Picking a Credit Card Processor

When you are starting a business, most likely you will need to consider taking credit card payments.  While there are a bevy of options at your disposal, some types better than others. The first thing you need to do is assess your business needs:

1.  Will you need a point of sale (POS) system?

2.  Do you expect frequent or infrequent use of credit card processing?

3.  What is the average sale you expect?

4.  What are your annual sales?

Many businesses get trapped into a traditional credit card processor which at times can be a mistake.  Traditional processors tend to be clunky and the fees they charge are hard to understanding even for the most experienced individuals.  If you don’t expect frequent use of the processor, you may want to stay away from the traditional processor; they charge you monthly fees whether or not you use the service and often require a multi-year contract.  Those fees can cost you up to $700 per year even if you don’t use the processor each month.

Alternatively, if your business is mobile, or requires infrequent credit card processing, think about using PayPal or Square for your credit card processing.  The fees as a percentage of the charge tend to be more than a traditional processor, but they also have options that don’t cost you anything monthly.  Both providers have options that allow you to charge cards in a mobile setting (using mobile phones and tablets).  Both have simple calculations for fees taken out of each charge.  Lastly, both provide an option that allows you to disburse money as well. With all these benefits, it’s no wonder why these services are becoming more popular by the day.

Research these services on your own to see what makes sense for your business. There are various calculators online that will help you with your decision.

dbbmckennon is a full service CPA firm with offices in Orange County and San Diego focused on providing quality accounting and consulting services at reasonable rates. For additional complimentary information regarding this topic or other questions you may have please call one of dbbmckennon‘s offices located in Southern California or contact us here.

Three Accounting Related Technologies for the next Ten years

Here are three services that will revolutionize accounting over the next ten years. 1.  Bill.com (www.bill.com) – Bill.com takes over your payable and receivable functions in a cloud setting.  Bill.com is billed as the “No-check” CEO software.  Why…because you can pay vendors by check, ePayment, or PayPal without ever touching a piece of payer.  Bill.com take over all the back of the house work….cutting checks, stuffing envelopes, mailing payments, etc.  It also tracks receivables, sends invoices (both by mail or email) and gives your customers online access to pay bills.  Best of all, it integrates with most major accounting software.

2. Xero (www.xero.com) – Xero is simple and functional accounting software that allows you to add functionality as your business grows.  Best of all, Xero is ever evolving.  Whereas many software companies are slow to update features, Xero releases new functionality each month and allow developers to add on their own programs.

3.  Square (www.square.com) – Square is the easy breezy payment processors for retail and businesses who need on site credit card processing.  For about $250 plus an iPad, you can set up everything need to set up a storefront.  With Square, there are no hidden fees, and not complicated processes.  Swipe a credit card, and receive your money next day.

With our fast paced technological world, its vital businesses are up on current trends.  Check out these services to see if they can help your business, or speak with a trusted accounting advisor.

dbbmckennon is a full service CPA firm with offices in Orange County and San Diego focused on providing quality accounting and consulting services at reasonable rates. For additional complimentary information regarding this topic or other questions you may have please call one of dbbmckennon‘s offices located in Southern California or contact us here.

Think an Outsourced Accounting Department is Too Expensive…THINK AGAIN

Growing companies always have big dreams. Part of those dreams is growth, success, and maybe some wealth as well. There are two kinds of business owners when it comes to their thoughts on their back office accounting: 1) owners who want to hire accountants before there is a significant need, and 2) owners who won’t hire until they are absolutely forced to do so. Rarely does a business hire individuals for their accounting needs at exactly the right time. How to solve this dilemma…outsource the accounting function and back of the house processes. Think about this cost breakdown, a CFO costs between $100,000-250,000 depending on the size of the Company and location (let’s assume its $150,000 for this example). An accountant to do the day to day work will cost $35,000-50,000 (let’s assume $40,000 for this example), your tax preparer another $2,000 and so on. If you follow that model and assumptions, the cost incurred by your company would be $192,000 plus employer taxes, plus benefits, plus 401K, plus the hardware necessary for the individual to do their work, plus increased office space required, plus, plus, plus. With all those pluses, your fees are sure to be close to $250,000 per year for those two employees. That’s a significant cost to incur when you’re still in the growth phase of your business.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can use an outsourced accounting department with experienced accountants and CFO types at a fraction of the cost (let’s assume $5,000 per month). If you compare that to the above scenario, it’s a $190,000 savings. Think of having all your back office, accounting and year tax needs taken care of each month for about the same price as that staff accountant. That also means no training, no benefits that need be paid, or extra costs incurred.

