What is a normal monthly fee for a bookkeeper to charge?

Bookkeeping charges based on Revenue is a poor system. One client could sell his items at an average ticket of $10 and sell $1 million per month and want each sale recorded. Where another client could make a single $1 million sale every quarter. Which client would take more work? If we just charge them based on revenue, would this be a fair market for doing each clients work? Your billing should be based on the work that you will need to do. A good rule of thumb is 50 cents per transaction and then add $100 for the preparation of Financial Statements.

How Online Accounting and Bookkeeping Helps

Accounting and bookkeeping online services are for business works on mutual trust and benefits. Online accounting and tax preparation services really reduce the wastage of valuable time and money. This article tells the overview and benefits of online accounting and bookkeeping services.

Accounting Outsourcing Tips

Businesses of all sizes need to ensure that accounting is paid due attention, since accounting it is at the core of any business process. In recent times more and more small and medium size businesses are considering accounting outsourcing. The decision to outsource accounting and bookkeeping allows a company to concentrate in their area of specialization and not worry about the accounting aspect of the business. Outsourcing has several advantages and these include the following:

The services of experts are available at a fraction of what would have been paid to hire them on a full time or part-time basis.

Outsourcing relieves the company of the tedious and yet crucial process of accounting bookkeeping.

When a company considers outsourcing not only does it not bother with recruitment of accounting professionals but also saves on office space and related expenditure.

An offshore accounting outsourcing service provider provides reliable and competent services that are an asset to the company and simplify its working.

Source : http://www.cybelink.com/

Essential Management Principles for Every Small Business

I have read, over my business career, well over 10,000 different articles and lists about how anyone can be successful with a small business be it an independent business or a franchise. Many well intentioned and intelligent consultants I have come across professionally believe that a great idea with a great marketing scheme and superior desire can make anyone successful. Do yourself a favor and tell the next person spewing this nonsense that they are absolutely wrong!

The success or failure of the vast majority of all small businesses has little to do with the desire, marketing scheme or the great idea that created the business. While these three items must be present in every successful business, solid fundamental management principles will allow a small business to prosper and succeed. Every successful company, be it a small, medium or large business, uses the same set of management principals. The size of the business determines the individuals principals used and the sophistication of the principle. As an example, a small business normally has informal and perhaps even unwritten employee hiring guidelines. A medium sized company has a legally approved, comprehensive employee manual with employee hiring guidelines as a separate section. A large global business has an entire department writing several employee manuals in several languages with employee hiring guidelines based upon legal and social issues in each country. However, the common sense management principal that all companies should have a fair, consistent and applicable employment program must be used by every company.

As I have spent the vast majority of my career with small and medium sized businesses, here is a simple and select set of management principles that every small and medium business should follow to ensure success and profitability:

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Sole Trader Basic Accounting

In order for a sole trader to be able to keep basic tax accounts certain conditions regarding the status of business accounts must be satisfied. Sales turnover should be under the vat threshold limit, a balance sheet not required, a business bank account not used and no employees employed. If the conditions are met then a simple income and expenditure statement is all that is required greatly simplifying the bookkeeping.

Self employed businesses are not required to maintain a balance sheet. If a balance sheet is maintained then to produce one the business needs to operate an accounting system based upon double entry bookkeeping and involving technical features such as debtors and creditors control accounts. Sole traders who do not need to produce a balance sheet can then maintain their basic accounting using single entry bookkeeping which is basically making lists of the financial transactions.

If a balance sheet is not produced the sole trader must keep a record of all capital expenditure items as part of the basic tax accounts to enable the capital allowances to be claimed each tax year. Receipts need to be retained as part of the basic accounts to enable the annual investment allowance to be claimed in the first year and writing down allowances in subsequent years.

More detailed financial records are required to be kept by the Sole Trader if they are vat registered. The vat threshold for the financial year starting April 2008 is £67,000. Part of the vat rules state that when a business is vat registered they should maintain an audit trail of transactions to support the vat return.