Search Results for: inventory

Sage One Daily Transactions & Credit Management Training Workbook

Sage One Accounting Training Course Manual and Workbook - Daily Transactions, data entry, AR & AP

Customise MYOB item and service invoice forms

Inventory Items: Our Case Study

Our online course case study involves the purchase of numerous Cisco IP phones. We enter the product information as well as the wholesale cost and retail sales price, plus the following accounts in the accounts list:

  • Cost of Sales accounts (to keep track of our product costs)
  • Income Account for tracking sales, and
  • Asset Account for tracking inventory assets.

At the point of creating these inventory items, we also decide whether our prices include or exclude GST when they appear on the purchase order and the invoice. This is an important step when you consider how you present the prices of the products you sell.
For instance, do you show customers the price excluding GST and then show the GST amount as a total for all products/services?

Customer and Supplier Cards

After creating our inventory items, we create suppliers and then purchases of our inventory items. At this stage you can allocate default settings for each card, like:

  • Expense Account
  • Purchase Memo and Comments
  • Supplier Terms and more…

Purchases

The wholesale supplier provides us with ex-GST prices in their price list so we ensure that Sage One is setup for us to enter these purchases using the ex-GST price. Sage One also enables us to keep track of the entire purchase process of:

  • Quoting
  • Ordering Items
  • Received Items
  • Bills

After the Purchase Order is placed we look at the data entry process of receiving items when they physically arrive in our warehouse, linking this arrival of stock to the Trade Creditors account. Remember that it’s not until we physically receive goods that we owe the money for them.

It’s quite normal in real life that not all inventory items arrive at the same time. Therefore we take you through the scenario of receiving some items and having the remainder placed on back order, and explore the purchase register for evidence of purchases with different statuses like:

  • Open
  • Order
  • Closed

Once you have supplier invoices you have accounts payable and we explore how to pay for these invoices. We explore full and part payments as well as accounts payable reports, vendor payment terms, and ageing periods.

Sales

The first part of the sales process is to offer your products and services for sale. Where a full solution of products and services is required, the first step is usually to provide the prospective customer with a quotation — something which Sage One enables you to do. What’s fabulous about this feature in Sage One is that you then only need to enter the quotation once and send it to your prospect. When the order is placed the quote can very quickly be converted to an invoice. Our online course will take you through all of these steps in a practical exercise.

This process of being able to quote up front makes things much faster and easier than, say, providing a quote in Word or Excel and then having to re-enter all the data into Sage One for invoicing.

When a company sells its products and services the important process of debt collection begins — almost immediately. Every invoice goes out with the selling terms indicated and can include:

  • Prepaid
  • COD
  • Nett 7 days
  • 7 Days after end of month (EOM) etc.

The management of cash flow is integral to the success of any business, large or small. If you have already paid for products, paid your employees and paid all the other expenses relating to a sale, then you naturally want to get your money back as soon as possible.
Sage One enables you to set payment term at three levels:

  • System default
  • Customer level
  • Transaction level

Credit Management

This course takes you through payment terms, accounts receivable reports (showing ageing periods) and the sending of monthly statements. However, even after the monthly statement is sent a company can experience difficulty receiving payments from customers and need to resort to actively chasing up money owed. Our Credit Management Guide is included as part of this course.

Creating and Applying Credits

In the event that fewer products were supplied, or the installation took half the time expected, you may want to credit your customer. The course shows you how to create a credit and apply it to the invoice where it should be applied, to or a new invoice.

Receiving Payments and Banking

Payments can be received in one large transaction or bit by bit and Sage One helps you keep track of every single payment. The course takes you through several different scenarios.

We introduce the concept of different asset accounts apart from just your bank account. If you want to get into the nitty gritty of bookkeeping you need to create an asset account for every step of the movement of cash. These asset accounts include:

  • Accounts Receivable (money owed to you)
  • Undeposited Funds (money you have that is yet to be banked)
  • Bank Account (cash you have)

We cover the process of receiving payments into the Undeposited Funds account and then move these funds into the bank account on the day they are deposited. This step appears onerous at first glance, but we include it because it helps reduce a lot of time in the bank reconciliation process where all you see is deposits into your bank account.

This concept is also used when you use payment services like PayPal and Direct Debit.

