Author: Jennifer Brazer

Self-employed business owners can claim early retirement benefits from Social Security any time between ages 62 and 65. Many factors should be considered before choosing to take early retirement because it will result in less involvement in your business. If you still have a passion for your business or want to remain heavily involved, this would not be the right choice for you. Here are some things to consider before making the decision to retire.

There are limits to the income and number of hours you can continue to work in your business and collect early retirement benefits. The income limits vary from year-to-year depending on when you will reach full retirement, and the hour limits are currently set between 15 to 45 hours per month. Consult Social Security to verify limits and other restrictions for the self-employed retiree.

The self-employed have an additional condition when collecting early retirement, even if they are within hourly and income limits. If they perform what is considered by Social Security to be substantial services, early retirement benefits may be reduced or eliminated. Social Security implemented this provision because small business owners were collecting early retirement while still taking on most of the work and paying a friend or family instead of themselves to remain under the limits.

Substantial services are not just the number of hours, even if you legitimately limit working in the business to between 15-45 hours. If the duties they perform are considered highly-skilled, this is defined by Social Security as substantial services as well. This could mean you are the only person in the business that can perform the skill or that the duties performed require high-level training.

Social Security considers the following when determining if the early retiree is performing substantial services.

• The type of services performed
• The type of business involved
• The comparison of services performed before and after retirement
• The presence and performance of a business manager
• The amount of capital the retiree has invested in the business
• The duties performed are considered highly skilled

To determine if a person is genuinely retired and not performing substantial services, staying within and income limits, and working the limited 15 to 45 hours monthly, Social Security may audit the business and require more information. These inquiries will only be made if you maintain ownership of the business or continue to work within the business or both.

When considering early retirement, contact Social Security in advance to find out the current limits and to determine what documents are needed to collect early retirement. After retirement, if Social Security determines at any time that you are exceeding the limits, your retirement benefits may be reduced or eliminated. For self-employed early retirees, each year of early retirement, Social Security will request earnings estimates for the following year. This estimate will determine retirement benefits for the first few months of the year and adjusted according to accurate self-employment information. Once full retirement is achieved at age 65, all limits are lifted, and there are no further criteria for the self-employed retiree.

If you are self-employed, being able to retire early and collect benefits may be a good option. But before you take steps to retire early, determine if you are genuinely ready to give up the business or reduce your involvement. Social Security sets strict early retirement limits, and if you are not prepared to stay within them, then early retirement is not for you. There is nothing that says an entrepreneur or small business owner has to retire at 62 or 65. If you are enjoying what you do and unable to give up the business, don’t force it. But if you are ready to close the business or give over the reigns, this information will help you do it as early as 62. 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 remain successful as a small business, you must keep up with the times. Trends in technology, customer service, and marketing can significantly impact small business, so knowing what the current trends are and how you can implement them into your business is vital. Here are some of the current trends for small businesses and ideas on integrating them into your small business operations.

Green and Socially Responsible Businesses

The past decade has seen a rise in customers looking for businesses going green or being socially responsible. These values are especially important to Millennials and Generation Z. Depending on your target demographic; you may consider adding some green or socially responsible practices to your business. Here are some changes you can make to be greener and socially responsible.

• Use local products or services
• Recycle and encourage customers to recycle also
• Use green cleaning products
• Use vendors that are green or socially responsible

Going green or being more socially responsible doesn’t require a total revamp of your business and can be done through small but high-impact changes.

Customer Review Impact

Businesses getting online reviews is not a new concept, but it is a concept that is expected to grow year over year. When deciding where to take their business, many customers rely heavily on reviews and ratings to make those decisions. It is crucial, as a small business, to have a strong online presence that is positive. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to ensure your business is listed on any site a customer can create a review. The more positive reviews, the better, so don’t be afraid to ask satisfied customers to review your business; you can even give them incentives to take the time, such as discounts or freebies.

E-Commerce

Most people think of enormous online retailers when they hear e-commerce; however, many storefront businesses are opting for an online purchasing presence. This trend isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. While some customers will always prefer to shop in person, many consumers opt to buy online. The convenience is the number one reason that many shoppers love an online purchasing option. Even if you are a business that offers services rather than products, there are e-commerce options you can add by having products related to the service you offer. You can also become an affiliate for a business with products.

Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is also nothing new, but the growth and popularity are making it a trend to consider. Here are a few mobile marketing ideas a small business owner might consider adding.

