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Cool Tech Tools: Automate Your To-Do List

Keeping a to-do list is a great way to be productive, avoid having things fall through the crack, and unclutter your brain.  How you maintain your to-do list varies: some people use pen and paper because they love the feeling of crossing tasks off, others use Excel or Google documents.  Still others might try Evernote. Read more

to do listFeatures You May Want

If all of those still have you feeling unorganized, then you’re in luck.  There’s a whole new genre of apps to automate your to-do list.  Here is a list of things to consider:

  1. Would it be great to access your to-do list from any device?
  2. Do you need subtasks?
  3. Would you like to set priorities and due dates?
  4. Do you want notifications or reminders?
  5. Will you be sharing tasks with others?
  6. Do you have repeating tasks that need to be handled differently?
  7. Do you need to be able to make comments or notes for each task?
  8. Would it be nice to forward an email to your to-do list and just have it logged?
  9. Do you want to be able to print your to-do list?
  10. Do you want to be able to set hash tags, filters, and labels for each task?

To-do App Options

Once you’ve thought about your requirements, now you can look for an app that meets it.  Here are two to get you started:

If those don’t work out, Google “to-do list apps” and you’ll have a bevy of selections to choose from.  These to-do lists will work for not only business projects but also major life projects like weddings, vacations, and more.

Try these new to-do list apps and let us know what you think.

Patricia Anderson No Comments

How Pinterest and Instagram Can Make You Money

There’s a visual side to every business, and Pinterest and Instagram, which are social media applications, can show your customers and prospects what your business looks like form day to day.  Plus, you can have some real fun with it. Read more

instagramPinterest allows people to post graphics to online bulletin boards and share them with others.  In Pinterest, graphics of all kinds are allowed, including photographs, screen prints, logos, and more.  In Instagram, photos are posted and shared among users.  Here are some tips you can implement in your business to take advantage of Pinterest and Instagram.

Take pictures of your work.

Even if you’re a plumber, work can be interesting and artistic at times.  Take a picture of the child’s toy that was clogging the toilet, and you could have an entire pinboard of “Things that we’ve pulled out of toilets.”  If you’re in personal service, you can photograph your client’s new manicure or hairdo (with their permission of course).  If you’re in landscaping you can snap the cleanup job you just did.  If you’re a webmaster, take screen prints of your clients’ new webpages and post them to Pinterest.

Take pictures of the happy client.   

Before leaving your happy client, grab a photo of them showing their new product.  With their permission you can post these to both Pinterest and Instagram.  As an added plus, use the client’s testimonials or review as your caption, and if they are a small business owner, include their URL to help them out a bit with their marketing and social media.

Grab before and after shots.

Before and after photos are great for your portfolio and work well in both Pinterest and Instagram.  They can show a future customer what’s possible with your service.

Shoot daily scenes at your office or place of work.

Do all your employees hangout in the morning before going their separate ways?  Do you ever have all-hands staff meetings?   If so, you can add these photos to your growing collection at Instagram.

Create topical pinboards. 

Even if your job isn’t very funny, you can make funny pinboards about it (exceptions possibly being hospitals and funeral homes).  Accounting humor, attorney jokes, and engineering humor can make for a fun Pinterest board.  Other ideas include:

  • A pinboard of people you look up to or who have mentored you,
  • Favorite books you’ve read or like,
  • Inspirational quotes,
  • Favorite places,
  • Your team of employees, and
  • Any of the categories mentioned above.

Go wild with photos and screen shots in your business, and your business will get noticed on social media.

Patricia Anderson No Comments

Eight Ways to Save Time You Might Not Have Thought About

Time is money as they say, and if you can save time, you’re also saving money.  Since your time is limited to 24/7, both personal and business time saved is profitable.  Here are eight ways to save time (and money) for your consideration.  Go through all of them with an open mind, and see which one might work best for you. Read more

save timeThe trip to the grocery store

If you’re making several trips to the grocery store throughout the week, this one is for you.  Cut down on those trips by taking inventory of your kitchen and seeing what you’ll need for the week (or longer).  Shopping once a week will save precious time throughout the week.

Better yet, have your groceries delivered.  Some shops will also pick and bag your times so your selections are ready for pickup.  Even better, hire an assistant to shop for you so that your refrigerator and pantry is stocked when you get home.

Appointment scheduling

Automate your appointment scheduling and you’ll free up weeks of admin time for either you or your staff.  There are dozens of apps, many industry-specific that can help you save time making appointments.  Once you’ve set it up, send the link to the people you’ll be meeting and voila, it will appear on your calendar.

Here are a few to check out:

For field service companies in the home repair or maintenance industries that serve commercial and residential customers, Google “field service scheduling” to get the right software for your business.

Office supplies

Order your supplies online and have them delivered.

Email interruptions

Turn off automatic send and receive in your email software to get rid of that nasty interruption.  Mark your calendar to check and answer your email three to four times a day.  You’ll go home happier and feeling more in control of your work with this one change.

The commute

If you can manage it, working from home one to two days a week can save you commute time.  You may also be able to avoid rush hour by altering your work hours if you have some flexibility.  After all, it’s your business.

Those errands

Batching your errands all into one day will save precious start and stop time on your other work days.  Better yet, choose one day a week for outside errands and personal appointments so that you can get into the habit of this for the long term.

