Nearly all of what happens in business is too small and ordinary for Wall Street to care much about. Same goes for investors, business reporters and politicians. Even economists don’t pay much attention. What they see are the waves and weather on the surface of the world’s economic ocean, when what matters most is the mass of water below.
To dive below the surface, here’s a brief story.
Read MoreReminding someone about a past due invoice can be an awkward situation. Rather than having to call or email directly, you can use a simple reminder tool in Paypal to do it for you. The message is automated and, for some clients, the gentle non-personal nudge can get you paid sooner.
Once logged into Paypal, on the top horizontal navigation menu, go to Tools, then Invoicing. This brings you directly to the Manage Invoices section where you will click the “Unpaid” tab:
Here in our post-Google Docs world, a growing number of business owners are making the decision to forego Microsoft’s pricey Office suite in favor of the Big G’s comparable (and totally free) alternatives. And why not?
But if you’re going to make the leap, it’s important to make sure that your accounting system is set up to work without Excel. Here’s how to integrate Google Docs with Xero.
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Monotonous. Repetitive. Excruciatingly boring. Reconciling expenses in your accounting software is a critical, but painfully dull and time-consuming part of successfully running nearly any business. Thankfully, a little-known Xero trick can turn an hour’s worth of punching away at individual fields into just a few seconds of work.
First, go ahead and log into your Xero account. Once you’ve logged in, you’ll see all of your various accounts laid out on the homepage.
Read MoreBy Amy Vetter, Global VP of Education and Enablement, Xero
You’re all-in or you’re out
Read MoreWhile it can be a real chore to oversee, managing cash flow — aka getting paid — is a constant need for any business. PayPal offers a robust feature set to help you get paid faster with less hassle.
There are two serious time-saving “get paid” options available from PayPal: create an invoice template and an ongoing subscription button.
Note: PayPal has service fees depending on how the money flows from customers to you — in other words, whether the money comes from a PayPal account versus a credit card.
Read MoreFor a solo entrepreneur, tracking time and invoicing is vital. If you don’t record the number of hours you spend on a project, you can’t bill for them. Fortunately, there are plenty of SaaS tools to help. My own choice is Harvest, because it lets me track client time by project using a cell phone, as well as generate invoices and get paid using PayPal at a reduced rate.
Like most accounting programs, Harvest can handle recurring invoices. The recurring invoices are easy to set up, and the software is flexible about setting their frequency.
If your accounting department is still seen as a back-office expense, one you pay for because well, you have to, then you’ve missed out on one of the biggest business shifts in recent years: accounting’s rise as a true strategic partner.
The finance and accounting function is shifting from the back room to the boardroom. A lot of this motion has been fueled by the ongoing development of online reporting tools which offer true real-time reporting visibility that enables sound strategic decision-making.
Read MoreCreating an expense report (or claim, as Xero calls them) can be tedious, especially if you have multiple receipts to add to it. With Xero you can add a bunch of files — like photos of receipts — all at once, and then attach them to your claim later. Here’s how:
Start by logging into Xero. From the Dashboard, you’ll see a file folder icon in the upper right corner. Click on that icon.
If you do any travel for work, manage a team, bring in lunch, heck, even buy paper clips and pens, at some point you’ll be filling out an expense report. And, if you’re anything like me, chances are you’ll remember to add your receipts only after you’ve finished your expense report.
But don’t panic! If you’re using Xero, you can still add that receipt to a saved claim.
A quick note here on terminology. What I call an Expense Report, Xero calls an Expense Claim. This may be a U.S. to New Zealand language thing (Xero was founded in NZ). But if you’re used to the term Expense Report, don’t worry — we’re talking about the same thing here.