• Geo-targeting with ads to customers close to the business
• Creating an interactive app for your business (it’s easier than you think)
• Use of text message marketing
• Mobile methods of payment

Livestreams, Videos, and Stories

Small businesses are using these interactive trends to get more customers with great success. These social media trends have been building over the last couple of years and are expected to expand as technology advances. Posts are still an excellent way to connect. Still, Facebook and Instagram stories and live streaming bring a visual and interactive aspect to your business and should be considered a significant trend you should implement. People love to get visuals, interact, and be involved, so using videos, stories, and especially live streams can pay off big.

Conclusion

These are a few of the current trends that small businesses need to watch, but trends are forever changing. Responsible business owners always need to make changes to their businesses using trends when it makes sense for them. The worst thing a small business can do is change too much towards trends, the small business should be authentically you, and any changes you adopt should flow with your current business, or you risk losing your already loyal client base.

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.

Financial planners will give varying advice on savings and how to work towards retirement. If you get started saving in your twenties and invest well, you will likely have the recommended three times your annual income saved by forty. When people are young, they are often worried about college and student debt, starting a young family, and beginning a career, so it is less likely that a plan to save money is executed.

If you are approaching forty and have not yet saved towards retirement, it’s not too late. Below are some tips to help you save money for retirement, emergencies, and other goals.

Investments Rather than Savings Accounts

When people hear the word savings, they generally think of taking a set percentage of their paycheck and putting it directly into a banking institution’s savings account. While this is a good idea in the respect that you are working to save money, bank savings accounts are not the way to save towards big goals.

Savings accounts are often low interest and are closer to putting your savings under your mattress or in the cookie jar. Instead, consult a professional financial planner and find ways to invest money to gain you more interest and grow your money more quickly. This could be through mutual funds, investment savings plans, investing in stocks, or buying properties or items that appreciate over the length of ownership. The essential thing to remember about investments is that you should research options and understand the risks and rewards.

Additional Streams of Income

Besides investments that increase your existing income, another way to save towards your goal of three times your annual income by age forty is through additional income streams. In today’s world, the side hustle is typical as people make ends meet or work towards savings or other life goals financially.

Like investments, additional streams of income should be well researched. Some options require little of your time and virtually no interference with your main job paying the bills. These additional streams of income could be gig work like driving for a rideshare app, delivering food, or freelancing. It could also be from becoming a consultant or advisor. There are several ideas you could try to create more streams of income.

Retirement Funds

Many companies offer a retirement fund. This is a fund that the employee will contribute to from each paycheck. In most cases, the companies that provide retirement funds will also have offers to match a certain percentage of what the employee is investing in.

While retirement funds are a great way to save money that has you seldom missing the money put into them, there are also some drawbacks to this type of savings. There are often penalties on early withdrawals of the money. Also, because most of these funds are not taxed at the time of savings, you will owe a tax percentage on the savings when you withdraw the funds.

Many retirement funds are also attached to mutual funds to increase them and are vulnerable to market fluctuations. When the economy is in a downturn or recession at retirement or the time of withdrawal, your money will not hold as much value.

Conclusion

Whether you begin saving in your twenties or closer to your forties, it is crucial to saving something. Those dependent on the government to carry them through retirement will find it a struggle, depending on how much they contributed to social security during their career. It is crucial to look for ways to save while you are still young for retirement, emergencies, and other financial goals. These savings could be through investments, multiple streams of income, retirement plans, or interest-gaining savings accounts. Whatever you do, start saving now!

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.

There are many causes of stress for small business owners. The constant pressures of building your business, growing the bottom line, paying your employees, and juggling the many tasks necessary to run a business can take a stressful toll. That toll can hurt the business and other staff members,s so before that happens, you need to focus on your mental health. Here are some tips to help you manage stress while continuing to focus on your business.

Focus on the Positive

As a small business owner who takes on the entirety of the stresses of owning a business, it is easy to begin focusing only on the sources of stress or the negative. Changing your mindset towards focusing on the positive and the things that are going right can refresh your perspective and minimize stress while also benefiting the business and its employees by boosting morale.

Prioritize Tasks

Making a list and prioritizing tasks is one of the quickest ways a business owner can relieve stress. Even if the list seems long, having the tasks at hand prioritized will make the day run smoother. It also helps the staff know what needs to be done and assists with delegation. Many business owners carry a lot of stress because they try to do it all themselves, even when they have capable employees.

