Author: Complete Controller

Accounting information is the collection of stored data about the financial statement of a business. It is generally computerized data which usually comprises much more than the balance sheet, cash flow, and expenditure chart. It also contains the data of collective revenue, bookkeeping, income tax data, and confidential details of the employee’s salaries.  This information lends itself to human error, primarily when a professional accountant or bookkeeper doesn’t perform.

In the initial stages of a business, every entrepreneur makes accounting errors from time to time. Even the tiniest mistakes can affect the practicality of your financial statements. That is why; you must know how to detect these errors is a significant skill to develop regardless of what accounting tool or software you subscribed to carry out the business operations.

As a business owner, you must know that financial mistakes are inevitable. While you can’t resist every error, it’s essential to prevent them from escalating or compounding. To avoid these circumstances, you must be aware of the solutions to implement them at the time of need.

However, if you want to keep the accounting errors confidential and want to solve them on your own, then here’s a list of the most common accounting errors of all time, along with the preventive measures.

Data entry errors:

Entering incorrect data in the balance sheet is one of the most common forms of human error, and it causes unnecessary loss. While you can’t prevent every data entry error, you can put some procedures to ensure that entries are recognized and corrected promptly. The best preventive measures we can take to eliminate data entry errors include:

• Only one person can carry out the data entries in a day. Be practical and assign only a few employees to complete this task.
• Whether your company implements frequent reconciliations or quality checks, ensure that another set of eyes reviews the accounts, including your own. In this way, the employee will double-check his work, and your business will reflexively avoid every possible error.

Lack of documentation processes:

If you forget to maintain certain business expenses, your company might lose valuable tax deductions. The IRS doesn’t contemplate expense items logically unless escorted with supportive documentation. To prevent this, you can apply the following solutions.

•  Set a business policy that shows the expense reports unpaid unless receipts are attached.
• Utilize accounting tools such as Expensify or Zoho books to help make the company’s expenses reporting a breeze.
• Suppliers want to get paid. However, don’t pay them unless they submit a bill. 

Timely Reconciliations:

Reconciliation is the procedure of reviewing that an account balance listed in the accounts is accurate. This procedure helps to identify the issues before they get out of hand. If done manually, the process should have multiple human eyes reviewing the process. Many accounting software programs provide an advanced reconciliation feature to make it virtual and efficient.

Avoid getting help when needed:

While you are operating a growing business, you can’t surely do it all yourself. Feel free to ask for help when you know that you need it. Maybe you enjoy managing business accounts, but you’re not a professional in the finance field and can make multiple accounting errors. Recognize your strength and know your weaknesses. Fortunately, you can hire a professional and experienced accountant or adviser to look out for financial management.

Trashing the official receipts:

One of the most significant human errors occurs when official receipts are lost. Try to secure the financial tickets until the government audit your business records. Whether you’ve recorded the transactions, it is still possible that you require them as proof while preparing an audit. You can utilize the receipts to convince the auditors that you have reported the correct amounts.

Accounting errors are accidental and bound to happen, but the business’s ability to identify and prevent those errors ensures the entrepreneur’s sensibility to tackle the obstacles. Usually, accounting errors emerge during cash transactions or entries. However, it would be best if you never let faulty accounting practices undermine the financial security of 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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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.

An accountant and a tax preparer can never have equal benefit scales in the corporate world. Accountants are one tribe, and the taxing pros are another tribe. Both the professions cater to different needs of the same niche. There is no second thought in the fact that a career scope of a tax preparer is potentially more rewarding than any other career field. But the paybacks of the accounting career are way more than a tax expert. 

Many of us are mistaken to mix up tax professionals and accounting experts. Well, both are entirely different. A person pursues a taxing career with a law-associated educational background. At the same time, the bookkeeping experts are the ones that have mastered the field of mathematic and the crossword of numbers. 

Let me share some of the incredible benefits of a tax preparer and accounting expert, respectively.

