Author: Complete Controller

Whenever most people think about investing in real estate, they only consider the lucrative profits. They often tend to forget about the hard part: creating a roadmap for effective investment. The less focused part of the investment is the one that is essential to the whole plan. Here, we will discuss some critical steps to help you create a real estate investment roadmap for a successful business. 

The following steps outline a successful approach to real estate investment.

Identification of Objectives

Identifying investment and business objectives is essential to formulating a working investment plan. Your goals must include the motivation behind the investment, investment portfolio buildup, cash flow management, etc. You must ensure that the objectives you have set are realistic and achievable. Set your goals around the objectives that will become the foundation for your remaining investment plan. 

Gather Your Funding Sources

Once you have identified your objectives, the next part is finding the available resources to fund your prospect. You must determine the possible sources of cash before choosing any other financing option. You have the availability of potential investors, firms, or self-investment options available that can help you build the foundations. 

Choose Financing Options

Once you have pinpointed all the available sources to fund your prospect, you must choose the correct option to give you a head start in the market. Some of the most common funding options available to you include the following.

Large banks and financial institutions offer conventional funding at the best rates, but they often have strict guidelines and conditions. 

Mortgage brokers have more flexible terms and conditions and can help you sort through the options of lenders.

Cash lenders are the ones that offer cash investment at some percentage of interest. Most of the time, people shy away from them because of the hefty loan fee applied. 

They often have a 1-4% origination fee and 8-12% interest. Cash lenders typically lend 65-80% of the value at purchase or sometimes after repair. They set the loan term to 6-24 months and fund the investment in a few days. It is best if you regularly have potential profits and can pay the loans on time. 

Credit cards work like cash enders, except you do not have cash. Your payment terms start from the next 45 days of purchase, and you can pay the whole amount or in parts. The number remaining after your payment is the one that generates interest (based on percentage). It is the second-best option to consider if you have continuous profits available. 

Self-investment is when you invest your money to start a business and use your savings for the prospect.

Research the Market

Once you set your objectives and the funding source available, the next part is researching the market. Market research is essential to determine where you can invest and the risks involved. There is no one-size-fits-all approach regarding real estate investment, and market research helps you choose the right direction. You must study your local market to find the best options for investment and any potential reinvestment options.

Determine Exit Strategies

A good part of any investment plan is to find out whether you have an exit strategy in case of a downturn. No investment or business is without risks, and some have very high stakes. Having several exit strategies is essential if you have funding sources in private investment or cash lending. You must ensure that you do not take the investment lightly and have concerns about its success. Your exit strategies give you options to flip out the investment when needed to profit better or rent a property if the cash flow goes negative. 

Start Building Your Team

Remember that real estate investment is successful only if you have a team to back everything. While you can do everything you know, it will only burden you, and you will miss some crucial prospects. When you have a team, they can handle all the other operational aspects while focusing on the heavy workload. This way, you will have better chances of success. 

Final Word

Creating an investment roadmap guides your portfolio and directs the best options to approach and invest. The steps mentioned above give you the best idea to design the plan according to the requirements and market conditions. 

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.

As a business leader, you control an underperforming team that has had a troubled history and suffered from performance and disciplinary issues. What will you do as a manager to turn things around? Every newly appointed manager asks this question at some point during their career. For every business, managers are the key figures who have the potential to make or break the deal. Good leaders are the ones who set the course and lead a company to success. As a leader, you must know that your team is only as good as its manager. Being a good leader means that you need to get involved and interact with them more often.

Master the Art of Employee Engagement

Start engaging with your employees right away. Please introduce yourself and tell them briefly about you. Make them feel comfortable and ask questions without involving themselves in personal conversations. Ask about their professional experiences, preferences, and likes and dislikes. Don’t go over the board right away, and take your time. Keep the inaugural conversation on profession only. Tell them about yourself and your professional background.

Frequently engage with your employees and inquire about their targets. You can also conversate on other topics so long as it doesn’t become an argument. Employees love to chat and will not hesitate to talk for hours if they can. Make sure to know every member of your team in detail.