Empty Your Brain

When you are a small business owner, it’s hard to punch out of the office and leave work at work. Often, all the tasks at hand, issues that need attention, and other business concerns will be on the owner’s mind non-stop. There are a few things you can do to help empty your brain of business thoughts so you can recharge and rest. Watch a show, play a game, or read a book with nothing to do with your business and escape. This escapism will help you clear your mind of business thoughts and wind you down to a good night’s sleep. If you continue to have trouble shutting your brain down for rest, try writing down your thoughts or make a list of things you need to focus on the following day and leave them for tomorrow.

Take Breaks

It is easy to get bogged down with business and forget to take breaks. While employees have scheduled breaks and lunches, the business owner often won’t approach breaks in the same way. An easy fix is to schedule yourself breaks and a lunch that equals that of your employees. If you don’t have employees treat yourself as one anyone. A great way to remind yourself of a scheduled break or lunch is to set the alarm; every smartphone has one. Additionally, you can take more extensive breaks from the business by way of vacations or day trips. Time entirely away from the business can go a long way in relieving stress.

Take Care of Yourself

Most business owners don’t take great care of themselves physically or mentally. To combat this, there are stress-busting things an owner can do. Schedule yearly physicals and checkups to medically keep an eye on your physical and mental well-being. Also, get regular massages, or set up spa days. You can also eat healthier, exercise more, and take vitamins.

Conclusion

Besides business operations, managing stress is of the highest importance for a small business owner. Even if the business is a success, it can adversely affect the company if the owner is stressed. If you are a business owner or part of the staff of a small business and there is stress, use these tips to help you manage stress. Some businesses fail due to financial struggles, but others fail because the owner becomes overwhelmed. This is your dream; take care of your stress so you can make your dream a success and live a stress-free life while you do it!

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.

Unless your business or product is the only one of its kind in the world, competition is to be expected. Competition is healthy for the economy as it drives customers to use their hard-earned money to buy goods and services rather than keeping it in their wallet. Here are some useful strategies to get ahead of the competition.

Shared Efforts

All employees and stakeholders in the business must be involved to be successful in any strategy. Every employee from the top down must put forth shared efforts to ensure successful strategies are designed and executed. The best way to get employees involved or even excited about beating the competition is by having strategic meetings. These meetings should be different from meetings where everyone is listening to one person. A strategy meeting is a time for free-flowing ideas and information along with incentives to come up with ways to give your company the edge.

Customer Needs

The constant and central concern of your business should always be customer needs. This focus on your loyal customers and potential customers could give you an edge over your competition. Businesses often get wrapped up in other areas of concern and neglect to listen to the customer’s voice. Customer complaints or concerns should be addressed, and their viewpoints should be valued. Customers are 100% responsible for your business’s success and, therefore, should be your primary focus.

Pricing Strategies

Throughout time, pricing has been a significant key to beating the competition. If you can offer a product or service at a lower price without sacrificing the quality, you can quickly gain the edge over your competition. But be realistic, don’t cut your prices so low that you aren’t making a profit. But don’t count out the idea of dropping prices that low for a limited time to get customers to try your product or service and turn them into a loyal customer who will stick around even when you remove the discount.

Quality

The quality of your product or service should always be superior. It is never to be an area where you save money and cut corners. Even if your product or service is higher than the competition, customers will pay it for better quality. If your product or service is lacking in quality, it’s never too late to improve it. To improve quality, it’s time to call your employees together and have another jam session of ideas. When there is a room full of creatives with free-flowing ideas and exciting energy, innovation comes out, and you gain the edge with a superior product or service.

Unique and Useful Products

Having competition for your business means you offer products or services identical or similar to other businesses. While making them superior in quality and having great pricing will help drive some customers away from your competition, having a unique or useful product to offer can edge out your competition and bring customers to your business to stay.

Customer Service

Since your customer keeps you in business and pays your bills, they should always be the primary focus of everything you do and every business decision you make. Customer service alone is responsible for driving a customer away from one business to another. Suppose your business and your competition are identical in products or services, quality, and price. In that case, exceptional customer service will drive customers away from the competition and into your business.

Keeping Customers

The goal of every business should be customer loyalty and retention. You can accomplish this by offering fantastic products or services at excellent prices and high-quality customer service. You can also offer unique and useful products or services no competitor offers. Another way to retain loyal customers is engagement. Having great contact with your customers through social media and other communication avenues will make your customers feel special and always want to choose you over your competition.

