Cloud Based

19 Sep 2016

balance-in-the-books-and-balance-in-your-life

A good hearty laugh relieves physical tension, leaves your muscle relaxed for up to 45 mins after, and even boosts the immune system? Do you remember the last time you enjoyed a good deep belly laugh with your family or friends?

One crucial thing many small business owners often overlook – is looking after themselves and balancing their lifestyles. It’s so very easy to find your business gradually swallowing up all your free hours. Doing everything in the business is demanding, you get stretched with needing to manage everything, especially if you’re a sole business owner – there isn’t anyone to share your load with. You can’t afford to get sick or ill. After all, who will run the business? Growing demands begins to wear you down. So what can we do to help create ‘balance’ in our lives, feel more in control, and make time to step away from our businesses to relax and have fun.

First – check your physical health and diet.

Being healthy does strengthen your mental ability to be able to manage stress. Even a 40 min daily walk around the block with the dog helps. It’s not about super long gym sessions to get a prime body – we’re talking about maintaining a good general fitness. Find some activity you enjoy doing – if it becomes boring – do it with a group or ask a friend to join in. Try blending doing physical activities with your partner or family to gain more social and physical time – backyard soccer game anyone?

(Think – what’s the point of investing this time and money into the business now if you aren’t going to strive to be healthy enough in future years to enjoy possible financial benefits derived from all this hard work you’re putting into your business today?)

Monitor your business hours.

Finished work? Done enough today? Close that laptop, and put down the cellphone and walk away. Go interact fully with the family and friends. In your time away, if it’s crucial to check in, then be strict – check in once the late afternoon. Avoid checking devices during late evenings – do you want to fall asleep with business on your mind? Create a friendly auto-answer messaging system on both your emails and business numbers to clients who call out of hours. Schedule your breaks, and take them. Sometimes it’s not possible to avoid after hour work because of the nature of your business, like a food business. But try scheduling two-three hour blocks of time in evenings for say two or three nights a week and then keep the other evenings free to give yourself a break away from work.

Work Smart on your business.

Review your goals on a regular basis. In working so hard, we can forget to step away and check we’re on track or not. How’s your income? Your current business systems – are there better way of doing this process now? Spend so much time looking for and sorting paper invoices and writing outgoing orders? Go paperless – move to an integrated accounting system and encourage suppliers and clients to order online. Social media marketing … do you need to be on all of them – why not get selective and focus on two. Streamline, and then review again later.

Outsource.

Eeeek – that means bringing in ‘outsiders’ into your business. But when it grows, sometimes it’s just not possible to keep our fingers on all the pulses of the business. Multi-tasking doesn’t work if it’s spreading your energy thin all over the place – accounts, marketing and processing sales – and you can’t focus properly. Contracting out some of your workloads, or hiring experts can reduce your time demands within the business. Experts with their knowledge base can suggest fresh ideas and processes to help enhance your business. Outsource what you aren’t good at or haven’t time to train on, and refocus your passion on what you do love doing best in your business! So we’ll ask now – how are your accounts? Do you understand where your money is coming from and where is it going?

Here at Do the Sums, we work hard to be updated on the best bookkeeping systems, keep abreast of tax compliance rules. We’re always the lookout for cool system add-ons that can help minimise business processes and save time. We can train you on bookkeeping systems, or you can hand it all over. Or just some. By the way, we Network often – so if it’s not accounting – but something else you’re needing help with, feel free to ask me as we deal with a wide range of business professionals and may be able to recommend the right person.

So, there it is. BALANCE. Work on your business – but make your lifestyle balanced too, and create some time off to go relax and laugh .. with family or friends.

GST Tax Returns Annual Tax Returns Tax Agents

Bookkeeping Online FBT Tax Returns Payroll Processing

Friendly Personal Service at Do The Sums Bookkeeping and More – can we help you?

Rebecca on 027 379 0992 or email rebecca@dothesums.co.nz

2 Sep 2016

How do you stay in control of data security on your device?

Managing Data Security is a major concern for many small businesses operating in this technological world…

In this post we cover a few basic steps and tools you can use to keep your data safe. Data security is a big concern but it doesn’t have to be a big cost or a big deal to reduce your risks.