Cash-Based and Accrual Accounting

The Sage One Online Daily Transaction Course is designed to give you skills relating to cash-based accounting as well as accrual accounting. The difference is that cash-based accounting relates only to money you have in your bank account and money you have spent. Accrual accounting is based on money that is owed to you, and that you owe, even though it may not be in the company bank account at the time of reporting.

Reporting

This is an important time to consider how you want your reports to be generated and what you want them to show.

We include services on the invoice and enter them as stock items in the Sage One inventory and sales reporting to get some excellent information about the performance of the business.

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Announcement: MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks Training Manuals now available for sale

Get hired for data entry and accounts payablereceivable jobs with MYOB, Xero & QuickBooks skills

Finally, after 23 years we’re making our training manuals available for sale! Not the ones we created 23 years ago but our latest versions of course. 

Training manuals are an important learning tool for our courses because they contain the step-by-step exercises that the course is based around. Our first release of training manuals covers credit management, accounts receivable, accounts payable, data entry of quotes, invoices, purchases and payments – all the things that most businesses need. 

Purchase yours now and download them instantly. 

Continue reading Announcement: MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks Training Manuals now available for sale

QuickBooks Online Daily Transactions & Credit Management Training Workbook

Intuit QuickBooks Online Training Course Manual & Workbook - Data Entry, Accounts Receivable & Payable-sml

Customise MYOB item and service invoice forms

Inventory Items: Our Case Study

Our online course case study involves the purchase of numerous Cisco IP phones. We enter the product information as well as the wholesale cost and retail sales price, plus the following accounts in the accounts list:

  • Cost of Sales accounts (to keep track of our product costs)
  • Income Account for tracking sales, and
  • Asset Account for tracking inventory assets.

At the point of creating these inventory items, we also decide whether our prices include or exclude GST when they appear on the purchase order and the invoice. This is an important step when you consider how you present the prices of the products you sell.
For instance, do you show customers the price excluding GST and then show the GST amount as a total for all products/services?

Customer and Supplier Cards

After creating our inventory items, we create suppliers and then purchases of our inventory items. At this stage you can allocate default settings for each card, like:

  • Expense Account
  • Purchase Memo and Comments
  • Supplier Terms and more…

Purchases

The wholesale supplier provides us with ex-GST prices in their price list so we ensure that QuickBooks is setup for us to enter these purchases using the ex-GST price. QuickBooks also enables us to keep track of the entire purchase process of:

  • Quoting
  • Ordering Items
  • Received Items
  • Bills

After the Purchase Order is placed we look at the data entry process of receiving items when they physically arrive in our warehouse, linking this arrival of stock to the Trade Creditors account. Remember that it’s not until we physically receive goods that we owe the money for them.

It’s quite normal in real life that not all inventory items arrive at the same time. Therefore we take you through the scenario of receiving some items and having the remainder placed on back order, and explore the purchase register for evidence of purchases with different statuses like:

  • Open
  • Order
  • Closed

Once you have supplier invoices you have accounts payable and we explore how to pay for these invoices. We explore full and part payments as well as accounts payable reports, vendor payment terms, and ageing periods.

Sales

The first part of the sales process is to offer your products and services for sale. Where a full solution of products and services is required, the first step is usually to provide the prospective customer with a quotation — something which Quickbooks enables you to do. What’s fabulous about this feature in QuickBooks is that you then only need to enter the quotation once and send it to your prospect. When the order is placed the quote can very quickly be converted to an invoice. Our online course will take you through all of these steps in a practical exercise.

This process of being able to quote up front makes things much faster and easier than, say, providing a quote in Word or Excel and then having to re-enter all the data into Quickbooks for invoicing.

When a company sells its products and services the important process of debt collection begins — almost immediately. Every invoice goes out with the selling terms indicated and can include:

  • Prepaid
  • COD
  • Nett 7 days
  • 7 Days after end of month (EOM) etc.

The management of cash flow is integral to the success of any business, large or small. If you have already paid for products, paid your employees and paid all the other expenses relating to a sale, then you naturally want to get your money back as soon as possible.
Quickbooks enables you to set payment term at three levels:

  • System default
  • Customer level
  • Transaction level

Credit Management

This course takes you through payment terms, accounts receivable reports (showing ageing periods) and the sending of monthly statements. However, even after the monthly statement is sent a company can experience difficulty receiving payments from customers and need to resort to actively chasing up money owed. Our Credit Management Guide is included as part of this course.

