Author: Jennifer Brazer

Deciding to sell your small business and going through with it can be a daunting and complex venture. You will need to enlist professionals such as an accountant, a business attorney, and a sales broker. You need to keep in mind several considerations when embarking on the sale of your business, such as the strength of the business, the reasons you are selling, and the business structure. Here are six essential steps to selling your small business to ensure the sale is a profitable success.

Reason for the Sale

Some may wonder why the reason for the sale is important to the success of the sale of your business. You will need to participate in the sale and convince potential buyers that they will enjoy your business. If you identify your reason for the sale, you can first ensure you want to sell your business, and second, identify and adjust your attitude towards the sale as needed.

For example, if you are selling because you are retiring, there could be a family issue if you have family members who want it. Or, if you are selling because of partnership disputes, there could be legal issues when it comes to the sale of your portion of the business. Identifying the reason for the sale will determine how you proceed or if you truly want to proceed.

Timing of the Sale

If you are considering selling your business, you need to prepare for the sale as far ahead of time as you can. There can be areas of the business that need to be dealt with that could make or break a sale, so you can resolve the issues if you have plenty of preparation time. When it comes to the sale’s timing, certain times of year are better, just as with real estate sales.

Depending on your business type, the timing of the sale of your business could be important. Of course, if you are selling due to a sudden life change, you may not consider the timing or have a lot of time to prepare or ensure the market is good.

Business Appraisal

It will be vital that you determine the value of your business to sell it. To determine this, you will need to hire a business appraiser. The appraiser will consider several factors to ascertain the worth such as:

• Net profit
• Growth trends
• Website traffic (if significant to your business model)
• Age of business
• Online and offline sales network
• Business model
• Niche
• Competitors
• Company assets

Once the value is determined, the appraiser will explain the value in detail and certify it. This will help calculate the pricing of the business for the sale.

Hire a Broker

While selling your business on your own can save you money on commissions, hiring a broker specializing in business sales is a better idea regardless of the cost. Hiring a broker can help with the sale process while you focus on running the business. Hiring a broker can maximize the price of the sale by taking on advertising and negotiations.

Since there are costs involved beyond commissions when hiring a broker, you must keep great communication with the broker. Before the sale process begins, you should set expectations and a budget for advertising and other costs.

Preparing Documents

Some documents will be important to include in an information packet that potential buyers can review and know what is included and business operations. These documents will help the potential buyer determine if your business is something they want to purchase. This packet should include the following:

• Financial statements and tax records
• A list of equipment included in the sale
• A list of vendors, suppliers, and other essential contacts
• Operations Manual
• The latest business plan
• The latest budget

Finding a Buyer

Selling a business is generally not a quick venture, often taking anywhere from six months to two years to complete. The reason for this challenge is that finding the right buyer for the business can be difficult. If you have hired a business broker, they will be the expert on where and how to find your buyer. However, if you are taking on selling your business on your own, you need to make sure your ads include the following:

• The location of the business
• Number of employees
• A brief history of the business
• The mission statement of the business
• The geographic advantages of the business
• The net income of the business
• Contact information, social media handles, and the business website address

Once you have created your business-for-sale ad, several websites are dedicated to the sale of businesses. Investors are constantly using these sites to find new business ventures. If your small business is brick and mortar, you can go the traditional route and put a for sale sign in the window or front of the location and distribute flyers in the area.

You can also do some research online and find buyers looking to expand into your area. There is a multitude of avenues online you can take to find your buyer.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

Our founder, Jennifer Brazer, sat down with Dr. T on Expert Exchange. Dr. T wanted to discuss so much because Jennifer is a strong, fierce woman entrepreneur, and Dr. T has an online network for fierce female entrepreneurs; Innovate Her Business Community. This is where business education meets social networking. These women sat and discussed everything about starting an empire as a strong woman!

During this conversation, Dr. T and Jennifer chatted about so much including how Jennifer started Complete Controller, where she sees a need for cloud companies, maintaining records and finances, and so much more! One of our favorite takeaways was Jennifer’s points on establishing business functions to progress towards financial stability.

Finances are everything! When it comes to business, without financial stability, your business won’t last.  So, what is the top thing that helps a business contribute to a company’s financial sustainability? The answer; Bootstrapping! 

