May 14

Core Small Business Skills – Financial Management

By adminComments Off

With research into Australian small business failures revealing that 90% of small business failures occurring as a result of a lack of key management skills, it pays small business owners and entrepreneurs to develop a core set of key management skills on which they can draw. Developing strong financial management skills is one of the core skills essential for the management and growth of any small business and entrepreneurs should learn to master these skills to ensure their ongoing viability and success.

Financial Responsibility

Many entrepreneurs abdicate responsibility for the financial management of their business to their accountants.This is a rookie mistake. As the business owner you must take responsibility and accountability for the management of your finances. For the planning, for the ongoing management and monitoring of the financial aspects of your business performance.

You are also responsible for learning to read and thoroughly understand the key financial reports. Work with your accountant to learn how to read each of the reports and to look for indicators as to your business’s financial health.

Financial Planning

Financial planning and in particular forecasting is vital especially when it comes to managing capital and liquidity, because any shortfall for either will lead to the early demise of your business. You need to be continually looking ahead to determine your upcoming financial situation and to asses what needs to be done to meet those financial commitments.

Accounting System Management

The first core requirement is the ability to maintain an accounting system that is compliant with current taxation requirements, such as MYOB or Quickbooks. These systems provide a raft of automated processes including the delivery of key financial documents such as Balance Sheets, Income and Expense Statements and Cash Flow forecasts.

You need to be able to understand each business transaction and translate and record the details of each transaction into the accounting system. This information can then be used to generate your financial reports, and can also be used as the basis for your taxation returns.

Estimating and Pricing

Incorrectly estimating jobs or pricing your goods and services can be disastrous for your business. If you consistently charge less than it costs you to do the job, you will quickly run out of cash. While if you prices are too high you may just price yourself out of the market. Building your skills in estimating and pricing is paramount to the success of your operation and you should make yourself familiar with the various pricing models and learn to apply the model most appropriate to your situation. Continue reading this entry »

Financial Management
May 13

Business Training Checklist

By adminComments Off

Corporate sessions, professional development workshops, continuing education classes and conferences…business training comes in all shapes and forms, and there are days when I feel I’ve logged a million hours in each. Over the years I have trained a wide variety of people. From disadvantaged teens to virtually sequestered scientists, I have tried to enlightened or help each group to the best of my ability. I’ve also attended countless hours as a trainee. Eagerly taking notes, I would try to catch every word the speaker shared. In other workshops I would on occasion find myself fighting back tears of boredom. After an especially busy season of speaking and training I decided to boil it all down to a simple checklist.

For Trainers:

Minimize jargon-define as you go. Not everyone wants to hear every seventy-five cent word you learned in graduate school. Keep your wording simple and memorable. After all, you want people to take this information away and apply it. For absolutely essential terms: present, define, and clarify with an example.
Acknowledge the intelligence and skills your audience brings into the room. When people arrive for training they are not blank slates. Entrepreneurs, corporate types, and even students bring ideas and experiences to the mix that can make your job as trainer easier. Respect trainees as whole people with something to offer.

Be prepared to be challenged and speak in terms of results and not obscure theories. This is especially important when you talk to business owners; remember that they want things fast and flexible. Entrepreneurs are my particular area of expertise. Of course you should tailor your training to the background of your specific audience.

Don’t fall in love with your PowerPoint slides or handouts. You may have spent hours creating your materials but that doesn’t mean they will always grab your group. Be prepared to talk off script to answer questions or for the inevitable technical difficulties.

Do your homework on both sides of a training session. Find out as much as possible about the group and the training room in advance. After the training review your evaluations carefully and with an open mind. Follow up with a call or email to see if you can be of further help. Continue reading this entry »

Business Training
, , , ,
May 12

Starting a Home Based Accounting Business

By adminComments Off

Variety and the freedom to work with clients in many different areas are just two of the great things about starting your own home based accounting business.

Accountancy, as an industry, is huge and it can be very profitable too. The usual types of services provided by an accounting business are bookkeeping, accountancy, financial reports, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, preparation of financial reports and tax papers for individuals and businesses.

Because of the recession, there are many small businesses starting up who will be needing your assistance. Every business needs accounting professionals to complete their bookkeeping and accounting requirements, therefore demand for accountants is high. Additionally, many established businesses are now moving towards outsourcing their accountancy and finance work to freelancers who may work on a long or short-term basis.

It is important for the entrepreneur thinking of starting a Home Based Accounting Business to have a mixture of the following professional skills:

  •   Being well organized and detail-oriented
  • Being self motivated and able to manage time to meet deadlines
  • Having solid numerical skills
  • Qualifications: A degree or certificate in accountancy such as the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Financial Accountant (CFA) would definitely assist the budding entrepreneur. (Note: These vary from country to country)

The good thing about these certifications is that the only requirement to gain them is to undertake the professional training and pass the multiple exams: there are no other prerequisites.

The next step is to decide which areas you would like to work in, although being a freelancer enables you to do different types of work in multiple sectors simultaneously. However, it is wise to consider which sectors you would like to work in (based on interest and experience) if given the option. This allows you to become a specialist in any particular market. Having said that, there are benefits to working in multiple sectors, which include lack of monotony and the broadening of your experience.

Ensure you have a space to work that is free from all noise and disturbance. This is extremely important as you will be handling sensitive and important information. Naturally, you will need a good computer with good accounting software, spreadsheet, word processor, database software and an Internet connection. Make sure you have a backup system to ensure that if the worst happens, you don’t lose all of your data. Also a copier, fax, phone etc will be required as well of course as a calculator and maybe an adding machine.

Of course you will also need to choose a name for your business, organise your stationery, a website (very easy to create your own nowadays) and a good supply of business cards to hand out. Continue reading this entry »

Accounting
, , , ,
< Older
Blue Taste Theme created by Business and Management