Author: Complete Controller

Entrepreneurs must wear multiple hats, and they contain tons of financial information regarding the business inside their heads, from generating strategies to implementing them and following up to organizing meetings.

There is no shortage of constructive criticism when you have just started a business venture. You will have to deal with accounting tasks simultaneously, including tracking revenues and expenditures and generating profits. However, you might be able to sneak out of the bookkeeping chores at the beginning, but with the growth of your business and the impending arrival of taxes, you will feel utterly screwed. The amount of business and payroll taxes can be huge yet daunting, and while avoiding the financial tasks, you would not have noticed it. 

Accounting is a mandatory part of every business; it helps you manage operations smoothly and make payroll taxes paid to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) promptly. 

You might want to keep the accounting tasks at the bottom of your priority list, but wise decisions at the proper times can set your company up for success. Follow these proven business accounting tips to keep moving towards your permanent business’s objectives and enhanced profits. 

Separate Personal and Business Accounts 

When starting a business venture, every business owner must initiate by getting a business bank account for financial purposes rather than utilizing a personal one. Having a committed business bank account for cash transactions is pretty feasible, and it saves you valuable time when it is time to review deductible business expenditures. Record the documentation if you are making an additional investment out of your assets. 

You cannot subtract personal expenditures from a business tax return. If you are using private property for business purposes, you utilize the property for the business portion of the time. 

Tracking Expenses

Another great tip is to categorize and label every expense and track your cash flow internally and externally to ensure you will rapidly clear off the taxes and debts. Otherwise, the interest rate will add up instantly, and you can run out of money efficiently. Avail your business credit cards for all purchases to avoid a rack of cash transaction receipts. Additionally, you can opt for accounting software to file digital copies of receipts. 

Record Income Accurately

Among all the other diversified tasks, business owners can quickly lose track of approaching loans, sales, and other cash infusions, but you must follow all your incoming cash flow. If you fail to do so, you will end up underpaying your business taxes, leading to inescapable IRS penalties. As for expenses, your accounting methods will anticipate when to record income. 

Consider Professional Accounting

Hiring a professional accountant or bookkeeper to manage your business’s finances can make an enormous difference. The job of an accountant and bookkeeper is slightly identical, though a bookkeeper is chiefly concerned with classifying and recording income and expenditures. However, an accountant must handle additional tasks, including business taxes, and help you with strategic planning. 

A professional financer will keep the records updated and orderly, and an expert is better equipped to acknowledge potential fees or additional tax reductions for which you might be eligible. Comprehending various IRS requirements and provisions can help you get tax benefits and save valuable time. 

Accounting Software for Efficient Financial Management

Accounting software is a feasible tool for managing financial operations, and you can utilize it on your own or provide access to your accountant or bookkeeper. QuickBooks and FreshBooks are the best-known accounting software, though there are also various smaller competitors. You must be able to connect your bank account or credit card to any worthy accounting software. The software will then track your revenue and expenses, categorize them, and allow you to pay and receive invoices and generate reports. 

Finance is the backbone of any stage of business, so the above-evaluated accounting tips and pointers play a vital role in making a business successful. Business owners can easily accomplish their financial goals by following these tips and tricks.

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 a comprehensive and systematic recording of financial operations within a business. However, it does not just include maintaining books for taxes. But it is also essential for saving money and recognizing waste and fraud. 

While accounting software has made bookkeeping operations easier, there’s always room for corrections for occasional errors. Accounting errors happen regularly or occasionally, but You can avoid them with proper strategies and implementation. Indeed, it takes more time to correct a mistake than to make it. Surprisingly, it is also cheaper to identify and resolve errors in accounting functions rather than delay them.

As an entrepreneur, if you treat your business like a successful project, then you might want to be initiative-taking by acknowledging common accounting errors and resolving them, which will not only save you valuable time but also provide a more competitive benefit in the marketplace with well-structured operations and better client satisfaction. 

By evaluating the following accounting mistakes, we hope to prevent their existence by showing you how to identify and fix them. 