Occasional Affection

Managers and leaders are not supposed to show affection at the workplace, but if it works, why not? Be sympathetic only when necessary, and let your team members know you care. It may not fit your job description, but it will undoubtedly help you extract better performance from the team. Employees look to share their stories with someone. You can listen to them and come up with suggestions when needed.  

Personal Interaction

A quality leader knows each of his team members. He knows what troubles his employees may be going through. He interacts with them in person and helps them in any way he can. Be that leader, and you will soon learn more about your team than you knew.

Address Their Problems

Listening to a problem and suggesting solutions are two vastly different things. You can keep listening to issues but may be unable to recommend solutions. Be a good listener and analyze each problem to the extent that your mind comes up with a solution. Employees trust leaders who provide solutions to their problems.

Help Them Improve

Ask your team members about issues and problems they may face in meeting their targets. Take every problem as a hurdle in your way and suggest solutions that could effectively eradicate the problem. Employees often have a hard time meeting their monthly targets. Suggest tips and tricks to help them improve their performance to exceed their targets. Ask them to be more efficient by focusing on work instead of indulging in nonproductive activities.

Prove Yourself Trustworthy

Leaders do all they possibly can to win employee trust. You can do the same by discussing work-related issues they may be facing and keeping those to yourself. Employees rarely trust their managers as they know their managers report every detail to their higher-ups. You can do the opposite to win their trust once or twice, but avoid doing it habitually. Help them overcome their problems, be supportive, and lay a helping hand whenever you can. This way, you will win their trust and help them become more efficient workers.

Establish a Fabulous Relationship

Once your employees trust you, move on to the next step in your plan. This time, it will be about maintaining an excellent working relationship with team members. You trust them, and they trust you, and your performance will improve. The highly motivated team will not settle for anything less than meeting their monthly, quarterly, and annual targets.

If you want to become a leader who knows your team better, these tips will help you understand them better. When you and your team are on the same page, performances will improve, and you will meet targets.

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.

If you operate a home-based company or one outside your building, certain costs are the same or fall into related categories for your home and business. Checking your household spending will help you spot things and identify company tax deductions you will take each year.

Rent and Mortgage

Homeowners will benefit from a tax deduction on their mortgage interest in 2012. If you have a domestic company, you will subtract the rent or lease you pay for a home business connected with your home office square feet. According to Kevin Hood, owner of C, the company shall only use the office if you are outside the firm’s home. Kevin Hood Accounting & Tax, you can deduct the lease or mortgage of the business place and remove the property’s value if you buy the property. Homeowners and companies will subtract real estate taxes.

Utilities

Homes pay for heating and air conditioning, generally via electric or gas bills, and even for water. You will subtract a proportion to the account for utilities concerning the size of your office if you have a home office. Both contributions made by company owners may be deducted. Municipalities offer discounts on purchasing low-flow toilets, shower toilets, and water heaters. Many companies have customer appeal and retention branches, new companies, and free power audits for existing companies at discounted prices. Ask about power prices that can stop output at peak periods for many hours if you are a significant energy user to help the utility.

Food

Homeowners cannot write down their meals, but company canteens are payable to a certain degree. For example, if you entertain a person, you will write off the food, usually 50% of your meal, and the portion of the customer. You will write 50% of your meals off on business trips. Consult the Rules for the Internal Revenue Service to determine what kinds of meals and entertainment are deducted.

Travel

Most owners of homes and businesses owners have cars. Business owners may withdraw a mileage formula from the expenses of their vehicle. The IRS sets the kilometer rate for every mile you drive each year. In the case of this deduction, the deduction is impossible unless the mileage rate includes petrol, gasoline, insurance, or any expense of operations or maintenance. The allowance for miles still has an amortization, meaning the car cannot be depreciated until the miles are deducted. Check the gap between personal and business car premiums with your insurance agent.

Education

Homeowners pay tuition, while business professionals can attend evening classes to enhance their skills. Qualify for educational tax incentives or exemptions for yourself or your children in postsecondary school. Deduct these expenses for employee training. State departments also offer funding for business employee recruitment.

Healthcare

Home expenditure includes medicines, preventive hygiene products, various health insurance forms, and co-paid expenses. Companies provide first aid packages that may provide life care coverage to their workers. Individuals could benefit from the specific IRS deductions, including personal and child and elderly dependent costs, that will vary annually. Corporate income taxes may be reduced by providing flexible expenditure accounts that allow employers to contribute to several possible benefits, including health insurance.

