Category Archives: Accounting

At good accountants we pride ourselves on delivering the very best in accounting articles the internet has to offer. Here is our collection of both our own published, and the very best of what we find online.

Make Your Business a Pillar in the Community, Not a Trend with Financial Guidance

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If you want a new business to make it in today’s economy, it’s all about the numbers. It’s reported that 80 percent of new business owners will fail in the first 18 months after they open their doors, often because of poor money management by the business owner. Not just overspending, but not saving, investing and budgeting where it’s necessary all play a part in new business failure. With bookkeeping services for small businesses, this chaos can be avoided.

A professional bookkeeper or CPA will look at the costs you have to run your business, as well as your profits, to see where you need to save money and where you could potentially save money. The bookkeeper will budget all of your business accounts, like the checking account, payroll account and savings or investment accounts. If you have loans on any equipment or other items, they will also help manage the loans.

The idea when owning a small business is to minimize or eliminate debt. This allows you to be as profitable as possible and reduces your risk of bankruptcy. The bookkeeper can help you pay off the loans you have faster, so you can gain more equity in your assets and your business. They will also be a valuable source of information for tax related matters.

You want to find a CPA that does bookkeeping services for small businesses who is also a tax expert. Many CPA professionals are also tax accountants, and they can help you pay less to the government. They will let you know what purchases to make to write off expenses, how you can save on payroll tax, and what amount you should to donate to charity.

The accountant can come in and do a financial analysis of your business to see if you are missing money, losing money, and what is going wrong. They will reform your budget, create a new plan for you to follow, and help you start investing your money more wisely so you can put money back into your company and plan for the future. Find an accountant to get you on the right financial path at Goodaccountants.com.

Do Your Skills Add Up to be a Good Accountant?

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If you are considering a career in the field of accounting, there are some character traits and personal habits that may indicate this is the right career path for you. To be an accountant, you have to do more than just be good with numbers and calculations. You have to provide a service to others, especially if an accident happens and you need immediate assistance. You have to be personable, responsible, and diligent. People want to find an accountant they can connect with and trust, since money is a vital part of life.

If you are an analytical thinker always thoroughly thinking through every move and decision, this may be the field where you strive. If you always weigh out the risks and the gains of every situation and you make sure that you know all of the details before you decide on anything, chances are that you will have a strong career in accounting.

An accountant needs to be organized and very detailed, because all of your calculations are going to require it. You have to be able to pay attention and stay on task when starting a project, and be able to go over your own work to look for flaws. Working with numbers and calculations is an everyday component, so you should enjoy doing math, analyzing gain and loss data, and have general banking skills.

There are many people and small business owners who would much rather let an expert handle their checking and savings accounts. When people are ready to find an accountant for their personal finances or for business financial management, they want to find an accountant who is certified. You will want to get a degree in finance so you are properly trained, and then take the necessary testing to become a CPA.

Find an accountant that can mentor you while you are in school, or while you are preparing to get certified, so you can see what your potential work day could be like. If you are positive that you want to manage money, work with clients, and be an accountant for the rest of your life, start by getting enrolled in an education program and map your route.

Is Bookkeeping the Worst Part of Business Ownership? Don’t Let it Cost You Everything

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If you are one of the 40 percent of business owners that thinks accounting work is the worst part of owning a business, and you are spending over 80 hours a year trying to manage your own books, conserve your valuable time and outsource the work to small business accountants. Having an accountant doesn’t just save you time, but the accountant can make your business more profitable.

About 80 percent of entrepreneurs fail within 18 months of opening for business, and this is avoidable. The accountants are going to input your financial data, manage your bookkeeping and payroll, total the amount of money going out for expenses, and look at your profits. You will get financial statements at the end of each month, quarter, and as needed, to determine where you need to save money, and to see how profitable your business really is.

Small business accountants can help you reach profit goals by reducing spending, they can set a budget and payment schedule to pay off debts and gain equity, and they help business owners save money to invest back into the business. They work to keep your documents error free, and you don’t have to learn or buy the computer programs to manage your own books. You also get financial guidance and advice from a professional. All of these things are favorable, but it’s during tax time that the true value of an accountant is appreciated.

If you aren’t taking out the right amount of taxes, you make an accounting error, or you file incorrectly when you go to submit your tax documents, you can get audited. A tax audit caused by submission errors will cost money in legal fees, and it will take time to compile the financial information requested by the IRS. It can also put you at a higher risk for an audit in the future.