Aces of being a tax expert

Taxpaying officers can experience numerous aces. Some of them are:

Sustainable Tax Deductions The most prominent advantage snipped by the tax professional is that he can get a substantial deduction on the taxes he pays every year. As he is well-known about every tactic of the taxing world, it would be easier for him to file a tax return report. Sounds fascinating, though.

• Higher Income Chances

The pay scale is a crucial factor. It increases when you pause your leisure and step forward to begin your career. The income scale varies according to the type of employment that is hiring. As for the tax preparer’s income, it is relatively a high graph. Almost in every state, a tax keeper enjoys a relishing amount of salary package every month. 

• An Accelerated Professional Careers

Getting just a degree will never help you top the law tests, shine brighter among your badge, and begin a career in the taxing field. To become a well-known tax expert, you must have an eye to understand, compile, and analyze the laws accordingly. The still unknown part of the story is that you require no accounting experience to pursue your career in a tax-related job. Go on to complete an Income Tax Officer Course, and you will be an income tax officer within ten weeks.

 Aces of being an accounting pro

Accountants are a pro in handling the battle of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division between numbers. They are experts in portraying the entrance and exit of each dollar within the company with perfection. An accounting is righteous to enjoy the following benefits: 

• Market Competitive Pay Scale 

Bookkeepers are in demand in the market. They are genuinely essential for every industry, firm, and company. Accountants have a very high pay scale competing equally to their demand in the market. There is a thick difference between the income rate of a tax preparer and an accountant. However, an accountant earns more than a tax officer.

• Uncountable Career Opportunities 

 An accountant is lucky enough to pursue a career in any field. Also, the accountants have the feasibility and the credibility to pick up their line of employment. They can also easily choose their area for specialization. The career opportunities are unlimited for a bookkeeper. 

• Prestigious Social Status

We all breathe in a society where an accountant owns a valuable status that is also a pride symbol. Every person around the circle of employment greatly values a steadfast person in the position of a financial manager of a business. 

• Ability to open your own business

The ability to convert a start-up into a mature business with decent people is hard to find. But it is not rare in the case of an expert bookkeeper. If an accountant owns a CPA license, he is 100% capable of nurturing himself into a compatible business owner. Once an accountant steps into the corporate world, he can gain many years of experience and enough practice. 

Closing Paragraph

There is a vast difference between being an accountant and a tax officer. Both the fields have their pro and cons. But technically speaking, accountants tend to face more benefits than tax officers. The above article will clear your view about the accountants and tax preparers’ beneficial circle. Stay tuned for more.

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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.

Trends either in business, fashion or marketing, keep on changing. To keep your progress up, one must stay up-to-date with these continually evolving trends.

Your business will only make progress if you stay in the competition, and that is only possible by keeping track of the constantly changing drifts and keeping up with the latest trends. If we talk about the bookkeeping trends, they are not slowing down any sooner, and one must keep pace with them.

Technology has taken over the entire world the word itself means development. It is reshaping businesses and industries in the modern setup. Taking the worldwide crisis of COVD-19 into account, it has transformed almost everything, including systems and processes, changed manual tasks into automated jobs. From the traditional ways of working to now increased dependency on digital technology like online schooling, work from home businesses, etc. Digital industries are evolving more and more, and now businesses, either big or small, are more dependent on remote bookkeeping. 

A paradigm shift has occurred with prevailing technology and the evolving IT industry, and businesses operate more efficiently and effectively.

Following are the six key bookkeeping trends that young entrepreneurs and small businesses can take advantage of in the coming years:

Bulk data transfers:

Today, data doesn’t mean numbers and figures, and accountants have been dealing with all those things for decades. It also includes amorphous numbers that accountants can analyze through natural language processing. It works like a fuel driving various transforming finance and accounting in the fourth industrial revolution through swiftly changing technology trends. The audit process is primarily handled through digitalization now. These reforms are proving to be vital and help generate more revenue by improving internal operations. Now it’s no big deal to transform numbers and figures, i.e., date in bulk amount and save a considerable amount of time and extra effort.