Business Use of Your Home

You can apply for a deduction if the IRS conditions are met if you are a small business owner or use part of your home to do business. You may subtract an equal share of your home expenses, for example, whether you have a home office in a room or an identifiable location mainly used solely for business or if you store stock in part of your own house. It covers maintenance, insurance, utility, safety, and rental costs.

Employee Cost

Company costs for the small business owners employing employees will be deducted. One example is workers’ salaries, such as salaries, commissions, awards, investments on tuition, compensation, fringe benefits, loans or advances, repayment of company expenses, sick wages, and holiday payments.When you work less than 25 full-time jobs whose gross annual salary is less than $50,000 and spend at least half their health insurance benefits, you will still pay a health care tax deduction.

Entertainment Expense

You may subtract those costs for entertainment if they are normal and required fees payable to entertain your employees or customers that satisfy the test of direct connection with or connected with your business. It includes expenses for travel to your business destination (aircraft, bus, car, or train), tours (taxi, bus, or limo), luggage fees, laundry charges, contact with your company, or other related advice. Entertainment, including dinners and social activities, nightclubs, or scheduled journeys, are generally restricted to 50%.

Bottom Line

When you start a business, you will have some difficulties. You get some guidance from the household expenses for the business expenses, such as entertainment, healthcare, training, and many more. You will get guidance from the household expenses for your business expenses.

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.

Ensuring the success of a startup is one of them. However, what would you do if your business is just not working? It’s a million-dollar question, the answer every entrepreneur wants to know. Small Business Administration states that almost 20% of businesses fail in the first two years of their life. Nowhere does it say that your startup will fail, but a failing business will give out, indicating that it is not worth the investment.

Entrepreneurs often miss these signs and continue to pour money into what is quickly becoming a money pit. In all fairness, you wouldn’t want to do that, so get to know the signs that your business is not worth investing in anymore.
Here are a few signs that you must familiarize yourself with.

Securing a Bank Loan Becomes Difficult

Out of all institutions, banks will first know if your business is floating or about to sink. Understanding the financial position of your business, the bank will hesitate each time you apply for a loan. The bank management will decide if you will get more loans from there on or not when keeping an eye on your business’s finances. If anything, take it as the earliest sign that your business is not where it should be.

You Are Losing Clients

Clients seldom come quickly, and when you see them leaving contracts midway or losing interest in doing business, know that something is wrong. Know that clients always come and go, but when your business loses clients that have been around for months or years, it is time to worry. Finding out why they are leaving and addressing the problem may not work after all.

He was Consistently Falling Share Prices

Your company’s stock prices reflect the situation it may be going through. Expenses of a growing business will continue to rise, whereas those of a struggling business should plummet. Seasoned investors will know the actual situation of your business and may withdraw their investments promptly. It

The Investment Brings No Results

Entrepreneurs invest in the business, knowing that it will show results—every business, whether small or significant, needs investments from time to time. Businesses grow over a period, especially when more investment comes in. At times, even huge investments don’t show results and go unnoticed. Finances and cash flow don’t reflect that you recently invested considerable capital. Know that this doesn’t include temporary stagnation and a negative cash flow.
If this situation persists, then it is time to worry. When it does not, despite repeated investments, the business may fall; also, note that a negative cash flow for a year or more is unacceptable as it halts the company from growing.

Poor Employee Retention

Employees always come and go, but if only a few are willing to leave the company, your business is in trouble. Reducing employee retention is a sign that your business may not be worth investing in for various reasons. Why are employees leaving the company? It would be best not to worry about freshers leaving the company, but seniors going to the company is an alarming sign.

Finances Are in Bad Shape

No matter how much money you invest, the finances show no signs of improvement. There is nothing to worry about. It is just an isolated occurrence. However, if it continues for a year or more, something in the company needs fixing. Such companies go into a mess for many reasons, and there is no fixing something that is not worth it.  

