BOOKKEEPING & TAX PREPARATION SERVICE

Many business people love running their businesses but hate the financial record keeping necessary for smooth day-to-day operation. But failure to keep careful records can cause problems at tax time and whenever else a clear financial picture of the business is needed. If you have experience in bookkeeping or accounting, helping business people to keep their books can be an excellent way to make money with your computer.

You do not need to be a Certified Public Accountant to do accounting and bookkeeping, though you would have more credibility and likely attract accounting business easier if you are in fact a CPA. However, do not let it deter you if you are not a Certified Public Accountant as lots of business and money can be made by non-CPA's also.

With spread sheet software like Microsoft Excel, Symphony or Lotus 1-2-3, you can keep detailed records of clients books and accounting, take care of billing, prepare balance sheets and financial reports, and keep the client aware of his or her financial standing. (Clients will really be impressed if you use graphic software like Harvard Graphics to prepare charts and graphs that show the financial status of their business.)

Base fees on the size of the business and the amount of time you need each month working with the client's books. You may want to charge additional fees for extra services such as preparing tax forms, financial statements, and balance sheets.

Small businesses--especially retail stores, with their need to keep inventory--are prime markets for a computerized bookkeeping service. The soft-sell approach works best when promoting this type of business. Clients want to feel that their finances are in the hands of someone who is conservative and trustworthy, not a pushy promoter.

How To Set Up A Tax-Saving Bookkeeping System

One of the most important, but least understood or appreciated aspects of any business is its bookkeeping or accounting system. And, because very few people know much about the reasons for a bookkeeping system, most people are frightened by the thought of the work involved in setting up such a system, and the drudgery of daily maintenance.

There's really nothing complicated to bookkeeping it's as simple as keeping a daily dairy and' or maintaining your personal checkbook. At the bottom line, it's simply a matter of recording your deposits-your incoming monies-and keeping a record of the money you spend.

So, the first thing you need to do is open a business account for your extra income business or endeavors. Generally, this is simply a matter of asking the new accounts teller at a local bank for a business account registration fee, send it in to the appropriate commissioner, and from there, open you a new business account-complete with imprinted checks.

Drop by a local stationery store and pick up a loose leaf notebook, and a supply of paper. We've always picked up a supply of index tabs at the same time--either to separate the months or the accountability sections for each item we sell.

Assuming that you want to make it as simple as possible, while at the same time keeping it as efficient as is necessary-here's what you do and how to do it.

On the first page in your notebook, write on the top line and in the middle of the page: Monday, January 1, 2006 or whatever day you officially start your business . . . Then, as your orders come in, if by mail, as you open your mail-jot down starting from the left side of the page, the amount you received-dash-for what-from whom, and their address. The page might look like this:

Monday -- January 1, 2006

$14 Tapes 100 S.W Fee-Barton 10 Hong Kong Dir #261 10 - #261 3 Whsle Prt Dir #49 70 Hot Line Lst--Morgan

TOTAL INCOME $207 EXPENSES 0

That's all there is to it, and boiling it all down, it amounts to recording what you receive and what you spend. The next entry, immediately under that first day's entry might look like this:

$207 Deposit 11 Printer-for copies 10 Sec & riches thru R Est #302-Rogers( 75010) 3 Simplified annual M.O bkkp Sys (21104) 10 Money Magnetism-Kline (88033) 36 R.W Fee-Magnuson (10067 6 Manual on Bookselling-#291-Magnuson (10067 15 display Ad- Smith 948089) 22 Ideal Ofc Supplies-printer paper

TOTAL INCOME $80 Expense $33 Deposit $207

And then, carry on with this recording of the money you deposit, receive and spend each day with similar entries for each day of the week-every day Monday Thru Saturday for each week. It's simple uncomplicated, and a positive record of your business activity.

Then at the end of each month, transfer this daily information to one of the low cost bookkeeping registers that your tax consultant or accountant can work from. These people won't work from your daily dairy, ad will not transfer the information you record in it to a formal bookkeeping register without charging you a small fortune. it's not that big of a job, ad if you do it after the close of the business on the last day of the month, it will take at the most a very few minutes. Then, of course, when you're ready to do your taxes, you simply give your bookkeeping register to whoever is going to do your taxes, and you're home free.

The bookkeeping register you'll need can be any simple columnar notebook. All you really need is some sort of notebook with a number of columns marked off, a title written at the top of each column, and a record of the money received for each day relative to the product or service each column represents. Then at the end of each month, you can simply add the totals from each column and you'll instantly know how much money you took in from each of your offers.

Beyond the date column, will be your record of expenses or money spent. Again, you should title each of the columns you'll be entering figures into, and then record your expenditures for items falling into those categories. Then at the end of each month, it's a simple matter to add the total from each column and know exactly where you stand relative to profit or loss-how much you took in compared to how much you spent.

Bookkeeping and/or accounting is very simple and should not scare you. Just keep it simple, and up-to-date.