Creating and Applying Credits

In the event that fewer products were supplied, or the installation took half the time expected, you may want to credit your customer. The course shows you how to create a credit and apply it to the invoice where it should be applied, to or a new invoice.

Receiving Payments and Banking

Payments can be received in one large transaction or bit by bit and Quickbooks helps you keep track of every single payment. The course takes you through several different scenarios.

We introduce the concept of different asset accounts apart from just your bank account. If you want to get into the nitty gritty of bookkeeping you need to create an asset account for every step of the movement of cash. These asset accounts include:

  • Accounts Receivable (money owed to you)
  • Undeposited Funds (money you have that is yet to be banked)
  • Bank Account (cash you have)

We cover the process of receiving payments into the Undeposited Funds account and then move these funds into the bank account on the day they are deposited. This step appears onerous at first glance, but we include it because it helps reduce a lot of time in the bank reconciliation process where all you see is deposits into your bank account.

This concept is also used when you use payment services like PayPal and Direct Debit.

Cash-Based and Accrual Accounting

The Quickbooks Online Daily Transaction Course is designed to give you skills relating to cash-based accounting as well as accrual accounting. The difference is that cash-based accounting relates only to money you have in your bank account and money you have spent. Accrual accounting is based on money that is owed to you, and that you owe, even though it may not be in the company bank account at the time of reporting.

Reporting

This is an important time to consider how you want your reports to be generated and what you want them to show.

We include services on the invoice and enter them as stock items in the Quickbooks inventory and sales reporting to get some excellent information about the performance of the business.

Xero Daily Transactions & Credit Management Training Workbook

Xero Accounting Training Course Manual & Workbook - Data Entry, Accounts Receivable & Payable-sml

The Xero Sales Dashboard: Invoicing, Payments and Quotes
Learn about Xero’s Sales Dashboard, including:

  • Xero Accounting Course – Create New Accounts – Creating Your Chart of Accounts
  • Xero Accounting Course – Create New Accounts – Add Bank Account
  • Xero Accounting Course – Create New Accounts – Add Credit Card
  • Xero Accounting Course – Create New Accounts – Modifying Your Chart of Accounts
  • Xero Accounting Course – Set Up Contacts – Add New Contact
  • Xero Accounting Course – Set Up Contacts – Edit Existing Contact
  • Xero Accounting Course – Set Up Contacts – Merge Duplicate Contacts
  • Xero Accounting Course – Set Up Contacts – Group Contacts
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Create a Sales Invoice
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Navigating the Sales Dashboard
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Create a Draft Sales Invoice
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Email or Print Invoices
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Create a Branding Theme
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Create a Quote
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Accept and Create an Invoice for Quote
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Copy an Invoice
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Receive Customer Payment
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Receive Payment for Multiple Invoices
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Delete an Invoice
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Void an Invoice
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Void Invoice When Payment is Applied
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Overpayments
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Create and Allocate a Credit Note
  • Xero Accounting Course – Sales Dashboard – Statements

Customise MYOB item and service invoice forms

The Xero Beginners’ Essentials (Daily Transactions) Training Course also includes:
The Xero Purchases Dashboard: Supplier Invoices and Payments, Purchase Orders and Remittances
Learn about Xero’s Purchases Dashboard, including:

  • Xero Accounting Course – Purchases Dashboard – Create a Supplier Invoice
  • Xero Accounting Course – Purchases Dashboard – Create a Supplier Payment
  • Xero Accounting Course – Purchases Dashboard – Create a Purchase Order
  • Xero Accounting Course – Purchases Dashboard – Print and Send a Purchase Order
  • Xero Accounting Course – Purchases Dashboard – Create a Bill from a Purchase Order
  • Xero Accounting Course – Purchases Dashboard – Internal Bank Transfers
  • Xero Accounting Course – Purchases Dashboard – Send a Remittance

Inventory Management in Xero
Learn about Xero’s Inventory Management, including:

Creating new inventory items

  • Purchasing inventory items for stock
  • Selling inventory items
  • Running inventory reports general and detailed

Other Transactions in Xero
Learn about Xero’s other transaction options, including:

  • Xero Accounting Course – Other Transactions – Receive Money
  • Xero Accounting Course – Other Transactions – Prepayments
  • Xero Accounting Course – Other Transactions – Spend Money
  • Xero Accounting Course – Other Transactions – Transfer Money
  • Xero Accounting Course – Other Transactions – Process Contra Deal

