A Quick List to Prepare Yourself for Tax Time!, gives you a brief rundown on some of the basic items you need to get yourself prepared before going to that appointment with your tax professional or accountant.

A QuickBooks Tax Tip and list of Deductible Business Expenses, talks about tagging your deductible business expenses in QuickBooks. I also share a list of some of those common expenses and the link to June Walkers book about taxes Self Employed Tax Solutions. I think it’s a great book on taxes, a subject that we  don’t want to read about but know that we really should. June makes it a little easier.

In my Happy New Year post I shared a post from last March called It’s that time of year again! The post asks how your going to prepare your taxes.  It talks about the different solutions out there for preparing your taxes and directs you to one of the best articles I’ve read on the subject called Tackling Small Business Taxes.

Happy Reading and Have a great day!

Major Facebook Upgrade: This Week in Social Media written by Cindy King at Social Media Examiner

Customize Facebook News Feed with Your Favorite Pages written by Janine Gregor at Business Darlings

Five Facebook Changes and What You Need to Know written by Andrea Vahl at Social Media Examiner

What I Like About the New Facebook Timeline Profile, Privacy Settings, and News Feed written by Kristi Hines at Kikolani.com

How to Use the Facebook Timeline: A Complete Walk-Through of the Redesigned Profile written by Josh Constine at Inside Facebook

As the changes continue to roll out over the next few weeks I’ll add to this list, and please if you’ve come across any articles that have helped you, add them in the comments below, so that we can all help each other figure these changes out!

According to an article I read recently a good rule of thumb for where you should be spending your money is as follows:

25-30 percent on housing

1. When you receive invoices that need to be paid, immediately place them in a folder, either in a file drawer or the in-box on top of your desk, labeled invoices or bills to be entered . Set aside some time at least once a week to enter them into your bookkeeping software. After you’ve entered the invoices, file them in a to-be paid folder. Depending on how many invoices you have, you can file them all in one folder or alphabetically by vendor. If you are going paperless, scan the invoices into your computer and file them the same way, in a file folder for Vendor invoices to be paid on your desktop.

2. Before you can enter any of these invoices and bills you’ll need to create a chart of accounts. Keep your chart of accounts simple. The chart of accounts is a listing of all your balance sheet accounts(assets and liabilites) and your income statement accounts(income and expenses). You’ll use these accounts when entering your transactions. Most accounting software packages will suggest a basic chart of accounts for you to start with. You can then add or delete accounts as you see fit.

3. At the same time your entering invoices to be paid, briefly look at any unpaid invoices you’ve already entered to make sure they aren’t due to be paid this week. Instead of looking at the invoices manually, run a quick unpaid bills report. You can then either print any checks needed using your software or pay them using on-line banking. On-line banking is a free service with most major banks, and you can enter the amount of the invoice and schedule it for payment before the due date. And with many accounting software packages you can accomplish this right within the software itself. The benefits of online bill pay is that it saves on postage and also by scheduling before the due dates you’ll avoid any late fees. Just remember if you pay the bills directly from your bank website, you will also need to enter those payments in your accounting software.

4. Reconcile your bank statements monthly. Try setting up time on your calendar the week the statement is received. You don’t want to put this task off because the longer your accounts stay unreconciled the harder it will be to find errors. If you have been disciplined in entering your transactions each week, it shouldn’t be a time consuming process and can easily be accomplished using your software’s reconciliation function.

5. Don’t forget your credit card purchases. If you’ve set up your credit cards as accounts they will need to be reconciled on a monthly basis the same way you reconcile your checking account. So be sure that you’ve been entering the charges daily or weekly. Credit cards statements can also be treated as regular bills, where you enter the bill for payment just like the rest of your monthly bills. If done this way you obviously won’t have an account to be reconciled every month.

6. If you use PayPal, you also need to set up this account similar to how your checking account is setup. And it will also need to be reconciled each month. With PayPal you can download the monthly reports for reconciling. To keep yourself current though I would also recommend doing this on a weekly basis to record any deposits and payments, and then reconcile on a monthly basis.

We’ll talk about handling your accounts receivable another time. We don’t want to forget that. You have to be invoicing customers and making deposits to pay all those bills we just talked about. Are you feeling frustrated and flustered with the thought of bookkeeping? Don’t worry, your not the only one. I think most business owners consider bookkeeping a dreaded task and put it off as long as possible. Unfortunately it’s not something that can be put off altogether unless you decide to outsource to someone that actually enjoys bookkeeping. Even then you shouldn’t ignore it completely, to effectively run a business you need to know what’s going on in every corner of it.

How do you stay organized? I’d love to hear your suggestions.

Business Darlings is set to launch tomorrow, February 14th, and I’m very excited and honored to have been asked to offer my advice, opinions and idea’s in the Finance section.

Here’s what Christina Nelson, owner of VOS Team and Vital Office Solutions, and the creator of Business Darlings has to say about the launch.

I am so excited to be able to give back to the industry that has been so good to me. Business Darlings is a labor of love and I am very proud of what we have accomplished so far.