How is bootstrapping the answer? Simple…

• Creating a foundation for your business where you can discern, early on, where the greatest impact of each dollar will be.

• Understand foundational concepts. If I hire this person, how are they making me more efficient? Bringing in revenue? How are they making or saving me money? Otherwise, they are unnecessary.

• Hiring specialists as an entrepreneur is essential. You can’t be everywhere all the time, and this can get in the way of efficiency. This allows you to focus where you need to while allowing other areas of your business to flourish.

If you want to learn more about Dr. T and the Innovate Her Business Community, go to the website! To see the full episode of Expert Exchange with Jennifer Brazer, check out the YouTube video!

Start your Empire the right way; learn from the best!

When it comes to investing, there are a few low to no-risk investments you can make if your risk tolerance is low or you don’t have a lot of wiggle room to lose if your investment dives. While it is suggested that you set aside funds to make some higher-risk investments if you can, the low-risk, low return investor still has the opportunity to make some investment profit. Here are six low to no-risk investments you can make today.

High-Yield Savings Account

Some may say that a savings account is not an investment, but if anything, you put your money into yields more than what you put in originally. It is an investment. This type of investment will take some shopping to find the highest yielding savings accounts. There are regular savings accounts in your banking institution that sometimes gain interest, or you can invest in a money market savings account, which often yields a higher interest rate.

The money market savings account generally offers a higher interest rate; however, there are a few differences between money market savings accounts and regular savings accounts. The minimum amount put in initially is generally much higher than a regular savings account, which often doesn’t have a minimum deposit. Also, money market accounts are accessible but not as easily as a regular savings account.

Certificates of Deposit (CDs)

Certificates of Deposit offer a set interest rate over a specified timeframe. CDs are a get it and forget it an investment. As long as you don’t cash them in before the specified time, there is no loss. If you cash them in early, some penalties will likely lose you the interest you gained.

These are not as high yielding as a money market account; however, money market accounts require a large initial deposit and maintained balance than the initial cost. As long as you don’t cash them in early, CDs are virtually zero risks.

Money Market Funds

Money market funds are not to be confused with a money market savings account. Money market funds are a diversified or mutual fund the pools bonds, low-risk investments, and CDs and can be bought through mutual fund companies and brokerage firms. These funds can generally be withdrawn at any time without penalty making them more flexible than CDs.

Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds

These Treasuries differ in their length of time it takes them to mature:

• Treasury bills mature in one year or less
• Treasury notes mature in 1 year up to 10 years
• Treasury bonds mature from 10 years to 30 years

Treasuries carry no risk if you do not cash out before the maturity date, and because the values change depending on current interest rates, you would lose some if you cashed out during a downturn on interest. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds should be carefully researched before purchasing to ensure you get the best possible rate.

Corporate Bonds

There are bonds that corporations offer called “junk bonds” that are fairly low risk. Like other bonds, the risk lies in the fact that interest rates fluctuate, making these bonds fluctuate. However, you buy fairly short-term maturing bonds. You are less likely to incur the risks of the interest rate fluctuations than if you purchase long-term maturing bonds. You can also lessen risks by purchasing bonds from well-known and stable companies. Bondholders have a higher stake than stockholders because of the equity aspect of the investment.

Dividend Stocks

Dividend stocks are stocks that pay a share of the profits for the length of the ownership of the stocks. They differ from high-growth stocks, which the only payout when the stocks are sold. Dividend stocks will fluctuate with the company’s profits but are much lower risk than high-growth stocks affected by fluctuations in the stock market. Dividend stocks can still be affected by the fluctuations in the stock market, but they are far less affected by the market’s downturns.

Preferred stock

Preferred stock is similar to a low-grade bond rather than a traditional stock. The preferred stock is another investment that will fluctuate with the stock market. This type of stock generally makes a regular cash payout and can be suspended if there are certain circumstances but will make up the suspended payments once the issues are resolved. Preferred stock is a little bit riskier than a bond but is less risky than high-growth stocks.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

A financial responsibility disclaimer is a legal statement about the financial information included to reduce the source of that information’s liability. Financial responsibility disclaimers and waivers are used in various settings to address concerns about financial information and associated materials’ legal responsibility. Finance websites often include such disclaimers and also use them in other publications such as magazines and books. In essence, the liability exemption states that the party providing the information is not legally responsible for the way it is used.