Expense Claims in Xero
Learn about Xero’s Expense Claims, including:

  • Xero Accounting Course – Expense Claims – Add, Edit and Delete Receipts
  • Xero Accounting Course – Expense Claims – Submit Claim for Approval
  • Xero Accounting Course – Expense Claims – Authorise an Expense Claim
  • Xero Accounting Course – Expense Claims – Pay an Expense Claim

Reports in Xero
Learn about creating the wide range of reports available in Xero, including:

  • Xero Accounting Course – Reports – Balance Sheets
  • Xero Accounting Course – Profit and Loss Statements

MYOB Essentials Daily Transactions & Credit Management Training Workbook

Sales Module

  • MYOB’s Main Command Centre screen,
  • MYOB’s Sales Command Centre screen,
  • sales layouts in MYOB,
  • entering items in MYOB,
  • changing item information in MYOB,
  • changing payment terms in MYOB,
  • entering a service invoice in MYOB,
  • time-billing and printing in MYOB,
  • creating a sales quote in MYOB,
  • creating a sales order in MYOB,
  • converting quote to order in MYOB,
  • converting order to invoice in MYOB,
  • convert order to invoice in MYOB sales register,
  • inserting & deleting lines & headings in MYOB

Finding Transaction Details

  • Sales register,
  • transaction journal,
  • to do list navigation,
  • to do list – AR and AP,
  • intro to statements,
  • intro to find transactions,
  • find transactions in detail,
  • keyboard shortcuts,
  • receive payments and pay bills,
  • custom lists in sales & purchases

Customise MYOB item and service invoice forms

Email and Print Invoices and Statements

  • Printing receipts,
  • print or email an invoice,
  • printing unprinted invoices,
  • emailing or printing statements,
  • email or print activity statements,
  • invoice vs activity statements

Credits, Bad Debts and Reversals

  • Recording a cash sale,
  • entering credits,
  • settling credits and returns,
  • bad debts,
  • deleting payments & sales,
  • reversing transactions,
  • creating a card on the fly,
  • creating an inventory item

Receipts and Part Payments

  • Apply a payment while invoicing,
  • receive payments account,
  • receive payments for an invoice,
  • receive part payments,
  • receive over payments

Purchases Module

  • Receive money and pay bills,
  • creating a purchase,
  • creating a purchase order,
  • converting purchase order to bill,
  • create an item credit,
  • purchases register,
  • settling credits,
  • reverse or edit a purchase,
  • how much do you owe,
  • payment for purchases,
  • analyse payables reports

Banking Module

  • Intro to bank register in MYOB
  • spend money in MYOB
  • receive money in MYOB

MYOB AccountRight Daily Transactions & Credit Management Training Workbook

MYOB AccountRight Training Course Manual & Workbook - Data Entry, Accounts Receivable & Payable-sml

Sales Module

  • MYOB’s Main Command Centre screen,
  • MYOB’s Sales Command Centre screen,
  • sales layouts in MYOB,
  • entering items in MYOB,
  • changing item information in MYOB,
  • changing payment terms in MYOB,
  • entering a service invoice in MYOB,
  • time-billing and printing in MYOB,
  • creating a sales quote in MYOB,
  • creating a sales order in MYOB,
  • converting quote to order in MYOB,
  • converting order to invoice in MYOB,
  • convert order to invoice in MYOB sales register,
  • inserting & deleting lines & headings in MYOB

Finding Transaction Details

  • Sales register,
  • transaction journal,
  • to do list navigation,
  • to do list – AR and AP,
  • intro to statements,
  • intro to find transactions,
  • find transactions in detail,
  • keyboard shortcuts,
  • receive payments and pay bills,
  • custom lists in sales & purchases

Customise MYOB item and service invoice forms

Email and Print Invoices and Statements

  • Printing receipts,
  • print or email an invoice,
  • printing unprinted invoices,
  • emailing or printing statements,
  • email or print activity statements,
  • invoice vs activity statements

Credits, Bad Debts and Reversals

  • Recording a cash sale,
  • entering credits,
  • settling credits and returns,
  • bad debts,
  • deleting payments & sales,
  • reversing transactions,
  • creating a card on the fly,
  • creating an inventory item

Receipts and Part Payments

  • Apply a payment while invoicing,
  • receive payments account,
  • receive payments for an invoice,
  • receive part payments,
  • receive over payments