Conflicting Reconciliations

Business owners must wear multiple hats simultaneously, often making terrible accounting errors. Accounting requires careful evaluation, and there is no way errors can occur naturally. One of these errors is the incorrect listing of cash transactions. 

When accounts adjust, you verify that the cash transactions on your balance sheet complement the transactions listed in the general ledger or account receivables sheet. It might seem like a piece of cake, but many companies do not apply this regularly. Some businesses will adjust their accounts at the end of every month and review income statements, but a significant reason you should incorporate account reconciliation into your business’s daily routine is 

To avoid this, you need to constantly compare the ledger to the cash deposits in the bank. It helps to trace errors sooner than later and prohibits glitches in the cash flow.

Inaccurate Data Entry 

Financial professionals oversee maintaining your accounts both internally and externally. Usually, they opt for online accounting software for data entry purposes. Whenever a cash deposit is done manually, the risk of errors increases. Indeed, entrepreneurs are human, and they can mistakenly create delusions. Still, a single blunder can throw the accounts utterly off-balance. 

What happens when your accountant is absent and cannot make the data entry accurately? Frustration takes over, and data entries. Running behind in submitting expenditures and sales data entries will not yield an updated business image. The income statement remains outdated. 

Inconsistent Statements and Late Reporting

Every moment you are oblivious to the current state of your finances is an additional moment towards your company’s failure. In financial operations, your business will develop a higher solvency risk if the bookkeeping is not maintained by a particular day each month or if you get incorrect statements and late reports. 

Having practical management reporting is vital for making proper expenditures and operational decisions. Also, you will need to trust the numbers and reports, or else, what is the point? Business is like a project; being strategic is all about possessing virtuous knowledge to have confidence in your decisions. 

Lack of Standardized Procedures 

Does your bookkeeper follow an evaluated process and leverage the features inside of accounting software? Are utility bills paid in a timely? Standardizing procedures in accounting software is essential to eliminate errors and enhance efficiency and consistency. 

Standardizing processes eliminates unimportant issues, mistakes you could have ignored, and roadblocks that might influence business growth. Growing a company takes clarity and the ability to outline and follow through with your vision with unrelenting confidence. Being a business owner, you cannot precede it with dreams and aspirations because you will require standardization to achieve scalability. 

If you thoroughly consider these errors and practices in your accounting processes, you will likely eliminate the occasional financial errors. However, it would be wise to hire a professional accountant or bookkeeper to avoid uncertainties and bring integration within the monetary mechanism 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.

Starting a company is an exciting adventure and a lesson in pragmatism and economic realism. These lessons are often learned when investments or fundraisers are required to develop or launch a business. Fortunately, there are different types of business financing, whether your goal is to establish, design, or acquire a business. Below are six different ways to finance your business.

Business Angel 

A business angel is a person who invests a portion of his wealth in a company with potential. Additionally, the business angel will make his skills, his experience, his network, and a part of his time available to the entrepreneur. Indeed, they can accompany and advise entrepreneurs, primarily through their network, and the entrepreneur does not have to reimburse the business angel if the project fails. However, in this financing option, a Business angel is a shareholder so he will be highly involved in the project and interested in the capital and success of the business.

Professional Credit 

Professional credit is a type of loan intended to finance the foundation of a business, the acquisition of a business, or any other need related to a business. This loan, especially from banks, can be used to make investments such as purchasing a vehicle, technology, equipment, etc., but it cannot be used for personal purposes. Professional credit is also used to finance a business’s purchase or improve your cash flow. Whether you are employed or self-employed, you are entitled to this type of financing.

The advantages of this type of financing are that it is a loan with flexibility for repayment while you keep your shares and decision-making power. The disadvantages of this type of financing are that there needs to be personalized support from the lender, and there will be financing interest to repay.

Personal Funds

The best way to finance your business is to use your own money. Those who have been able to save can invest in their start-up without relying on someone else. The main advantages of this type of financing are that the entrepreneur does not have to borrow money, forfeit shares or equity, or involve others in decision-making. However, this solution presents certain risks, especially in case of emergency, that can significantly impact the entrepreneur’s livelihood or financial security.