Legal notices usually include several components. In the case of a financial responsibility disclaimer, the statement clearly states that the material provided is for research and information purposes only and does not constitute advice or recommendations. The author does not endorse any product that is referenced or linked in the matter. The people who decide to follow certain products or services cannot hold the author responsible for the losses or other problems experienced.

The financial responsibility disclaimer says that it is not a replacement for a financial or personal accounting advisor’s advice. Reading financial information does not create a professional relationship, and providing financial information for research does not mean that someone is running a business financing or advice. A financial responsibility disclaimer also usually includes a note to the effect that as long as the information is as accurate as possible, there may be errors, and the author is not responsible for the errors.

The purpose of a financial responsibility disclaimer is to deny any liability for the consequences of using the provided material. Suppose someone reads an article about investing in gold in a magazine, for example, and decides to make large gold investments. In that case, the magazine is not responsible for any losses incurred if the gold turns out to be a bad investment. Similarly, sites that provide information on managing the house’s debt or budget are not responsible for decisions made based on that information.

Printing a financial responsibility disclaimer allows the person to provide financial information without concerns about legal liability if the information is misused or not entirely accurate. The information produced for the public is designed to be general, providing an overview, and may not apply to all situations. People who provide financial information for general research purposes cannot prevent people from applying that inappropriate information or not reading and understanding the information. Still, they can issue a warning to warn people that they can not be held responsible for how the information is used.

• A financial responsibility disclaimer states that planning aids are not responsible for the mismanagement of an individual’s budget.
• Financial waivers can be used to limit legal liability for damages that arise from the materials provided.

Whatever process you select, it must cover all expenses that come under your responsibility. It includes third-party liability and corrective action. You will add the coverage amount that you need to demonstrate.

There are different options by which you can describe the financial responsibility. You will read each option in the 40 CFR part 280 of the code of Federal Regulations.

• Use funds for the country’s financial assurance. It is your country’s responsibility to fulfill third-party liability and cleanup expenses.
• You must have insurance coverage. The risk-retention group and private insurer will issue insurance availability.
• You must have a guarantee. For coverage amount, you will save a guarantee with the company you have substantial business terms. The guarantee provider will the financial test.
• Get a surety bond. The surety company will guarantee it as it is responsible for fulfilling all of its financial responsibility obligations.
• You must have a credit letter. It is a contract that includes you, lenders, banks, insurers, and the outsource like implementing the company. It helps the issuer in describing financial responsibility as per its pledge with lenders.
• Financial test approval is necessary. Your company must have a net worth of around $10 million. In this way, your financial responsibility will improve. You will also need approval for two financial tests demonstration.
• A trust fund is necessary as a third-party administrator in setting up a fully-funded trust fund—their aim to demonstrate financial responsibility.
• You may need to use multiple methods for coverage approval from the country.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

Nonprofit organizations are highly-reliant on fundraising campaigns to raise funds used to benefit those the organization serves and its daily operations. Most larger organizations have a board along with a department that solely focuses on fundraising efforts. For those organizations that are just starting or maybe smaller, these advantages may not exist. Here are three nonprofit fundraising strategies every organization needs to employ to ensure maximum results.

Content Marketing

If potential volunteers and donors don’t know what you do, they can’t decide to donate time or money to your organization. You need to refrain from being the ‘best-kept secret’ and shout who you are and what you do from the rooftops.

Utilize every tool at your fingertips, social media, affordable ads, and participation in group fundraising campaign efforts. Find anywhere your organization can afford to get the word out about your organization but ensure your content gives potential donors something to want to be a part of and support.

Almost every person, no matter how generous, will only donate or become a part of something they connect to and in which they can see the value. Humans operate from a ‘what’s in it for me’ place, so you need to make sure it is clear what’s in it for the potential donor. Focus on the heart of your organization so you can connect to the heart of your potential donor.

Once you have your effective content produced, you can focus on blitzing it out via social media, emailing, and strategic advertising. You have to come to where your potential donors are because generally, people are so engrossed in their own lives and issues, they don’t actively seek out where they can donate or volunteer. If your content is effective, you can be successful if you get your content out in the world.