In the above example, we used $5,000 as a base amount, but generally such services start at $500 and go up depending on the size and complexity of your operations. In the end, it costs you not to consider having an outsourced accounting department.

dbbmckennon is a full service CPA firm with offices in Orange County and San Diego focused on providing quality accounting and consulting services at reasonable rates. For additional complimentary information regarding this topic or other questions you may have please call one of dbbmckennon‘s offices located in Southern California or contact us here.

dbbmckennon Invests in the Future

Albert Einstein once said “I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.”  But here at dbbmckennon, we are always focused on the future.  Whether it’s our clients, our practice, or technology, it is our business to help make the future as bright as possible. On the technology front, we are pleased to announce that we have invested in an upgraded and cutting edge, back-of-the-house cloud based system.   Not only will this system allow us to work more efficiently on our clients, but it will grant clients the access to information they desire. 

With the new cloud based system, each tax and audit client may elect to have access to our cloud portal with their own unique username and password.  This will grant tax clients access to all their files that dbbmckennon has received or generated on their behalf; including completed and filed tax returns; and allow for audit clients to transfer files seamlessly without using email.   Here is a little more information about the system to answer questions and concerns:

Q:  On the cloud platform, will other clients have access to my information?

A:  No.  Each user will have access to their files only through a unique username and password.  Think of the cloud as a commercial storage center.   All clients have access to the security gate but each client has their own lock and key to their individual storage unit.  No one, other than yourself and your CPA can access your information.

Q:   Does dbbmckennon know my username and password?

A:  No.  The username and password you choose are yours and yours alone and administered by the cloud provider.

Q:  Is the cloud secure?

A:  Yes. Our cloud is run by a highly regarded national organization. Please contact us for the link to our providers security measures.

Q:  How can this benefit me as a client?

A:  Unprecedented access and reliability!  Having access to your tax returns anytime and anywhere will give you the freedom of mobility.  Often times clients need two years of tax returns for home loans.  In the past, if you lost or misplaced those returns, you would have to call your CPA and have the returns faxed over.  With the cloud platform, you can access up to three years of tax returns at any given time without waiting.  In addition, in preparation for tax season, you can upload pertinent information such as W-2’s, 1099’s, and other forms which we will need for tax preparation.  Thus you can build the file as you go instead of trying to find all documents at the last minute.  Audit clients can also build their audit file electronically on the cloud instead of sending documents via multiple emails (which are restricted by size) or snail mail.

Q:  What else will change once dbbmckennon switches over to the cloud platform?

A:  Not much else will change.  dbbmckennon is still committed to the highest quality of service.  As we implement the cloud platform, you will notice that paper will become less prevalent.  Tax clients will be allowed to upload information onto the cloud for tax preparation and download returns when complete.  This is good for everyone and good for the environment.

Q:  Can I still opt for paper returns and/or provide tax or audit information in paper form?

A:  Absolutely.  We can print and provide you with returns, financial statements, etc, or you can access them through the cloud portal and print/download them anywhere you have an internet connection and a printer.  You can also provide all your tax and audit documents to us in paper form.  We will create an electronic copy for our electronic system and return the paper documents to you.  All electronic documents are stored on the cloud for a period of time that meets or exceeds state and federal mandated retention requirements for CPA’s.

If you have more questions about our system and how it will benefit you as a client, don’t hesitate to contact us today.

Time Management and Small Businesses

As a small business owner your job description is likely, President, CEO, Chairman of the Board, Receptionist, Janitor, HR Manager, Payroll Manager, and Salesman.  To complete all these functions, one must be a master of time management or have the ability to function on little sleep.  Whether you live to work, or work to live, you can probably start with these basic principles and suggestions to start living more and working less.

