Category: Bookkeeping

If you work with the software Quickbooks, which many small to medium businesses do, you have certainly come across the term, Chart of Accounts (COA).

What you may not know is how that works to help make up the picture of your finances, or how it relates to your tax return.

There is a lot of information we could go over for the COA purpose, but we will just touch on a few basics in this blog to get started.

Each industry can have a specific COA. Quickbooks helps determine that in the original set up, however it can be changed at anytime if need be. So for example, a retail shop and a construction company would each have different Accounts in their list.

• There are different types of accounts to determine how the account functions in any transactions.
• For example, the credit entry to an account that is a ‘BANK’ type will record differently than a credit to an ‘EXPENSE’ type account. 
• A positive balance in an ‘ACCOUNT RECEIVABLE’ type account can be a good thing to the company financials, where a positive balance in an ‘ACCOUNTS PAYABLE’ may not necessarily be good to the company financials.
• Some account types have depreciation adjustments made, such as the type ‘FIXED ASSETS’ so the number reflected on the Balance Sheet report may not be accurate throughout your fiscal year.
• Each account serves a purpose for recording and tracking.
• The more you spend on an ‘EXPENSE’ type account titled, ‘Office Supplies’, the higher the balance is as it accumulates what has been spent during a specific time frame. These numbers can help develop a budget.
• An account type ‘LIABILITIES’ determines an amount that needs to be passed thru the company financials, but may not necessarily be the companies expenses, such as Employee payroll taxes.

So when thinking about how these accounts relate to the reports, Income and Expense type accounts produce the Profit and Loss Statement. This report does not include items like the Receivables or the Asset accounts. Those items come in to play with the Balance Sheet report. 

If you are struggling with how your chart of accounts relate to your financial reports, contacted your CPA or your bookkeeper. Many companies set up their chart of accounts incorrectly and this then flows thru and the reports are inaccurate. The COA is more important than most people realize. Ask for help if you are unsure. The more you understand how to interpret your accounts, the better decisions you can make to grow your business.

Please contact me directly if you have questions on your bookkeeping or need assistance setting up your Quickbooks Company file. I can guide, assist or manage your bookkeeping needs. If you have comments or suggestion for subjects you would like to see in a blog please contact me thru this site or with the information below.

Tammy Stifel
515.988.7532
Bookkeeping and Process Organizing
tammy@organizerforu.com
OrganizerForU

Maybe you went on RAGBRAI or you went to the State Fair parade in anticipation of riding the Ferris Wheel, high about the ground for you to take in all the sites as far as you can see. Everywhere you turn, there is a wheel rolling along smoothly.

I like to present topics in terms everyone can relate to in their own way. As the Owner, you should be the Hub. You keep the wheel turning smoothly and efficiently. The spokes, your business partners and personnel, should be strong and supportive. Your customers are the tire or the seats at the end of those steel arms on the incredible Ferris Wheel.

Or are you trying to be multiple spokes and still trying to be the hub? Is your wheel broken causing your tire to be flat or a Ferris Wheel unbalanced and ready to topple over? Is there a weak support arm or spoke? Is your business rolling and turning smoothly with the position or positions you are responsible for?

Here are some quick tips to be sure that your wheel turns smoothly;

• Determine your needs for resources outside of your inner office personnel such as
• CPA and Bookkeeping
• Marketing
• Insurance
• Human Resources
• Promoting
• Draw a Wheel
• Make a line for each spoke-support arm-which your Company needs in order to properly support your customers, represented by the seats on the Ferris Wheel or the tire.
• Write the name of the business partner or the personnel on the spoke that corresponds to their responsibility.
• Each person should be handling one spoke, possibly two, if they are ‘connecting’ spokes.  