Annual Time of Giving

One of the most effective strategies for nonprofit is to have an annual time of giving. Many donors and volunteers will respond well to having a specific time of year to focus on their giving and volunteerism.

There are yearly giving campaigns in some areas where all nonprofit organizations join in a concerted effort to highlight donor giving and volunteerism. However, whether this is offered in your area or not, your organization should have a focused annual time of giving. Some organizations will have an annual ball or another large event. 

If your organization cannot put together a major event, you can still have a yearly focus in which you make a well-marketed blitz through social media and advertisements with a clever angle of focus that will draw in donors and volunteers. During this time of giving, encourage donors to sign up for regularly schedule automated donations. Most people don’t give because they forget. If they have a way to give through automation, you can increase giving by a substantial amount.

Donor Retention

Every nonprofit organization wants to retain donors as this is as close to guaranteed donations as a nonprofit can get. Most small donors will change the organizations they give to if they look to donate each year. It should be the goal of your organization to retain every donor you get.

The easiest way to retain donors is, as mentioned before, through automation. If you put in place a way for a donor to regularly donate in an interval of their choosing, they are likely to give to you exclusively or at least give to you while simultaneously giving to other organizations. If automation is not possible, you can have a donor sign up for a renewal of their donation, at which time you send them a reminder and way to donate.

Another way to help with donor retention is to be vocal with your organization and intimately let every donor know what their donations of time and money have done. The most successful nonprofit organizations are those who are transparent and show how donations are used. People want to feel good about what they do.

Conclusion

While using these strategies will help your organization to raise funds for your cause, the bottom line is that you have to come from a place of gratitude. If an organization goes after donations and volunteers with a zeal that comes off as greedy, they can permanently damage giving when it comes to their organization. Everything you push out to potential donors or volunteers should be coming from a place of generosity, compassion, and kindness.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

When you need a new vehicle, you need to decide whether to purchase a vehicle or lease one. Some people have never considered the difference. It’s the same thing as when you decide whether you will purchase or lease a home. One is a path to ownership when you pay it off, and the other is simply leasing the vehicle for an agreed-upon amount and timeframe.

Once the lease period is over, you can choose to lease a new vehicle, continue to lease the vehicle you have, or you can purchase the vehicle you are leasing at an agreed-upon amount. The lease period is generally 36 to 48 months.

Lease Payments

The difference between purchasing a vehicle and leasing one is most magnified in the payments. The lease payments are usually lower than payments if you are purchasing the vehicle through a loan. When you are purchasing a vehicle, there is the calculation of the agreed-upon sale price, interest rate, and loan length.

When you are leasing a vehicle, the calculation will also include the sale price and the lease’s length, but the calculation similarities end there. Generally, there are figuring the expected mileage that will not raise the lease payments unless you are expected to drive it more than the annual allotment, which in most cases, is about 10,000 miles. Instead of interest, there is a monthly rental fee. This fee is a fixed amount and not a percentage like interest. This fee is where the differences make lease payments generally lower than loan payments. Lastly, there are the taxes and fees determined by the sale price divided by the number of months in the lease agreement.

When you come to the end of the lease period, if you decide to purchase the vehicle, the dealer will figure the residual value minus the depreciation. This residual value would be what you would pay if you choose to purchase the vehicle at the end of your lease. Leasing a vehicle to purchase is often far less than obtaining a loan.

Some vehicle leasing companies will require a down payment or deposit. This should ultimately lower your payments. Depending on your intentions at the end of the lease, if a down payment is required, it would make sense if it factors into lowering your monthly payments. Still, if it would only benefit you if you purchase the vehicle at the end of the agreement, if you are not planning to purchase the vehicle, you may want to lease from a dealer that does not require a down payment.

Disadvantages of Leasing

• You will not have any equity in the vehicle to use it to obtain loans or if you wanted to sell the vehicle.
• You will not be able to use the vehicle to trade towards the purchase of another vehicle.
• Leases cannot be customized beyond what comes with the vehicle at the time of the lease.
• If you don’t have gap insurance or full-coverage, you may owe additional money if the vehicle is totaled during the lease.