Dwindling Profits

No business can survive without profits for a long time. Reducing earnings for a quarter or two is one thing, but dwindling profits and barely reaching breakeven are alarming signs. It means that your business is investing more money at a stage, which may be just a futile effort. Such companies are not worth investing in as they’ll not survive long.

Management is in Damage Control Mode

Managers bear the brunt of employee backlash as reduced profits delay salaries and bill payments. Managers step forward to control the damage but can only do so much. Eventually, managers grow weary of the same daily routine and leave the company. Consider other options if your managers are in the same mode and spend most of the day settling financial quarrels.

Review every aspect of your business and identify if something needs addressing. It is best not to inject more money into a dwindling business and start considering other options at the end of the day.

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 manufacturing division is a primary driver of the world economy, giving thirteen million job opportunities and producing the gross domestic product (GDP) in mid-2018. Even with the actions, varied factors challenge development. The manufacturing sector faces increasing dangers from joining technologies such as co-bots, intelligent facilities, and blockchain to address talent lack necessities, intellectual property theft, and supply chain disruptions.

Labor Concern

Organized organizations can make it hard to adjust worker agreements when mandatory. The company might need to be more capable of laying off workers during client demand or transferring assets. You should appropriately train workers to maximize performance and reduce dangers. They should also compensate if they are hurt and replaced rapidly, so their absence will not disturb production.

Blockchain 

For manufacturers or makers, blockchain can add worth to the supply chain, from traceability, tracking, and regulatory compliance to asset contacts and maintenance management. According to the latest research report, managing supplier contracts is the most well-known blockchain utilized for manufacturing businesses. However, some difficulties come along with adopting this evolving technology. For instance, legal and regulatory environments are still catchup and are clear for clarification. Additionally, adding blockchain along legacy systems needs significant capital investment.

The Pace of Change

Internet of Things (IoT), or Industry 4.0, refers to the steady absorption of traditional manufacturing in the connected and technological world. The objective is to boost automation, enhanced monitoring and communication, self-diagnosis, and different analysis levels between systems and machines.

However, the challenges of attaining this manufacturing nirvana are not minor. New cybersecurity frameworks must be developed to save people, physical resources, and intellectual and customer property data. An intelligent factory, connected and integrated with numerous factories worldwide, makes all requests an attack target.

Maintenance of these innovative frameworks represents extra danger exposure. Recently maintained personnel do not always get adequate training, and different is at least partly self-taught. The most experienced and knowledgeable between them are at or close to retirement age.

Smart factories without sufficiently trained maintained teams run the danger of extended lost profits and downtimes.

Safety

Tight staffing and high turnover build a situation with less emphasis on culture safety. Experienced employees are extended thin and have less time to mentor and train new employees. Less experienced or inexperienced employees in a manufacturing area are at elevated risk for damages, especially during employment. Overtime increases and 24/7 operations also lead to stress, which suddenly increases the risk of dangerous fatalities or injuries.

Cyber Vulnerability 

In previous research or surveys, 31% of manufacturing respondents accepted they even performed a cyber risk assessment of their business control systems.

However, cybersecurity has never been an essential part of manufacturing operations. Cybersecurity companies tracked a 90% growth in the amount of noticed ransom attacks in 2017. In 2017, the monthly rate of ransom attacks increased ten times more than observed in previous times.

Cyber vulnerability boosts hackers’ risk of altering systems or closing the whole production line until their requirement for payment is met.

Robot Proliferation

Your company will utilize many industrial or factory robots in the workplace and factories in the world by 2020, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). Robots have the power to offset the talent space and increase performance, but dangers abound.

Liability problems surrounding item flaws, property damage, or personal injury are murky at best, and manufacturers can be forced to protect themselves against claims held by software or hardware defects.

Supply Chain 

In these lean manufacturing times, projects are typically cost, time, and quality-sensitive, and there is little room for delays. These manufacturers cannot deliver on their commitments because of the supply chain stall, which is in danger of losing thousands or even millions of dollars in potential profit and revenue. 