The purpose of this exercise is to ensure your business is handling your customers in a well balanced, smooth process. You don’t want and overinflated wheel, ready to burst with the first tiny bump in the road. You don’t want a flat tire; your customer basis won’t support the spokes to keep the wheel turning. If you have the appropriate amount of spokes, but your wheel is flat, you may need to revamp the wheel. Reposition your spokes to fit the tasks needed with the skills of your personnel and the business resources you partner with. If you have bulges in your tire, you don’t have all the spokes you need; you probably are ready to get some outside assistance. If you find your wheel is overloaded for the amount of spokes you have, you need more. Look into your network and find the resources you needed to balance our wheel.

If you are unsure of what you need, be sure to attend the first Business Warriors Small Business Resource event on September 19. You can find more information about the businesses that will be represented by going to The Business Warriors site. This will help you determine what your business needs to find the right balance. Or contact me with your specific bookkeeping questions or business organizing concerns.

Tammy Stifel
515.988.7532
Bookkeeping and Process Organizing
tammy@organizerforu.com
OrganizerForU

As the story goes…A very nice couple was sitting at the table one morning enjoying coffee. While reading a sale ad in the newspaper one spouse says to the other, “I would love to own that business.” The other spouse, upon finishing a sip of coffee, politely says, “Ok, let’s go to the bank and get some money and buy it.” And so they did.

Well, wake up and smell the coffee! (Pardon the pun) But, if only it were that easy. In the REAL world, there is a lot more to buying a business, even beyond the decision of how much to pay, how to pay and knowing what you’re buying because you have had the financials reviewed by your CPA.

This needs to describe the business you are buying;

• Well established
• Has efficient and effective procedures in place
• Has employees that understand their tasks, are efficient, & enjoy working for the Company
• Has a well-established and maintained customer list.  

These assets together produce the company you are interested. So the question of the year, ‘why would you sell that part short or put less emphasis on the value of those assets’? They are probably the most important part of the success of the soon-to-be-your company. Without these people, procedures and processes in place, the business may not be as enticing to you.

In order to make the transition as seamless as possible and as less disruptive to the customers and the employees as possible, you need to respect the ‘system’. You need to the appreciate all that has gone into making this business so attractive to buy; to the extent of investing time to learn what tasks you will be taking on.

Here are some tips to do that:

1. Come in with an open mind.
2. Talk to the people that understand that Company and industry – THE EMPLOYEES.
   1. Value their opinion and respect their knowledge. They are most likely a vital part to the current and ongoing success to the business.
   2. Understand and trust that they know what it takes to make the company ‘tick’ each day.
   3. Even if you are never going to be in charge of a task or procedure, you need to take the time to understand the task and value the employee that has the skill-sets to manage that task.
   4. Know that there are things that you don’t know.
      • Realize that it could be even more than you even imagined.
   5. Be a help, not a hindrance.
      • Be prepared to handle the things that are vital to this business transaction being successful.
   6. Respect the process in place.
      • If at all possible, be available and involved prior to the final transferring of funds. The employees that will remain thru the transition want be confident that you understand, this is their livelihood that you will be responsible for. They don’t want anything to fall between the cracks.
   7. Don’t go in with ideas or asking questions about what needs changed.
      • Again, this business in being bought because it is successful. Consider that just maybe most processes have been perfected and streamlined and don’t need any immediate changes.
      • Let the dust settle. There will be a time and place for changes. But until you have been involved for more than a few days or weeks, do you really believe you have more effective ways of handling things than the people who have been doing it a lot longer……

Some of this may seem like common sense. Do a checklist with yourself. Be sure you are ‘personally prepared,’ beyond financially prepared, to buy that business.

All that being said, be excited about your new venture. Be proud to tell people about your new business and be proud of the people that make it what it is, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

If you need assistance in managing the transition of a business purchase, find a resoureces, like OrganizerForU, that has assisted in business ownership transaction. The more experienced guidance you recruit, the smoother and most likely happier everyone will be after the final line is signed.

For more organization and bookkeeping tips, log onto OrganizerForU and click on Tips.