Passwords:

Create strong unique passwords: long words with a mixture of numbers, letters, and symbols. Not passwords that in any way relate to your personal life e.g. names of Pets, partner’s names, schools attended. Professional hackers can suss out your address, your regular habits, family and friends.

Please don’t use the same password repeatedly to access all your applications. Create different passwords for different applications. If this a struggle then we suggest you use a Password Management Service, and you’ll only need to remember one password!

You can read more about them – here are some Password Management Sites that have been rated highly, to review:

Last Pass 1Password Dashlane

We personally use Last Pass as you can imagine we have a whole heap of passwords that we need to keep track of. And of course keeping our clients data secure is one of our top priorities.

A warning here: Your web browser e.g. Chrome, Firefox etc – may offer “password managers” features. However, they are not secure because often these browsers are just storing your passwords within your computer in an unencrypted form. Which means others can get into your computer may be able to view them. Unless you are able to encrypt the files on your hard drive, they are not recommended.

Screensavers are great:

Use your screensaver. If not active on your laptop or device or distracted on another job for a short period of time, say ten minutes, it closes down applications behind a security screen, then you need to re-enter your password to reopen it. It’s easy to use, pops up when you’re distracted elsewhere, especially when you forget to turn off your computer. Use it!

Family access to your own devices:

This is a hard one, for family, but try avoid sharing passwords for personal and financial applications on your device. Banks, for Online Banking and other applications like Microsoft Office offer multi-user access with different passwords, so make use of them, and encourage family to create their own passwords if they use your devices for accessing applications.

If you have kids using your computer and have programs that you don’t want them messing with, create control over your PC with an admin role. You can restrict them to using only certain programs – check your computer security settings for this feature.

Know your websites:

Be aware of the security settings of websites when you are surfing or reading or even buying goods online. URLs beginning with ‘https:’ are safer but there is still no guarantee – there are many imitators.

Look for Site Identity buttons when doing important work – when you are accessing a website, they show a green padlock icon in the beginning of their address. This verifies you are accessing a secure website address, and not an imitation site. This is very important when you are logging into banking/ Financial or your businesses’ Accounting software websites. Be vigilant.

Software Security Updates:

Software & Security developers like Microsoft, Google, spend millions of dollars working on security applications to keep their systems secured, and security updates are always being done to ensure your software is up to date against security threats. So make sure your computer is set to accept upgrades, to ensure your security software is up to date against new hacker or virus threats.

There are many more measures to protect unauthorised access data on your Devices, and we’ve covered the basic ones above. There are other options available to further secure against access into your computer’s files:

Disabling writing to USB Drives on certain files, or folders to prevent users copying your files.
Restrict Users from Using Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete
User Account Control to Protect Your PC (prevents unauthorised changes to your PC)
Putting data in an Encrypted File Vault (moves your files into a locked vault).

We hope that covers some of the basics of data security and gives you some steps to follow and tools to implement that can help you keep your data safe. Do you have any great tips you would like to share? Leave a comment below with your number one tip.

4 Aug 2016

Cloud Accounting You Say? Like Xero?

So what makes Cloud accounting better than my standard desktop software package? It’s a real buzz in the business world right now this idea of the cloud, but what does it really give me that is so much better than what I use currently? Lets take a quick look at some of the benefits of using cloud accounting software? If you want to discuss your specific situation in more detail feel free to get in touch for a free 30 minute consultation.

The Cost Factor

With Cloud Accounting services, you subscribe and get access to a comprehensive accounting system at a fixed cost each month, on a pay as you go basis. The providers do the work in managing the remote servers, doing software upgrades, provide storage and do security updates too. No need to outlay for annual software packages, constantly update it and add hardware for your office. In addition, when you’re on a tight budget, knowing your fixed monthly subscription costs is helpful for budget planning.

Take Your Office anywhere with the Internet

On the go all the time? Easily take your ‘office’ with you when you are out and about – where there’s Internet, you can access your financial data from wherever you are from your laptop or mobile. (Most Cloud Accounting Providers can offer you mobile applications.) Great for balancing your work-life options – got to get home to collect your children, but still need to be accessible to accounting staff or client queries – the Cloud interface makes it happen so you can work from anywhere.