Anything from cargo theft to grounded flights to quality control problems could affect the flow of products from a supplier. Not getting a dependable backup supplier might cause operations to stop, leading to damage and losses to an organization’s reputation.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, the manufacturing sector, a crucial driver of the global economy, faces multifaceted challenges despite its significant contribution to job opportunities and GDP. Emerging technologies like co-bots, intelligent facilities, and blockchain are being adopted to address persistent issues such as talent shortages, intellectual property theft, and supply chain disruptions. As the industry navigates these challenges, the need for proactive strategies, technological integration, and a comprehensive approach to risk management becomes increasingly evident.

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.

Headlines across the globe are dominated by the urgent call for increased health supplies as nations grapple with the escalating demand for ventilators, masks, gloves, and sanitizers to combat the emerging coronavirus hotspots. The challenge lies in meeting this demand and navigating the uncertainty surrounding where and how to procure these essential supplies.

Concurrently, a peculiar phenomenon persists as there remains an unprecedented surge in demand for everyday consumer products. Necessities, such as pasta, eggs, flour, milk, and dried beans, are experiencing an unexpected rush, leading to depleted shelves in retail stores. This surge in demand for essential items adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing global supply chain challenges.

China is actively working to revive and re-establish its “natural” supply routes to normalize supply chains. Paradoxically, there is a noticeable decline in demand for many “non-essential” goods they typically export, particularly in vehicles, fashion, and high-tech products, especially to Europe and the United States. This shift in priorities reflects the evolving dynamics of global trade amid the pandemic’s profound impact on consumption patterns and economic activities.

The Supply Chain Breaks

The fragility of contemporary supply chains has been laid bare by the current global crisis. Unlike the past, where supply chains might have bent under the strain of local disasters like severe weather or earthquakes, the present situation is marked by the outright breaking of production chains.

What exacerbates the situation is the absence of sufficient visibility, cooperation, and teamwork across the supply chain network. The prevailing transactional and reactive model that underpins the majority of supply chains makes them ill-equipped to adapt swiftly to unforeseen spikes or dips in demand. Rather than bending or twisting, these multi-stage supply chains are experiencing ruptures and far-reaching repercussions.

The inherent inflexibility of the existing model means that adjusting supply chains in response to unexpected shifts in demand takes a significant amount of time. Weeks and months are required to realign production, distribution, and inventory management. Furthermore, transitioning to a “new standard” inventory in the supply chain involves a protracted process, adding to the overall delay.

In essence, the unanticipated nature of the pandemic has exposed the lack of preparedness within organizations and their supply chains. The need for a more adaptive and resilient model is evident, one that goes beyond the transactional approach and embraces a proactive and collaborative strategy to weather the challenges posed by global disruptions.

We Can Rebuild Them 

Despite the scarcity of positive news stories, the global community is witnessing a reassuring absence of a widespread food supply and consumer goods crisis. While certain food products may be absent from supermarket shelves, there is no overarching shortage.

A silver lining emerges as companies worldwide embark on transformative initiatives. Metal firms and distilleries are pivoting to manufacture hand sanitizers, clothing brands are producing masks, and even car companies are exploring the production of ventilators. These efforts exemplify a noble response to challenging times, emphasizing the adaptability and resilience of industries.

However, this positive momentum also highlights the challenges of ensuring the quality and compliance of these newly manufactured goods, especially in medical equipment, where different regions have varying regulations. The flexibility of production, exemplified by the rapid repurposing of plants, underscores the industry’s ability to meet evolving needs.

While disruptions in traditional supply lines are evident, the responsiveness of production has been a crucial support. Technological solutions, such as collaboration tools, facilitate seamless transitions and ensure process continuity and product consistency. The ability to quickly establish new manufacturing sites reinforces the notion that adaptable production can swiftly step in to meet demand even in the face of supply chain disruptions.

Regardless, the reality remains that supply chains are not merely damaged; they need to evolve into a new normal. Fixing these challenges requires more than implementing new procedures and technologies; it demands substantially modifying the existing model. A shift toward a more real-time, data-driven, and analytical approach is imperative to navigate the complexities of the current global landscape.

As the world grapples with the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, discussions around Industry 4.0—the fourth industrial revolution—and the necessary transition to new industries are expected to intensify. The need for innovation and adaptability has never been more apparent, signaling a potential turning point in the way industries operate and collaborate in the future.