Small business accountants and tax preparers have your financial information compiled for the year, they know what expenses are deductible, and they attend annual conferences to stay up to date with filing changes. Throughout the year they will let you know if you need to donate, spend money on the business, or stop hiring for a more beneficial tax return.

The majority of business owners are already spending around $1,000-$5,000 for their small business accounting needs. Why not use this money more wisely, and let small business accountants at Goodaccountants.com handle your business finances to save time and improve financial success.

How New IRS Rules and Professional Accounting Services Can Help You Increase Your Retirement Savings

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The IRS increased the maximum retirement contribution limit as of January 1, from $17,500 to $18,000. Employees who are at least 50 years of age can contribute up to $6,000 extra to their retirement account as catch up contributions, also an increase of $500.

The new year can mean increased retirement savings, bringing great news to employees and others who are already maximizing their contributions, though just 12 percent of 401k participants were said to have hit that limit in 2013. If retirement is decades away, it can be difficult to get motivated to save, but it’s important to remember that the more you save now, the better of you’ll be in your later years – which tends to come sooner than most of us think. You won’t want to, or likely be able to, live on social security benefits alone.

Of course many people don’t have a retirement plan through their employer these days. If you do, be sure to take advantage of any guidance or even classes that may be offered through your employer to help you make the best investment choices.

For everyone else, as retirement planning can seem overwhelming, you may want to look for some professional assistance to help ensure a better future for yourself and your family. Hiring professional accounting services can help you maximize savings over the long term, making it more than worth the cost.

Utilizing professional accounting services is one of the best ways to create a retirement roadmap, by developing income strategies, planning for survivor ship needs and consolidating your assets.

Of course, finding the right firm to help may also seem like a daunting task. Not only does it require coming up with a list of good potential candidates, you’ll need to find out about their training and experience with financial planning as well as generating retirement income and other critical retirement planning decisions.

The good news is that by contacting Good Accountants, all of that work is done for you. Expert business consultants can assist you with finding the right professional accounting services for your needs with a nationwide registry of the most qualified candidates in your area at no cost to you.

Debra Doble Featured Accountant in Pleasanton, California

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If you need to find an accountant in Pleasanton, California, but don’t know where to start in order to find the right one, you’ll be happy to hear about our next featured accountant. Debra Doble has been a partner with Sallmann, Yang & Alameda since 1999 and previously managed a local CPA firm for 12 years. She offers a wide range of outstanding accounting services for individuals as well as for businesses.

Business accounting services

Running a successful small business requires an extensive amount of time and energy, which must be used optimally in order to succeed. Utilizing business accounting services offered by Debra Doble can help you take your business to the next level. She can assist companies through their full lifecycle, from initial formation to succession planning or dissolution.

If you’re just starting out, she can offer advice surrounding business formation including the preparation of a business plan, cash flow projections and bank negotiations.

Doble can also prepare three types of financial statements, Compilation, Review and Audit, which can be an excellent tool to help ensure your business is run more effectively. She’s available to help with all types of needs, including budgets, pension plan accounting, accounting system design and more.

Tax planning and preparation

Debra Doble can also prepare your federal and multi-state returns as well as tax projections, estimated tax payment calculations and extensive year round tax planning to minimize or defer taxes. She can eliminate the stress that comes at tax time while ensuring you’re in compliance as well as maximizing deductions.

Retirement and estate planning

Individuals can benefit not only from Doble’s tax planning and preparation services, but with retirement and estate planning. Whether you’re just starting out or have been planning for many years, she can help you evaluate your goals and guide you to your desired results. She can also help you plan out your estate in order to ensure that everything is allocated the way you want them.

If you’d like to find out more about Debra Doble, and how she might help you, just head to her Good Accountants featured profile. That’s the quickest and easiest way to get in touch with this outstanding accountant in Pleasanton, California.

Rochelle Chandler Featured Accountant in Flower Mound, TX

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Irochelle chandler featured accountant in flower mound texasf you own a Texas business and find yourself seeking accountants in Flower Mound, TX, our featured accountant offers the services and quality that you require. Raised right here in the Lone Star State, Rochelle Chandler received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas. Chandler founded the CPA practice of Chandler and Knowles CPAs after a decade in the industry, and she puts her significant talents to work for each and every one of her clients. Not only is she a CPA, but she is also a certified payroll professional, adding to her already considerable list of skills.