Crowd-funding

A crowd-funding site can be an innovative and effective way to raise money for a low-cost creative project. Crowd-funding campaigns are based on creativity and knowing how to read the current market. The crowd-funding helps finance its business through the internet by linking investors, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Unknown people who believe in your project agree to make a small contribution toward a financial goal you have set over a contribution period. The amount raised can be essential but know that crowd-funding platforms often take around 8% of the goal as commission.

Bank Loans

The bank is an obvious financing solution for young entrepreneurs, but it may not be a simple approval process. A well-developed business plan is essential for individuals to convince a bank to invest. Entrepreneurs may face many rejections since their business is not presently generating revenue. Likewise, it is impossible to offer banking institutions shares in the company as security for the loan. However, by opting for an online banking loan, individuals may enjoy benefits in companion banking products such as a credit card, relatively low bank fees, etc.

Personal loans

Resorting to the support of friends and family is a widespread way for entrepreneurs to secure their first financing round. Entrepreneurs already have a close relationship with their network, and there is an element of confidence in the business that other financing methods do not inherently have. Personal investors will not be as demanding as capital companies or private investors, but disadvantages exist. Often, personal investors cannot offer the range of money individuals could receive from private investors or banks. Also, be cautious to identify when personal life and business should not mix; establish clear rules and not break 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.

Is the Stock Market Considered Gambling?

Is stock market gambling? Should people think trading in the stock market is a method of Gambling? The answer to these queries is clear – No! Investing in the stock market is considered Gambling, and beginner investors must not think of it.

Comparing the stock market to Gambling is a myth that people on the television and internet have continued for many years. And it is simply not true.

While Gambling and investing have some of the same characteristics, they are much different. Suppose the investor does not take buying or sharing of mutual funds or trading stock seriously and links it to Gambling. In that case, they are in curial jeopardy of missing out on gains and losing money from the stock market they utilize in retirement.

Why Stock Trading is Not Gambling

Stock is ownership

Investors should remember that they are purchasing ownership in an organization when purchasing common stock shares. Investors own a minimal percentage of the organization.

Purchasing an organization’s stock is equivalent to containing a claim on the debts, assets, and, more significantly, a small part of the organization’s profit whose stocks you purchase. Far too often, investors search to buy shares of the organization simply as trading stocks. They overlook that they are now the owner of the organization, too.

To develop a benefit and profit from your share trading, investors should try to gauge the organization and its performance. Incorrectly counting versions in the short and, more significantly, share prices vary over the long period of stock exchanges.

The income outlook for business is constantly varying, and investors are utilizing news, stock charts, fundamental analysis, rumors, and company metrics to estimate the future earnings of an organization and, subsequently, the worth of its share in the future.

The worth of a company

Trying to control the value of an organization’s stock price and where it is going in the future is not easy. Many variables move the short-term value of a company’s stock. Determining the value of a company’s stock price and where it’s going in the future isn’t easy. There are a lot of different variables that move the short-term price of a company’s stock. They often appear to be random, but they’re not really. They often seem to be spontaneous, but they are not really.

Over the long haul, an organization’s share is the present worth of all the organization’s income. An organization’s stock price is much more volatile in the short term. An organization can trade stocks even without payment or profit because investors think they will have upcoming earnings. But, eventually, an organization’s share price will display the company’s true worth.

Similarities in Investing and Gambling Strategies

Risk

Both Gambling and investing contain risk. You have to jeopardy capital in the way to attain worth in both the casino and stock market. The danger gamblers and investors take on provides them the right to gain more than they wagered.

However, gamblers and investors should know how much danger they can bear. Each speculator and investor has some risk tolerance that they are eager to lose. You should know your risk tolerance before you initiate Gambling and investing. They do not know when to stop or sell, making you susceptible to potentially losing more than you planned.

The Difference Between Gambling and Investing Strategies

Limits to investing losses

Investors can often restrict their losses to get out of a trade if they lose money. Stock investors can maintain a trading order called a stop loss with their broker or online brokerage company to control their losses. Your shuls place a stop-loss order after buying stocks 10% lower than the purchase price if a selling frenzy hits the company before you can get it to sell stocks.