Tammy Stifel
515.988.7532
Bookkeeping and Process Organizing
tammy@organizerforu.com
OrganizerForU

What if you need or want someone else to handle your responsibilities? Could you leave tomorrow? Bigger question, would your customers notice a difference in service? If you quickly answer YES, here are some tips to help you better prepare to leave and help your customer to notice your absence less.

We all think we handle our job better than anyone else can. Well, we can, right. But what if you want to take a long weekend or a short (or long-lucky you!) vacation?  Who will take care of EVERYTHING I do in a day, much less two or more days? Never mind right, it isn’t worth it, I will just keep working.

Well guess what, you deserve to take time away from your career, and your employees. Your customers would probably enjoy seeing you take a vacation. And truth be known, your friends and family NEED YOU to take time away…hint hint.  
        
But let’s talk reality of how will your daily tasks be handled while you are gone.
Here are a few quick tips that you can start working on now, to make your time away, relaxing for everyone involved.

• Emails
• Make sure you have one person that will check and respond to your emails or
• Have an auto reply set up, letting people know you are out, when you will return and whom they should contact in the meantime including that email and/or direct contact number
  
• Phone Calls
• Record an away message on your voicemail-on both your CELL phone and your extension at your office. Give them the date they expect you back and the direct contact information for the person that is handling your calls
• Paperwork (If you haven’t gone paperless yet, you might work on that for next years vacation)
• Assign someone in your office to check your inbox throughout the day. Anything that you are expecting that needs immediate attention, discuss what needs to be done to handle that information. Any other document that can be handled by someone should be. Only non-urgent or irrelevant client documents should be remaining for you to process when you return.
• Tasks that You Own
• Again, if this is your situation, you should work to have all employees crossed trained on other employee’s tasks. You will be glad you were proactive on that if a situation arises that someone needs to be suddenly gone for an extended period of time.
• Go over the basics of each task with an employee that is most familiar with the handling of the task. Keep in mind those that
  might handle some of the task prior or after you. That would be
  the easiest process to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
• Finish up anything that you can’t bear to allow someone else to handle.
• Consider hiring some temp help. There are many companies that can help put that in play to ease the load while you are out.

Don’t worry, you aren’t replaceable. No one does your job like you do, you will be missed and you won’t be replaced. However, overall, rest assure, most clients or customers will respect that you took some time off. And they will realize their fire is really just a small spark and your co-workers will extinguish and gain that customers trust in your business, in a new perspective.  You most likely have a very capable and dependable team in your work place. They will value the relationship and you will earn their trust and respect, if you allow them to help you to enjoy your time away. And we all want to know we are needed and trusted, in everything we do. So taking time to yourself is not only good for you, but others too.

Now get out your calendar and make some plans. Summer is calling you!

For more assistance or guidance on getting organized for that overdue summer vacation, contact me. We can review all of your options together, on how to make this a memorable, stress free vacation.

Tammy Stifel
515.988.7532
Bookkeeping and Process Organizing
OrganizerForU

Last month I talked about getting information gathered to create a budget.  If you did that process, now you have gathered some history, and determined what type of expenses you have and the amounts you have spent on those categories.
So let’s do something with that information;

• Sort expenses by
• Necessary and consistent
• Utilities:
• Phones/internet/TV/Water/Gas/Electricity

• Mortgage or Rent
• Car payment
• Insurance
• Office Expenses
• Loans
• Necessary but inconsistent
• Such as yearly taxes,
• Car License,
• Annual Fees, etc
• Charitable donations
• Gifts
• Incidentals: Household needs
• Savings Funds
• Education

• Discretionary: Spend as you want/need but could be scaled back if needed
• Credit Cards
• Entertainment
• Excessive Vacations (remember, excessive is all in perception)
• Hobbies
• Other misc

 
Once you have your expenses categorized, this will help you to determine what you NEED to live each month and what areas you will want to revised to stay within your monthly income.

You can also click here to download a Budget Template to help you get started. It can be revised for Business Owners or Personal needs.