Majority SMEs shifting to the cloud:

Many small and medium-sized enterprises adopt cloud-based computing services, also known as software as a service or SaaS. Allowing the user access to various software applications that run on shared computing resources, making these software solutions user-friendly and cost convenient.  You can use different software like QuickBooks and Xero for this purpose; however, every user has his requirements, and he has the option to choose any such digital software according to his demands. 

Data analytics:

Data analytics is one of many rising trends in technology that helps to reach fresh, innovative, and valuable insights from your existing data. It also offers detailed and actionable statistics that help to build trust among your clients. These analytics help bring the faults and deviations into sight and also provide solutions to deal with them. All of this is possible in less time now due to analytics.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

Artificial intelligence can help accountants and bookkeepers to be more productive and efficient. The robotic process automation or algorithms allow machines or AI workers to finish lengthy and time-consuming tasks in a significantly lesser amount of time. These machines also help reduce manual labor, which would reduce the chances of high costs and errors. Modern technologies have altered clients’ expectations of businesses and corporations. Now clients demand high-level accuracy and more efficient jobs since AI has made things more precise.

Improvement In inventory tracking and management:

With the increasing use of the internet and the development of modern technology and devices combined with artificial intelligence, communication and operation can occur without much human assistance. Now professional financers can track their transactions and other records in real-time. Audits have become much more streamlined due to this uninterrupted monitoring. Inventory tracking has become much more accessible, and checking and managing the right amount of available supply (in a business stock) is not a problem. 

Learning bookkeeping is no biggie:

Thanks to technology and the internet, every piece of information is available online, and with a single click, one can search for anything. Online video tutorials are a big help, and beginners and entrepreneurs running either small or low funds can get help from these software programs.

Bookkeeping trends will keep on changing and evolving in the future, and you can only be successful in your business if you keep pace with these shifting trends. 

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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 Double-dip recession is the second recession followed by the first one. The gap between the two recessions is called a short-lived recovery. It means that the economy couldn’t recover properly from the previous recession and faced another one. The causes of a double-dip recession could be a crisis in the financial system or pandemics. Businesses operating in a double-dip recession of an economy face various challenges with a lot of pressure due to fear of failures. Stress levels of entrepreneurs reach the sky due to heaps of workload.

As the world faces a pandemic due to Covid-19, preparing your business for any unforeseen double-dip recessions is essential. Many companies fail to survive in the second wave of recession during a double-dip recession. Here are a few survivals guidance tips for entrepreneurs to follow when facing a double-dip recession:

• Look for changes and opportunities: Find ways to gain your market share, try moving into new markets. Introduce new and different products to the market. And increase your targeted audience.
• Identify new trends and what the consumers want: Find out if the product you’re producing or selling is really what the consumers want to buy. If it’s not something the people want to buy, then consider introducing new trendy products in the market. Make further changes to your already existing products to attract customers and to increase your revenues.
• Change your pricing methods: You could switch to penetrative or competitive pricing methods if you’re using a price maximization method. The penetrative pricing method suggests you put lesser prices than your competitors. This method is suitable to increase your revenues, but it could mean that you might go into a loss due to low prices. Competitive pricing suggests you put the same prices as your competitors. It could also increase your revenues.
• Collaborate with business professionals: Ask your business allies such as your attorney, accountant, and suppliers to promote your business through their channels. In return, you can offer to promote their businesses through your own. You can also provide them with a commission to gain their trust.
• Increase and improve your marketing strategies: Social media is the easiest and cheapest way to increase your promotion. You can also perform surveys through social media. You can start a blog to promote your business and your products. Another way to promote your business is by making your employees the brand ambassadors of the company. The best way is to use LinkedIn for promotions.
• Find ways to improve your cash flows:

1. 1. Try to cut down as many costs as possible to get a positive cash flow
   2. Try to reduce your outflows and increase your inflows. If you’re looking for a loan, find the ones that ask for the least interest rates
   3. Improve your inventory
   4. Increase your prices and expand your market and try to send and receive invoices right away

• Reorganize your financial obligations: If you have multiple debts that you’re stuck on, refinancing is the best way out. Get a single loan or a credit line to pay off all the debts altogether. You can also opt for a business credit card which can become an interest-free debt if paid back on time. Many costs will be saved this way and can help you get stable.