The time horizon for trading and Gambling

Time horizons are another difference between Gambling and investing. They are apart from Gambling, even if you are day trading, simply purchasing and holding, or swing trading your investments. Most Gambling is a time-based event with a set end date or time when you discover whether you have won or lost your bet. Investing can continue forever in some cases.

Bottom line

Investing and Gambling have a lot of similarities. But they are also different. Investing in the stock market is not Gambling.

Comparing the stock market to Gambling is a myth that is not true. Both involve danger and each possible way to maximize profit, but investing is not Gambling and vice versa. Each plays a different role in society, but investors must not confuse where the similarities end and make each one different.

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.

What Elements Decide the Creditworthiness of a Business Owner?

Most businesses usually operate on credit lines. If not credit, many business owners resort to loans and investment plans to conduct needed business expansions or pull the company out of debt. However, lenders must consider a lot of things to approve business loans. 

One of the essential things for lenders, be it an independent investor or a bank, to consider is the creditworthiness of the business owner applying for the loan. Creditworthiness refers to the overall financial standing, history, collateral, and liquid value of the individual or business owner applying for a loan.

Several factors determine the creditworthiness of an individual. While there are no internationally or legally set standards for assessing the creditworthiness of an individual, banks and investors resort to the 5Cs of credit analysis to gauge whether a business is worth taking the risk or not.

The 5Cs include:

• Capacity
• Capital
• Condition
• Character
• Collateral 

Here is a brief overview of these five elements which decide the creditworthiness of a business owner. 

• Cash flow situation: The Capacity accounts for the cash flow statements of the business. For an investor to approve loans, there must be cash-flow statements from the past and present and those based on future projections.

These cash flow statements provide a clear insight into the business performance in recent history, areas of strength and weaknesses, and the potential for growth in the coming years. Investors and lenders usually require a cash-flow projection of at least three years to lend money to the business. It is imperative to have updated financial statements, including cash flow, income, and balance sheets, to convince lenders of your business’ capacity. 

• Total invested business capital: This accounts for the total amount of personal investment, earnings retained, and any other controlled assets under the business owner’s name.

The capital is primarily viewed as an alternate source of making money, either by liquidating these assets if necessary or using them as guarantees. Usually, banks measure the capital as a percentage of the total investment cost. It is more of the lender’s security: the higher the capital, the higher the chances for banks to sanction the loan. 

• Economic conditions and loan settlement points: These refer to the requirements of the loan itself. They account for economic fluctuation, changes in currency rates, deflation and inflation, and any other factors contributing to the loan deal’s monetary aspects.

In addition to these economically dependent conditions, lenders consider interest rates, repayment schedules, and span, as well as principal amounts. Once the loan is approved, the requirements are made a formal part of the agreement. 

• Business owner’s history and history of previous repayments: This accounts for the borrower’s previous credit history and record with loans, debts, and payments.

The character reflects the borrower’s reputation in financial dealings and speaks for reliability and honesty. This assessment can be both qualitative and quantitative. In terms of quantitative measures, the character can conveniently be judged by the repayment schedule as promised in previous credit records and credit history score through third-party analysis. Qualitatively, this includes the borrower’s connections and reputation among the business circles. Banks put a lot of weight on the previous credit history and character.

If, by any chance, the borrower has filed for bankruptcy or was unable to make repayments as per the schedule, he is less likely to get the loan sanctioned from the bank. 

• Additional guarantees & collaterals include any personal warranties or assets nominated by the borrower in the deal. Deposits can consist of savings or any other investments for individuals. For businesses, collateral includes any equipment or assets owned within the business premises and any receivable payments in the business accounts. The ease of liquidation by banks usually measures collateral. 

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.

With a shortage of top talent today, managers and business owners must keep one step ahead of their competition to survive. Not only do you need to pay the top performers well and bring them up in the hierarchy, but you also need to establish your brand reputation. You have to become a forward-thinking organization. If you downplay the importance of bringing innovations, you will lose a huge opportunity to bring growth and development to your manufacturing organization. 