Creating a budget and following it can be one of the most freeing things you can do for your business, personal life and state of mind. Don’t avoid it for the unknown. You should be doing for one for that exact reason, the UNKNOWN of where you money goes each month. Many times people discover they truly have money that can be put against debt, home improvements or moving to a bigger office, or the big get-a-way that you never thought you could have.

For more assistance or guidance on your budget, contact me and we can review it together. Making a plan today is good for you tomorrow.

Tammy Stifel
515.988.7532
Bookkeeping and Process Organizing
OrganizerForU

I was talking to one of my clients the other day. He said, “Well, this isn’t in our budget, is it?” And then that was followed by, “What is my budget?”

This is a very common conversation. This of course leads to a lot bigger subject. How do you prepare a budget and just as important, then how do we follow it?
 

It might be easier to start with what  NOT to do.

• Pick a number that you want to stay within.
• If you don’t have an idea what you spend, how can you determine how much to spend?
• Determine that you don’t need expenses that you currently have.
• This leads to unrealistic expectations and negative results in expected profit.
• Start from scratch.    
• There is some research and review of previous history needed to properly set-up and initiate a budget.

When you are ready for a budget, it needs to be handled by giving attention to a variety of areas, including income, expenses, history, projections, goals, etc.

Once you have gathered this information, discuss strategy and priorities, realistic amounts, and the planning process with your department managers. You might choose to use a simple template and request a proposed budget from each manger.

A budget is a vital part to the foundation to your company. It should be included in your business plan. More businesses fail due to lack of planning, including the planning of spending and earning, the budget. If you don’t have a budget in place, I challenge you to put it at the top of your list. Don’t wait any longer to get your budget in place or have your budget reviewed. With experienced professional assistance, creating a budget might be the best money you spend. So I will leave you with this last thought to ponder……Is it in your budget to have a budget created?….….reminds me of the age old question,

 

 

I trust you had a Blessed and Happy Easter.

Tammy Stifel
515.988.7532
Bookkeeping and Process Organizing
OrganizerForU

We all need those quick, easy to remember, go-to tips to organize. We all have those areas in our life that seem to just need a little ‘tweeking’.

I have put together some of my favorites that is followed by small business, employees, and individuals in their home management.

5 Quick Tips for Organizing

• Set-up Auto Bill pay
  • Create a bill paying system for those frequent, consistent bills that you pay regularly. Most banks offer this service for free on their website.
    • It sometimes takes a few steps to ‘sign-up’ so give yourself a little extra time when working on it for the first time.
  • If you can work it out, to have one checking account that handles all your auto-bills, and one checking account for spending, that is the ideal.
    • You will then need to determine how much you need to have in deposits (use auto deposit if you are eligible) to cover the auto-bills paid each month. From there, everything will be on Auto Pilot.
  • This frees up your time that use to be absorbed by paying bills each month. But the biggest benefit is the stress it relieves, as you don’t have to worry or tend to it as frequently. That can be PRICELESS!

• Create a Monthly Receipt Folder.
  •  Are you a saver of all of those little pieces of paper that you obtain for the ‘just-in-case-I-need-it’ scenario? 
    • Create a temporary location, folder or drawer, that you put all receipts for the month.   
    • Create one for each form of payment if you wish.
      At the end of the month, look through the receipts. Keep only those that still are benficial for long term, such as warranty or tax deductions. If you really feel the need to keep the receipts you can buy a receipt scanner at your local office supply store. Check the IRS website for requirements. 

    
    

• Schedule Filing Time
  • Create a location for all paperwork that needs filed.
    • Once or twice a month, turn on your favorite music, sort your papers by category and file away.
    • File it right the first time. Take time to
      make new folders or sub-folders as you go. Then you won’t have to touch
      any paper again.
    • Consider purchasing a labeling machine.
      They are fairly inexpensive and allow for quick to find and easy to read
      labels. Find a labeling system that works for you.You will be done in
      no time.

