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The importance of internal controls in accounting systems for small business.

 

Internal controls protect a company from fraud and also allow a company to be in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or more often referred to as GAAP. 

What is internal control?

Overall, it a process implemented by a company’s Board of Directors and Management, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding objectives in the following areas:

1.       Effectiveness and efficiency of operation in the business

2.       Reliability of Reporting

3.       Compliance with applicable rules, laws, and Regulations governed by GAAP, FASB, and GASP

Accounting systems provides businesses with a uniform way to use a company’s data and financial information to strategize in the areas listed above.

There are four key elements of implementing internal control:

1.       1.Environmental control

2.       2.Risk Assessment

3.       3. Control Procedures

4.       4.Monitoring  of all of the above – the overall system

The reason these issues are so important is that it ultimately protects the company from fraud and collusion.   In addition to criminal injuries, good internal control is necessary to inform the management of abuses or inconsistencies vis a vie over-production, poor production, or inadequate production by both personnel and equipment.  For example, manufacturing production controls must be stringently adhered to.  If a machine is off by 5% in making a product, the ramifications of this downturn could be a disaster.  Simiiarly with people.  People in an organization need to know what is expected of them up front.  This comes with good controls.  It then becomes easier to monitor their commitment, production and success at their job.  Numbers do not only belong in the front office.  For a business to run successfully, all employees need to know production numbers, reality of achieving those numbers and  can contribute mightily to enable production to increase based on their input.

In short, we could write pages about internal controls.  Suffice to say that this is just a snippet  of information  about running a business.  If you are a small business owner, an example of internal controls would be the issuance of a purchase order to your supplier, a receiving ticket created by you when product is received, and matched to an invoice when received.  Although internal controls can sound sophisticated and overly-complicated, the bottom line is that you must know your business, understand all facets of your business, and in general ALWAYS control the money.  Start with that and then we can go to using GAAP and FASB.  Good luck!

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Internet Marketing Crap!!!!!

Let me first start out and say that I am an internet marketer. Fairly new. That seems to be the problem. I am also a business coach and a dyed-in-the-wool entrpreneur. I have built two relationships with some internet experts online. I have paid for their packages and even looked at who they recommended. But what is going on with the push, push, push!!! Being fairly well-educated, I know how to read. If I don’t buy something at the original price of $399. how can it be reduced to $49.? This is a con and I for one am getting a little tired of being pushed into buying more and more and more on this subject. Instead of talking to me as an intelligent person and selling as an intelligent person with a legitimate product, I am getting inundated with crap. How do I know it’s crap? I don’t know for sure, but the example above gives me a clue. If a product is legitimate, it should have a legitimate price, maybe a sale, but that’s it. Who are we kidding here. Just get enough suckers to click on a site and give them a crap ebook that doesn’t really show them anything because you have to be an expert anyway.

Luckily I think I have found some good resources, but it wasn’t easy. Yes I would like to make money on the internet. Yes as much as I can. But don’t throw stupid numbers at me that a new person could NEVER hope to achieve in the beginning. I know business and I am prepared to LEARN the internet business. I don’t expect miracles but I resent these get rich schemes that prey on anyone that expresses an interest in learning this industry. Vultures is too kind of a word. So for those of you who are interested in this business, let me give you some legitimate resources that offer a real product for a fair price. No I’m not an affiliate and get no money for this. I just want you to have good resources.

FYI

www.thirtydaychallenge.com

This course if free given by Ed Dale and Dan Ranies and is truly a gift. They are giving back to the internet community in an most honorable way.

WordPressDirect.com

Run by fair people for a very fair price. Great source for finding key words.

TrafficGeyser.com

Again, very fair price and tremendous information about using video and audio on your sites.

With these 3 sites, you can begin to understand what’s going on in the internet world and start your business with confidence. Also, when you start getting billions of offers for other products, be careful what you buy. You might not need it. Inform yourself first by reading blogs. Happy Holidays Lorna

 

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David Silverman Typo “Advice for Starting a Business”

“What is the number one piece of advice for anyone starting their own business?” Interview with David Silverman about his new book “Typo”. Published by Softskull Press.

Duration : 0:1:53

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Business Profitability: Starting up…

http://www.MillionaireAssetAccelerator.com
http://www.Loral.TV

Loral Langemeier’s Strategies - Part 3

Building your own business is one way of starting up business profitability. It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is from the start. What’s important is that how well you maintain achieving your business profitability goal. If you are going to build your own, you must have skills and an idea matched. It is important that your ideal business fits the skills you possess so that you can definitely perform whatever function you have to do. But before starting your business, you must first really decide if you would like to build it, buy it, or partner it.