Takeout

Do you go out for lunch every day?  You may need the break or you may need to have that power lunch with a new business partner or client.  But on days you don’t, have takeout delivered so you don’t have to waste time ordering and standing in line.

The bank

Are you going to the bank constantly?  If so, you can avoid it in a number of ways:

  • Take credit cards, and have clients pay online.
  • Ask your bank about remote or mobile check deposit options.
  • Hire a company to transport your cash deposits – Google “Cash logistics” to find companies with armored car services.  It won’t hurt to find out how much it costs and you might be surprised.

Did you get an idea on how to save time?  If so, it’s your turn to implement and reap the benefits.

Patricia Anderson No Comments

Three Costly Accounting Mistakes to Avoid

Small business owners have a lot on their plates, and time simply does not allow you to become an expert in all the areas required for running a business.  Here are a couple of common mistakes that we see all the time.  Correcting them will help you be more productive and profitable in your business. Read more

costly accounting mistakesMismanaging receipts

Maintaining receipts are challenging for everyone, but the IRS requires that you have proof of business expenditures.  Periodically, we come across people who feel that keeping the credit card statements are enough; unfortunately, they’re not.  You’ll want to create a process to keep your receipts all in one place so they don’t get lost.

Receipts printed on thermal paper (think gas station receipts and many more) will fade within a year or two, and the bad news is the IRS could audit several years back if they come calling.  Correct this by scanning them in or taking a clear picture of them using your smartphone.

Some accounting systems and/or document management applications allow you to upload the receipt and attach it to the transaction in your accounting system.  This is a great solution, and if you’re interested in this, please ask us about it.

Ignoring the accounting reports

There are gold nuggets in your accounting reports, but some business owners don’t take the time to review them or are uncertain about how to interpret them.  Your accountant can help you understand the reports and find the gold nuggets that can help you take action toward profitability.

Some of the things you can do with your reports include:

  • Identifying your highest selling services or products
  • Projecting cash flow so you’re not caught short at payroll time
  • Getting clear on your top customers or your demographic of top customers
  • Evaluating your marketing or business development spend
  • Pointing out trends compared to prior years, budget, or seasonality effects
  • Checking up on profit margins per product or service to make sure you are priced correctly
  • Managing aging receivables or speeding up collections
  • Measuring employee profitability, if relevant
  • And so much more

In addition, being proactive with your accounting will help you spot opportunities in your business that you can act on, as well as spot and correct problems long before they manifest into trouble.

Mixing business and pleasure

In your bank accounts and on your credit cards, mixing business and pleasure is to be avoided when possible.  Thus, all businesses should have a separate bank account, and all business transactions should go through there.  It takes an accountant much longer to correctly book a business deposit that was deposited into a personal account.

Taking out a separate credit card and putting all your business transactions on it will save your bookkeeper a ton of time.  The credit card doesn’t even have to be a business credit card.  It can just be a personal credit card that’s solely used for business.  Furthermore, if you have employees making credit card charges, sometimes a separate card for them helps you control fraud.

The hardest area in which to separate business from pleasure is cash transactions.  Be sure your accountant knows about these.  The accountant can either set up a petty cash account or a reimbursement process so that you can get credit for cash expenditures that are for the business.

How did you rate on these three mistakes?  Avoid these three and your accounting department as well as your business will run a lot smoother.

If you need assistance avoiding these mistakes and saving money, reach out to us at PT Anderson Accounting.

Patricia Anderson No Comments

The Best Payment Terms for Faster Cash Flow

A great way to speed up your cash flow is to get paid faster by customers who owe you money.  One way to do that is to examine your payment terms to see if you can accelerate them.  First let’s talk about what payment terms are common.  Then I’ll share a study that showed which payment terms generate the fastest payments. Read more

faster cash flowsEnglish, Please

Traditional payment terms are spoken in the following format:

Percentage discount/(Days due from invoice date), “Net” (Days due before payment is past due)

An example is 2/10, Net 30.  It means to the customer that if they pay within ten days, they can take two percent off of the invoice due amount.  If they don’t want to do that, they need to pay the full invoice within 30 days of the invoice date.

You could write “2/10, Net 30” on your invoice, but you will get paid faster if you write it out in plain English.

Industry Standard

If your industry “has always done it that way,” I encourage you to challenge the status quo.  Getting your cash faster is important to all small businesses, so don’t let your industry hold you back.

Discounts

Most corporations are required to take discounts if they are offered, so offering an early pay discount might help you get paid faster.

Insights

There are several studies on how to get paid the fastest.  Of course they all have different conclusions!  FreshBooks advises that “due upon receipt” terms can work against you as most people decide that that can mean anything.  They suggest using wording that says “Please pay this invoice within 21 days of receiving it.”  Here is their blog post on the topic:

http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/the-best-invoice-payment-terms-to-help-you-get-paid-faster-and-more-often

Xero produced a page on the topic as well. Their research suggests that debtors pay bills 2 weeks late on average.  They also suggest using terms of net 13 or less in order to get paid within 30 days.  Here is their page on the topic:

https://www.xero.com/us/small-business-guides/invoicing/invoice-payment-terms/

Feel free to contact us if you’d like help deciding on payment terms for your business.