Purchases Module

  • Receive money and pay bills,
  • creating a purchase,
  • creating a purchase order,
  • converting purchase order to bill,
  • create an item credit,
  • purchases register,
  • settling credits,
  • reverse or edit a purchase,
  • how much do you owe,
  • payment for purchases,
  • analyse payables reports

Banking Module

  • Intro to bank register in MYOB
  • spend money in MYOB
  • receive money in MYOB
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How We Create a Xero Training Course

Tradies paying for project expenses used in online Xero, MYOB & QuickBooks Online Training Courses

MYOB AccountRight, QuickBooks Online and Xero come with job costing and job tracking functions allowing users to develop more accurate budgets and avoid cost blow outs.

I’m excited to be delving deeper into a micro course specifically targeting how you can manage on-the-job costs and track your project. This will be included in all of our Xero, MYOB and Quickbooks online accounting courses.

Continue reading How We Create a Xero Training Course

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Are You Finding Xero’s New Navigation a Pain in the Proverbial?

Xero short courses, training courses updates - new navigation released in November 2018 - Dashboard, Business, Accounting, Organisation

My first thought when a software company changes its navigation (in a significant way) is that there were issues with the previous version.

THIS BLOG POST comes in the wake of Xero promising to improve their navigation in October 2018. Xero has now subsequently released those changes and our online support team are receiving lots of requests for help!

First and foremost, if you’re an EzyLearn student, please note that we’ve already created an update addressing the navigational updates and this is available in all of our online Xero Training Courses.

Continue reading Are You Finding Xero’s New Navigation a Pain in the Proverbial?

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How Does QuickBooks Compare with Xero?

smiling woman using online quickbooks and xero accounting software

ONE WOULD THINK that an accounting software program that is actually developed by accountants would be the best. However, some believe that the user experience is better with QuickBooks and Xero.

We’ve previously blogged about how QuickBooks accounting compares with MYOB. We’ve also done a comparison of all three accounting programs — MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks.

In doing so, it’s interesting to note that QuickBooks, for small business owners, at least, was the clear winner against MYOB in terms of reporting and user experience. But how does QuickBooks stack up against the increasingly-popular Xero? You may be surprised at the results.

Continue reading How Does QuickBooks Compare with Xero?

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Xero, MYOB, ERPs and Supply Chain Tools

man-studying-xero-online

ERPs, or Enterprise Reporting Planning systems, are divided into three categories or tiers. Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and other cloud accounting software used by small businesses, sit at the low end of the scale; they’re tier three ERPs.

Xero is using it’s 3rd party app integrations and its API to climb up the ERP food chain and some good bookkeepers are being dragged up along with it.

Continue reading Xero, MYOB, ERPs and Supply Chain Tools
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The July Launch of Cloud Accounting System, Wiise: What’s in Store for MYOB and Xero?

man thinking wiise accounting software learn study online training courses

Should all good bookkeepers be getting wise to Wiise?

man thinking wiise accounting software learn study online training courses

THIS JULY A NEW ACCOUNTING SYSTEM is attempting to lure Aussie businesses away from the incumbent cloud accounting majors MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks, with the promise of “access to big-end-of-town technology,” according to a report in The Australian Financial Review.

Wiise, which is owned by the deep pockets of KPMG and will operate under a strategic partnership with Microsoft and the Commonwealth Bank, will combine cloud accounting, job costing, workflow scheduling and inventory management, payroll, sales and marketing and customer relationship management into one system.

Pricing hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s understood Wiise will operate a tiered model, costing businesses between $60 and $200 a month.

The software will integrate with all major Australian banks, but added functionality will be given to CBA customers, such as access to working capital and financing options.

Businesses that have outgrown their cloud accounting system

Although Wiise will target SMEs; founders KPMG, Microsoft and CBA say the software isn’t competing with MYOB, Xero or QuickBooks for customers.

Rather, the Wiise software will suit complex businesses that have outgrown traditional cloud accounting systems, because their business operates in more than one location, has a complex supply chain, various legal entities or high transaction volumes.

The Wiise software will suit complex businesses that have outgrown traditional cloud accounting systems.

Wiise will also appeal to businesses that want to use one piece of business software, rather than multiple separate systems or cloud-accounting add-ons.

That said, it’s probably a worry to MYOB, which signalled it would grow market share by pursuing bigger and more complicated businesses; acquiring the enterprise reporting system Greentree in 2016.

