives them more reasons to come back.
  • Free Gift With Purchase – This really works well when you can purchase items at wholesale that have a higher perceived value.  Additionally, you can promote a higher-priced item by offering a free gift with it.  For example, select a product or service that you want to interest your customers with; if they buy it, they could also get a free custom-printed t-shirt designed by a local artist, or a free canvas tote bag with your logo printed across the front.  The benefits here are two-fold: the higher price you can charge for the item will help offset the cost of your free gift, and you are also advertising your brand by distributing your merchandise to your customers.

By thinking outside the box, there are endless possibilities to the incentives that one could offer.  What are some of your ideas for non-price related incentives?  Please share them in the comments section below!

DSEF & Money Wise Women: Learn to Say No: Adding Pause, Reflection and Focus to Your Life

DSEF & Money Wise Women: Learn to Say No: Adding Pause, Reflection and Focus to Your Life

Today’s highlighted post from Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series (Click here):

Learn to Say No: Adding Pause, Reflection and Focus to Your Life

Women too often respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to demands by checking whether their calendar is free. Women need to start checking with their own goals to see if the request fits in.” — Jackie Farley, Ceo, CenterPoint. This applies to everyone — men and women. Our lives have taken on the speed of technology, amazingly unlimited opportunity, and “too muchness!” It’s time to step back and put life back into our lives. That includes pause, reflection and focus. Learn to make conscious choices to say no when necessary. Learn three tools to help you figure out what to say no to and how to actually say no. Here’s how.

Kathie Hightower

Kathie Hightower is an international speaker, author and writer working from her home office at the Oregon Coast. Author of Simple Joys: Little Things That Make a BIG Difference, the Jump Into Life Workbook, and frequent contributor to publications worldwide, Kathie does intensive, ongoing research for her writing and her seminars. Her focus is helping people pump up their energy, creativity and joy in life. A speaker and writer since 1990, Kathie has spoken to corporate, wellness, and military groups all over the United States, Europe, Japan and Korea. Kathie is also co-author of Help! I’m a Military Spouse —I Get a Life Too! soon to come out in a third edition. She has other books and a novel in the works.
www.jumpintolife.net
www.militaryspouse.com

DSEF proudly sponsors the free Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series hosted by Marcia Brixey, Founder and President of Money Wise Women Educational Services and author ofThe Money Therapist: A Woman’s Guide to Creating a Healthy Financial Life. The series covers topics related to business and finances and provides women the opportunity to learn from professional experts in a safe, comfortable environment.

To find out about upcoming teleseminars, visit http://www.moneywisewomengetsmart.com/

DSEF & Money Wise Women: Overcoming Underearning

DSEF & Money Wise Women: Overcoming Underearning

Today’s highlighted post from Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series (Click here):

Overcoming Underearning

Barbara Stanny will help us understand the characteristics of underearners. She will discuss the process of Overcoming Underearning in five steps. You won’t want to miss this thought provoking and life changing teleseminar.

Barbara Stanny, author of Prince Charming Isn’t Coming; Secrets of Six-Figure Women and Overcoming Underearning

Barbara Stanny is a woman on a mission. That mission is to motivate women to become financially empowered. Barbara grew up relying on her father (the ‘R’ of H&R Block), then her husband, to manage her money. But a devastating financial crisis became a personal wake-up call. Barbara’s journey to financial independence is inspiring. She is an author, popular keynote speaker and hosts Overcoming Underearning workshops.www.barbarastanny.com

DSEF proudly sponsors the free Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series hosted by Marcia Brixey, Founder and President of Money Wise Women Educational Services and author ofThe Money Therapist: A Woman’s Guide to Creating a Healthy Financial Life. The series covers topics related to business and finances and provides women the opportunity to learn from professional experts in a safe, comfortable environment.

