Womens Financial Advantage

May 13th, 2010

My 30+ years’ experience has helped people to organize their finances. Specializing in small business bookkeeping services & daily money management services to individuals, elderly & busy professionals I have found some business owners or the divorced or widowed feeling overwhelmed trying to understand finances or gain control over their personal accounting. The Women’s Financial Advantage forum allows them to learn about budgeting, debt, retirement & day-to-day money management.

Why Outsource Your Accounting

May 13th, 2010

Accounting is a core business function. Without accounting, a business is sure to fail. With accounting, a business might survive.  With accounting managed by a Profit Center Expert, a business is certain to succeed.

You’re probably already familiar with the bleak forecast for new small businesses. While failure rates have decreased considerably in the last few years, recent studies from the Small Business Administration (SBA) indicate that one third of new employer establishments fail within the first two years, and 56% fail within four years.

Poor financial management is often cited as the reason for most small business failures. Often the business owner or a member of the business team manages this crucial function because they want to maintain complete control of their business, they’re afraid that outsourcing the accounting would be too expensive, or a combination of the two. What they don’t realize is that outsourcing is a useful management tool that can save a business both time and money while preventing potential failure. And when you outsource to the right accountant, it can be the difference between base survival and profitable success.

The Benefits

There are countless benefits you enjoy when outsourcing your accounting. Here are just a few:

Save Yourself Time. You’re in business because you’re good at what you do. Your expertise involves the product and/or service you offer. And we’re guessing your expertise is not accounting. So if you, or anyone on your team, spend time managing your business’s finances, that’s time that could be better spent building your business.

In order to be competitive you must constantly be looking for ways to improve and expand your products and/or services, better market your business, and stay ahead of your competition. When you and your team focus time and attention on the accounting, that’s time not spent on these crucial tasks. When you outsource the accounting to a trusted professional, you can use that time to make your business the best it can be.

Save Yourself Money. We all know time is money. The average small business owner spends over 10 hours personally, each month, accounting for the business. If your average billing rate is $50 per hour, you may be spending more than five hundred dollars’ worth of your time! Chances are you can pay for a good accountant and then some with all that money.

Gain Access to Valuable Accounting Expertise, Equipment, and Technology. Reputable accountants have the expertise to not only save you money, but to make your business more profitable. In addition to that, they have access to equipment and technology that most small businesses can’t afford. They will use their resources to your advantage, and save you the time and headache of doing it yourself.

Gain Access to Profit-Building Information. A truly valuable accountant is also a Profit Center Expert. They analyze financial data in order to assist you in making profitable decisions for your business. A Profit Center Expert can inform you which products and/or services to expand, which to eliminate, whether your marketing attempts are successful, where you’re loosing money, and where to cut back in order to save and redirect funds in order to become more profitabl Academic program focusing on environmental studies. We offer the following services:

Accounts Payable

  • Input vendor invoices to payable system
  • Classify invoices to the proper G/L account
  • Request and maintain vendor W-9 information
  • Maintain vendor master files
  • Respond to vendor inquiries about payment status
  • Retrieve copies of payments as necessary
  • Prepare and file required 1099 forms
  • Process requests for stop payments when necessary
  • Cut checks to vendors based on due dates or client instruction
  • Reconcile vendor statements to accounts payable ledger
  • Reporting to organization on detailed aged payables and cash requirements
  • Year end 1099 forms

Accounts Receivable

  • Billings prepared as needed by TAD and mailed out (all billings provided to Client for approval prior to mailing)
  • Record and account for revenue
  • Input receivable transactions into the accounting system
  • Prepare and deliver periodic statements
  • Issue client-approved credit memos and refund checks
  • Maintain subsidiary receivables ledger
  • Process client-approved adjustments
  • Apply cash received to customer accounts and resolve “short pays”
  • Light phone collections as needed by client
  • Client to photocopy checks and provide to TAD
  • Client to prepare deposit slips (provide to TAD) and make bank deposits

Cash management

  • Process daily sales and deposit reports
  • Verify daily deposits and report variances
  • Reconcile and verify credit card deposits
  • Reconcile monthly bank statements