Innovation is a simple way of solving problems and creating values in new ways. When your employees feel that you take them as innovators and value change, they become motivated to support that notion. 

Employee-driven innovation brings value and engages people in ways that top-down directives never can. 

Let us discuss the ways that work as driving forces to bring change and facilitate innovation in your manufacturing organization. 

Driving Forces of Change

• Make every individual responsible for innovation

You have to make innovation a part of your organization; no matter their level in the chain, they must contribute accordingly. To do their job well, they need skills and tools for innovation and willingly open themselves for the necessary training. When they use these skills and tools to become productive, they bring more to the table regarding innovations. Managers evaluate them based on their productivity. They have to treat innovation in the same way as change happens when everybody embraces that change. 

• Develop processes that support change

Another driving force to bring change in your manufacturing organization is to develop processes that facilitate that change. All the employees of that organization use a structured creative process to contribute to changes. As an owner, you must set the strategies and encourage your employees to monitor the progress. The innovative organizational approach helps select new funding ideas. When there are processes to develop, innovations will follow. 

• Go beyond developing products

All the significant innovations happen by considering your products. Innovations transform services, processes, and channels to bring them a step closer to the intended change. You must go beyond product innovation and allow your organization to grow internally and externally. 

• Create support teams

While innovations are the responsibility of every individual, they cannot do it alone. People need to join an innovative team that works hard to bring change. Everyone in the team has to remain curious, humble, and proactive. If anybody does not follow the rules, they must be called out. People need to accept feedback from others in the team and consider it an integral part of the innovative force. 

• Welcoming new ideas

When you welcome new ideas, your people will bring new ideas to you without hesitation. Everybody needs to feel valued, and respecting other people’s ideas is the way to promote an environment of change and innovation. Great solutions emerge from having many ideas and then evaluating those ideas to pick the best one. Many tools and techniques are available to find the best idea for your organizational innovation. 

• Cut down on the workload

An overly exhausted workforce will never bring the chance that you need to make your organization progress further. Innovations cannot take root if a hefty workload wears them down. People are most creative when they are busy but not overwhelmed. Ensure that every department has adequate staff so everybody has the mental capacity to be active and creative.

• Be available

Always be available to facilitate and support the idea of change in your manufacturing organization. People might look up to you as a father figure or a mentor, and you must counsel them accordingly. Ensure that you remain available and accessible and offer words of encouragement whenever possible. Let everybody know that you feel good to have them share their views and ideas. 

• Set a reward system

Setting a reward system for your team members is the best way to keep their motivation high. A reward does not need to be a substantial monetary benefit or a vacation; it can be a kind gesture or note of acknowledgment. These small steps bring huge change when considering yourself as a winning organization. 

• Introduce new blood

Always hunt for new talent and fresh people to bring into your organization. New people carry an aura of innovation and inspiration for others to follow. Consider creativity like a muscle that becomes powerful with each new set of weights. Similarly, new talent can boost your overall innovative capacity. 

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.

Digital marketing has emerged as the most effective method for scaling your business in this information era. However, digital marketing consists of several components, so it is certainly not a one-person job. This is where a digital marketing agency comes into play. A digital marketing firm can help your business flourish by providing industry expertise and the latest digital marketing tools. Moreover, it is also economical for your brand. This article will discuss a few key benefits of outsourcing your digital marketing needs.

Build Brand Recognition

Brand recognition is an essential element of your business’s success. If your company does not have an online presence, your targeted audience may be unaware of your brand’s existence in the market. Hiring a digital marketing agency can enable you to enhance your brand recognition. Digital marketing specialists know which tools will effectively convey your business’s message to the targeted audience. In the business world, time and consistency mean everything. If you are not delivering to your clients on time, your business cannot grow. An effective digital marketing strategy can help you increase brand awareness, sales, and customer loyalty.