To make sure that your business survives the challenging double-dip recession period without failing, you must follow these practices in your industry. The key to surviving this period is to find new efficient and cost-saving strategies and to execute them properly. The business owners face a tough time and must handle all sorts of problems, from operational to financial issues and how to cooperate with the staff. They need to focus on what will make the business go and how to cope with all other obstacles. At this challenging time, the owners should not lose hope and not get too stressed and instead take an intelligent approach. They should always be looking for new opportunities to survive the double-dip recession.

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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.

Do you have any talent that you are only using as a leisure activity? It is completely justified for you to think of it as just a hobby, but there is a possibility that you can monetize it and turn your talent into a profitable business.

 

How to monetize your hobby

You can turn many hobbies into businesses such as carpentry, painting, baking, dog training, web design, and anything that delivers value to others. However, the real issue is that many of us are afraid to do it, even when we know we can make profits because we are so scared of failure. We are afraid that if we try to monetize our hobby and fail, we may no longer feel that same satisfaction or happiness that we feel when doing that activity.

This can be a chilling proposition that can make many skilled individuals desist from pursuing their dreams.

Trying to monetize your hobby into a decent business idea is not easy, but on the other hand, it is not that it is quantum physics either. With a bit of groundwork and strategic execution, a person can enjoy a positive result. Below are some tips:

• Create a plan

To start monetizing your hobby that you want to draw a plan on.

Fill all your free time with students, in the evenings and on weekends, and save all the profits that you make (do not waste!). Once you have saved enough cash to cover the expenses of 4 or 6 months, quit your job and dedicate yourself fully to building your guitar lessons business.

This doesn’t have to be a particular case or the plan that works for you, but it is better to have one. It’s not about throwing yourself blind and expecting things to go well.

• Making your first sale

In days, you do not need to go from a simple, playful hobby to a multi-million-dollar company. In the early stages, your goal should be to make your first sale. It does not matter if that means a deal of 5 dollars or a contract of 5 thousand, as your first sale will be the most difficult and the most important one you will make.

There are many strategies for you to achieve your first sale. However, everything mainly depends on the product you are selling. You could start by giving customers a free trial to generate word-of-mouth advertising if you sell a service. If it is a product, doing good product placement and some advertising in the right places will take you to the sale. (Social networks are potent for people who are trying to reach many people with few resources).

It is important to remember that, although you believe in your product blindly, the rest of the people got no reason to do so.

• May your time yield

For many people, it is not practical to work full-time and then spend overtime pursuing your hobbies. There is not enough time in the day among children, couples, friends, and other social commitments. There is not enough time in the day.  

During the first stage, you will have to be creative about the use of your time. Maybe you must get up earlier than usual to do things before going to work.

Another alternative is to involve your children in your family time/ hobby, so you can spend time with them and achieve bigger things.

• Have an online presence

In today’s businesses, everyone needs to have a virtual presence to generate more activity. This means that by maintaining and creating a website, profiles on social networks, and everything that involves creating a brand as a professional.

Having consistency in how you present yourself will give you a better, more established image that will result in more customers. If you’re unsure how to begin, look for what established musicians are doing that do something similar and take ideas from there.

• Create a network

Some people will run into you online. However, many big and small businesses become successful from the network that is created by word of mouth. You must prepare yourself to be very active in this part of self-promoting yourself.

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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.

In the US, we are still not used to hearing about them, but in the rest of the world, they sound strong and for many reasons. We are talking about micro-insurance, a type of protection that is extending in areas. There is a low level of wealth and society’s urbanization, which can contract directly from a prepaid mobile phone.