What does this mean for bookkeepers?

So while contract bookkeepers should remain competitive by keeping abreast of new technologies, is Wiise yet another cloud accounting system bookkeepers, tax agents and accountants will need to learn how to use? Well, that depends on how quickly it penetrates the market. And if it penetrates the small business market in any significant way.

As a general rule, most small businesses want to spend as little time worrying about compliance as possible, which is as it should be. Simple businesses with straightforward tax and compliance requirements typically stick with simple cloud accounting systems.  

So there’s value in bookkeepers that typically services larger, more complicated businesses learning more about Wiise, but probably not for bookkeepers that look after smaller, straightforward businesses.

***

Who’s Managing Your Business Accounts?

expense apps for self employed peopleIf you’re a business owner trying to decide on an accounting system, speak with your bookkeeper or tax agent to determine the best option for your business.

If you’re looking for a reliable bookkeeper or tax agent to manage your business accounts, visit the National Bookkeeping website to find someone professional, able to work in your office, or remotely,  to suit the needs of your business.

 

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Amazon is Here, But How Do You Get Traffic?

enterprise resource planning systems learn myob xero quickbooks online training course videos

Can you make real money by selling on Amazon?

NOW THAT AMAZON has launched in Australia, one of the hottest work-at-home opportunities is to become an Amazon seller, especially if you become part of the “fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program”, which is due to launch in Australia in 2018, along with Amazon’s “fresh” program.

We have helped hundreds of bookkeepers to find work and launch into business for themselves, and so we wanted to investigate some of the pros and cons of venturing into business selling products on Amazon.

In the FBA program, there are no upfront costs, and sellers don’t hold any stock or have to worry about shipping products to customers — they just have to find items to sell on Amazon.

Continue reading Amazon is Here, But How Do You Get Traffic?
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Why Do You Want Xero and MYOB for Free?

If money is an issue there are alternatives when it comes to accounting software programs

WaveApps Transaction journal in the free accounting software competitors to Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB with receipt scanning built inWE’RE OFTEN ASKED whether Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks software is provided free with our training courses.

Unfortunately, we’re not given free access to accounting software, so we can’t pass free software access onto our students either. However, we do let you know where you can access trial or student versions while you complete our courses.

It made me wonder: Who’s driving the demand for these programs? It turns out, it’s usually someone’s bookkeeper or accountant recommending them. And this is usually because they’ve done a training course and learnt how to use one or more of the major accounting packages.

Does your bookkeeper or accountant disclose whether they’re earning a commission?

Some bookkeepers take a 15 percent cut of the monthly subscription fee because they’re a certified MYOB / Xero / QuickBooks consultant — and that’s why they recommend a particular package. I personally think that bookkeepers or BAS agents who do this should disclose that they are earning an ongoing commission — just as real estate agents need to make these declarations in their agency agreements.

Businesses don’t know any alternatives  

It also happens that a lot of business owners don’t know about alternative accounting packages. Therefore they simply choose the brand name they’ve heard about the most. I discovered this with real estate agents when it comes to who they choose for their social media marketing services — most of them ask what software or which person Joe Blow uses and then assume it’s good enough for them.

Selecting an accounting package to use is often one of the first things a new business owner does. At this stage, however, they may not even be aware of what they require from an accounting package; never mind what sorts of alternatives they should be looking at. When first starting out, they’re just anxious to be able to invoice and get paid by their first client.

Freshbooks, Zoho, WaveApps alternatives to Xero & QuickBooks Online

Three low cost alternatives to the “three brand names”

Zoho, Freshbooks and Wave are three other accounting packages that are either free or very inexpensive.

These three also include many of the same features you’ll find in the three big name accounting packages — MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks.

Zoho: Free invoicing software allows one user, invoice up to five customers; paid subscriptions from $7 U.S. per month; add extra features (expenses, subscription management, inventory management) as required. Pricing for Zoho Books, the complete accounting package, start at $9 U.S. per month for 2 users, 50 contacts, 5 automated workflows.

Freshbooks: Complete accounting software includes unlimited invoices, accept online and credit card payments, multiple devices, reports, payment reminders, notifications when clients have received, viewed, paid invoices; pricing starts at $15 U.S. per month for 5 active contacts (customers).

