Copyright 2006 Bookkeeping R Us All Rights Reserved

No matter where your written word will be seen, it is always imperative to check your spelling. Whether in a letter, email or even in your everyday bookkeeping postings spelling is important. Vendors and customers don’t like to see their names spelled wrongly. Invoices and checks won’t get to the right place if the address is entered incorrectly. And if you think you are impressing your boss by providing financial reports with misspellings, well you are dead wrong. So start with your spell checkers. These handy mistake catches are not just in your word processor but also can be found in some accounting software, such as QuickBooks ( Get 20 % Off QuickBooks Products + Free Shipping). To use the QuickBooks spell checker Go to Edit > Preferences > Spelling (see icon on left side) > My Preferences, and check the box for Always check spelling before printing, saving, or sending supported forms.

Also for you Google fans, Google has a great spellchecker included with their free down loadable toolbar.

One caveat regarding spell checkers, - use your common sense and knowledge. For example, spell checkers won’t distinguish the word “two” from the word “too”.

Hints & Tips | No Comments »

Money, of course, is never just money. It’s always something else, and it’s always something more, and it always has the last word.

Paul Auster (1947 - )
U.S. writer.
Hand to Mouth

Quotes For You | No Comments »

Copyright 2006 Bookkeeping R Us All Rights Reserved

Is it worth the extra cost? If it keeps you from pulling out your hair trying to remember what that missing check was written for, then the answer is yes. Tell the truth, do you write down each and every check you write at the time it is written in those little registers? If you are like most of us, the answer is no. So in this time of much stress, too much to do and keep track of, and hurry, hurry, hurry, why not make it easy on yourself. You will always have a written record of the checks you write if you use duplicate checks.

Personal Bookkeeping | No Comments »

In a profit squeeze, management will come up with very creative reasons for changing the accounting system.

Robert Townsend (1920 - )
U.S. business executive.
Up the Organization

Quotes For You | No Comments »

Copyright 2006 Bookkeeping R Us All Rights Reserved

SBA Launches New Markets Lending Initiative

Program is Aimed at Increasing Ownership in Inner Cities and Rural Areas WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Small Business Administration has launched a pilot program to provide financial assistance to small businesses in economically distressed urban and rural areas, or “New Markets,” that need the economic attention to get communities back on their feet. The initiative provides incentives for commercial lenders and local development organizations to make more SBA-guaranteed loans in these communities.

The New Markets Lending Initiative will help small businesses by enabling Community Development Entities (CDEs) to combine the benefits of both the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program and SBA-guaranteed loans to provide inner-city and rural small business owners and entrepreneurs greater access to financing and business training.

“We at the SBA are committed to helping American small businesses in economically distressed areas,” said SBA Administrator Steven C.
Preston. “We believe that this initiative can encourage jobs creation and growth in low income areas, an essential part of the President’s economic agenda.”

Administered by the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, the New Markets Tax Credit Program permits investors to receive credits on their federal taxes of up to 39 percent of investments made in investment institutions called Community Development Entities.

The SBA pilot program, which is only available to 7(a) lenders making new loans through advance-purchase commitments with CDEs, waives a regulation that limits an SBA lender’s ability to sell any portion of an SBA guaranteed loan to anyone other than another SBA lender. The waiver allows CDEs with New Markets Tax Credit allocations to purchase up to 90 percent of SBAExpress or CommunityExpress 7(a) loans up to $150,000 made to NMTC “qualified” businesses in low-income communities. These new loans are guaranteed by the SBA.

The New Markets Tax Credit Program is expected to spur approximately $16 billion in investments into CDE investment institutions. It was created by Congress through the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000.

By leveraging the SBA’s resources with the Treasury’s NMTC program, this new initiative will provide additional access to loans and technical assistance to both start-up and existing firms in New Markets. Under the program, CommunityExpress lenders will assist CDEs to provide small business borrowers with a package of services including mentoring, coaching and counseling.

Hints & Tips | No Comments »

c

Bookkeeping - Specializing

Copyright 2006 Bookkeeping R Us All Rights Reserved

While your general bookkeeping education and experience can offer you the opportunity to reach into many types of business, specializing in one or more types of businesses or industries will allow you to work within areas that are of interest to you and perhaps are passionate about. Does the art world pique your interest? Would you like to feel like you are helping your favorite cause while also earning a living? Have you always had an interest in commercial or residential construction? And bookkeeping for a manufacturer, large or small, might be just right up your alley. Whatever industry, business, or service organization you can think of; there is a need for a bookkeeper. And each type of organization has unique reporting requirements, chart of accounts and bookkeeping functions. And you as a specialist in whatever type of bookkeeping you choose is a rare and sought after asset.

So how do you get started in the bookkeeping specialist field? The first step is to discover your interest or passion. If money was not the goal, what would you choose to do with your life? In other words, what really tugs at your heart. It could be art, sports, building a dream home, inventing and taking to market a new product. Perhaps you would choose to help those less fortunate than you – children, the elderly, the poor, the handicapped, the ill, animals – the list is endless. Or perhaps your favorite cause is the environment. Maybe the politics is your calling. Choosing a bookkeeping career allows you entry into every type of organization in every part of the world. It is a wide open opportunity to follow your dreams. Very few careers offer such a vast choice of options.

Once you have identified the type of organization you would like to specialize in, then education and experience are the next steps. I am going to help you with the first step with a series of articles which will deal with the key issues for several types of organizations (see Bookkeeping for Non-Profits at www.bookkeepingrus.com) As for experience, investigate every opportunity within your chosen specialty. For example, if a non-profit is your choice, but the organization is not looking for an employee relationship at this time, perhaps you might decide to volunteer some of your services. This type of experience will not only bring you the good feelings of helping out your favorite charity but will also round out your resume. And don’t overlook taking a non-bookkeeping position to get your foot in the door of a company or organization in which you would like to work. I once knew a young woman who was interested in a particular company who took a job as their in-house airline reservationist while waiting for a position to open up in their bookkeeping department. It wasn’t long before she was the assistant to the head of the bookkeeping department in this large company. Temporary work allows you to try out many types of businesses while learning about their unique needs. And CPA’s often contract out clients that need bookkeeping services. Find those in your area that specialize in the types of organizations that interest you.

And finally read, read, read. At the library, online, in the financial pages of your newspapers, and wherever information published that pertains to your chosen specialty. The more informed you are the more valuable you become.

Bookkeeping Articles | No Comments »