Provide Access to the Latest Technology & Methods

To curate an effective digital marketing strategy, you need access to various resources, such as social media advertising, content marketing, search engine optimization, and pay-per-click advertising. You can unlikely gather all these resources independently as it is time-consuming and expensive. In contrast, a digital marketing agency has all these services under one roof. It has various departments where experts streamline and manage different projects efficiently. Moreover, the firm has premium software and technology to cater to all your digital marketing needs.

Craft High-Quality & Relevant Content

One of the significant factors that contribute to the success of your digital marketing campaign is great content. If you want your clients to stay loyal to your business, you must brew fresh and relevant content each day. This is where a digital marketing firm comes to the rescue. Content marketing experts always stay updated with the latest trends and news and curate content accordingly to enhance your brand recognition. Furthermore, they thoroughly analyze your business to determine what content will appeal the most to your targeted audience. Content is a crucial factor in the success of your digital marketing strategy, which an experienced firm will never compromise.

Improve Conversion Rates

One of the primary goals of an effective digital marketing strategy is to increase conversion rates. Having hundreds of subscribers on social media is a good thing, but it is not enough for the growth of your brand. It is essential to turn these individuals into regular buyers. Hiring a digital marketing agency will enhance your business’ growth by converting social media followers into loyal customers. Digital marketing experts understand all the complexities of sales and how to nurture leads into clients.

Adapt to Changing Search Engine Algorithms

A digital marketing agency can also help your business adapt to the changing search engine algorithms. Search engines, such as Google, regularly update their algorithms. These frequent updates can have an impact on your SEO strategy. The digital marketing firm will closely monitor these critical changes and adjust your strategy according to the new rules. This will prevent your pages from getting de-ranked on search engine rankings. You may think SEO depends only on keywords, backlinks, and content. However, site architecture and a responsive web design contribute to a higher ranking. A digital marketing agency will take care of all these factors.

Help Budget More Efficiently

You may think that outsourcing digital marketing will be heavy on your pocket. However, it is quite the opposite of that. Hiring a digital marketing agency can be cost-effective. The firm will help you curate a budget for your campaigns and determine which platform suits your business’s goals. The digital marketing experts will conduct thorough research and ensure that your money is spent improving your brand’s recognition, maintaining its strengths, and minimizing its weaknesses.

The Bottom Line

As discussed earlier, outsourcing digital marketing can open many growth opportunities for your business. A digital marketing firm has the experts and resources required to scale up your business, reach untapped markets, enhance brand recognition, and create a loyal customer base.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud 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.

Overhead cost is the sum of all the direct and indirect expenses associated with running a business. Direct costs entail expenses that are directly linked to the production of goods or services.

In contrast, indirect costs include overhead expenses such as rent, payroll, advertising, and other expenses that are not directly related to the product creation process.

Whether the expenses are direct or indirect, they contribute to the overall revenue generated by the business. The net profit is determined by deducting all the overhead costs involved. Understanding overhead costs and their impact on business operations can be challenging for new business owners. In this article, we have simplified overhead cost calculation and its effect on business operations.

What is an Overhead Cost?

Overhead costs are mostly costs that are not directly associated with profit generation. However, they perform a critical support function for adequately running the business. Overhead costs also differ from company to firm. For example, the overhead costs for a freelancer will include utility bills and seat occupancy costs, and contrarily, for a retailer, it will consist of space rent, insurance, and wages. Below is a list of expenses included in the overhead cost

• Office space rent
• Utility bills
• Office Supplies such as computers, stationery and other equipment 
• Insurance & mortgages (if any)
• Travel and logistics expenses 
• Advertising and marketing expenses 
• Taxes, depreciation, and government licenses 

Categorizing Overhead Costs

Some organizations further break down overhead costs into various categories for easy calculation and prioritizing costs. 

• Manufacturing overheads: Any cost arising from your product’s manufacturing facility is considered a manufacturing overhead. Overhead is apart from direct labor & raw material costs. 
• Selling overheads: Costs such as logistics, advertising, and all other areas that aid in selling products fall under the selling overheads category. 
• Administrative overheads: these are office operational costs and include rent, mortgages, utilities, payroll, taxes, and depreciation. 

Why is it Essential for Businesses to Consider Overhead Costs?