    
    

 

• TO DO File
  • Create a folder for Pending and To Do paperwork
    
    • Schedule time to review these folders.
    • If you are waiting on someone or something to finish the paperwork needs, it goes in Pending. Review this folder a few times a month and be sure to document all conversations regarding the status.
    • If the paperwork needs your attention to be completed, it goes in the To Do folder. I recommend sorting those papers by the urgency or due date of when the paperwork needs to be completed. You should look thru those papers weekly to be sure not to miss important dates.

 

• Delegate
  • Determine what can be handle by others.
    • Employees, co-workers, partners, etc., each have specific skillsets and passion for many things.
      • Ask questions, find out what is enjoyed by others that you can take off your to-do list and put on theirs. Most people feel more valued when doing tasks they are comfortable with.
      • When re-assigning, you need to be confident in the delegation, and then let it go. You need to allow the new Owner to have full responsibility of the task so they can also feel full accountability to what is asked of them.

When starting out with any of these steps, put some thought into the process before jumping in with both feet. These steps to be very beneficial, not only for time efficiency, but also cost effective. Obviously, you may need to ‘tweek’ the steps to fit your design and needs.
Whatever tip you decide to use, commit to it. Give yourself time to adjust, but don’t give up.

Take one tip each week or two, and you will have an organized system in just a few months.

If you have questions, contact a Business Process Organizer who can customize a system that works for you. Time can never be regained. Use it wisely.

If you need assistance with Organizing or Bookkeeping, please contact me.

Tammy Stifel
www.OrganizerForU.com

As a business owner, you understands that the financial reports are only as good as the numbers that are entered. You want to feel confident that your purchases, income and entries are properly recorded and categorized.

So you put a lot of work into finding the best person to handle the books for your small business. For the sake of this blog we will call your employee Susan. She has a great personality, can multi-task and never is late with her deadlines, oh and she knows bookkeeping.



And now your business is growing and as we know, perfect right! With growth comes new tasks to be divided up. Susan is so reliable and is always willing to help. She is the perfect person to take on these additional jobs. Her job is pretty basic and it is the same thing over and over again; she has plenty of time for more tasks. You present her with a few more tasks to help the sales department and she is now in charge of keeping all the supplies ordered and filled.
Perfect solution, right?
Wrong! Your well experienced, smooth process handling bookkeeper is now bogged down with so many other things, she finds more and more errors in her bookkeeping. She has too many interruptions.

One of the most important things you should remember is that bookkeeping, while it seems repetative motion, really does take concentration and a very ROUTINE check and balance system.
These are some tips I give my clients to help them determine if Susan is the right person for these unclaimed tasks.

• What department handles the task right before and right after this job?
  
  
  
  • That is most likely the area this job needs to be assigned.
  
  
• How can I best utilize the extra time that my bookkeeper (or any employee) experiences in their work load?
  
  
  
  • You need to have a conversation with Susan. Does she really have time to spare? Possibly there are other areas of the finances she could handle during this time for a more efficient and accurate set of records.
  
  
• Do I expect more from Susan because I don’t think that the bookkeeping job is too difficult and it doesn’t take that much time to do?    
  
  
  
  • If that is your perspective, you need to take a better approach with this position. There is a lot of experience, education and self-discipline that goes into being a good bookkeeper.

Too many times as business owners, the full details and understanding of the bookkeeper or other positions is not known. The right thing to do is to give each employee the respect and time they need to do their job that you hired them for. You will get better results, have high office morale, and overall be more respected by your employees. Be the mentor you want to see in your business.

If you struggle with organizing and strategizing within your company, find a business process organizer. Developing a system for your business will assure that  your bookkeeper, Susan has time to do what she needs to do to produce the financial records that are an accurate picture of your business success.