Collaboration

Teamwork – got several staff members needing to process accounting transactions? Maybe at different locations. Your staff buyer wants to know stock levels. With cloud, your staff can login, access, edit and share documents on the same workface. Cloud-based file sharing applications help them make updates in real time and allows them full visibility of their collaborations. You and your team can both work online on the same document or webpage, no need to circulate documents back and forth showing corrections – members access and work on the same page, in real time. (Quality Cloud Software applications have settings and security controls for Administrators to control each member’s access to your business data so you can restrict access to portals, like Payroll or bank accounts).

Accounting problems? Your Book keeper or Accountant can login into your Accounting system from their office to fix or locate the problem – no need to go their office.

Back Up of Data and Loss of Devices

On manual systems, do you remember to back up your sensitive data each time to your servers often? Cloud based applications offer safe and secure storage of your data on remote servers. If your business burnt down, or child has knocked coffee all over your laptop or dropped your IPhone (ouch) – don’t panic – your data is still available on the cloud. You’ll just have to access it from another replacement device. (Remember to change your passwords for access to any cloud based applications on your device).

So if you are ready to take the leap into the Cloud – feel free to get in touch and we can help you get started on your journey.

14 Mar 2016

Overdue Invoices: How to get these paid faster

My process for following up overdue accounts – to get these paid faster.

I hate being the bad guy. And I hate chasing late payers. But I need to be paid (I want to eat this week after all). So in this post I share my process for following up on my overdue invoices. But first, my Number One Tip for getting your invoices paid….

Set up a system and BE CONSISTENT!

These are the steps I follow once the invoice is overdue. To find out about tips you can use before due date check out my post on getting your invoices paid faster.

1 Day Overdue – yep that’s right as soon as the invoice is overdue. I send a very friendly reminder email, advising that I haven’t seen payment in my account, and that I wanted to check that they had received the original invoice, and didn’t have any questions. Include a copy of the original invoice. Keep it nice and friendly, it’s just a reminder at this stage. Give them the benefit of the doubt – they have likely misplaced your invoice or forgotten to make payment.

7 Days Overdue – If you haven’t heard from them yet, it might be time to follow up with a second email or phone call. Still polite, no need to be harsh. You don’t know what could be going on for them.

14 Days Overdue – Time for a phone call if you have not previously heard from them. Keep it polite and to the point. After the call follow-up any agreements with an email so you have everything in writing. E.g. Hi XXX, As per our earlier phone discussion, I look forward to receiving your payment on the 20th. Please let me know if you have any problems. Regards.

Xero have released a fabulous tool called invoice reminders which means you can automate all of the above reminders to be sent out via email at dates you choose. The message inside each email can be completely customised. Find out more about this feature here.

If you can’t get hold of them and have still had no response, it’s time for a Letter and copy of invoice to go in the post to the client.

Statements – I send these out (via email) on the 1st of the month to any clients with overdue balances.

Payment Arrangements – If your clients seem to be struggling get a payment arrangement in place ASAP. Getting even $10 per week is better than nothing.

Interest on Overdue Accounts – Make sure you have it stated on your invoices that all overdue accounts will incur interest charges at xx% per month. If you have had no contact from a client for payment, and the invoice is 1 month overdue, add an interest charge. This will get most people to pay up fast…. often without paying the interest, but at least they paid 🙂

So those are the things I do for overdue accounts. What do you do?

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14 Jan 2016

Getting Data to and from your Bookkeeper or Accountant

In this technological age where you can work remotely with almost anyone – your bookkeeper and accountant is no different

So you can catch up over email, the phone or Skype, but how do you get all those documents to your advisor when you are based in Auckland and your advisor is in Christchurch (or in my case rural Waikato). You can’t just pop round on your way past one afternoon. With all this modern technology getting data to and from your bookkeeper is easy.

So what do you do?

There a three main ways that I get data to and from my clients:

Getting That Pile of papers to your bookkeeper doesn’t have to be tricky.