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 considering opening a merchant account for your business, this is an excellent decision that will benefit your company in the long-term. In this modern era of globalization and cutthroat competition, almost everybody utilizes their credit cards or debit cards to purchase products. Less often, you see individuals using cash or checks to fulfill their financial obligations. A merchant account is an ideal route for your business to venture into the cutting-edge era. It enables the person to acknowledge various types of payments. Some of the key advantages of getting your business a merchant account are:

A merchant account supports business operations and the ability to acknowledge payments that customers are making through credit cards and debit cards from their respective banks. Consequently, more customers are purchasing products by using credit cards consistently. This usage makes having a merchant account a positive impact on both customers and your business.

In reality, the concept of merchant accounts and credit cards has trickled down through various studies and researches conducted in this domain. An average customer makes much more purchases when they are permitted to utilize a credit card, rather than using physical fiat currency. This is a psychological impact on the customer, who cannot see the cash leaving the hands when swiping the credit cards on a POS machine.

One of the extra advantages offered by opening up a merchants account is that you can deal with the payments through the internet or online portal. This empowers the business to deal with daily exchanges efficiently. Once the merchant account has been opened, the small business or the business of any size will not require the management and its employees to toil hours toward the finish of the business day, bookkeeping, and reconciliation. All purchases will be recorded in proper order, electronically and chronologically. Merchant Accounts makes the business much more disciplined (financially) and is in a strong position to oversee income effectively.

When the businesses have a merchant account with respective banks, customers will be more confident in providing payment to your business. The acceptance of credit or debit cards as a form of payment will increase traffic as more people every day are almost eliminating cash and paying via credit or debit card. Customers like the convenience and will often choose where they shop by the experience, including how they pay for their purchases. When it comes to business, it is important to stay up with technology and remain competitive in your industry.

By opening a merchant account to streamline the payment process, business operations and bookkeeping will effectively remain reconciled and corroborated with the profit and gross revenue stream. The point of sale device of the merchant account can also send point-by-point and month-to-month statements of all transactions that have been made, in any currencies, and with which payment strategies, and other pertaining information and data. This makes it simpler to manage expenses and take advantage of the benefits.

Opening a merchant account has no downside for the business that wants to expand and offer their customers options to pay. This ability to be flexible and receive multiple forms of payment will expand the business and ensure that every customer that comes into your business has options.

The bottom line is that customers are looking for their shopping or business experience to be smooth and easy. They also want to be able to pay with the form of payment of their choosing. You, as a business owner, can ensure this by opening a merchant account. The benefits of opening a merchant account may also be that your business will be able to grow.

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.

Financial management varies from organization to organization and the nature of the business. Many individuals think that to learn effective financial management, one must understand the mechanics of financial management in banks. The banks in the United States have increasingly developed significant financial management expertise. This expertise can help a business with a successful financial management plan.

For a business to be successful, it must have strong financial management. Using the template of how banks manage finances will strengthen the financial management of the business. While the success or failure can hinge on multiple considerations, it comes down to profits. From the owner/CEO to the office support staff, financial management should be a priority. In some cases, hiring an accountant or professional bookkeeper will ensure that nothing financial will slip through the cracks. This will also allow the owner and staff to focus on daily operations.

The people who support the limitation of the banks’ size contend that big banks and the government policies that have indirectly supported these banks impose severe potential risks to the monetary system just because of proficient internal financial management. The recessions that have occurred in the past seem to have born that out because four of the biggest banks, including Citibank, Washington Mutual Bank, Wachovia Bank, and the Bank of America, had received assistance from the government.

Banks hinder effective financial management at the time of mergers and acquisitions. As many types of research have shown, at times, financial management adopts economies of scale for product revenue and a cost generating stream.

Like other industries, the modern advancements in financial management and information processing technologies have brought a revolution in the banking industry. For instance, small banks have conventionally enjoyed the advantage of lending to small borrowers and businesses where personal relationships and proximity were imperative to evaluate the risk of credit and to monitor borrowers. It is all possible to automate the process of financial management and interface it with other bank functions. Conversely, the new technology of financial management has brought a reduction in the cost of obtaining information, data, numbers, and hence skewed the pendulum in the bank’s favor.

Initially, technological advancements in financial management have more likely raised the fixed cost for the banks, such as having a generic platform of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). Also, current regulatory policies have given bigger banks more cost advantages than smaller banks, just because these banks proactively deploy automated financial management solutions.

The treatment of big banks by the government as automated financial management can also help generate economies of scale by lowered risk premiums demanded by the creditors of bigger banks, which can give them the advantage of funding over the smaller competitors. The arguments of the supporter of the limitation of sizes of banks can be more of weight if the source of scale economies would provide cost-effective and cost-beneficial solutions to financial management.

