A Trouble-Free Accounting / Bookkeeping Department

Now and then I got requests from business owners to tech-support their staff or to clean up their QuickBooks files.

The problem is: bookkeeping needs to be done REGULARLY. Mistakes tend to involve tons of entries spanned months or years. It takes a HUGE effort to pull a derailed train back to the right track. Some mistakes were so curiously "creative" and I wondered "How in the world did one do that?" It took a lot of brainpower to uncover the problems and to make them right. Sometimes I have to stop when it was “good enough!”

Once I left, the problems started building up again.

It was a HUGE unnecessary pain. There was no way to run a business that way.

I normally declined the job. 

I wanted to fix the problems only ONCE. 

Then, my team and I should OWN the full accounting department!
It will be a smooth sail from then on. 

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When we hire a builder / contractor, we hire one who is licensed. 

By passing the exam, the builder proved that he has certain level of skill.

Bookkeepers do not have licensing requirement. Hence, it is a Wild Wild West.

Why would you pick a bookkeeper who was a chef, an artist, or a photographer?
Because you LIKE them? They have DONE it for years? 

What if they do not even know that they have been screwing up for years?

Bookkeeping is about DEFINING the transactions and RECORDING them correctly based on Accounting Principles.

Try these. These were real situations I encountered:

1) The mother of a business owner repaid her son $100,000 for money advanced throughout the year in managing her apartment buildings. What was it? (The office manager recorded it as Income.)
Answer: It was a reduction of Loan Receivable from the mom.
If left as income as it was, the owner can be expected to pay 25% federal tax plus 10% California tax!

2) A business owner paid $10,000 personal Federal taxes with the company's money.
What was it if it was an S-Corp?
Answer: It was a personal expense. S-Corp shareholder was allowed to take distributions hence it was a Shareholder's Distribution.

What was it if it was a C-Corp?
Answer: No distribution for C-Corp shareholder. He must pay back. Hence, it was a LOAN.

The REAL value of bookkeepers is: we help you figure out the useful REPORTS you need; such as JOBS reports for contractors. We put in NUTS-and-BOLTS; i.e. SET-UP so that the daily tasks are easy TO DO. And at the end of the month, you get GOOD Reports.

To be trouble-free with accounting / bookkeeping, hire a bookkeeper with an ACCOUNTING degree, not the low-skilled office admins.