Tammy Stifel
Bookkeeping and Process Organizing
OrganizerForU

The new year is here, as promised it would be. Another promise is that the IRS wants to see your tax return. So are you organized and ready to hand over the details to your CPA or tax preparer? Much of our anxiety has to do more with the prep work than it actually does with the filing of the tax forms. 

                   The Knowns~We are required to file tax returns

Implement the few quick rules and you will be ready by February 1st.  

• Separate out any documents for home purchases, stocks, mutual funds, etc. These documents will need to be kept as long as you own the property or the investment is still active.

 

• Make a 2011 folder for organizing your documents. Put everything in here that is not included in the previous instruction. This folder is for the 2011 tax year only.

 

• You will be receiving papers in the mail soon. Separate income documents such as W2’s & 1099s into one stack for each type of document. Keep them all in one folder labeled 2011 Income Documents.  

 

• Put all expense statements and receipts into different stacks and secure them together according to category of deduction. EX: Childcare; Medical; Meals (if they pertain to your specific return); Charitable, Car license, etc. Put small receipts in an envelope.
  
  
  
  • 
    

     Be sure to circle the amount, date, and make notes on the receipt for future clarity of the purpose of the expense. Put all in one folder labeled 2011 Expense Documents. NOTE: Receipts can fade. Consider using a scanner to keep the copy electronically, but save your original in case the IRS request it.

     

• Keep notes on things you have questions about along with supporting documents to discuss with your preparer.

Taking a little bit of time to be prepared for meeting with your CPA can save you from making several trips or missing items that could effect your return accuracy. Being organized could also help get your return filed sooner rather than later. Some preparers charge by time while others charge by forms so being organized can also help minimize your fee.  Some CPAs send out yearly tax organizers. This can be helpful to ‘jar your memory’ on items you need to include or help you compare your deductions from year to year.

                 The Unknowns~What else do we need to do?

“How long do I need to keep my documents?” Short answer, depends on what the documents are. For a quick reference, go to Kiplinger. Print out the guidelines and keep it with your folders for quick reference.

What new requirements will be implemented by next tax year? Start preparing for 2012. While you are making folders for 2011, make another set for 2012. This will give you a jump start on being prepared for the documents you may already be accumulating since January 1, 2012.
NOTE: File monthly. Don’t waste time doing it more often, don’t do it any less to avoid accumulation which leads to misplaced documents. This is also a good time to go through previously kept paperwork and destroy anything that is no longer needed per the IRS guidelines.

For hands-on assistance or further guidance in keeping your business organized now and throughout the year, contact me. Along with your help, I create customized processes for you. This saves your company money through cost effective systems and maximizing time management.

Be organized now to save yourself from frustrations and wasted time later. 

Happy Organizing!

Tammy Stifel

OrganizerForU

Where did your bookkeeping needs fall through the cracks this year? Did you work on it monthly, quarterly, not-at-all?

As with anything the first step is admitting it, right! Easier said than done, so let’s see if any of these scenarios ring true with you, and if so, then you are taking the first step.
    

• Do you know enough to know that you don’t know anything about doing accounting?    

• Do you know that your time is best utilized selling your product or providing your service instead of doing bookkeeping?

 

• Do you know how, but have no time to even consider scheduling time to work on accounting regularly?

 

• Do you know how  to do your bookkeeping, but you don’t schedule appropriate time to work on it, so it never gets done?

 

So if you answered YES to any of those questions, you admit it! Bookkeeping doesn’t make it to the top of your list. We all have some pitfalls and if bookkeeping isn’t your thing, you aren’t alone. 

The second step is figuring out what to do about it. While admitting it can be difficult, trying to determine how to handle the results, can be even more complex and stressful. Allowing and trusting someone else to handle the bookkeeping can be the hardest thing to do. But it doesn’t have to be. In taking this step, the impact on your business growth next year can be dramatic. You will free-up time to do what you got into business to do, sell your product or provide your service to your customers and clients.  Most people don’t get into business to do bookkeeping. 
There are many options available determing the right path for your needs.