Email – this is the ideal way for quick pieces of information and one or two documents. It is fast and the information is right at your fingertips.
Cloud Storage – Like Dropbox or Google Drive. This option if perfect for larger volumes of documents and files. They are easy for both client and advisor to access and update. The information is instantly accessible. If you keep most of your documents in electronic form already this is the perfect option for you, it is a s simple as giving your advisor access to the relevant folders in your storage.
Post – sending documents via good old snail mail still has it’s place. There is no point you spending hours scanning everything into the cloud just to send it to your advisor if you don’t utilise this solution yourself. Instead take 5 minutes to pop down to your local post office (or even get a courier pick up from work). A couple of key points to note if you are posting documents, make sure you send tracked with a signature required, this is usually and overnight or 3 days max service (if you are sending rural) and costs approximately $15 on the courier.

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9 Oct 2015

Do you hate the hassle that comes with signing and returning documents in this electronic age?

You get a form via email that need to be completed, signed and returned….. but your printer is conveniently out of ink, and you have to borrow a friends scanner. And suddenly the simple act of completing a form is HARD work.

Well it doesn’t have to be that way. There are a whole heap of online programs out there that mean you can complete and even sign a form without it leaving your screen. And you can often complete them on the go from your tablet or mobile.

But is it a legal signature if it is completed online, does that make the contract binding?

The Electronic Transactions Act 2002 states that a legal requirement for a signature can be met by electronic means (this is subject to a few exceptions). There are of course requirements that need to be met and while the Act deals primarily with situations where there is a legal requirement for a signature it is also useful for other signatures required for contracts to be binding.

Section 22 of the Act provides that an e-signature must:

adequately identify you as the signatory and adequately indicate your approval of the information to which your signature relates, and
be ‘as reliable as appropriate’, given the circumstances in which the signature is required.

How do we use Electronic Document Signing?

At Do the Sums we have identified the need to offer an alternative to the print, complete, scan and return system that seems standard in this day and age. We have found that the traditional system slows down the process and many of our clients prefer to do this online, without having to print out documentation.

So we now offering my clients the ability to complete and sign forms online. The program we use is Sign Now which allows me to email through the forms for you to easily complete from your computer, tablet or mobile. The process is quick and easy and means information can be sent and received almost instantly.

To see how it is done check out a demo: Sign Now

Further Resources:

Needing help with completing financial accounts or accounting services?

Contact me today for a chat: Brenda@dothesums.co.nz

9 Aug 2015

Favourite things : Quote from Walt Disney

So this post is a little different. As a small business myself I spend a lot of my time looking for things to help improve and grow my business and I am sure you do to! So I thought I would share Five of my ‘favourite things’ that I have come across recently.

1. Inspirational Quote from Walt Disney

Favourite things : Quote from Walt Disney

Sometimes you just need a little motivation…. and often (well it seems that way for me anyway) you will come across a quote that is just what you need in that moment to keep you going. Now like many small business owners “I have beg dreams” for my business and life, but I’m often limited by my own self-doubt. But really if I can dream it there is NO real reason that I can’t do it. Sure it will be hard work but then doesn’t that make the success even sweeter….. So go for it, don’t let fear and self-doubt hold you back from your dreams. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney.

2. My Business Coach

Favourite Things: My Business Coach Amanda

Amanda my Business/Accountibility Coach

I am lucky enough to have an amazing business Coach/Advisor Amanda (from The AJ Pipe) who is so much more than my coach, she is my go-to person for help and advice. The one I go to with my plans and dreams. And she works with me to make a plan for them to happen. Often in Small Business you can feel alone! Isolated – especially if you work from home on your own. Now, don’t get me wrong I have a wonderful husband and family who are very supportive – but – sometimes they just don’t ‘get it’. That’s why it is so important to have someone (doesn’t need to be a professional) as your coach/advisor/kick-you-up-the-buter. You need that person to help you make a plan and that you can make those dreams come true. They need to be able to give you the honest truth. So make sure you find that person (if you don’t know someone who can do this for you already check out Amanda’s services or any of the other amazing professionals out there (I promise if you have the right person they are worth their weight in gold when it comes to helping your business succeed).