It’s important for businesses to consider their entire overhead cost. Inexperienced business owners often only calculate the direct cost of creating their product or providing their service and then set their prices based on those calculations. However, to be truly profitable, it’s crucial also to consider the overhead cost when determining pricing. This allows for the selection of an excellent long-term strategy and helps keep the budget in check.

How to Calculate Overhead Costs?

Calculating your business’s overhead costs is crucial, especially when deciding the pricing for your product or service. A profitable product promises profit even after deducting the indirect/overhead costs incurred. 

• Step 1: To calculate the overhead costs, you must first bind every cost incurred to a period. Any quarterly, annual, or weekly expenses should be broken down or accumulated in a month. Once you have categorized quarterly incurred and weekly expenses as the total monthly overhead costs, bear in mind that for different industries, overhead costs differ. A graphic designer is the critical service provider for a web design company and includes the direct prices. In contrast, a designer design company’s sign support services for a web design company are included in overhead expenses. With your monthly overhead cost calculated, estimate the overhead rate by dividing the overhead cost by the total sales amount.
  • Overhead rate (%) = Monthly overhead cost / monthly sale amount
• Step 2: Next, calculate the overhead allocation rate. Allocation is the amount of money allocated in overheads for every hour utilized in making the product. 
  • Overhead allocation rate ($) = Total overhead /bor hours 
• Step 3: Lastly, calculate the overhead per unit. To calculate, you will multiply the overhead allocation rate per hour by the number of hours required to manufacture the product you are selling. This equation gives you the final overhead price per product, allowing you to decide your product’s pricing quickly  
  • Overhead price per unit ($) = Overhead Per Hour X Total Number of Hours Required for Manufacturer

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.

There are several options that an owner can use to help grow their business, and the ability to finance a business adequately can significantly impact that growth. Below are a few helpful tips that a person can use to increase purchases, turnover, and new equipment and get into new premises while taking advantage of upcoming growth-related opportunities.

Using Finance to Increase Annual Revenue

A growing business will experience increased revenue, suggesting that the business position is growing, improving, and gaining more clients. It, in turn, means that the business is selling more products or that more clients are using the services. Increased annual revenue indicates the availability of capital, which can be used to increase production, expand operations, hire more employees, and improve process efficiency.

Flexible Bill Financing

Providing customers with manageable credit terms is considered practical for several different reasons. Many businesses currently offer these terms as it allows a business owner to build better relationships with their clients while helping the business handle payments efficiently over time. Invoice financing is a simple process of freeing cash from a personal invoice to customers.

Instead of waiting several months for the invoice to be paid, the owner can simply sell it to an invoice financer who will loan their invoice up to 90% immediately. With this process, cash will continue to flow through the business, which enables the owner to pay their bill while taking significant growth steps.

Business Development Loans

When the opportunity presents itself, a businessperson will need credit or capital to grow their investment further. Whether new technology is required for efficient processing and performance or the owner is seeking larger contracts, they will need additional funding for investment. Growth-related loans are easily accessed with little difficulty. While these loans may seem like a modest option, they are diverse, and a business can use them at different stages of growth for different needs. Utilizing a business development loan depends on the business owner knowing how much funding is needed and what loan requirements are possible.   

If a businessperson’s growth plan contains obtaining new equipment or profitable property, there are several options to receive funding.

Asset Economics

Proper machinery and equipment are essential to business production and growth. However, obtaining the necessary cash or capital to invest in these assets can take time and effort. Several finance options allow people to attain the machinery they require or need for development by leasing new equipment or selling outdated machinery and purchasing state-of-the-art equipment.

Equity Speculation

Business owners often need help with whether to use their equity or continue to let it grow. To avoid using equity, third parties can obtain investments to enhance or facilitate growth. Engaging with these third parties could also lead to selling a part of the business or offering possible future profits.
Similarly, many business owners must obtain external investments to achieve their business goals. As such, offering an equity share will allow the business owner to gain additional financing sources while maintaining sufficient control.