1. Delegate – Being lazy isn’t always a bad thing.  You hire employees to do work, so let them earn their paycheck.  When looking to delegate, ask “can someone else do 60% of this project”?  If the answer is yes, then try delegating the project.  If you only need to be a part of 40% or less of the total project time, then it is likely going to be beneficial to delegate the work.  Make sure to build in time to check-in, answer questions, and review along the way.  In addition, require a deadline for delegated work that gives you enough of a buffer to correct anything that was done wrong before the actual deadline arrives.  This will ensure success and timeliness of any project delegated.
2. Consolidate – If you have multiple businesses you may have multiple professionals you consult with for each company.  Instead of using multiple lawyers, CPA’s, insurance agents, PR firms, etc… use the same for all companies you own.  Try to find professionals who have close relationships with each other.  If you lawyer needs a tax return, wouldn’t it be easier if they called or emailed your CPA directly?  If you have a good relationship with a professional, ask for references to professionals they know and trust.  Creating a close network of advisors will save you time and anxiety.
3. Automate – Let technology work for you.  Eliminate paper time cards and reports and implement an electronic time tracking system that your payroll manager can efficiently review.  Leverage your workforce to create templates that will streamline processes.  Download financial transaction from your credit card companies and banks into your financial reporting system.  Anything that will save your employees time, will allow you to shift more responsibility to them and off of you.
4. Outsource – Tired of being on the phone with your IT guy every week about terms you don’t understand?  Server crashed?  Virus infiltrated your employee’s computer causing your system to crash?  Having to pay for new servers and firewalls?  Why deal with this headache and ultimately the associated expense.  Look into cloud computing. By outsourcing much of your technologic needs, you can reduce risk to your business, save money, and increase efficiency.  No more lengthy calls to the IT guy is like Christmas in July.
5. Stay Organized – A little up-front work will save you time down the line.  Clean work areas correlate to organized minds.  Being able to find something quickly will reduce frustration and inefficiency.  Create a filing system that is easy for both you and the people who assist you.  Try to end each day by organizing your desk, paperwork, email, etc.  This will help you start the next day smoothly.

With these tips, make sure that your time away from work is equally as important as your time at work.  Allowing yourself a little time off at night or on the weekends will help you to focus on work when the time comes.

At DBBM, we work with many small business owners who benefit from a few of these tips.  As trusted friends and advisors, we want to make all of our clients’ lives easier.

What’s the Cloud?

Cloud computing is Internet - ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing"). In concept, it is a paradigm shift whereby details are abstracted from the users who no longer need knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them. It typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources as a service over the Internet. The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams and is an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it conceals. Typical cloud computing services provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.

These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that is often used to represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams." (source wikipedia)

Why be in the Cloud?

The whole point of having a wireless enterprise infrastructure is to increase mobility, reliability, security, reduce hardware and IT consulting costs, and ultimately your software licensing costs. Yet for many enterprises, they use wireless LANs (WLANs) that require an on-site server(s) which occupy space, require field maintenance and repair, and can be stolen.

dbbmckennon and their preferred IT networking vendor is now aiming to change the wireless management paradigm with a new cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering.  Can you imagine reducing your hardware costs by about 50% alone?  IT consulting costs too?  dbbmckennon will join this vendor to ensure client transitions seamlessly with integrity and security. 

Benefits of the Cloud!

• Improve company performance – Applications run real time and give your entire management team the ability to quickly view, understand and take action to respond to changing business conditions.  Improves effectiveness and efficiencies in the organization.
• Allows remote access – at high speed from anywhere in the world.
• Dramatically reduce IT and operating costs – Reduce your costs of servers and desktop computers, and probably printers.  You maintenance costs for computers and servers is substantially eliminated.  You will not need an air conditioned, dedicated server room once on the cloud.
• Reliability – In today’s data centers are extremely reliable.  These are the same data centers that fortune 100 companies utilize.  No more rebooting your company server and server downtime, as well as costly IT field maintenance.  A reliable internet connections can be found anywhere if your primary connection fails.  Back ups are imagined real time, thus no tape, disk or on-line back is needed.
• Security – Secure networks on offices are generally much more vulnerable to damage and theft. Redundant systems and data encryption protect data from loss and intruders.  The cloud greatly reduces documents sent via email, which are often not secure.  Netbooks, not  laptops, will be used by sales and field personnel; Netbooks have no confidential data stored on them if lost!
• Going Green – The cloud reduced paper, postage and handling costs.  Since you documents and files are maintained electronically, storage space is greatly reduced.

Please contact us if you have any questions or would like additional information.