3. Membership to a professional body – in your area of business

I recently attended my first NZBAI (New Zealand Bookkeepers Association Incorporated) Conference in Auckland after being a member since I officially went into business in April 2014. This is New Zealand’s professional body for bookkeepers and is an amazing support network for me. I learnt an amazing amount of stuff on a range of topics (a lot of stuff that got me thinking about new ideas for my business), and also met an amazing bunch of people (and even better they all love numbers like me 🙂 ). The other huge advantage is it give myself and my business more credibility – it shows I’m a professional and that I know what I’m doing (we have to pass a test to become certified). So I totally recommend checking out the professional body relevant to your business, and joining.

4. Blog Post: 17 Killer Facebook Post Ideas for Small Business Owners – By Boom Social

Favourite Things: Small Business Blog Posts

Now I’m not sure about you but I read a lot of blogs – on accounting and bookkeeping obviously but also on a heap of topics for small businesses. So when I came across this article I just had to share. To Quote from the article “In a rut when it comes to knowing what to post on Facebook?” well that was me to a tee. And I’m sure I’m not the only one – so if you are feeling a bit like that this article is a must read (hey even if you aren’t – you should read it). It has 17 (as the title might suggest) great content ideas for your page. Now they are broad suggestions so they will work for all businesses. And I have given some of these a go and seen my page reach increase significantly. So why don’t you check it out here.

5. My Accounting Software

Yes I know right, you are thinking but she is an accountant/bookkeeper that stuff is easy for her, and you’re right it is easier for me because I ‘get numbers’. But I still have invoices to send, payments to make and profit to make (hopefully.lol). And even for my my accounting software is a huge time saver, I can set up repeating invoices to send out to my clients each month without doing anything after the initial set-up. I can quickly see at any stage what bills I have due, and who hasn’t paid me yet. I can also with just a click see my profit and loss for the year so far so I can see how I’m tracking. Now as you know I use Xero, but you can get most of the same advantages from other software (like MYOB or Wave), so if you want to save some time then I recommend taking a look at the options available out there. And as always I am happy to chat with you to see which option could be right for you.

So What are your favourite things?

I would love for you to share some of the things you have come across recently that have helped your business? Leave a comment below to let us know.

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21 Apr 2015

Have you had enough of dealing with the headaches your accounts bring? Are you ready to hand over your accounts to a bookkeeper and free yourself of the time and the stress?

“I’m doing my own accounts at the minute, is it easy to switch over to getting someone like you to do them? What would I need to do first.”

Handing over your accounts to somebody else can feel a bit like you are handing over your baby to someone else for the first time. You don’t want to let go! But you need a break, you have been running on empty for weeks now. And the grandparents are just hanging out to help. What do you do? You know that the grandparents will be fine, they have successfully raised their own children after all….

And outsourcing your accounts is just like that: a step into the unknown. But there are ways to make the transition easier….

Get in touch with someone (or even a couple of people) to discuss your needs and how you might work together. You should feel comfortable with the person and feel that they genuinely want to help ‘you’ move your business forward.

You also need to be clear on what exactly you want to hand over….. do you just want to start with the GST and end of year accounts? Or maybe you hate doing accounts and want to hand over everything.

Once you have chosen the right person there will be an adjustment period to get you both on the same page. Communication here is the key? If you want something done a specific way you need to tell them (as unless they are mind readers they won’t know).

Handing over your accounts is not hard and in fact most people feel liberated knowing they have one less job on their to-do list.

If you think you might be ready to hand over your accounts work get in touch for a free chat to discuss your needs and if we are a good fit dothesums.nz@gmail.com

20 May 2014

How to write a business plan – Guest Post

Guest Post by Rosie Hunter - How to write a business plan

Rosie Hunter from the Business Girl Project

Guest post by Rosie from The Business Girl Project. Want the rest of the lessons on how to build the perfect business plan for your business and your life? Sign up right here!

Does this sound familiar?

