Small Business Bookkeeping

Account Reconciliations

Your bank and credit card accounts will be reconciled on a regular basis to ensure the accuracy of your accounting records. Account reconciliation verifies records from one source to another source to ensure accuracy and completeness. Reconciliations, especially bank and credit card reconciliations are the best way to find errors or omissions and discover theft or fraud. They should be done monthly to make sure discovery and corrective action are prompt. Reconciling your accounts each month can alert you to:

• lost cheques, deposits, and unauthorized wire transactions
• errors, theft or fraud within that account
• excess/unjustified bank service and/or interest charges
• cash flow issues that may affect normal operations
• errors in accounts receivable and/or accounts payable

Be confident that your information is up to date, reliable and accurate with monthly account reconciliations.

Financial Statements

Financial Statements are a great tool for analyzing your business. When used consistently, financial statements help you identify and analyze trends within your company so you can determine whether or not you are on the right track. They are used externally by bankers and other lenders to help determine a company’s risk level before giving lines of credit or loans and the associated terms. Using financial statements you will know:

• if you are doing better than the previous month, quarter or year
• if your company has improved, remained stable, or declined
• If you need to make adjustments to your plan
• if you are meeting bank imposed restrictions and covenants
• if you have to start putting money aside to improve your working capital or meet tax obligations

General financial statements provide you with a way to set attainable targets for improvement, to monitor your company's progress and to provide measurable results.

Income Statements

An income statement, also known as a profit & loss statement, calculates the profitability (net income/loss) of a business over a specified period of time by subtracting expenses from revenues.
An income statement allows you to:

• identify areas in your company that need improvement (i.e.: warranty costs, cost of goods sold) and/or areas that are doing well (i.e.: certain products/services that are selling well)
• compare actual to budgeted amounts
• determine unexpected expenditures (i.e.: maintenance costs)
• determine the efficiency of your operations and track your profit margins
• determine your tax liability
• calculate your *net income for the period

*Net income is a calculated number, and how a business’ transactions are recorded greatly impacts this number.

Balance Sheet

A balance sheet gives you a snapshot of your business’ financial condition as of a specific moment in time. It reports on the assets, liabilities and equity of your business.
A balance sheet helps you…

• Determine the financial strength of your business. (Are you are able to meet your current obligations such as paying bills, payroll run, loan payments, and government remittances on time?)
• Determine if your internal processes are working for you or if you have to make changes. (Is your accounts receivable collection period getting longer? Can you handle the normal ebbs and flows of revenues and expenses?)
• Qualify for better credit or loan terms saving you money
• Determine if taking advantage of a sudden opportunity is the right move

Statement of Cash Flows

A statement of cash flow reports the actual flow of cash through the company during a specified time period. It divides the cash into 3 distinct areas: cash flow from operations, investments, and financing. It removes the non-cash items and their effects on net income and shows you where your money is coming from and going. Used in conjunction with the balance sheet and income statement, the statement of cash flow helps you:

• Determine the quality of net income reported on the financial statement. (You are generating real cash, not accounting profit as the income statement calculates.)
• Determine the actual cash position of the company to make decisions regarding expanding, investing in new projects and/or making dividend payments to shareholders
• Determine how much money you can put to work for you without affecting normal operations
• Know that your company is generating cash from its normal business rather than investing and financing options

General Ledger

The general ledger is the core of your company’s financial records and is the foundation upon which all your financial information is derived. Inaccurate and incomplete postings transfer to the financial statements and other reports used to run and make decisions about your business. Poor data results in inaccurate information and bad business decisions. Reviewing your general ledger each month allows us to find discrepancies, errors, and omissions, giving you the right information, at the right time for the right decision.

Contact us for a free consultation on our small business bookkeeping services.