Making a plan today to discuss your bookkeeping struggles or areas of concern, will take you into the year 2012 with momentum. By implementing processes now, you have time to work-out the details. When 2012 arrives, you will have a big load off your to-do list and will be on the road to greater success.

Looking for assistance with bookkeeping, you can look locally to find someone that will work with your needs. 

Here are three questions that need answer.
    1. What do you want to focus on?
    2. What degree does your business need someone to be involved in the books?
    3. What is your budget?


I work closely with my clients. Together we customize a solution to maximize the benefits. 

Contact me today for moving into the New Year with momentum!

Tammy Stifel
Owner of  Organizerforu

Bookkeeping and Processing Organizing
Small Businesses and Individuals

Ok, in case you haven’t really looked at the calendar and fully absorbed what date it is, let me tell you it is NOVEMBER! Not quite as stressful or shocking as those that say the world is coming to an end (why would someone even try to predict that?) but still many things that need to be done over the next 2 months.

You need to gather receipts, determine deductions and the necessary paperwork to go with it, and decorate, bake, entertain, attend events, volunteer and shop for Christmas!

As Business Owners, you need to be sure your bookkeeping is in order, so when it arrives on the CPA’s  or your tax preparers desk, they can work efficiently and effectively to process your business finances into IRS terms. 

Tired yet? It doesn’t have to be that way, you are in control of what controls you.

What have you done in the last 10 months to prepare for the year-end process, in your business or as individuals? This question can sometimes lead to more thoughts than you want to deal with right now. Simply because it requires you to start thinking about areas of your life that are unorganized, and WHO wants to deal with that issue ALONG with all you have coming up and going on in the next two months!

Let me remind you, the longer you avoid that thought, the more congested your life will be and the SNOWball (oh, sorry, I know we aren’t ready to hear that four letter word yet!) will grow bigger. Bottom-line, the less efficient and effective you will be in your life. What you need to get organized can be big or it can be small, paper, items, processes, corresponding, etc. What do you need to get organized? (Short of being to the other extreme, another topic for another day.)

All that being said, never fear or procrastinate the beginning. With some simple steps, you can start today and be ready for the holidays, the year-end processes, and everything after that! Sounds freeing doesn’t it!

Start here;

Three things you need to confront;

    * Why do I feel disorganized?

    *How is being disorganized affecting my life and others around me?

    *What am I going to do differently today to take control my schedule and life and stop allowing my disorganized areas to be in control ?

Whether it be in your work or in personal life, you need to either deal with it or get rid of it. Once you can answer those three questions you will be prepared to move forward.
I found this book to be very useful for many of you, in helping to determine if organizing will help or if even that just isn’t enough.  
  
SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life; A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck, by Julie Morgenstern.

 I have worked with many individuals and business owners to work through those questions and find simple, effective and efficient solutions. Customizing the solution is key to being successful. Make the commitment today, to be more efficient tomorrow! Call me and we can talk about solutions for you!

Happy Thanksgiving and remember to be truly Thankful for your blessings. They are a gift.

Tammy Stifel
OrganizerForU    

 Well, short answer, yes. Long answer, is actually a question; what do you expect to get out of your well-polished, finely- tuned set of books, your company financials in a spreadsheet? If you are looking to have all your numbers nicely organized for your tax preparer to whip out your taxes, well that is one good reason to have a bookkeeper . But if you want to know exactly what your company financial status is, it might be better off to hire someone to teach you about how to handle your bookkeeping. 

I had a client who couldn’t figure out how to go to the next level. She suggested setting a budget. I started asking some questions and quickly discovered, she has worked very hard to make her business run, but never spent a lot of time on her bookkeeper . We were very far from being able to determine what she spent in order to figure out what we could budget. 

If you need assistance  with your bookkeeping, find someone who will not just do the work, but will work with you to educate and inform you of your financial situation. Then you can make a more informed decision on your spending, budgeting, and strategies to increase your revenues.