Microinsurance and its history

You can outgrowth your microfinancing projects as it will help thousands of individuals with lower incomes. In this way, you can set up businesses and purchase houses. Various microinsurance programs will allow you a fast payout based on measurable factors or parameters. Famous and observable characteristics decide the level of parametric policies. For example, the damage expense will always indicate how the farmer’s approach should be then. You can encourage it for specific conditions. You will have automatic compensation when a hundred-mile wind in a particular area or an exact amount of policyholder and rainfall. Inspect damages and find out the loss expense then, request for the settlement. As a result, you will have claimants’ fast access to the funds that will allow you to run your business best. Suppose you want to advance farmers’ yields and purchase quality equipment. In that case, you will have to ensure your crops and livestock as collateral. As a result, your living will increase automatically.

The company, American International Group, offers a micro-insurance facility, and there will be the beginning of selling policies in Uganda in 1997. Today, many companies are making innovative microinsurance products that are helping the poor, who are the victims of financial losses.

The ‘low cost’ insurance revolution

Microinsurance is a product-focused on the social segment’s protection at a low-income level. It operates in an unstable economy and that have not been able to access the standard insurance market. According to the BIMA Movile report, the insurance penetration rate in developing countries is only 2.9% due to obstacles such as lack of education, inaccessible prices for the majority of the population, and a scarce distribution network.

You will have a promising solution, such as small insurance contracts that previously irrigated mobile phones. As a result, you will also have a massive population percentage, and you can get a considerable penetration in nations. That all includes such as Africa, Latin America, the Pacific, and Asia. In 2014, there was a rate of policy insurance that is up to 17 million policies. This rate increases up to 263% of the previous year, that is, mobile insurance.

The key to this new business model is to use mobile phones as electronic purses. According to the study carried out by the GSMA association on Mobile Financial Services, this feature is becoming popular in a spectacular way, which is projected to obtain 16 million customers. New in 2015 around the world.

Products of microinsurance

Microinsurance was born with life products, although they are extending to other sectors. It gives rise to health microinsurance, accidents, and micro pensions, among other products.

Also, they have specific coverage such as crop damage or food vouchers and collectively include an entire community.

Advantages of microinsurance

The emergence of microinsurance in the panorama entails a series of desirable advantages for the governments of developing countries, their population, and non-governmental organizations.

Among other functions, micro-insurance:

They allow access to essential services for these communities, such as healthcare or agricultural aid programs.

• They increase productivity among insured persons since they are more willing to invest if they feel supported. It’s in turn, translates into economic growth, improvement of living conditions, and social inclusion.
• Also, insurers can multiply their customers exponentially without investing a large amount of money in distribution networks, benefiting from mobile services and informal networks.

And since the sums insured are small, the payment of claims is quick.

But microinsurance also poses a series of challenges to the insurance sector since management controls are very weak, and frauds often occur. Also, many countries lack a legal framework to regulate this new type of insurance. Consumer protection strategies are usually very scarce, so many doubts and complications accompany their implementation.

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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.

The wide acceptance of artificial intelligence in society has changed our lifestyles. When it comes to business, artificial intelligence offers a wide range of benefits. Most enterprises prefer artificial intelligence to decrease their operational cost and maximize profit. Artificial intelligence has become an essential part of our lives, and we interact with it daily while performing daily house chores or conducting business activities. The impacts of artificial intelligence on organizations are beyond our thinking.

Artificial Intelligence – A game-changer 

Artificial intelligence is a broader term and can be used to define multiple computer programs and software performing human activities and functions, including planning, learning, and problem-solving. We can’t associate artificial intelligence with some specific applications or features, as it covers several aspects. To analyze the impacts of artificial intelligence on organizations, we need to consider different areas.

Machine learning is the most common example of AI in business that helps develop and expand. Machine learning is beneficial for processing larger data sets within a short period by using algorithms. These algorithms are getting better over time—machine learning analyzing many datasets.

• Deep learning 

Deep learning is more specific than machine learning focusing on neural networks for nonlinear reasoning. It has more advanced features such as fraud detection, performing multiple analyses, and others. An example of AI in business is identifying information related to driving cars, including speed and distance.

Among the most significant impacts of artificial intelligence on organizations, deep learning models. The machine learning algorithms lose their capability once their maximum amount of data reaches the limits. However, deep models perform better with an increased amount of data.  