Journal entry and general ledger

Account reconciliations

Payroll

  • Time cards, after approval, will be scanned and uploaded to TAD prior to payday
  • TAD completes payroll and client prints, signs and distributes paychecks
  • Prepare employee earnings statements complete with current pay period and year-to-date wages, taxes, and adjustments
  • Prepare department summaries of month-to-date payroll data in addition to customized reports specific to Client
  • Prepares timely and accurate notifications of tax liabilities and deposits
  • Completes Year end W-2 forms
  • Respond to requests for employee verifications
  • Process and submit garnishment payments
  • Respond to employee payroll inquiries
  • Prepare and file new hire reporting to state
  • Prepare, file, and pay all Federal, State, and local payroll taxes
  • Reconcile health insurance payments and make payroll deductions when required
  • Prepare necessary HR reports such as turnover
  • Allocate payroll expenses for multi-store employees
  • Prepare and process payroll accruals when necessary

Monthly Closing

Fixed assets accounting & depreciation

Monthly financial analysis and reports

Yearly Business Assessments

Don’t wait another day to partner with a Profit Center Expert (PCE) and make your business more successful. Do what you love to do more; let your PCE take care of the rest. Call now for a free, no-obligation consultation.

February 2nd, 2010

Life events can overwhelm you. Don't let that happen. Make the right choices.
http://www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/nkahlstrom

November 1st, 2009

November 1st- the end of the year is drawing to a close. With today's economy still on the down slide what do we do? Shortsales and foreclosures are the theme of each day. Overcoming debt and deciding on bankruptcy to fix our financial situation are the nightmares of our sleep. I don't know about you but my mind is on worry overload!
I see so many of my friends and business acquaintances struggling as they try to work through their financial troubles – unemployment, housing, medical etc. My experience in accounting and bookkeeping allows me the ability to work with them, the widowed and divorced who are not sure how to proceed in their financial life. I'm here to help.

October 31st, 2009

Now I can send posts to my blog via text messages on my mobile phone!! Yeah!!

April Fools – where’s the money ?

April 2nd, 2009

Well here it is, already the first of April, 2009. Our economy is still going downhill, but we need to just hold on until it gets better. I know it will, it’s just going to take some time. Listening to Suze Orman this morning sure got me to think more about my own financial struggles. She said it will probably not be until 2015 before we see definite signs of relief and start to feel comfortable again.
I used to think it was just me and my household that were in dire straights, but as I continue to hear from friends and business associates, we are all being bombarded with the same issues.
Unemployment is the highest that it’s been in 25 years. Foreclosures and short sales are continuing at an unprecidented rate. Major companies that we thought could never go down are filing for bankruptcy protection. It’s getting ridiculous!
But there are avenues we can take to start to work it out; budgets, simplifying, cutting back on unneccesary frills. We know the drill, we just have to start taking one step forward to try to make it happen.
For those of you who are single, divorced, widowed you may have not had the previous “pleasure” of handling all the ins and outs of your personal finances. If you are one of “these” people there is help. Many websites exist to help us learn more.
http://www.wife.org/
http://www.wiserwomen.org/
http://www.aarp.org/

Take a look at these sites and they will help you get started.
Natalie

Scattered Finances?

January 4th, 2009

Do you feel overwhelmed?
Are your finances out of control?
I know how it can be – if you have not been the one to handle your household and business finances and now due to death or divorce you are facing what seems to be an insurmountable mountain of paperwork, Ahlstrom Advantage can help.

Are you worried about your financial future?

December 31st, 2008

Are you worried? I know I am. Even though I’ve been involved in the financial and accounting fields for over 30 years I still wonder – are we going to be able to retire, will we have enough, can we travel? Who knows…..with the recent economical situation “times are a changin.”
Both of my parents were children of the great depression and they were always saving, only spent what they could afford, never used credit and were never in DEBT.
Why don’t we live like that now?
I find that when I talk to various women or elderly people they are just as concerned about their finances as I am. Especially some women who are recently divorced or widowed, their spouses use to handle all the money and now they don’t have a clue or don’t know where to start.
I want to help. As I continue forward in my own relm of discovery, I want to pass on what I learn to you. I’m thinking that as I find information, I will post the links here as long as I give the appropriate credit for the article’s author.