futureb00ks
Member Since: 7th Jun 2012
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Futurebooks is Singapore’s and Hong Kong’s most progressive bookkeeping company. Futurebooks offer affordable incorporation, bookkeeping, business planning and brokering, to entrepreneurs with big ambitions.
Whether your goal is to be acquired or to be more profitable this quarter, Futurebooks provide planning to keep your business on track and bookkeeping services that streamline the journey.
Using cloud computing solutions like Intuit’s QuickBooks Online, Xero, SaaSu, DropBox, Workflowmax, Vend, salesforce.com and Google Enterprise, Futurebooks are able to offer clients productivity improvements and reductions in the cost of accounting.
Visit our website and chat to us live or follow us on Twitter.
My answers
Accounting in the cloud eliminates the need for an administrator
In the infancy stages of a company, a bookkeeper is sufficient. Once your company grows, a bookkeeper then becomes inadequate and an accounts department is mandatory to survive.
It’s a sign to bid goodbye to Excel and hello to applications. Go digital; automate tasks with cloud-based apps that will cut down admin work by 50 per cent.
Going paperless optimizes the accounting division; forming a system that allows accountants to work on different finances simultaneously, which immensely increases productivity and efficiency. Check out how to pur your accounting in the cloud and how it helps to eliminate low-level tasks here: http://bit.ly/1hkeqRs
Automate financial tasks with cloud-based app Xero
For years, an employee of our client has been manually entering billing data for each account. Sometimes, he mistakingly repeats invoices, ending up with incomplete records and a dip in confidence when tasked to bookkeep.
Xero has changed his life. It cuts down admin work by fifty per cent. Tasks such as entering and maintaining detailed transactions is made faster and easier with Xero. It automates billing as you can choose multiple invoices and use the split-payment function from Xero to automatically record lump sum payments made.
This cloud-based accounting software increases efficiency of bookeepers, providing the company itself with a strong accounts department. Read more here: http://bit.ly/14Jc88w
Xero provides an accounts department
For years, an employee of our client has been manually entering billing data for each company and at times even, mistakingly repeats invoices. He ended up with incomplete records and a dip in confidence when tasked to bookkeep.
Xero cuts down admin work by fifty per cent. Tasks such as entering and maintaining detailed transactions is made faster and easier with Xero. It automates billing as you can choose multiple invoices and use the split-payment function from Xero to automatically record lump sum payments made.
This cloud-based accounting software increases efficiency of bookeepers, providing the company itself with a strong accounts department. Read more here: http://bit.ly/14Jc88w
when its time to hire a CFO
We teach our clients to enjoy counting money to improve their appreciation for bookkeeping, and their company’s performance.
As the founder of a start-up you wear many hats. Some days you are the CEO – other days the CTO. And some days you need to be the CFO. Until you hire a CFO – you’re it.
There are answers in the numbers. If you do financial analysis every six months, you can reverse engineer from the books and create new products and services. Analysing the company’s financials gives you a focal point to understanding what to do next in the business.
We posted more here: http://bit.ly/X6t9en
Tightening the belt
Service-based businesses can move quicker than retail businesses to cut costs and change their businesses because they do not have to optimise manufacturing processes or control inventory. Here are a few suggestions we have for our clients to reduce costs in 2012.
Renegotiate contracts. Examine renegotiating rates with external suppliers who fulfill large, frequent orders for your business. They will want to retain your business and will be more willing to negotiate on price compared to salary makers in your business.
Pool or share resources. You may in fact be able to renegotiate working arrangements with fulltime staff by first checking with other friendly businesses in your industry, and discussing a roster system to share people. This lessens the financial burden for both businesses, without necessarily cutting the salary of the employee.
We posted more here: http://bit.ly/SjBaFC
150 different cloud and traditional accounting packages reviewed
There are a few great accounting and invoicing tools available on the cloud. The trick is using ones which will integrate nicely with your your entire ecosystem of cloud-based solutions.
Some we have identified for our clients include Xero, Harvest, FreeAgent, Bizmo for iOS, Anybill, inniAccounts, Outright, and Kashoo.
Read more about our research covering over 150 accounting applications. http://futurebooks.com.sg/blog/150-accounting-applications-compared-freeware-cloud-and-licensed/3140
Review of expense trackers
Expense reports are on of the most time consuming bookkeeping tasks. A startup company of two employees and one director can spend as much as 12 hours a month keying in personal expense claims.
For this reason staff dread the task of submitting monthly expense claims, and are often late presenting expense claims to management.
We road-tested a bunch of mobile apps to see if this tedious task could be improved. We published our findings here:
http://futurebooks.com.sg/blog/comparison-of-ios-expense-trackers/5160
Expense tracker review
Expense reports are on of the most time consuming bookkeeping tasks. A startup company of two employees and one director can spend as much as 12 hours a month keying in personal expense claims.
For this reason staff dread the task of submitting monthly expense claims, and are often late presenting expense claims to management.
We road-tested a bunch of mobile apps to see if this tedious task could be improved. We published our findings here:
http://futurebooks.com.sg/blog/comparison-of-ios-expense-trackers/5160
Cash versus accrual
First of all evaluate whether your business is a cash or accrual. Cash means there are no terms ie money is taken and spent and recognised immediately. This is often the case with restaurants. They take cash immediately from customers, and sometimes pay suppliers immediately. As soon as your business has terms, ie you lend credit or accept credit from suppliers, you become an accrual business.
Business consulting companies are accrual businesses. They have to extend credit to their customers, often up to 90 days.
In an accrual or cash based business, there is two things you can do to terms to tighten cash control.
1. Reduce terms for customers. Ask customers to pay you faster. Credit cards are great for this. The credit card company settles with merchants within a few days, and ride the risk of the 30 days with the customer.
2. Increase terms with suppliers. Ask your suppliers to give you a longer time frame to pay their debts. Negotiate fixed price agreements, minimum purchases, regular purchases in order to secure better trade terms.
We compared over 150 accounting apps
There are a few great invoicing tools available on the cloud. The trick is using ones which will integrate nicely with your your entire ecosystem of cloud-based solutions. Some we have identified for our clients include Harvest, FreeAgent, Bizmo for iOS, Anybill, inniAccounts, Outright, and Kashoo.
Read more about our research covering over 150 accounting applications. http://futurebooks.com.sg/blog/150-accounting-applications-compared-freeware-cloud-and-licensed/3140