• Artificial Intelligence opportunities in business 

Artificial intelligence acts as a supporting tool for business. One can see the most common impacts of artificial intelligence on organizations through their operational changes. AI offers innumerable benefits to businesses, but all you need is the willingness to change its structure wherever and whenever possible.

• Transforming E-commerce 

Several e-retailers, including Amazon, are in search of AI solutions that can reduce their cost. Many online businesses leveraged technological advancement to understand their customers better, generate more leads, and offer an outstanding customer experience.

An example of AI in business is the use of cookies to offer personalized recommendations to consumers. Ever thought about how a platform knows what a user wants? They use Natural Language Processing (NLP) features such as images, videos, and voice recognition.  

Several firms extract valuable information from consumers to predict online behaviors and products that will best suit them. Usually, more personalized messages lead towards loyal customers and act as a tactic for businesses to understand their customers better.

Some companies are also implementing techniques for identifying product returning probability, which help them perform better. There is a wide range of impacts of artificial intelligence on organizations, especially in the e-commerce industry.  

• Digitization 

Artificial intelligence is a kind of decision-making software that has improved the decision-making process compared to existing software. This improved decision-making power resulted in implementing technological innovations within businesses to perform complex activities and tasks regularly. These impacts of artificial intelligence on organizations led towards more reliable decisions.   

• Automation 

Artificial intelligence has a crucial role in automation and efficient customer relationship management (CRM). Usually, businesses rely on the CRM model to organize and manage employees and teams efficiently. Leveraging artificial intelligence into the CRM model helps the company to get updated with the relevant information without any human involvement.  

The automated CRM model sends automatic updates to the responsible person, ensuring the smooth and controlled functioning of the organization. Artificial intelligence has also introduced the concept of a self-correcting system, which eased project managers’ work through the effective management of work life cycle.

AI provides opportunities to financial institutions, including banks and trading organizations, to offer a better customer service experience. An example of AI in businesses is chatbots, ensuring outstanding consumer service through query resolution and guidance.

You can extract information from the customers’ queries and use it to train your chatbots. By integrating AI in their process, organizations can cut their labor costs and reduce errors caused by human interaction.  

Nowadays, software solutions are based on predictive analysis and data science management. These are positive impacts of artificial intelligence on organizations that help them in gaining insights and resolving problems.

In a nutshell, the scope of artificial intelligence is constantly expanding in multiple areas of businesses. The impacts of artificial intelligence on organizations are not invisible anymore. Technological innovation not only makes your working techniques efficient but also makes your business market competitive.    

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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 is an integral part of any thriving business, and financial analysts are vital in providing valuable insights through analyzing financial data. It’s important to note that even the most seasoned financial analysts can make mistakes, which may lead to inaccurate financial statements and flawed analysis. Nevertheless, we have an opportunity to learn from these mistakes. In this article, we’ll explore the top five accounting mistakes that financial analysts may make and offer practical tips on how to avoid them. Join us as we embark on a journey of exploration, learning, and bolstering confidence in financial analysis!

Failing to Reconcile Accounts

Reconciling accounts is a vital process in finance that involves comparing records to ensure they agree. Financial analysts who don’t reconcile accounts run the risk of double-counting transactions, overstating assets, understating liabilities, and, ultimately, misrepresenting the company’s financial position. It’s essential to reconcile accounts regularly, like monthly or quarterly, to guarantee the accuracy of financial statements. This method helps avoid errors and allows for a clear and transparent view of the company’s financial standing.

Misclassifying Transactions

Financial analysts understand the importance of accurately classifying transactions to ensure that financial statements and analyses are reliable. Misclassifying transactions is a standard accounting error that can have significant consequences. An incorrect classification can lead to an inaccurate reflection of a company’s financial position, potentially inflating assets or understating liabilities. That’s why we strive to work diligently to classify all transactions correctly. By understanding the distinctions between assets, liabilities, and expenses, we can confidently navigate the financial landscape and provide valuable insights to our clients.