Advantages of Leasing

• The monthly lease payments are generally significantly lower than loan payments.
• You can afford a more luxurious vehicle due to the lower payments.
• It is generally a lot lower in cost doing it through a lease if you purchase the vehicle.
• You can have a new vehicle every three or four years if you opt to lease another vehicle rather than purchase.
• Maintenance is covered since most warranties are three or four years that is the same length as the lease. This is great for vehicle repairs, and some warranties cover regular maintenance costs, such as oil changes.
• There is no haggling the price nor worries about reselling.
• If the vehicle is used for business purposes, the lease payments can be tax-deductible.

Conclusion

If you have the credit score to lease a vehicle, it can be more satisfying than purchasing a vehicle because of its advantages. The lower costs to drive a new vehicle and lease a new vehicle every three or four years make leasing a vehicle appealing. Even if vehicle ownership is your ultimate goal, the vehicle’s purchase at the end of the lease generally ends up being far less than obtaining a loan.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

If you are an average American wage earner and bill payer, chances are you have had to deal with debt collectors. The only way to stop the calls and pursuit of the debt is to pay the debt off. Paying off the debt will also improve your credit score and show future lenders that you are financially responsible.

Though you may have the desire to pay off debts, you may not have the income to do it. This issue is often the reason people dodge debt collectors. If you have debt collectors calling you, they will work with you more than you think. Here are three things you need to know about dealing with a debt collector.

Setting Up Payment Arrangements with a Debt Collector

Not all debt collectors will be open to payment arrangements; however, most will because they bought your debt, and if you don’t pay at all, that is a loss to them. Before you contact the debt collector, go on your credit report and see the amount of your debt and figure out the maximum amount you can pay and over what period you can pay it. When you approach the debt collector, make an offer that is slightly lower than your maximum, so you have some room for negotiation.

When you reach your limit, you must let them know it is your best and final. Most collectors will work with you because they want to recover the money. If you don’t have the money to pay and don’t make an arrangement, they are chancing no recovery.

You will have to act quickly because most debt collectors don’t hold a debt beyond six months. Waiting can go one of two ways; they will increase the payments or give you a write-off amount. Either way acting quickly once a debt collector has taken the debt over will get the debt cleared and work at repairing your credit before making any payment arrangement. Ask if there is a write-off amount. This amount is generally a lump sum that is significantly discounted if you can pay all at once and get the debt out of the way.

Payment Arrangements and the Statute of Limitations

Debt collectors have the right to sue you for the amount. Before you make a payment arrangement, you want to take a few steps not to waste your time. First, you need to verify the debt is yours. If it is erroneously on your credit report, you need to dispute it, and if you are successful, it will remove your responsibility.

The other thing you need to check is the statute of limitations in which the debt collector can sue you. This can vary from state to state. If you are past the seven years, and it is not on your credit, and the statute of limitations has run out, do not make a payment. Making a payment starts the statute of limitations over, and if it is no longer on your credit, there is no reason to add the liability.

However, if it is on your credit or within the statute of limitations, you need to immediately pay it off. If a suit is filed, that could be significantly more expensive than the debt itself. So you will need to make a payment plan or find out the write-off amount.

When the Collector Won’t Accept

In the rare case in which the debt collector won’t accept a payment arrangement or offer a write-off amount, you will have to resort to plan B. Find out when the debt has to be paid off before they may file suit and start setting aside the money you would have used towards the payment plan until you can pay the amount in full. Rarely, the debt collector won’t work with you as most people make no effort to pay after it goes into collection.

The main thing is that you want to avoid a lawsuit if they decide to file one. In most cases, if the debt is low, they will write it off. However, if the debt is significant, they will generally file a suit, which can be costly. If you face a lawsuit, you may want to try getting a loan or assistance with debt consolidation to avoid litigation.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

What Is Micro-Investing?

Micro-investing is making investments in extremely small increments. These investments are usually made with software, through an online source, or via a phone app. You connect your bank account or your debit card to the app, and it will automatically invest money into your checking or savings account.

Some of these apps or online sources allow you to start for as little as five dollars. Most of these also automatically invest your money into diversified investments and partial shares. Many of these also will go a step further and invest your spare change. This type of investment comes from rounding your purchases to the nearest dollar and investing that amount.