Hence, the policymakers must consider the loss of scale economies’ benefits when determining the benefits of shrinking the banks’ sizes. Also, it is suggested that instead of limiting bank sizes, the policy of discipline must be implemented for the systematically big banks.

In the end, finance management is the heart and soul of any business entity. Having a prolific and proficient financial management system and department should be of paramount importance for any business concern and ensure that the business operations are maintained at any level, despite any governmental or regulatory intervention. It is not necessary that the organization’s size matter, but what is important is how effectively the financial management operations work towards the betterment of the whole organization.

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 it comes to starting and running a successful small business, technology has to be considered as a crucial aspect of the business. Due to the nature of technology and the movement to online transactions, e-billing and invoicing have become more widely used by small businesses. There are distinct advantages for you and your customers, and they are as follows.

E-Billing and Invoicing Customer Advantages

Convenience

Convenience is not only an advantage for your customer but to you as the business owner. By offering your customers various payment types, you are increasing the chances that your customers will pay their bill in full but on time. Customers using the option of paying online can choose when and where they complete transactions, therefore, ensuring on time or early payment.

Control of Finances

Because online bill paying is instant, this gives the user control over their finances. Sending a check takes time to arrive, process, and debit from their bank accounts, leaving time to possibly utilize the funds causing the check not to clear due to insufficient funds. E-billing eliminates this because instant account debit applies whether the customer chooses, debit, credit, or e-check.

Email Reminders

E-billing and invoicing include automation to remind customers of their upcoming due date. Not only does it send reminders, but it also offers an option to “Pay Now” when it sends the reminder before the due date. This option increases the probability of the customer paying early.

Automatic Payments

Speaking of automation. Most e-billing and invoicing systems have an option for automatic payments. The customer can opt into this automatic payment debit. In some cases, the company can offer discounts or fee waivers for those using the automated option. Automation increases paid receivables by a large percentage.

E-Billing and Invoicing Business Advantages

Instant and Secure Invoicing

Invoicing is made convenient and secure by emailing the invoice to the customer with the mouse’s click. The invoices will also trigger automation for email reminders. At the time of the original invoice, there will be a “Pay Now” option increasing the possibility that the customer will pay before or on the due date.

Less Time Invoicing and Bookkeeping

Electronic invoicing allows you to distribute multiple invoices in less time to create and send one paper invoice. You can use automation to link invoicing to your bookkeeping software, which can save time spent reconciling accounts receivable entries.

Cost reduction

Sending automated e-invoices saves money. There are savings on time, mailing products, and postage. The savings can be quite a lot for high volume businesses. Small businesses benefit from this cost savings the most since budgets are generally tight for small businesses.

Storage

Automatic reminders and electronic invoices can be saved on your business computer’s hard drive. You can also back up your files on external drives. Paper documents must be stored in filing cabinets taking up space and utilizing precious time to file them. Also, Invoices can be integrated into your accounting software, making it more accurate than paper document filing, which leaves the possibility of lost or misplaced invoices.

Conclusion

Because of security, accuracy, convenience, and quick payment, e-billing and invoicing are quickly becoming the norm for accounts receivable. Whether you are a customer or a business owner, the benefits of e-billing and invoicing are numerous, and the disadvantages are few.

 

With more and more customers going online to find a payment solution that works for their needs, electronic invoicing and billing is an excellent tool for your business that provides your customers a seamless and enjoyable billing process.

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.

Every responsible adult should consider creating a budget to manage household finances. Surprisingly, many adults don’t have a budget or monthly financial plan. Often this leads to poor money management because there is no accounting for expenses in comparison to income. Here are some tips to help you achieve your financial goals to gain control of your household finances.

Start Planning

It is necessary to have a financial plan to help you manage household finances. Financial planning includes various phases. The first phase is deciding how to control your budget and then create a spending plan that encompasses repayment of the debt, saving an emergency fund, and another financial goal setting. At this point, you need to prioritize your finances according to what’s most important for you financially. Here are three points to focus on when making your plan specifically regarding your household finances.

• Creating and sticking to a budget is the key to success.
• Contribute monthly to your financial goals
• Build an emergency fund

Create and Stick to a Budget

Creating an honest and realistic budget is imperative. You must gather all your income sources and list all your expenses, down to the smallest detail. Once you have an honest accounting of your income and expenses, you need to analyze your expenses. Determine your fixed expenses, your necessities, non-necessities, and impulse spending. Now comes the hard part. It would be best if you cut as many non-essential expenses as you can. You don’t have to give up every non-necessity, but the more you can eliminate, the closer you will get to getting your household finances under control.