Failing to Account for Accruals and Prepayments

Accruals and prepayments are transactions that have been incurred but have not been paid or received. Failing to account for accruals and prepayments can lead to inaccurate financial statements and analysis. For example, if a company has incurred expenses but has yet to pay them, failing to account for the accrued costs can lead to an understatement of expenses and an overstatement of profits. Financial analysts must ensure accruals and prepayments are accounted for and that the financial statements reflect the company’s financial position.

Ignoring Cash Flow

Numerous financial analysts prioritize the income statement and balance sheet, often overlooking the critical cash flow statement. Neglecting this vital component can result in misleading assessments of a company’s financial well-being. Profitability doesn’t guarantee solvency; a company could face issues if it lacks the necessary cash to meet obligations. Analysts should scrutinize the cash flow statement to discern the sources and destinations of a company’s funds, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of its financial dynamics.

Failing to Update Depreciation

Depreciation is the process of allocating the cost of an asset over its useful life. Failing to update depreciation can lead to an overstatement or understatement of assets and profits. For example, suppose an asset’s useful life is ten years, and the company has depreciated it for only five years. In that case, the asset’s value will be overstated, leading to an overstatement of profits. Financial analysts must update depreciation regularly to reflect the actual value of assets and profits.

Conclusion

Financial analysts play a vital role in examining a company’s financial data, but even the most seasoned professionals may sometimes make accounting errors, leading to flawed financial statements and analyses. Fortunately, our article highlights the top five accounting mistakes to avoid, ensuring dependable and precise financial analysis. By taking these preventive measures, financial analysts can help businesses make well-informed decisions based on trustworthy financial data. Let’s strive for precision and excellence in our economic analyses to support success and growth in the business world!

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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 term deposit is a fixed income investment, that is, an investment that promises a safe return. You give the bank an amount of money, and within a known period, the bank puts at your disposal your money plus a profit. 

The term deposit helps you to invest money for a specific time with a fixed interest rate. The term duration usually ranges from three months to five years. It’s up to you to either withdraw the money you invest with the lender or reinvest it. 

Reasons to use a term deposit

There is no risk if you invest your money with lenders and get a specific amount of interest. There is a fixed time in which you can lock away your money. If you want to withdraw your invested amount, you will pay penalty charges. To open a term deposit, you will need to spend at least $5,000. The reasons for the term deposit are as follows.

• Higher interest rates let your money grow fast. By term deposit, you get more interest as compared to transactions and saving accounts. 
• The government allows you a guaranteed deposit. It pays a specific amount for Deposit in the unlikely event that the lender fails. 
• You don’t need to pay charges for set-up. But you will give 31 days’ notice with a penalty fee for getting back your invested money before the term of Deposit ends.  
• You will need to ask to open a linked transaction account while applying for a term deposit.  

Characteristics of a term deposit

Next, we will discover the characteristics of term deposits:

• It is a collection instrument that allows the investor to deposit money at a particular time, obtaining at maturity the return of the principal plus the interest at a previously known rate.
• The profitability shows at the beginning of the operation. The client can dispose of the funds upon expiration thereof.
• Individuals or companies can be fixed-term or renewable, nominative, endurable, unipersonal, or personal.
• Renewable: When taking the Deposit under this modality, when the expiration date arrives, the client has three working days to recover part or all the money; otherwise, the Deposit will be renewed automatically for the same term and at the preferential interest rate that the bank has that day.
• Fixed (Non-Renewable): When the expiration date of the Deposit arrives, it stops paying interest (and readjustments, if applicable), and it is up to the person to rescue it from the bank. That is, the money invested earns interest only until the date the Deposit expires.
• Currency: It can be in pesos, UF, or foreign currency (dollars or euros).
• Term: Depending on the Deposit, they are usually from 7 to 365 days.

