Congratulations to Ralph & Deborah Snellings of Powhatan, Virginia for winning our drawing for FREE tax preparation services! Your 2014 individual tax return is on us!! All because they read our monthly newsletter and submitted the special code we included. We encourage all our clients, colleagues and friends to sign up for our newsletter. You never know what we’ll put in there!
When we’re contacted by potential new clients and meet with them for our initial consultation, some of the questions we ask are: Who does your bookkeeping currently? Does your CPA send you back adjusting entries to enter in your accounting system after they are done reviewing/fixing your file? If they do send back adjusting entries, how many are there (or how many pages)? The reason we ask these questions is it gives us good feedback on how competent the client is doing their own bookkeeping and if the CPA is looking after that client’s best interests. Let’s start with the first point – whoever is doing the bookkeeping (in-house bookkeeper/officer manager, owner, or outsourced vendor) can objectively be evaluated simply on how much work the CPA has to do at the end of the year to fix the accounting records. If you’re only getting one or two entries back each year from the CPA (Depreciation is typically one of them), then we can assume the bookkeeper is doing a good job. If you’re getting dozens of entries (several pages) back each year, then we can logically assume your bookkeeper doesn’t really know what they’re doing. This situation is bad on two levels. The first is, now you know your books are messed up all year long and if you’re making business decision based on those books, well, you can finish that thought! It’s also bad because you’re not only paying your bookkeeper a salary/wage to do the work the first
According to a November 2014 survey, 255 out of 300 accountants said they have dismissed (i.e. fired) clients. Here are the top 4 reasons: 1. Late payment or nonpayment (72%) 2. Unpleasant to work with (54%) 3. Client wanted accountant to do something unethical (45%) 4. Late delivery/non-delivery of client docs, etc. (32%) We’ve always stressed that for the client-accountant/advisor relationship to be successful, it takes commitment from both sides. Here’s a letter we send out to all new SBS clients: “Maximizing Your SBS Experience” We have been working with clients now since 2006, so we have a very good idea of what works and what doesn’t to make this new relationship work. We know this was a big decision for you so you want the maximum return on your investment. For that we suggest you read and follow these recommendations: • Read your contract carefully. Please make sure you understand it completely. If you have any questions, please contact us immediately. • If the agreement is for you to provide us information on a monthly basis (ex. Bank statements), please do that on a timely basis. We will try to remind you, but please don’t count on that. It is your responsibility. • We do the majority of our communication via email so please check your email account often so that no big gaps in communication occur. If you don’t have an active email account, please let us know so we can notate your account. • When we send
I can’t tell you how many times we hear “Now is not the right time” from business owners and CEOs when we bring up the idea of CFO services. I honestly think it’s a conditioned response – kind of the way you respond when a telemarketer calls you at home. I can understand the initial wall that goes up. CFO services – what the heck is that anyway? Sounds expensive! What do I need a CFO for when I have an office manager and a CPA at my disposal? Is this how you would respond?? My question to you is “When is the right time?” When is the right time to: • Better manage your inventory • Review your pricing to maximize your margins • Increase your profit • Increase and manage your cash flow effectively • Improve your processes • Lower and manager your costs You get my point?! Why settle for average when you can be excellent? Do you even know how good your business can be? Most of the businesses that would benefit from CFO services typically already have an in-house bookkeeper or office manager and a CPA who they rely on for tax strategies and tax preparation at year end. That’s great – but those resources are not going to give you the benefits that a CFO can provide. Most bookkeepers and accountants are not nearly qualified enough to provide that sort of expertise, and most CPAs don’t have the time throughout the year to devote
Register on our website now to get great QuickBooks tips to help you maximize your QuickBooks experience! Join Doug Wootten as he goes over some of the best tips he’s found to help people navigate around QuickBooks. Doug will also cover all the different training options that Steiner Business Solutions has to offer. Doug is an Intuit Certified Pro Advisor. Sample topics Doug will cover: -Did you know there is an Open Window list that lets you quickly switch between multiple open reports and screens? -Did you know you can quickly Edit multiple names on lists such as Items, Vendors and Customers all from one screen? -Do you know the difference between writing a check and making a bill payment? -Do you know the difference between receiving a payment and making a deposit? -Do you know how to memorize reports for easy access at a later time?