To find out about upcoming teleseminars, visit http://www.moneywisewomengetsmart.com/

Return On Investment (ROI): Evaluating Your Progress

Return On Investment (ROI): Evaluating Your Progress

What does ROI stand for? It means Return On Investment; the effort and time you put into something and the measurable return for your hard work.

Have you ever tried to shoot a basketball into a net? For most of us, the first shot is almost always a miss. But from that first shot we make many small and large adjustments. Things like aim more to the right, use more force, create more arc, push with your legs and eliminate distractions.

Imagine going through this kind of process for your business. What kind of success can you achieve based on accurate evaluation and ongoing improvement? Here are some ways to help you evaluate your progress and point you towards building a successful business.

  1. Establish a goal. Give it a time frame and completion date.
  2. Separate your goal into smaller tasks and give each task a completion time. However, be prepared that you may need to adjust your completion date depending on the circumstances.
  3. Decide on what you want to measure. Here are some more common areas that you may want to measure depending on your goal:
    • Number of prospects
    • Number of customers
    • Time needed for each process related to your business (where can you improve/streamline?)
    • Retail value of sales
    • Amount of expenses in relation to income produced
    • Changes in seasonal cycle
    • Impact of training on performance
    • Engagement
    • Performance level of team members
    • Online marketing results

4. Once you have this data, look for improvements, trends, patterns, negatives, positives and how you are measuring  up to your goal.
5. Decide on how often you need to evaluate your progress.
6. Create a report and make some conclusions on how to improve.

It’s important for any business, whether home-based, small or large, to evaluate their process of doing business. This process will give you insights to quickly improve, adjust, minimize risks and help you plan for the future.

How do you evaluate your ROI?  Share with us in the comments section below!

Know Thyself and Drink Lemonade

Know Thyself and Drink Lemonade

Know Thyself and Drink Lemonade

Guest post by Lora Kloth

“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade…”

As a small business owner you probably can relate to my recent career experience. Although I don’t have a business of my own, I had a circumstance that forced me to evaluate my career goals, personal finances, and self-discovery.

Three years ago, my career as full-time association research librarian abruptly changed—my hours were reduced to part-time.  I felt deluged with lemons.

I allowed myself a brief hiatus for frustration, but realized that wasted time.  I realized the new schedule created an opportunity for me to try new things. And then I discovered aspects of myself I didn’t know existed as I adapted to an uncertain future:

  • I enjoyed brief “stay-at-home mom” status.
  • I considered a career change to court reporting and went back to school—and failed miserably!  But in this “failure” I realized my true calling is librarianship.
  • I accepted the opportunity to teach information literacy despite never having taught anything before. But I did it, successfully, and made wonderful connections.

Here are guidelines to help become “future ready” when your career takes an unexpected turn:

Identify career goals, take stock of your personal life, and find a balance.

  • Discover your strengths and weaknesses.
  • Realize that “failure” offers experience and potential for future success.
  • Don’t underestimate what you can achieve.
  • Be flexible.
  • Try new things!
  • Know what makes you happy.
  • Interact with diverse groups of people.
  • Commit to lifelong learning.

Upon reflection, those same guidelines also apply to managing personal finances and building a secure financial future:

Become Informed.  Learn about different investments vehicles and be actively involved in financial decisions.

  • You can do it!  Don’t be intimidated by the world of money.  Have confidence in your abilities.  Ask questions and get answers!  Your credit union is a great source for advice, products and services.
  • Don’t be overwhelmed.  Commit to slow and steady progress by setting goals.
  • Make a budget. Then stick to it.
  • Reduce debt.  Establish a savings plan and whittle away at those credit card bills.
  • Consider the importance of tax planning. Seek the services of a professional.
  • Don’t forget about retirement!  Set up an IRA or other investment vehicle to prepare for your future.
  • Know your risk tolerance.  Can you sleep at night with the types of investments you have? Are you in it for the long-term?

Getting tossed a “lemon” turned into an opportunity for me. It gave me a greater sense of confidence, self-reliance, independence, and satisfaction knowing I really was in charge. In the process, I developed a contingency plan for unexpected life events.