Once you have eliminated the expenses you can live without, allot a monthly amount towards savings. Put as much money towards savings as you can though experts in finance say that it should be at least 10% of your net income. Experts also say you should pay yourself (put money in savings) first, pay bills, and then non-essentials you choose to keep. Unless an emergency comes up before you have an emergency fund saved, do not deviate from this budget. This will take discipline.

Avoid Unnecessary Bank Charges

A few years ago, it was reported that bankers in New York celebrated the billions they made from bank fees. While it is understandable that you will make a mistake at times, you must spend within your means to avoid the high bank overdraft fees. These can snowball and add up to financial devastation. If you make a mistake, call your bank right away, most banks will forgive a fee or two once in a while, so always call to see if you can get the fee(s) waved.

There are other fees to try to avoid. Some bank accounts charge fees if you dip below a certain balance. Choose an account or bank that does not charge a minimum balance fee. Also, some banks will reimburse ATM fees and other fees. When choosing a bank or bank account, do your research.

Prioritize Debt

When it comes to debt, it is important to prioritize your debt. You need to list your debts by the highest amount and highest interest rate. Credit cards with high-interest rates and loans should be a priority to pay down as quickly as possible. If you have to do without that latte and tighten the belt on entertainment and extras while paying these high-interest debts off, you have to do. Many Americans suffer from overwhelming debt and, in some cases, never come out from under it before incurring more. Most importantly, do not take out a loan or use credit cards to pay down debt. Cut expenses or get another stream of income but don’t get in further debt to pay the debt.

Conclusion

Managing your household finances isn’t difficult but does take focus and determination. Start planning, create and stick to a budget, avoid unnecessary bank charges, and prioritize debt, and you will get your household finances under control and even have money for savings!

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.

Accounting and bookkeeping are essential tools for keeping business finances in order, but first, you need to address other issues as a business owner. The first step to your business’s financial health is to separate business finances from personal ones.

It is a common mistake for a business owner to mix business and personal finances. This is natural since, in most cases, the start-up capital, or at least some of it, was from the owner’s personal savings or salary from another source of income. This mix of business and personal finances should be addressed early, and the separation should be done as soon as possible.

It is impossible to determine the company’s actual profit and losses if you are supplementing the income of the business with personal finances outside of start-up capital. It’s not to say that you can’t use your personal finances to fund the business, but you should be treated as any other investor and should pay yourself back from profits.

Separating the finances is not the only step you should take. It would be best if you also made your business a limited liability company. This simple move will protect your personal finances if your business goes bankrupt, is audited, or has a lawsuit filed against it.

In addition to separating your business and personal finances, here are some other ways you can keep your business finances in order.

Get Organized

Use a professional accountant or bookkeeper or accounting and bookkeeping software to stay organized with your finances. This organization will help you observe the due dates of invoices for on-time payments. Lack of organization can lead to late fees, high-interest payments, or loss of business.

Know Your Fixed and Variable Expenses

Fixed expenses are those you must pay every month, such as water, electricity, telephone, payroll, and taxes. Variable expenses are those costs that aren’t consistent and vary in cost and change or cease to exist. The knowledge of both your fixed and variable expenses will keep your finances in order and make bookkeeping easy and accurate.

Billing Strategy

Many small businesses struggle with finances due to billing issues. Accounts receivable is often a place within a small business where improvement is needed. There are several ways you can address billing issues. You can require the customer to pay in full upfront. In some businesses, demanding payment in full may not be suitable for getting and retaining customers. If that is the case, you can still get more invoices paid by offering customers a 2% discount on the total bill if they pay in full within ten days and make payment in full due within thirty days. These incentives are often used by clients of companies who implement the practice.

Track Your Books Closely

If you are working with a bookkeeper, review and monitor your books daily or monthly. This monitoring will help you avoid negative surprises. Knowing your books will help you formulate strategies for increasing profit and lowering expenses, and it can also help identify fraud. Even if you hire a professional accountant or bookkeeper, you, as the business owner, should always be aware of what is happening with your business finances.

Make Good Financial Habits

Being aware of your business finances and having a hand, at least to some degree, in your company’s bookkeeping is a great habit to get into, but you can do more. Set aside time every week or month, depending on your business’s volume, to go over your books and to strategize as needed to keep your business finances in order.

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.