Bottom Line

Attending webinars focused on supply chain trends post-COVID-19 can provide valuable insights for industry leaders. These events facilitate knowledge sharing, covering the latest trends, innovations, and adaptation strategies. Webinars offer networking opportunities, expert advice, and interactive Q&A sessions.

By participating, professionals can stay informed, learn from the experiences of others, and gain practical solutions to address the flaws and limitations revealed in global supply chains during the pandemic.

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.

At the end of the year, accounting is one of the most challenging parts for any small business owner. Closing the books at the year-end can be a very intimidating process. 

Year-end accounting is significant for any business owner to ensure that your financial transactions are up-to-date and recorded correctly. It will give you a balance and a close look at your yearly expenses. An accurate report is what makes a stabilized financial statement. The most important part is to sort out any minor or significant errors in the bookkeeping. 

With the year-end closing of financial statements, you can prepare for taxation time.

These steps will help you to close the budget year more efficiently. 

Entry in Proper General Ledger

The essential priority every bookkeeper should practice is transferring every journal entry in the available catalog. Keep the year’s expenses accounted in the journal concerning every cash receipt and invoice to close the books. Every payment made yearly via cash, check, or electronic funds transfer should be in your yearly books. Every inflow and outflow should be in the accounts journal.

Bills Payment

Paying bills on time in year-end accounting is vital in proper accounts management. All the bills that were due should be paid before the year-end. Primarily, you should deliver the big numbers on time. Check your records and ensure how much you owe from any external vendor’s job.

Calculate General Ledger Totals

To ensure how much you spent and how much you have earned, work out the total for each account by adding up all your entries. You will give your preliminary ending balances.

Perform Variance Analysis

Track monthly expenses against your planned budget can save you a lot. Tracking a company’s financial health with the analysis of planned budget and spending is one of the standard methods of the year-end expense report. Variance analysis is a traditional method for doing this. Your information and yearly expense track will help compare and analyze profit and loss. An accountant is essential to perform this analysis and prepare the variance report. 

Financial Statements

Your debits and credits are equal. Then, you can prepare your balance sheet profit and loss and cash flow statement. Financial information will help in understanding your business expenditure.

To check on tax information, you must ensure that your tax liabilities match the payroll returns. Keep an expert accountant to do the job. Do check tax information that is relevant to your business. Make sure to keep yourself updated before the tax time.

Inventory and Report

Assets and stock also need to be checked at the year-end. You will need this information at the start of next year to know how much you are starting. As for your reports, use essential accounting software to run an income statement and balance sheet report. Use an affordable accounting program that you can run on your computer. It would make your job much easier. 

Categorization of Business Expenses

The end of the year is one of the best times to catch up on past payments you have missed. Ensure that all past expenses, big or small, are categorized in your accounting software. 

Recording expenses will create an efficient report, help the accountant review, and produce the most efficient financial information.

Double-Check 

After closure, it is time to recheck the work on your financial books. There should be no unnoticed errors to cost you any extra money. 

An accountant usually closes financial books. Any small business owner can take the task into their hands using accounting software. The study is more accessible for small companies because of fewer monthly transactions. Even if your accountant is closing your books, the basic understanding will help you know what to expect from them. Closing the books may sound daunting. So, utilizing technology is one of the best options so far.

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 external audit is an independent examiner of the financial reports prepared by a company. The chief objective of this procedure is to verify that a company’s accounting reports provide a true and accurate picture of the company’s finances according to the selected laws and accounting standards. Additionally, an external audit adds value by identifying the efficient areas of a business, including the I.T software, health, and social responsibility. 

Accounting involves managing transactions by recording, reporting, and critically analyzing a business’s internal and external factors. External audit includes evaluating a company’s financial records and accounts by auditors outside the firm. Boosting refers to enhancing a business, while a company’s corporate image presents a systematic internal mechanism. 

The above three terminologies indicate the advantages of external auditing from the perspective of making the business successful. With the evolution of intelligent technology, accounting practices always try to bring underlying issues to light, including fraud or regulation, chiefly as your business grows. 

Here’s a list of pointers that cause external audits to become beneficial for the corporate image of businesses. 