You started your business because you wanted to do something that you loved. You wanted more time with your family. You wanted sleep-ins, cuddles with your kids, relaxing weekends. You wanted to be successful. And maybe wanted your friends to be a little envious of your amazing life (*wink*).

Instead, you’re working 60 hours a week, late nights, early mornings, no weekends, no time with your family and the majority of your work is not fun. There’s a hell of a lot less creating and producing work and a hell of a lot more accounting and marketing work than you imagined. And if you have to tell your children to “wait a second, I’m a little busy,” one more time, you think you’ll cry.

And as a result? Your business is not as fulfilling or satisfying as you thought it would be, and you don’t feel successful at all.

It’s Probably time for a business plan!

When your business is not going the way you want it to, when your life is in a bit of a mess and you’re wondering if it’s all worth it, it’s probably time for a business plan, sista!

When I was at this stage with my first photography business, everyone told me I should write a five year plan. They said I should focus on building my business so in five years my business would be thriving and I’d be in my happy place.

I remember thinking “Hell no!”

No more 60 hour weeks, no more saying “in a minute” to my little boy, no more getting up early and going to bed late in order to fit in all the mundane tasks, and no more worrying about my business when I was supposed to be with my family.

I didn’t want to spend five years in this frantic half-present state. I wanted to have a successful, fulfilling life now, please. With a cherry on top.

The biggest problem with a five-year plan (or most business plans for that matter), is that you only focus on your business. Not your life.

But who wants a super successful business, if you can’t have the sleep-ins, the cuddles with the kids, the relaxing weekends and lots and lots of strawberry mojitos?!

What do you want now?

So throw your five year plan out the window. Preferably from a fast-moving freight train. You don’t need that.

The best thing you can do for your business – and your life – is to remember why you started this business in the first place. How you imagined your life would be. And then make the changes to make your life as good as the one you imagined.

Trying to make a Facebook cover picture instead reading bedtime stories to your little ones? Hire a designer!

Getting up early to respond to hundreds of emails every day? Find a virtual assistant!

Losing your mind over the stress of taxes? Hire a bookkeeper!

Imagine what you could do with all that free time!

A note on outsourcing
A lot of women tell me “I can’t afford to outsource my accounting” or “When I’m making more money I’ll pay for a designer.”

But think of it like this…how much time are you spending doing things you hate? What could you do with that time instead? Spend it with your family? Spend it growing your business so you’re even more successful?

You are an expert at what you do. Hire experts to do the things they are experts in. Accounting, design, customer service…whatever part of your business you hate, you’ll be able to find an expert who loves doing it! And who can do it faster and better than you!

It’s not all about outsourcing…
How about making strict business hours, and strict family time?

If you spend a lot of time answering the same questions all the time…how about an FAQ page or a generic email response?

What about setting aside time every month to do personal projects? Get some of that passion back and remember why you loved this job so much in the first place.

Give me the steps:

1. Pour yourself a glass of wine and sit somewhere quiet (a nice mug of coffee or a hot chocolate also works).

2. Spend some time thinking about why you started this business in the first place.
– To follow your passion?
– To give up the 9-5?
– Extra money?
– More time with the kids?
– Less stress, more glamour?
– To feel fulfilled, successful?
And write it all down!

3. Now think about how you imagined your life would be like after you started your business…
– More time and money?
– Less stress?
– More holidays?
– Envious friends?!
Write it down!

4. Is that still what you want? Think about exactly what you want your life to be like now.
– How do you want to spend your day?
– Who with?
– Doing what?
Write it down, sista!

5. Now is the juicy part. How do you need to change your business and your life in order to get closer to what you really want?
– Automating communication with customers?
– Outsourcing taxes? (Yes please!)
– Outsourcing everything else you hate doing?
– Maybe doing projects specifically for yourself? Get that creativity and passion back!
– Taking time off? Having strict business hours?

6. Now schedule some time to actually make these changes!
(and pour another glass of wine…you earned it!)

NOTE: This is just one section from The Business Plan Project – a guide to writing a business plan that will work for your business, and more importantly, your life. You can sign up for the rest of the FREE lessons here from The Business Girl Project.