Micro-investments are an excellent way for a beginner to start investing. It is also the best way for someone who doesn’t have a lot of money to get into the investment game. Most everyday people can afford five dollars buy-in and using their spare change to invest. This type of investing isn’t going to make you millions, but it will be a great way to start investing and learn more about it without a high risk on your savings or income.

Micro-investing is essentially the poor man’s investing. It allows everyone to become an investor. These investments are popular among millennials, those on a budget, and stay at home moms. Here are some reasons micro-investing should be considered.

Make Investing Effortless

Most people find investing and learning how to invest is challenging. However, micro-investing eliminates the challenge. The online tools or investment applications make investing effortless, automatic, and ultimately easy. If you choose the right apps, you don’t even have to do anything once you get set up, especially for those apps that do spare change investing.

Grow Savings Over Time

Most savings accounts don’t have a great deal of interest and are not the best way to save. However, if you use micro-investment apps, you can get a higher return rate than a typical savings account. While you’re not going to make sure you wads of cash micro-investing, you can build a nice little savings account without even thinking about it. You can also brag that you’re an investor.

The interest rate from your bank’s saving account is hardly brag-worthy. Your money can grow at a higher return rate with micro-investment apps.

Beginner-Friendly

Because investing can be so confusing, micro-investing is very beginner-friendly. To become an investor, you usually have to have a lot of money and have practically attended college to invest properly. Most people who want to invest don’t want to spend that kind of time learning how. This is why micro-investing is so appealing to the beginner. You don’t have to understand what ROI stands for or what a bull market is. You just have to fill out some information and set up your bank account to receive the returns.

Because the capital needed to start is so low, the risk is minimal, but the learning experience will have the maximum impact. Think of micro-investments as a gateway investment.

Helps You Build Your Portfolio

because most micro-investment apps have built-in portfolios, you only need to choose what portfolio you want based on your risk tolerance. Your risk tolerance may change as you invest more, or maybe you want to invest less, but again because the initial investment is so low, your risks are minimal. As you build your portfolio, you will learn about investing and may want to diversify your portfolio even more.

Once you have built up a more impressive portfolio and have some extra investment capital from your micro-investing, you may want to consider going bigger. This may be when you want to hire someone to help you with your investments utilizing micro-investing returns.

Conclusion

We hear throughout our adult lives that we should be looking into investing. However, many of us are apprehensive about investing because we don’t know what we’re doing. With micro-investing, we don’t have to know what we’re doing to become an investor. Micro-investing helps us learn and grow as investors with very little capital and risk. About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

A profit and loss statement is revenue and expenses report that is taken over a specific timeframe. This timeframe could be a quarter or fiscal year or another predetermined timeframe that needs the profit and loss statement, also known as an income statement. The profit and loss or income statement’s main purpose is to report whether your company may profit gains for profit losses during the reporting period.

The profit and loss statement can help with your business taxes when building your business credit and give your shareholders an overview of the gains and losses over a period. This statement is included in some accounting and bookkeeping software, and there are easy to use templates available online and within document creation software.

Types of Profit and Loss Statements

Pro Forma

Though your business will not have any profit or expenses to report, you should still have a profit and loss statement at the beginning of your business included in your business plan. This would be a projection of the expected gains and losses of your company. When someone is looking to invest or lend capital to your company, having a profit and loss statement can help put your company’s financial aspect into perspective.

Periodic

Because a profit and loss statement can be of great value when determining your company’s gains and losses, they should be prepared at regular intervals. They can be done monthly, quarterly, or yearly. However, the more frequent you create a profit and loss statement, the better so that you will always know your business’s financial health. It is also helpful to determine where expenses can be cut, and marketing focus needs to increase profit.

Periodic profit and loss statements can also be done upon demand as needed for tax purposes or to inform investors, lenders, or shareholders as needed. Profit and loss statements are useful for a multitude of reasons.

What Information Goes on a Profit and Loss Statement?

Income

• Sales Revenue
• Affiliate Commissions
• Rent and Lease Payments
• Royalties
• Non-Operating Income
• Gains

Expenses

• Operating Costs
• Costs of Goods Sold
• Depreciation and Amortization
• Taxes
• Interest Paid on Debt
• Cash Receipts

Why You Need a Profit and Loss Statement?