Duration : 0:3:33

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What is a Billion?

Someone sent this to me and it was too good not to pass on.

 

 

How many zeros in a billion?


 
This is too true to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the

word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about

whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending

YOUR tax money.


A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
but one advertising agency did a good job of

putting that figure into some perspective in

one of it’s releases.



A.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age.


D.

A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E.

A billion dollars ago was only
8 hours and 20 minutes,
at the rate our government
is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain…
let’s take a look at New Orleans
 It’s amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator,

Mary Landrieu (D)
is presently asking Congress for
250  BILLION DOLLARS
to rebuild New Orleans   Interesting number…
what does it mean?

A.

Well… if you are one of the 484,674 residents of  New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child)
you each get $516,528.

B.

Or… if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets  $1,329,787.


C.

Or… if you are a family of four…
 your family gets  $2,066,012.

Washington, D. C

< HELLO! >
Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax

Building Permit Tax

CDL License Tax

Cigarette Tax

Corporate Income Tax

Dog License Tax

Federal Income Tax < BR>Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge
taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge
Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax


STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?


Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago…
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.


We had absolutely no national debt

We had the largest middle class in the world…
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?
Can you spell ‘politicians!’

I hope this goes around the
USA
at least 100 times

What the HELL happened?????

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What’s a good business for a tween to start, not lemonade stand?

My friends and I want to start a business but we don’t know what to start with. We already got permission from our parents, but we just don’t know what to do. It has to be something that makes enough money not like 25 cents. O and we’re 11 year olds
we're tween girls

For boys, you could mow lawns, rake leaves, or other household tasks for neighbors.

For girls, babysitting, cleaning, doing errands for parents and neighbors.

Either way, just be creative, ask if there is anything you can do around the house to earn a few bucks and sooner or later it will add up.

powered by Yahoo Answers

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Create A Successful Small Business Together With A Business Coac

By Morris Mann

Coaching Is For Champion Athletes And Successful Small Business Owners As Well

You may have played on a sports team and had a coach. But, that may not help you understand how coaching can help in business. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, or the CEO of your company, the focus, goal orientation and strength building of a coach is invaluable.

You may be surprised to know that not only great athletes like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods had coaches. Not only great singers, great actors, or other great artists had coaches. But,CEOs and great business leaders like Michael Dell, Meg Whitman, and Scott McNealy used coaches to reach success.

WHAT IS SMALL BUSINESS COACHING ?

Many people try to explain the coaching process by explaining what it is not. It is not therapy, as there little emphasis on your past, or your psychological profile. It is not business consulting, because the relationship is a collaborative one. The business coach has expertise, but worked with you as a partner to apply what will work best for you.

The executive and small business coach is there to help you set extraordinary goals, and to make you accountable to accomplish them by building on your strengths.

THE REALITY OF COACHING IS DIFFERENT FROM THE MYTHS

MYTH: Coaching is for washout, weak figures who can’t make it on their own.

REALITY: It is just those executives with the profiles of champions and a track record of success that understand and maximize the benefits of coaching.

MYTH: Coaching starts by identifying your weaknesses and filling in the gaps.

REALITY: Coaching encourages you to declare a powerful future, of what is possible and predictable based on your strengths. It is there to give you the clarity, power, and velocity to reach your goals.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN EXECUTIVE SMALL BUSINESS COACH ?

•    Business Expertise - A coach should quickly understand what it’s like to be in your place. You should have a coach with business experience of running and /or starting a small business to be able to understand your challenges.

•    Professional Training - In addition to business experience, a coach should have training in how to help people make positive change in their lives. Such training is from Psychology, Coaching, Social Work or HR programs.

•    Encouragement and Support - Your coach is your partner. You must feel that in addition to understanding your situation, that your coach recognizes your strengths and uses them to build your business success

•    Goal Oriented - The purpose of the coaching partnership is to get results. One of the key strategies for making that happen is for your coach to collaborate with you to set challenging yet realistic goals, while holding you accountable as well

HOW DO YOU HIRE A SMALL BUSINESS COACH ?

It is not essential to be geographically close to your coach. Most coaching is done by telephone. That opens up the possibilities for you. You can check for coaching online, and it is advisable to review a coach’s website to get a sense of whether you feel the coach’s background matches your needs. Do not hire a diet or spiritual life coach if you are looking for strategic business planningand growth or ways to find money for your business startup.

In almost all cases, a coach should offer you a free consultation to make sure that you both feel it can be a successful and productive relationship.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE ?