Benefits of a time deposit

Here are the benefits of term deposits:

• You can make investments for amounts that are within your reach.
• Obtain Preferential Rates for Automatic Renewal Deposits and Deposits made online.
• You can request that your Deposit of more than one year be covered by Tax Benefit 57 bis of the Income Law.
• Generally, the certificates are Electronic Custody, without costs.
• Time deposits in UF practically guarantee a positive absolute return since, when expressed in UF, they are readjusted monthly with the CPI, a factor that partially protects them against inflation.
• Term deposits contracted through the Internet have preferential rates with the convenience of doing it from anywhere at any time.
• The term deposit allows you to earn a fixed amount of interest-based on the specific term. It would be helpful for cautious savers as there is no chance of losing your money. 
• The term deposit protects you from market slumps. It means if the market’s interest starts falling, the growth of your investment will continue with the same level of interest. 

You should note that profitability is not advisable to renew a term deposit when the expiration date arrives automatically. The new rate applied is usually lower than the original, so it is essential to negotiate again with the financial institution.

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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.

The ability to recognize the financial heal of your company is one of the most vital skills for an aspiring entrepreneur. Armed with this information, entrepreneurs can better identify the promising opportunities while ignoring the undue risk and making more strategic decisions. 

Whether you’re a fresh entrepreneur or an investor, you need to understand how to analyze and create financial statements to get an accurate acknowledgment of your business’s finances. The financial statements are the report card of a company. The financial information will inform you how much cash the operations have buried away, how much debt you owed, the revenue-generating each month, and the total expenses. 

Understanding the financial language of a business is a crucial task for every entrepreneur who doesn’t come from an accounting background. However, it is of utmost significance to understand the mechanisms of the financial statement rather than keep investing money blindly. 

 Successful entrepreneurship has a versatile knowledge of accounting tools. Grasping the understanding of organizing monetary statements permits one to accomplish principal tasks. 

Benefits of Understanding the financial statements: 

The following are the most beneficial pointers for any entrepreneur who understands the mechanism of financial statements. 

1. With a primary understanding of finance, an entrepreneur can easily predict the future of the business. They can coordinate with the accountants and financial advisers to accomplish their goals. 
2. They can utilize their valuable time, energy and fund more productively by making intelligent decisions. 
3. They can review the finances and implement their tactics accordingly. 

Comprehending accounting statements: 

To identify a company’s financial position, you need to analyze and review the sub-sections of financial statements, including balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. The value of these documents lies in the narrative they represent when analyzed equally. 

The balance sheet: The balance sheet defines the “book value” of a business. It shows the assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity. It allows you to consider your company’s available resources on a specific date. The balance sheet also provides the data that it can grasp to compute a rate of returns and evaluate the capital structure, utilizing this accounting equation. 

Assets= liabilities + owner’s equity

The Income statement: 

The income statement represents your sales revenue, operating expenses, and income for a specific period. Sales revenue gets split into cash and credit sales. It is usually known as the P&L (profit and loss) statement. This document is being shared as a part of the quarterly and annual reports and shows economic trends, business activities, and comparisons over a set period. Accountants or entrepreneurs regularly review income statements. The net income shown on this document is the difference between the credits and debits. 

The cash flow statement: 

The cash flow statement borrows some of its information from the income statement and the balance sheet. For instance, if you purchase new inventory with cash, your long-term balance sheet assets will increase, and an outflow cash statement will appear on the cash flow document. Additionally, the income statement expenditures paid in cash list the cash flow statement. On completion, the cash flow statement reveals how much it used cash and how much you have. 

The annual report: 

The annual report refers to the publication that public organizations must publish annually to shareholders to evaluate their operational and financial conditions. At the front, this report shows the editorial and storytelling in the form of infographics and images. On the contrary, there is an availability of detailed financial information. It can use the information provided on the annual report to measure:

• A company’s ability to clear the debts as they come due
• Whether a company generated profit or loss in the previous year
• The cash retained by the business to grow its operations

The above-defined financial statements are interrelated. Accurately interpreting financial statements can work as a litmus test for business owners. Entrepreneurs need to understand the critical data in credit analyses of their business. In this way, they’ll determine the profitability and the risk factor in the asset of their companies. 

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 platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO 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.