Where to begin vol. 12

A-l Bookkeeping
Budget Analysis

Startup Costs
Business License $ 25.00
Ficticious Business Name * 20.00
Office Supplies $ 75.00
Velio Bind Equipment $ 130.00
Business Cards $ 45.00
How-To Book $ 69.95
QB Pro Advisor $ 400.00
Checking Account S 9.00 (monthly)
Phone Line $ 25.00 (monthly)
Cell Phone $ 39.00 (monthly)
P.O. Box (6 months) $ 40.00
Ten Key- $ 70.00
Desk $ 250.00
Computer $1250.00
Internet Access * 29.95 (monthly)

Total Expenses $2477.90

Like millions of households, you probably already have your own computer and desk, so an average or accurate assumption of your initial startup costs are a minimal $978. Not bad for an investment that you have control over, is it?

This budget is just a general assumption of startup costs: also consider location and inflation expenses.

Where to begin vol. 8

Once you are able to open a checking account for your business, you can start writing checks directly through your QuickBooks® checking chart of account, but in the meantime, you need to track everything through your equity account so you can take the deduction without forgetting about it when it comes time to do your taxes. After your business account is open and you have to deposit money from your personal account to cover business bills, the deposit entry would come from your Capital Contribution account to your business checking account. Wells Fargo® is the most convenient online bank that I have found. When you sign up for online banking, you can add all accounts, whether business or personal, that are connected to your Social Security number and transfer money between the accounts without having to handwrite a check and go to the bank to deposit it. What a great invention! FDIC does regulate the number of wire transfers and online transfers that you can do per month.

If you already own your vehicle without a monthly loan payment, the only suggestion is to take the mileage deduction. If you have a loan payment on your car. and the depreciation, gasoline, registration, and insurance exceed the standard mileage deduction of 0.36 cents per mile, then start using those expenses towards your business. You can also amortize your auto loan to recover the interest on the loan as well. Keep in mind though, whether or not you take all of the expenses and depreciation associated with your car. or just the standard mileage deduction, you still need to make a mileage log! If you do not furnish this information and you are involved in an audit, you will lose that deduction!

When you are bringing in new clients, you can customize your invoices on QuickBooks Pro® to your specific needs. You can set up sub accounts on your income as well, to see where the majority of your revenue is coming from. I had mine set up to break down Audits. On-Site Bookkeeping. General Accounting. Fraud and Taxes.

QuickBooks Pro® also has time tracking. Peachtree® has Timeslips, but it is separate software from Peachtree®. This is very convenient for accountants and attorneys who bill for their time. You can keep track of how long you're spending on a particular client by logging on the time sheet as soon as you're finished with your work for that day. When you are ready to bill that client, you only need to select Time box on the invoice and you can click on each day and time duration that you want to bill that client for. This will also help you tremendously if you pick up any clients who are attorneys. As we all know, they bill for everything ...

Where to begin vol. 4

• Business Cards and Letterhead! An office supply store is a great place to go to find programs to create your own business cards and letterhead. If it's not in your budget to go to a printer, get creative and do it yourself! They carry so many- different types of background paper to create your own business cards: in the beginning operation it will save you a lot more money to do it yourself. However, you can find a small print shop, even Office Depot № or your local office supply store, and it will be more cost-effective to print your business cards and letterhead in a larger quantity. Kinko's will give you pretty good deals on printing if you are a consistent and polite customer. There is one Kinko's assistant manager. Norbert, who has saved the day for me many of times, even if they are doing a small job. I never understood why he was just the assistant manager. With the service he provides to his client base, who ask for him by name, for some reason when the manager of the store went to a different Kinko's theydidn't give him the promotion, so he followed the other manager. He still takes care of me being another 25 miles away! If you are just running small jobs, even if they are postcards, brochures, letterheads and business cards, they can give you a good deal. Just find the right sales associate and ask.
• Create a budget for your company. Document your ideas, what you need to begin, and see where your personal finances allow you to proceed. I have included a "general budget" on what your expected beginning capital requirements are to open a bookkeeping service. It is not that costly. You would be surprised how much equipment you already have to begin your company.
• Cet a second phone line in your house. You don't want your clients to have your home number. I guarantee they will call you evenings, weekends and holidays. If you can afford it. get voice mail hookup from your local phone company. It is a lot better than an answering machine because if someone calls and you're on the other line, it will go into voice mail and you'll never lose a message. Not that we don't appreciate our clients, but you have a personal life too. and clients who think they're having an emergency at 8:30 at night might not be considerate of our personal life.
• As soon as you're comfortable setting up your own software {whether it's QuickBooksOi or Peachtree®) and feel you are familiar with the program, and
  your business license is up and running, you can start your contacts. Do not start until you feel ready.