Wave: Forever free invoicing and accounting software includes unlimited estimates and invoices, generate reports, scan receipts, bank feeds (accounting package), and more; accept credit card and online payments for a fee (1.75 percent for ever 30 cents AUD); payroll $36 AUD per month.

Consider your business needs first

We recommend either Wave or Zoho for small but growing businesses, looking for a cheap or free accounting solution. Wave, in particular, provides a fairly robust accounting package that’s entirely free, and remains so if you don’t intend to take credit card or online payments (lots of businesses do, but many more don’t). In fact, they even have their own smartphone apps to capture receipts and create invoices while you’re at a clients!

If you anticipate you might want to add other productivity apps, like a CRM, inventory management, IT helpdesk, recruitment tools, or collaborate in a team project, Zoho is a good place to start, as these features can be turned on and off as required.

Of course, these accounting packages are rarely used or recommended by accountants or bookkeepers, who prefer to work with Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks because they provide the functionality needed to complete and lodge activity statements. If you’ll be working with a bookkeeper or accountant, it’s best to stick with one of the brand name three.

***

If you need training in MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks, our online training courses will show you how to set up and use various aspects of the software. More importantly, they will take you through detailed case studies where you can enter all the transactions performed by various different business types eg. professional services, trades and even the sale of inventory products. Visit our website for more information or to enrol.

 

Ref: #715

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Best to use your Accountant’s Bookkeeper or hire a junior to save money?

Junior level 1 bookkeepers good cheap local bookkeeping services - Natbooks

What’s Your Bookkeeper Preference?

Recently, I wrote that a lot of bookkeepers are losing out to accountants because business owners prefer the cheapest and easiest way to stay compliant. Rather than employing a bookkeeper AND an accountant to lodge their tax returns and activity statements, many business owners choose to hire an accountant only so they can deal with just one person but are they really getting value for money? When it comes to finding a good bookkeeper at this skill level business owners have the choice of hiring: 

  • Registered BAS Agents,
  • Their accountant’s internal bookkeeper,
  • An external, independent finance manager

Many good bookkeepers these days have trained as qualified BAS agents, which allows them to complete and lodge activity statements for their clients and other BAS services. The skill sets of a BAS agent and an accountant performing BAS tasks are the same, so they usually charge the same, but does your accountant really do your BAS or basic bookkeeping work?

Accountants perform higher level duties, such as financial planning, and their fees for this service are inline with what some experienced finance managers charge but when it comes to basic bookkeeping tasks they often hire a junior bookkeeper and charge them out at a lower rate but this rate is often much higher than if you hired this type of bookkeeper directory – so what are you paying for?

Pay for what you need, not what you don’t

Junior level 1 bookkeepers good cheap local bookkeeping services - NatbooksThink about your business needs. Most micro and sole trader businesses will rarely need the expertise of an accountant. But hiring one means that you’ll need to stay on top of your bookkeeping (reconciling your account, etc) because accountants won’t perform these tasks — they may outsource it, which can be costly because your accountant will be managing the bookkeeper and adding a margin to their rate as a management cost.

These businesses should instead hire a BAS agent, who can also perform bookkeeping work as well as lodge activity statements and in this situation they could just use a tax agent like ITP or H&R Block. Depending on the amount of work to be completed you could directly hire a junior or Level 2 bookkeeper and have that person perform a lot more of the bookkeeping function and office administration work and with cloud-based software like Xero & QuickBooks and Office productivity tools like Google G Suite the work can be done remotely.

If you want someone to manage all of your finances — keep track of inventory, credit management, etc — and also provide financial reporting and planning services, a finance manager is the way to go as this person can also provide guidance to your office admin and junior bookkeeping staff. 

Who does an EzyLearn course?

Lots of EzyLearn students complete an MYOB, Excel or Xero course because these software programs are demanded by employers, but we also receive enrolments from lots of bookkeepers and accountants who want to learn the cloud-based accounting software programs as well as up-skill in MS Office and Digital & Social Media Marketing. If you are a bookkeeper or accountant and need CPD courses check out our Bookkeeping Academy.

Start a bookkeeping business and work from home

Every business needs a good person with numbers and many small businesses and startups are focused on what they do best – and it’s rarely accounting. Learn about the bookkeeping business startup options..

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Accounting Software or ERP System?

enterprise resource planning systems learn myob xero quickbooks online training course videos

Are you BIG enough yet?

