Don’t Get Overwhelmed

A friend of mine began running a small business from her home last year and was doing really well. She was baking pies, cakes, and cookies for local restaurants and it really became a big success. Unfortunately she neglected to have any kind of accounting software programmed into her computer and the paperwork got really out of hand. That’s when she begged me to help her make sense of all of it.

I have an accounting business myself and have a degree so it really wasn’t difficult to explain to her what type of program she needed for her business. She needed small business accounting software that is easy to use and understand so that she could keep up with it herself and not have to hire somebody to do her books. She didn’t think she would be able to handle it but once I showed her the different programs there were and helped her pick the right one, she quickly learned how to use it.

This is the mistake many small business owners make when they start their business; they think that because they are running a very small business from their home that they don’t need any kind of professional accounting software. They think they can keep up with the billing and invoicing and orders on a pad of paper and use hand written receipts. The problem with that is you lose track very quickly and you don’t have any saved data to predict profit and loss. When you run a business you need to see what is working best for you and what isn’t. In my friend’s case, she knew her cherry pie was her best seller but she didn’t know by how much. She also didn’t know by how much her apple pie was not a big winner. I showed her how she can use the software to make charts and graphs to show which of her items is selling best and to show how much each item has profited her.

This type of information is very important in a small business because every penny counts and if you have a product that isn’t selling well and have a product that is very popular, you should invest more in the most popular product and drop the other. By using these simple business tools her business doubled in profit in just six months. She has almost outgrown her home bakery and is in the process of building a larger kitchen in her basement.

Business Tips for Self Employment

When I started my own catering business I didn’t consider the business end of it; I was just thinking about getting clients and cooking the food. I never considered the work it would be keeping up with the bills, payroll, ordering, and all the other fine details that go along with owning a business. It didn’t take long before I knew I needed some help and that’s when I started looking into the Peachtree Complete software for accounting. It seemed to have everything I needed to run my business and seemed quite easy to use.

I needed one program that would keep track of billings, payroll, would print checks and invoices, and wash dished. I’ve gotten it to do all those things and more, except wash the dishes; nothing is perfect I guess. I was spending so much time chasing down invoices and wondering if I paid certain bills that it was taking away from doing my work in the kitchen. Once I started using the business accounting software my life got a whole lot easier.

Once my business took off and I started getting a lot of clients I hired somebody to do all my accounting and payroll. The great thing about the software I’m using is that it’s so easy to learn and use I was able to train the girl in just a few days. Most of the applications are self explanatory and require no real accounting knowledge. It does all the work for you; all you have to do is type in the numbers. It comes with payroll and inventory software; I didn’t have to buy separate programs to get all the tools I needed to run my business.

I really enjoy having my own business and I like the fact that there is little paperwork involved in using the software I have for my accounting needs. I give my clients the option of paperless invoices and just send reminders to their email addresses. I am able to link my online banking up to my software to make bill payments a breeze. I had no idea there would be so much involved in running a business and I’m very lucky that I found all the great business tools all wrapped up nicely in one complete program. I don’t think I would have been as successful as I am now had I not found a way to keep all my accounting business under control.