The main purpose of a profit and loss statement is to give an overview of your business gains and losses. There are many reasons why you may need a profit and loss statement. Here are some of the reasons:

• Tax preparation
• To improve your bottom line
• To prepare a budget
• To obtain financing
• To improve business credit ratings
• To assess business growth

The profit and loss statement is a tool that will help give your company, investors, lenders, and shareholders an overview of what the company is making and what the company is losing. This can help the company decide whether they need additional funding, cutbacks on spending, or increased marketing.

Conclusion

For your business’s long-term success, you must regularly produce a profit and loss statement. The Profit and Loss will help you and your business track the financial health of the company. This knowledge of your financial health will let you and your stakeholders know if you need to keep the same areas and the other areas you need to change.

Because of the importance of the profit and loss statement, if you are not confident about creating one, you can hire a professional accountant to help you create one. If you cannot afford to hire an accountant, software or templates are available online. It is fairly simple to create a profit and loss statement.

The most important takeaway is that profit and loss statements are essential to running a business. You need to be sure they are produced and used regularly to be on top of your business’ financial health. If you need to improve or other areas, you need to increase your focus. These regular statements will ensure you know exactly what is going on financially in your business.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

To exist in a competitive market, communication is key. Small business entrepreneurs and big corporations have all started using social media to reach their target audience. Social media platforms have been used as a marketing tool to communicate with customers or potential customers easily.

Along with social media, companies have been developing their websites and adding blogs to inform customers and drive traffic to their site. Blogs are also used as another form of communication with customers and those who visit the site. Here are five reasons your business needs a blog.

Communication

As mentioned, to be competitive in business, communication is key. But who are you communicating with? That is a good question. Your communication is with those who visit your site and are either loyal or potential customers. While you want your blog to drive traffic, it should add value to the reader. If you attach a comments section to the blog, this gives you further opportunity to directly communicate with your customers.

When customers feel heard, they will feel as though your business is trustworthy and will become loyal customers. The blog and the comment section also offer other readers the opportunity to observe your communication and interaction with other customers. This can also be a way for your customers, or potential customers can become loyal and recurring clients.

Transparency

Having a blog and utilizing social media platforms allows you to become transparent. That transparency is important and helps your customers feel connected to you and your business. Integrity, honesty, and transparency are all things that can be conveyed through the blogs that you create. Every opportunity you have to show who you are to your customers or potential customers is an opportunity to convert that connection into profit and customer loyalty.

While having a blog itself does not necessarily prove honesty or integrity, having good and value to content plus communication and dialogue about the content builds trust. Customers or potential customers are more likely to bring their business to your company if they feel personally connected to you or your company. Connecting to them through your blog is never going to be a bad idea.

Content

When it comes to posting blog content is extremely important. If you want to generate traffic and keep them on your site to convert to sales, your content must have value. While many sites will look to post fluff with no real value in the content, to be a truly successful blog that converts customers into loyal customers and interaction into profit, good content is vital. When thinking about content, you want to have a wide variety of subjects while still having an overall central theme for your blog. For example, if your business is about health insurance, your blog could have the overall theme of health, while that theme can offer a wide variety of subjects that fall under it. Or the connecting factor could be style. The main thing is that whatever you choose to write about in your blog should connect back to your site. After all, the whole reason you’re doing the blog is to convert potential customers into loyal customers and potential sales into a profit.

Minimal Cost

If you already have a website starting a blog will cost you nothing but time. If you cannot keep up with your content, you may have to hire a writer and editor; however, you can write the blog yourself if you have the ability and time. If you don’t have a website, then starting a blog will cost you securing the domain and paying for web hosting. You may also need to hire a web designer to make your site look amazing. The domain name and hosting cost will incur a yearly fee, but it is usually nominal. If you can convert traffic due to your blog into customers and profit, this will pay for itself fairly quickly.

Monetizing

Other than selling your products or services, monetizing your blog can be an additional stream of income. While the blog’s main focus is to drive traffic to your site and convert them to loyal customers and profit, if your blog becomes popular monetizing, it could be lucrative.

Conclusion

Other than minimal cost and time, there is no downside to having a blog for your business. While it can take time to build momentum enough to see the conversion benefits, there should be some immediate benefits from having a blog. About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.