I’VE BEEN IN BUSINESS since my early twenties but it wasn’t until my late twenties that I had any clue about how larger companies use and pay for software. I was going through the process of selling a water filter business that I’d been operating in Sydney’s Dee Why when I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of Fountainhead Water Company, Mark Darling.

Fountainhead used a specialised accounting system for the bottled water business which did everything from receipts for each delivery to capturing bottle deposits, tracking rental coolers and more — and Mark was paying hundreds of dollars per month for this software. It was a far cry from purchasing the MYOB software for a couple hundred dollars and NEVER upgrading (no payroll at the time).

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Profitable Businesses Suffer Poor Cashflow

Xero Advanced Certificate Training Course cashflow-forecast-charts-reporting-budgets

Xero Course cashflow-forecast-charts-reporting-budgetsI’VE TALKED ABOUT CASHFLOW on this blog before, particularly as it relates to good credit management processes.

This time, however, we’re going to look at how profit differs from cashflow, even though the two are intimately related.

There is the perception that a profitable business can’t suffer from poor cashflow, but this is incorrect. There are plenty of profitable businesses that don’t have enough money in the bank at a given time to pay their outgoings because cashflow is lumpy.

We’re in business to make a profit, and yet the term ‘profit’ is really just an accounting concept. Profit is revenue minus expenses, but it doesn’t reflect our investment in capital assets, such as equipment or vehicles, nor does it take into account the liabilities we have funding our business (loans and hire purchases).

Cashflow is the true indicator of success

Cashflow, unlike profit, is about timing. Specifically, it’s about having money before you have to pay out money, something not identified by profit. Managing cash flow is one of the most stressful things about running a business, because many variables affect it.

Sure, not earning enough money or not having processes in place to make sure that money flows into your business in a timely fashion are part of it, but there are other factors too, such as:

  • Incorrectly priced products or services
  • High overheads
  • Holding too much stock
  • Large bills (tax bills)
  • Seasonal cycles
  • Large projects
  • Growing pains (putting on more staff, increasing stock levels)
  • Unrealistic forecasts.

P&L reports help determine causes of poor cashflow

Quite a few of the things that adversely affect a business’s cashflow can be determined by running regular Running Multi-Period Profit and Loss Statements], while others can be managed (or avoided) by implementing better processes or procedures for doing business.

Product based business which keep inventory can have their cashflow affected by:

  • incorrectly priced products and services
  • holding too much stock
  • seasonal sales cycles

and this evidence will show up when you run your P&L reports, as well as your inventory sales and stock-on-hand reports. If, for example, you identify that May, June and July is your busiest quarter, while November, December and January is your quietest, and where you struggle to meet your outgoings, you should implement strategies to better plan for that leaner period.

A seasonal period of downturn is common among most businesses. It’s how you manage and plan for that downturn that separates successful businesses from ones that aren’t. For example, it’s unwise for a sole trader to take a holiday March, a seasonally busy period for his business, when he could wait until June when it’s much quieter.  

Your bookkeeper will play a key role in how you plan and manage your cashflow. Ask them to run reports that will help you to identify any inefficiencies in your business that’s causing poor cashflow, and implement strategies to better manage it.

Bookkeeper, BAS Agent or Finance Manager

start a bookkeeping business & find a good bookkeeperIf you’re looking for a reliable bookkeeper to manage your daily or weekly bookkeeping and accounts, either remotely or in-person, Tracey from Rockingham is a highly qualified bookkeeper, who also has the practical experience of having operated her own business in the past. Tracey has a lot of experience in the day-to-day accounting functions of a small business and you can contact her directly as a fully licensed member from her profile page.

Our National Bookkeeping website has recently gone through a significant upgrade so watch out for more stories about featured bookkeepers in forthcoming blogs! Join and we can feature YOU in our articles too. Subscribe and stay tuned to learn about some new members who have moved from the corporate world to focus as Finance Managers for small to medium businesses. 

Learn How to use Xero EzyLearn Online CoursesXero for LIVE data and Accurate Reports

Xero enables business owners and their bookkeepers and financial managers to see what is going on RIGHT NOW and because it’s popularity is growing we’ve created a NEW Xero course which goes through a great example of the business decisions that a business owner makes about buying an investment property, figuring out which products/services provide a better Return On Investment (ROI) and more.

Check it out at Xero Cashflow Course and remember that existing EzyLearn students can get access to this course by just sending an email request to student support.