Proves the Credibility of a Company

An external audit reviews a company’s comprehensive performance and represents the authenticity of the work done to ensure the smooth running of the business. Many established businesses need to maintain financial records for all transactions. However, the act can adversely affect the corporation as it requires more documents for future preferences. 

An external audit is a task of complete security performed by accounting professionals who critically analyze the business, including all the pros and cons. A business’s credibility determines the honesty of its operations, which is ensured through external auditing. Therefore, an external audit helps to prove a company’s credibility. 

Aware the Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are the individuals who create practical ideas, design, and implement their plans into the market. They strive hard to run the business efficiently. They strive to run the business smartly but often need to know their company’s credentials in detail. External audits inspect all the weaknesses and strengths in the transaction reports of the business, and they notify the business entrepreneurs to create sustenance in operations and utilize this inspection to avoid any future crises. However, external auditing is of substantial importance as it portrays every financial activity inside the organization within a specific time. 

Observe Tax Concerns

Presently, one of the most repeated acts within the organization is the false declaration of assets and revenue. The act is illegal and adversely affects the smooth working mechanisms. External audits prepare an accurate and tactically designed report, including correct company assets and revenue records. Forms are used to assist in enhancing the corporate image of the business. 

Provides Government Compliance

In the era of increasing regulations, hiring an external auditor strengthens the company’s practice of transmitting government compliance. An external auditor is responsible for identifying non-compliance and any other issues with fraud or abuse within the business. An external auditor is more likely to dig deeper to excavate these vulnerabilities because they’re not a part of the business and can cast an objective eye over it. 

Better Governance

Having an external audit shows the external world that your company strives to achieve the best standards available. Also, your business is not bothered by the scrutiny an auditor will bring to the financial and non-financial aspects of the company. This activity is even more relevant when the interaction includes non-related or silent investors. 

External auditors acquire versatile analytical and interpersonal skills, sound judgment, and commercial awareness to fulfill this role. Innovative management skills are also required to idealize and execute the audit activities to meet deadlines. 

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.

If you have been to the grocery store, you’ve no doubt noticed food prices have steadily risen during this pandemic. The reason behind this is not just essential supply and demand. For the most part, the brands are trying to cover up the losses they suffered in the last few years.

COVID-19 has created some supply chain issues, but some other costs associated with Covid-19 impact and drive prices. Grocery shop receipts are showing some eye-popping numbers. Since February 2021, the Federal Bureau of Economic Analysis notes a sharp increase in food prices. For instance, beef and veal prices are up 20.2%, eggs 10.4%, poultry 8.6%, and pork 8.5%.

The staggering price increase can also contribute to COVID-19 infections at processing plants and protocols at those companies to limit employee exposure, resulting in less supply. On the other hand, grocers are also spending a fortune hiring employees, sanitizing carts, and providing barriers for cashiers – it all adds up to the customer’s bill. That means stores now have less money to spend on paper coupon ads and have saving circulars, promoting more contact touching. 

Undoubtedly, food prices are at their highest level in more than six years, driven by crop growth from soybeans to corn. High prices occur when there is strong demand from China, poor weather, and supply chain issues. It is a challenge for economists and central bankers but has political implications. Three of the nations where we see a surge in food prices are Nigeria, Brazil, and Russia. These are some of the most populous nations globally, large middle-income economies where food makes up a larger share of consumer spending. Significant middle income is where governments might be under more pressure to act to stem the impact of price increases.

Nigeria

Nigeria’s food prices rose the fastest in over 12 years in January. People needed help to afford even the most basic household items in their desired quantity. An average Nigerian household spends over 50% of its budget on food. The price hikes follow a perfect storm of food security challenges, from supply bottlenecks to terrorist attacks on farmers. 

Land border closures led to shortages of staples like rice, and the plunge in the oil process dried up foreign currency reserves needed to import goods. Food-related grievances also played a role in sustaining the #EndSARS protest in the fall. What first started as demonstrations against police brutality turned into the looting of warehouses, storing things like noodles, rice, and pasta.

Russia

Memories of soaring prices and empty shelves after the Soviet Union collapse remain vivid for many Russians. Recently, the world’s number one wheat exporter imposed tariffs and quotas to curb sales abroad and lower domestic prices. Russia’s most prominent retailers were also ordered to freeze some food prices, with potato and carrot prices up by more than 1/3 from last year. The worry is that such limits could backfire and fuel overall inflation when restrictions lifted. 