Business Darlings is an online magazine/blog focused on providing tips, inspiration, direction and motivation for YOU to start and build a Virtual Business.The Virtual Industry is BOOMING and it’s time you got your piece of the Internet. Having a Virtual Business has some unique challenges and we want to help you get the answers you need to face, and overcome, them (or beat them into submission, whatever works lol).Business Darlings has been blessed with (so far) 8 wonderful experts (7 Darlings & a Dude) who have agreed to volunteer their time each week to bring you the information you need to be successful. Plus, we are always looking for more experts to add (email me to see if we need someone with your skills contact@businessdarlings.com). Pop over to http://businessdarlings.com and bookmark us for the launch on FEBRUARY 14th (yep Valentine’s Day)

Why not shove them all into an envelope on a weekly or monthly basis and send them to Gem’s Virtual Office instead!

I’ll use QuickBooks software to post and record your income and expenses for the month. You’ll receive monthly reports so that you are always up to date on how your business is doing! If you want to go a step further, I’ll balance and reconcile your banking and credit card accounts, invoice your customers, pay your bills and more.

Let me take some of those nail biting, hair pulling hours away from you! Take the time to sit back and relax or, spend those extra hours building your business further.

So are you one of those guilty ones? Contact Gem’s today for additional information and a free consultation at deb@gemsvirtualoffice.com I look forward to hearing from you.

How are you handling your monthly bookkeeping tasks?

1. Battling Bloggers Block from ProBlogger

2. How to Create Dreamy Content While You Sleep by from copyblogger

3. 20 Blog Topics To Get You Unstuck by Chris Brogan

4. 5 Types of Posts to Feed Your Business Blog from Hubspot

5. Do You Have Blogger’s Block? Coming up With New Content Continuously by WAHM Biz Builder

6. 7 Ways to Engage Readers of a Business Blog from ProBlogger

7. 10 ways to get regular content for your website or blog by Content Blog

8.  How to Write Great Blog Content from ProBlogger

9.  How to Get Stuck Words to Flow Again from Freelance Switch 

And number 10, which I’m participating in right  now,  is 31 Days to Build a Better Blog hosted by ProBlogger. It’s not too late to sign up. Join in the fun and better your blog today!

What suggestions would you make to others that are struggling with their blogs? Would love to hear your ideas.

Knowing that, why not let a Virtual Bookkeeper like Gem’s Virtual Office handle it instead. Wouldn’t it be nice to end the day knowing that your bookkeeping and bills aren’t waiting on your desk for attention! 

Here is a list of 10 tasks that Gem’s can complete for you in an hour: 

   1. Balance your checking account.

   2. Enter your vendor invoices

   3. Call your customers in regards to past due invoices

   4. Post your cash receipts and deposits

   5. Pay your bills

   6. Invoice your customers

   7. Assist with your payroll

   8. Reconcile your credit card statements

   9. Generate P/L Reports each month

 10.  Work with your accountant as needed. 

Get in touch with Gem’s today and let us show you how working with a Virtual Bookkeeper can save your business both time and money!

“Deciding what to charge for your services,  is probably one of the most important decisions you’ll  ever make when it comes to your business. You of course want to make a profit, but at the same time you don’t want the per hour charge to be set so high that it turns potential clients away. In deciding how much to charge per hour for Gem’s services I relied on several different sources:

The first thing I did was to start researching the virtual assistant industry. On both Virtual Assistant Forums and VANA,  which are two forums I belong to,  rates are discussed almost on a daily basis. Someone always has a question on what they should charge. I spent a lot of time going through the numerous threads on the subject and asking questions. I then began looking at other Virtual Assistant’s websites to see what they were charging. I looked for VA’s that had comparable experience and services to mine and took an average of that.

In reading all the threads on the forums, I came across a recommendation for Freelance Switch’s Hourly Rate Calculator. It’s a pretty simple tool to use and only takes about a half hour to complete after you gather the information to fill in all the blanks. So I did all the math and came up with their suggested rate.

I then took another step and researched rates in my local area to see if what I had come up with rate wise was within reason. And they were, so finally, I took the average from my virtual assistant research and the suggested Freelance Switch rate, which were pretty close in number, and decided to vary the rate depending on the services that a client requires. Determining your rates should not be a quick decision. Do the research first and use one of the many rate calculators that are available online to help you.

On Gem’s website you will find a Rate Comparison Chart, which compares the rates of working with a Virtual Assistant vs. hiring an employee.  Take a look at it and see how working with a Virtual Assistant can save your business money today!”

That’s it for Task 3, can’t wait to move onto Task 4. I’d love to know if you’ve been following the contest and participating yourself. And if you haven’t why not get started today! Thanks again to Men with Pens for letting everyone benefit from this contest!

First of all, I want to say that I don’t necessarily think of other Virtual Assistants as my competition. I like to think of us as a family all working towards the same goal. The goal being to offer our services and assistance to business’s, to help them grow, and to help them free up valuable time to enjoy life and family. Gem’s does offer a service for local clients though that you don’t normally see from a Virtual Assistant, and below is my 60 second approach to that!

“The majority of Virtual Assistants and their business’s work strictly virtually. Working virtually means that you may never meet your assistant in person. All work and projects are completed online using e-mail, fax, remote access and other internet based technology.

Gem’s Virtual Office is different in that not only does it offer services virtually, but on-site assistance is also available for local clients if and when they need it. Gem’s believes a solid relationship is built on trust, mutual respect, and solid communication. This can be acquired working together virtually, but I can think of no better way to start working on the relationship then being able to meet face to face and shake hands!”

Hopefully you are following this contest and enjoying it as much as I am. It has given me the opportunity to take a second look at my goals for myself and my business, and to strength those goals by getting them down on paper once again! Can’t wait to tackle Task #3,  thanks again Men With Pens!