Growth Through Achievement

The best advice a person can give is “Use the finance available for mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers to grow the business.” If funds are reserved for expansion, it is best to use them to stabilize business operations. Another option is to refinance the current assets to utilize the cash that is tied up. Additionally, other financing options are available, including secured term loans.  

Protected Commercial Loans

Protected marketable loans allow a business owner to access business credits over an extensive period based on tangible assets like properties or equipment. Protected commercial loans are typically used for managing buyouts or re-organizing struggling businesses.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, adequate business financing is pivotal for growth. Strategies like flexible bill financing, business development loans, asset options, and protected commercial loans can unlock opportunities and drive sustained expansion. Smart financial choices empower businesses to flourish and achieve long-term success.

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.

Financial dashboards for companies are significant for the evaluation of business operations. It is a management tool that helps in tracking all your relevant finances. More than ever, accountants and bookkeepers stay under severe pressure to deliver rapid insights and transparent and reliable financial reports while maintaining the company’s growth. A business can effortlessly acknowledge and measure every data accurately using a financial dashboard. They enable financial professionals to validate figures efficiently and sneak into financial details as much as possible, increasing functionality and productivity and leading to a sound economic environment. 

Moreover, the financial dashboard is pivotal for various business purposes, including supply chain management and customer relations. These dashboards bring the required products to the businesses in a timely. It also prevents the stock commodities and funds from being preoccupied with surplus. 

Undoubtedly, entrepreneurs stay preoccupied with regular business operations and often do not get enough time to review the finances themselves. For this purpose, multiple financial dashboards with colorful graphics are available. Also, they will not appoint any bookkeeper or accountant against money as financial dashboards are utterly virtual and affordable. 

Here is a list of three professional financial dashboards crafted for several company roles and levels to track its success. 

Cash Management Dashboard

The template of this financial dashboard provides an overview of the current cash flow of your business and the liquidity ratio while providing a versatile indication to improve the situations by optimizing processes and handling accounts payable and receivables. It summarizes the quick ratio, current ratio, outstanding debts, and cash balance.

Primarily, this dashboard examines your quick ratio and the current ratio. The current balance refers to the liquidity of a business and its ability to write off short-term liabilities. On the contrary, the quick ratio provides a more conservative view of liquidity. It does not include equipment and other liquid assets with short-term assets to meet the liabilities. The balances in these cash management dashboards are influenced by accounts payable and accounts receivable turnover, which measures the speed of clearing the debts and how rapidly you collect the payments owed. 

Financial KPI Dashboard

This financial dashboard provides a general overview of the most highlighted KPIs you can implement for any business or financial institution requiring stable, initiative-taking management and operational procedures. With the help of financial analytic software, this dashboard will answer crucial queries related to liquidity, budgeting, invoicing, and the comprehensive financial stability of a firm. 

Firstly, the financial KPI dashboard begins reviewing your current working capital while focusing on your existing assets and liabilities. This information provides a frequent conclusion if your company is operationally efficient, liquid, and financially stable in the short run. On the contrary, if the current assets do not exceed the liabilities, the risk of bankruptcy will increase.

Profit and Loss Dashboard

This financial dashboard provides an easy-to-understand review of the income statement from net revenue to profit, improved by relevant performance ratios. The P&L dashboard revolves around four significant economic indicators: gross profit margin, operating profit margin, OPEX ratio, and net profit margin. 

Besides the profit and loss statement, this dashboard represents vital performance barometers that evaluate your company’s health and the profitability of its operations. When comparing these KPIs, you must consider that the figures might alter significantly across various industries. However, it is a standard way of describing a company’s financial performance so you can make the comparisons reliably and equitably. With the help of this dashboard’s template, you will have all the required information at your fingertips for practical monitoring, which also leads you toward wise decision-making. 

Why Do We Need Financial Dashboards? 

Financial dashboards provide a detailed balance sheet and income statement overview, including net profit, revenue, and other performance ratios. Each dashboard shows four critical economic indicators: net profit margin, operating profit, OPEX ratio, and gross profit margin. 

The revenue helps calculate the selling price by determining the total cost of goods sold without involving details for other taxes and expenditures.

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.