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9 Ways for Small Business Owners to Update Their Bookkeeping Skills (And Save Money!)

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Think Glink Media

My fellow Equifax blogger, the Tax Mama Eva Rosenberg, says that one sure-fire way enrolled agents (EAs) generate fees each year is cleaning up small businesses' bookkeeping. She says it can take months to find and correct all the errors, leading to huge headaches (and bills) for the small business. Calculator and Money

How can you avoid those extra fees? How can you get some real value out of your books, instead of meaningless gibberish? Get smart!

Tax expert Eva Rosenberg gives us her 9 tips for small business owners looking to improve their bookkeeeping:

1. Learn how to screen bookkeepers. (more about this in the link at the bottom)

2. Take a bookkeeping course. Freelance bookkeepers cost about $50–$75 per hour these days. That’s a lot! Consider investing a paltry few dollars and ten to twenty hours in a decent bookkeeping course.

3. Learn the fundamentals of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). You can’t possibly do proper bookkeeping without an understanding of these principles. Learn about capitalized assets, how to record purchases with loans, and how to record the money you deposit into your business—and the money you take out.

To see the rest of the list, and for advice how to screen bookkeepers, check out Eva's Equifax tax blog: http://tax.equifax.com/2010/10/small-business-owners-here-are-9-ways_20.html

Comments (3)

Indera Coggins
Re/Max 100 - Dunkirk, MD

WOW. Ilyce, thanks so much for this great post. I just got into the website and it is instrumental. Going back for more info now. Thanks

Oct 20, 2010 02:34 AM
Doyle Beekman
The Beekman Group-Keller Williams, Austin - Cedar Park, TX
CPA Broker CLHMS ABR CRS CNE

My advice would be play to your strengths....run your business....learn to read your financials....and leverage your bookkeeping and accounting to someone trained to do it.

Oct 20, 2010 04:43 AM
Ilyce Glink
Think Glink Media - Chicago, IL
Best-selling author, award-winning TV/radio host.

@Indera - thanks for commenting. Hope you find more useful information!

@Doyle - I agree with you. I think a lot of small business owners try to do things that could be easily taken care of by another trained professional, leaving them more time to focus on the business and family. I think Eva is recommending the same thing: Avoid the mistakes she sees from tons of small business owner. But if you educate yourself a little, you'll be able to hire the best bookkeeper for your needs and won't be taken advantage of. Thanks for reading!

Oct 28, 2010 10:06 AM