Tax Services

Chandler offers tax services that include, but also go well beyond, simple tax preparation. She can prepare taxes for individuals, partnerships, corporations, and more and can help with estate and gift taxes as well as tax planning. She also offers advanced tax strategy services, including estate planning, captive insurance companies, tax-free retirement plans, and irrevocable trusts.

Business Services

In addition to tax services, Rochelle Chandler provides a wide range of business services. Business accounting is one of her many specialties, and she offers not only everyday business accounting, but end of year tax planning as well. Accounting services include accounting system consulting and implementation, preparation of financial statements, bank reconciliation, bookkeeping, payroll preparation and tax reporting, and sales tax reporting. Rochelle also offers business consulting services such as management advice, corporate structuring, financial projections, and cash flow and budget analysis.

If you are just starting your business, you find yourself facing the major decision of whether to form a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or a corporation or S-corp.  Rochelle Chandler is well versed in business and can help you understand the implications of each choice so that you can determine which one might be the best fit for your business.

Finding accountants in Flower Mound, TX doesn’t have to be difficult, and we help make it simple. If you want to learn more about Rochelle Chandler, we encourage you to take the time to check out her Good Accountants profile. When experience and expertise matter, put your trust in Rochelle.

Thomas Fontes – Featured Accountant in Metairie, LA

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Thomas Fontes featured accountant in lousianaTrying to find an accountant in Metairie, Louisiana can be tough. Sure, there are plenty of options on offer, but as anyone who has ever hired an accountant can tell you, not all experts are created equal. That’s where GoodAccountants Featured Accountant Thomas Fontes comes in. As one of greater New Orleans’ leading accountants, Fontes is the ideal choice whether you are looking for someone to help with personal or business taxes, to offer accounting or bookkeeping services, or to help with payroll.

Accounting Services

Working for a company called Accounting Services Unlimited since 2007, Fontes offers a number of services. His service offers complete accounting statements that include balance sheets, expense ledgers, sales and purchase records, financial statements, and more. The service provides all bookkeeping materials that may be necessary and will pick up bookkeeping every two weeks as needed by their clients.

Every client who works with Fontes’ accounting service receives their own Quickbooks accounting data file. This file is tailored to the unique requirements of your business. If you already have a Quickbooks file for your business, Fontes will work to import it and to preserve your data.

Payroll Services

Fontes and ASU also offer employee payroll services. Not only can they provide both printed checks and direct deposit, but they will also handle 1099 or W2 forms. As a business owner, having a payroll service you can trust is important, and Fontes works to make it easy for you.

Business Services

If you are just starting your business, you will find that there are many ways that Thomas Fontes’ experience can benefit you. He can help you obtain necessary licenses as well as with government tax filing applications. He can also help you if you are forming an LLC or corporation and can assist you in filing occupational paperwork.

As a business owner, you have many demands on your time and attention. Don’t subject yourself to the stresses and risks of trying to manage your own bookkeeping and payroll.  If you are trying to find an accountant in Metairie, LA,  click here to visit Thomas Fontes’ Good Accountants profile and learn more about his services.

Spencer Hostetter – Featured Accountant in Tucker, GA

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spencer hostetter featured accountant in tucker georgiaChoosing the right accountant is very important, and if you own a business, you need someone who understands business on an intricate level. Spencer Hostetter is the right choice if you are looking for an accountant in Tucker, GA. Hostetter not only owns his own firm, but he is a CPA, a management consultant, and the CFO of a private company. In short, he knows and understands business in a way that most accountants simply couldn’t.

Tax Services

Spencer Hostetter provides a number of important tax services. Not only can he help with tax preparation and planning, but he can also provide services in the event of tax problems. If you are facing an audit, failed to file, owe back taxes, are subject to liens or levies or have other tax woes, Spencer can help. He can also help you set up a payment plan with the IRS, present an Offer in Compromise, help you file for Innocent Spouse Relief, and more. Tax problems can certainly be stressful, but when you have a qualified accountant on your side, you can breathe much easier. Spencer Hostetter will go to work for you and understands the ins and outs of dealing with the Internal Revenue Service so that you don’t have to feel like you are going it alone.