It is really different for everyone, and depends on your long term goals. It is not therapy and will not take years of sessions. On the other hand it is not an advice program. I like to compare it to dieting or physical fitness. You can hear a lecture about what to do, but it takes months of practice to change old habits and establish new ones.

Small Business Coaching is the follow through on insuring you do your best. It is helping you develop real optimism and achieve extraordinary goals. It is a collaborative effort developing a vision and making it happen.

Morris N. Mann

Executive and Family Business Consultant/Coach

Investing in Human Capital

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Morris_Mann
http://EzineArticles.com/?Create-A-Successful-Small-Business-Together-With-A-Business-Coach&id=689973

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How can you start a business from your home?

I’m pregnant and will be giving birth in a couple of weeks and I’m not working but my husband is. Me and my husband want to start a business working from the comforts of our home. So we can relocate anywhere but having trouble on how can you make money from your home just by using a computer and internet you know. I want to know if anyone knows how you can do that??

Hi Serena,

One of the things that you will need to be aware is that the internet business is a real business which will requires you to put in the time, effort and money to grow the business. If you are looking for a model that will enables you to get rich quickly, I will have to tell you that this model is not for you.

Before I explain to you the simple system which you can use, you must always be aware of the Time vs Money rule. If you are not going to have a lot of money to invest into your business, you will have to invest your time into the business. It will still be possible to start a profitable online business but it will takes more time if you are on budget.

Here is the simple system which will only requires you to invest US$50 monthly to build your own business. You will have to do some steps first before you even start to build your website. Please do follow the system below:

1) Find a profitable market that you want to base your business in

This is important as you will want to decide on the market that you want to base your business in. You will want to be in a market where people are willing to spend money.

2) Find a profitable affiliate product

If you are just starting out and you do not have your own product, you can start to promote other people’s product first. You will earn a certain percentage of the sales whenever a customer purchased through your affiliate link.

3) Build your own website which will be a squeeze page.

This is the step where you will be spending the US$50. Below are average cost and the tools that you need.

-> Domain name: This will cost you around US$10 yearly

-> Hosting account: This will cost you around US$10 monthly

-> Autoresponder Account: This will cost you around US$20 monthly

This will enable you to build your own website and you can also start to build your own list of subscribers. Building your own list is very important as it will ensure that you will be able to follow up with your customers if they do not purchase the product when they see it for the first time.

4) Start writing and submitting articles daily

Once you have your website, the next thing that you will have to do is to let people know your website so that you can promote the product to them. You will want to write articles that are related to the market that you have chosen. You will submit the articles to the top article directories which will drive you traffic. This method is call article marketing.

One of the thing that you need to know is that the traffic from article marketing will be gradual in nature. You will have to write and submit articles consistently so that you will get a constant flow of traffic coming to your website. As you are on a budget, you will have to invest your time to get the traffic to your website.

5) Add more email message to your autoresponder to promote 2nd or more product.

You will want to promote the 2nd or more products to your subscribers who have already join your list. This will ensure that you will be able to leverage on your list and earn more from them. This will be the main reason why you put putting in effort to build a list and build a good relationship with them.

This is the simple method which you can use. But you must know that as this is a real business, you will have to be patience and give it some time to grow.

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what do you need to start a housecleaning business in texas?

i am wanting to start a business in texas. i need to know what kind of things i need ( licenses and insurance wise) to start a business. do i need to be bonded and insured? do i need a dba?

Use this basic checklist to make sure all the important steps are taken before you launch your new venture. This business checklist will make sure that you cross all your t’s and dot all your i’s before your business launch.

Steps to Starting a Business -
http://www.developer-resource.com/starting-a-business.htm

Other sites you might find helpful are:
SBA - http://www.sba.gov/
SCORE - http://www.score.org
Small Business Resource - http://www.small-business-software.net
Business Link - http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home

Goodluck!

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How can I start a business with my designs?

We live in Denver. My daughter is very talented when it comes to making designs. I was suggesting her to start her own business, putting her designs on t-shirts, mugs, notebooks, etc. Her friends at school (she is a senior in HS) love what she draws. My question is, what are the steps to do this? Copyright? Publisher? Brands of things? I have no idea where to start. Anybody can give us some advice? Thanks!

I have a business I work from home and one of the places I market is myspace. Now you have to be careful how you approach people there no thanks to spamers everyone is sensitive. Anyway one of the ladies who requested me as a friend makes baby clothes and such. She markets her stuff on myspace and seems to be doing quite well. I post bulletins for her or copy and paste the ones she post and she said it seems to be helping her out. If you have a myspace look me up I would be happy to help you by posting bulletins and such. The other guy gave some great advice too.

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