Cash Basis Accounting: The Missing Numbers

Cash basis accounting is used by a large percentage of small businesses. It is used because it is simple to understand and requires very basic record keeping skills to maintain. It also allows a company to pay taxes based only on revenues collected rather than on the full amount of revenues billed.

In cash basis accounting, deposits from sales or services are recorded as revenue. Checks and other forms of outgoing cash are recorded either as cost of goods sold or operating overhead expense. The net results determines the company’s profit or loss. A very simple system, as stated above.

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Tags: Bank Accounts, Cash Balance, Cash Basis Accounting, Cash Position, Checks, Critical Number, Current Assets, Desperate Need, Financial Position, Financial Statements, Overhead Expense, Payables, Point In Time, Profit And Loss, Profit And Loss Statement, Profitability, Receivables, Relationship, Small Businesses, Vendor Invoices

Inflation: Your Silent Enemy

Inflation is the rising price of goods. I call it “your silent enemy” because it is not easy to keep track of in your business and it’s not easy to reflect in your financial statements but it’s a reality you face every day when you buy goods and services to run your business.

Simply put, things cost more today than they did yesterday and they cost more yesterday than they did the day before.  That’s inflation. If you don’t occasionally consider the impact of inflation on your business, you’ll watch your profitability erode without even realizing it.

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Tags: Assets, Certificate Of Deposit, Deposit Banks, Difficult Times, Financial Statements, Fyi, Impact Of Inflation, Interest Savings, Money, Profit Margin, Profitability, Savings Account, Silent Enemy

Don’t Believe the Fixed Cost Lie

Everyone loves to quote fixed costs when trying to get investors to invest or when trying to predict potential profitability. That’s because fixed costs seem nice and predictable. Since they aren’t impacted by customer fluctuations, they make for easy calculation. Unfortunately, many costs that we called “fixed” aren’t actually fixed.

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Tags: Accounting, Accuracy, Bookkeeping, Cost Of Living, Currency Fluctuation, Economic Assumptions, Fixed Cost, Fluctuations, Inflation, Investors, Mongolia, Office Space, Period Of Time, Profitability, Quote, Staff Increases, Staff Salaries, Telephones