Start your financial future now. Look back at your experiences—are you willing to learn and move ahead if you’re tossed a lemon? Are you in control of your personal finances? Know thyself! Lemonade is actually a refreshing beverage.

Lora Kloth is research librarian at Credit Union National Association in Madison, Wisconsin. She earned her M.A. in Library and Information Studies at Northern Illinois University, and her B.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  She enjoys making lemonade with her two daughters, ages 13 and 7.

DSEF & CBBB: Weigh In on Gym Membership Tips

DSEF & CBBB: Weigh In on Gym Membership Tips

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)

Click here:

Weigh In on Gym Membership Tips

One big holiday, Thanksgiving, down. Add two pounds. Christmas to go. Add three pounds. Obviously in January it’s going to be time to join a gym.

Not all gyms are good for the same people. Which one would be best for you?

Begin by checking their business reviews with the BBB. How long have they been in business? Do they have complaints? What happens if they get into financial trouble and are closed down? We recently had a Gold’s Gym franchise location close but the corporate office immediately opened it up again for their members.

DSEF and Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) fosters honest and responsive relationships between businesses and consumers—instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all.

About the Better Business Bureaus
As the leader in advancing marketplace trust, Better Business Bureau is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Every year, more than 87 million consumers rely on BBB Business Reviews® and BBB Wise Giving Reports® to help them find trustworthy businesses and charities across North America. Visitwww.bbb.org/us for more information.

DSEF & Money Wise Women: Organizing Your Financial Records

DSEF & Money Wise Women: Organizing Your Financial Records

Today’s highlighted post from Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series (click here):

Organizing Your Financial Records

Organizing your financial records provides you with a sense of freedom and accomplishment. Learn some simple steps you can take to organize your financial records. You’ll also learn what records to keep and which records you should toss. Once you’re organized, you’ll be ready to determine your net worth.

Stacey Anderson, Organized Innovations

Stacey Anderson is a Professional Organizer, speaker and author. As founder of Organized Innovations she has tackled almost every dis-organized situation out there. Her book Get Organized : Get Revitalized is chalk full of quick, easy to implement tips for those struggling with getting started. Stacey is an active member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and is currently on the Seattle Chapter board. She has been a guest expert on local radio and has been featured in many local newspapers. www.organizedinnovations.com

DSEF proudly sponsors the free Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series hosted by Marcia Brixey, Founder and President of Money Wise Women Educational Services and author ofThe Money Therapist: A Woman’s Guide to Creating a Healthy Financial Life. The series covers topics related to business and finances and provides women the opportunity to learn from professional experts in a safe, comfortable environment.

To find out about upcoming teleseminars, visit http://www.moneywisewomengetsmart.com/

DSEF & FTC: Take A Close Look At Your Phone Bill For Mysterious Charges

DSEF & FTC: Take A Close Look At Your Phone Bill For Mysterious Charges

Today’s highlighted blog post from FTC/NCPW:

Click here:

Take a close look at your phone bill for mysterious charges

May 20th, 2011 by Cheryl

Do you examine your phone bill closely enough each month to recognize any new charges? Would you notice a $2 or $3 one-time service charge? Or an obscure, recurring monthly charge?

Scammers hope you don’t.  That’s why they invented cramming – the practice of sneaking charges onto your phone bill for services you didn’t order or use.

For 13 years, the DSEF has been proud to partner with the FTC and other organizations to offer a wide array of education events and resources that encourage consumers nationwide to take full advantage of their rights and make better-informed decisions.

You’ll find a wealth of resources at www.ncpw.gov that will help you protect your privacy, manage your money, learn more about credit and debt, decipher advertising messages, and steer clear of fraud and scams.

Please take a moment to share the resources on this Web site with others in your communities and companies and, together, we’ll help build a nation of better-informed and educated consumers.

Charles. L. Orr
Executive Director