Business Services

As a business owner, it is important to hire the right accountant. You need someone who is capable of handling important accounting tasks as well as things such as payroll and internal audits. Spencer Hostetter provides these services as well as cash flow management, assistance with new business formation, business valuation, and bank financing.

Spencer Hostetter Is the Right Choice for Tucker Residents

If you are looking to hire an accountant or tax expert for your business, it would be well worth your time to consider Spencer Hostetter. His experience helps make his service second to none for people living in and around Tucker, GA. With an excellent reputation for quality service and a high set of standards by which he operates, Hostetter and his firm stand head and shoulders above the competition.

New Financial Reporting Framework Released for Private Companies, Do You Have an Accountant Who Can Help?

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aicpa-logoThe American Institute of CPAs recently released a new financial reporting framework for private companies. Some feel that in certain circumstances it may be an easy to use, useful tool that can provide owners and lenders financial statements on a consistent basis.

The accounting rules used to put together the framework are comprehensive and were developed after a rigorous process, although they are not U.S. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). GAAP is the nation’s highest standard of accounting rules, generally set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Whether or not smaller private companies and banks will accept the Framework is currently being put to the test. There remains a great deal of uncertainty as well as a great deal of interest. The main problem that the Framework tries to resolve, is that small and closely held companies often don’t need the types of standards that large and public companies need. Smaller, more entrepreneurial organizations mainly deal with bankers, not outside investors and bondholders, for their financial needs. Many of those companies believe that GAAP is overly complex and too difficult and expensive to implement.

Accountants for small business can help eliminate the stress and time it takes for the entrepreneur to handle the complexity of what’s involved in the financial aspect of the business, so you don’t have to worry about the Framework or the GAAP. While there may be a great temptation to assume if you’re the business owner, you can handle all of the accounting functions yourself, the truth is, hiring accountants for small business is an investment that can actually save money, and over time, pay for itself.

If you’re a busy entrepreneur trying to grow your business, do you really want to spend time trying to get familiar with the complex GAAP, or the new Framework for reporting?

Accountants for small business can help manage day-to-day financial transactions to ensure everything is compliant with current laws, find cost savings with vendors, employees and office operations, prepare those financial reports as well as tax preparation, and even make plans for changes in business expenses to ensure additional costs don’t cause financial hardship.

If you aren’t sure where to start, GoodAccountants.com can help find top qualified accountants in your area in just seconds, with no cost or obligation to you or your business.

Is Your Accountant Doing A Good Job?

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finding an accountant - is your accountant doing a good jobOne of the biggest concerns for any business or even an individual is figuring out if their accountant is doing a great job. There are many things to consider when selecting an accountant. There are times when the accountant is good, but your requirements may be different. This is why you have to make sure that the accountant you select is right for you. There are a few tips that you can use to find an accountant.

See If You Are Getting Undivided Attention

Each accountant deals with a number of clients. They handle various accounting jobs and are great at multitasking. It is extremely difficult to find an accountant who is dedicated to you. But when you discuss business with the accountant, you should see if you are getting undivided attention. This shows how interested an accountant is in fulfilling your accounting requirements are.

Know the Difference between Accountant and Bookkeepers

Accountants and bookkeepers have a similar job. This is where people actually make mistakes. Many people hire bookkeepers instead of accountants. Bookkeepers are responsible for filing tax returns and other such paperwork. On the other hand, accountants can do much more. This is why you should aim to find an accountant. An accountant can handle all the responsibilities of a bookkeeper and a lot more.

There are many firms that provide reliable accountants, including GoodAccountants.com. They make sure that the accountant that they assign to your business is well suited. If you hire a good accountant that knows how to handle your business or personal finances, you should not face any problems. Moreover, you should not hesitate to ask questions and determine if the accountant is right for you.

Get Referrals from Other Businesses

If you face any problems in finding an accountant, do not hesitate to ask for referrals. You can always approach other businesses and ask them about the accounting firm they use. The best thing to do is approach businesses that have the same accounting requirements as you. This way you will be able to make sure that the accountant that you hire will efficiently handle your business account.

You can also make appointments with different accounting firms. This meeting would simply be to discuss your requirements and how the firm works to provide you impeccable service. Only when you are satisfied should you hire an accountant from the firm.

If you use these tips to find an accountant, you should not have any problems at all.