Brazil

After the pandemic, the price of food became absurd – bakery, greenery, fruits, everything. Among emerging markets, Brazil saw the fastest increase in food prices in the past year relative to overall inflation. Rice prices jumped 76% last year, while milk and beef soared more than 20%. The cost of securing vital nutrition threatens to widen inequality in a country with an enormous income gap in Latin America, a situation that is only exacerbated by the pandemic.

Bottom Line

COVID-19 has made it difficult for people to purchase everyday household items and food. With the vaccination process started in some parts of the world, we can only hope that things will return to normal in a few years. Until then, consumers can plan their meals to save money and buy necessary items. Buying expensive generic brands will only make things more difficult for them.

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.

Young entrepreneurs experience many high points and low points. It has its hazards and favorable circumstances. As young entrepreneurs ourselves, we accept that our preferences outperform our weaknesses. We have made numerous dangerous choices like true entrepreneurs people need. We left an organization wherein we got a heavy monthly check to begin an existence of no soundness and assurance. However, it was that adrenaline surge of a businessperson to make something new that we desired, not sureness. We love the place that is known for the obscure and of recent disclosures. Facing challenges, committing errors, and taking care of business shape our lives.

Initiating a new business from the start is a challenging feat. Only ask any of the many wannabe business owners who plunge into the inexact world of entrepreneurship yearly. In a couple of years, more than the business leaders fold a covenant to how hard it is to initiate and maintain a profitable business.

For those industries that do make it, fewer elements stand out as factors for success. One significant one is choosing the correct market or niche industry to start the business, which can be done after entirely understanding that market.

Obtaining insight into your target market early on gives your startup business many critical strategic benefits. It lets you map out a market growth rate, barriers to entry, taxation and regimes, fragmentation profile, and, probably more significantly, capital accessibility from enthusiastic investors. After all, not all investors will be prepared to pump capital into a business whose market has no growth potential.

So, when entrepreneurs start to understand their dreams of keeping a business, here are some of the most profitable, investor-friendly markets that statistically show the highest opportunity for success.

E-commerce

Comer is an extra technology that leads in the market but still has growth power. Suppose you have a different and unique idea for an e-commerce store. In that case, you can start your business from a comfortable home or remote environment.

 If you want to take a more significant share of the industry, you already do that if you have an e-commerce store. Keep in mind that the e-commerce store and e-commerce platform space have already been conquered by giants such as Amazon and Shopify. So, if you want to initiate your own e-commerce business, you must research the market’s niche and be focused.

Digital Marketing

 On the globe, where an average 4,500 USD video ad can turn an everyday startup into a billion-dollar organization, DM remains a capable platform for startup leaders who need to make money by letting other businesses advertise their brands.

Indeed, the DM space is ample, with a staggering 283 billion USD spent on digital ads the previous year. It is projected that internal marketing and marketing activities departments worldwide will spend over 333 billion USD on digital ads in the current year. With a 50% chunk of the worldwide ad industry, this will mark the first time digital ads become one of the most popular marketing platforms worldwide.

There are many chances to maintain a brand within this market for startup business leaders or entrepreneurs interested in this zone. Even though marketing agencies’ usual manner often includes an all-inclusive marketing offering, it recompenses to specify in a few zones within the market—pay-per-click (PPC) and Search engine optimization (SEO). Ads are two lucrative digital marketing zones, thanks to the half percent in the lead generation that originates from pay-per-click strategies that mostly see businesses paying top dollar for these services.

There are various chances in influencer marketing, social media management, digital ad placement, and other upcoming digital marketing roles that can be good for entrepreneurs.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) defines technologies relating to machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, and many more. However, artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that has been used for some time. As it becomes more sophisticated, its industrial potential is growing as well.

Bottom Line

You are being a successful entrepreneur who needs, among other things, deep information about your target market. And because a positive, growth-oriented market will be the most attractive to investors, it is always wise to recognize investment trends within your target market. It will assist you in matching your business with potential investors when you have set up shop.

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.