Does your business accept credit cards? If the answer is Yes, is your company PCI DSS compliant? If your answer is, “What does that mean?” then read on. PCI DSS is short for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. All merchants who accept credit cards for payment are required to follow certain guidelines - the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. The PCI Security Council develops and promotes these global data security standards to support safe transactions for everyone.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a crystal ball to forecast your company’s financial future? Indeed, a crystal ball would give owners of small to midsize businesses a big advantage when making business decisions and developing budgets. Whether you are an entrepreneur just starting a company or you operate an established business, a financial forecast can drive decision-making to contribute to long-term success.

Summer is a great time of year in Wisconsin. Because of the warm weather and longer days, we have more opportunities to spend time on the beach, on the water or at the campground or ballpark. Now that the kids are out of school, it’s the perfect time for road trips and summer vacations. Unless your small business is super-busy in the summer, business owners can use summer downtime to relax and recharge. Everyone needs a break once in a while. Vacations help business owners lower their stress, resulting in a more positive outlook and renewed energy for their work.

For many Wisconsin companies, business demands decrease in the summertime. Here are some ways to take advantage of the summer slowdown to propel your business forward.

Catch Up on Your Bookkeeping

Summer is a good time to tackle the tasks that you have been putting off. Busy business owners often let their bookkeeping slide. Maybe it’s been a few months since you reconciled your accounts. By keeping your accounts up to date, you won’t have the stress of recreating the past 12 months for year-end reports. QuickBooks makes it easy to reconcile accounts. You can set up your books so multiple accounts, like a savings account, checking account, and line of credit, automatically feed into QuickBooks. Reconciling the books is easier when you can see all of your accounts, current balances and the most recent transactions.

Payroll mistakes can cost your business both time and money. Employers who don’t process payroll accurately run the risk of lawsuits, not to mention disgruntled employees who find out they’ve been underpaid. Payroll is a complex and time-consuming business operation. Small businesses may find it daunting to navigate the federal, state, and local payroll regulations. (For an overview, read this article: Internal Revenue Service Understanding Employment Taxes. )Without the proper knowledge, tools, and oversight, payroll errors can crop up in any organization.

Miscalculation of Employees & Contractors

One common mistake relates to misclassification of employees and contractors. Small businesses typically work with both employees and independent contractors. Bookkeepers are responsible for classifying employees and contractors separately. A mistake in classifying employees and contractors can result in overpayment or underpayment to the Internal Revenue Service and misfiled tax forms. Additionally, misclassifications muddy a small business’s bookkeeping records, skewing financial reports.

With graduation photos flooding Facebook this month, I thought I’d take readers back to the first job out of college for Prosperity Bookkeeping owner Kristie Van Pay. Kristie was the office manager for a collision repair center. She answered phones, did the bookkeeping, and kept the office running smoothly. Her reviews were always great - except for one thing, her phone etiquette. As much as Kristie wanted to please her boss, she just wanted to rip her ears off when she had to answer the phone! Phone calls distracted her from what she really loved to do – bookkeeping.

When running a small business, every entrepreneur runs into “pain points,” like Kristie’s phone calls. For many small business owners, their pain points involve financial tasks, leading to stress and frustration. In this article, we explore five common bookkeeping pain points that many small businesses struggle with. Plus, we’ll explain how Prosperity Bookkeeping, an experienced virtual bookkeeper and QuickBooks ProAdvisor, can help alleviate these bookkeeping pain points by utilizing QuickBooks Online.

Bookkeeping Pain Point 1: Time-Consuming Data Entry

One of the most significant bookkeeping challenges for small businesses is the time-consuming task of manual data entry. Entrepreneurs often struggle to maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records, which can lead to errors and delays in decision-making. However, an experienced virtual bookkeeper can streamline this process by utilizing QuickBooks Online's automated features.

By integrating bank accounts, credit cards, and other financial institutions with QuickBooks Online, the bookkeeper can import transactions directly. This significantly reduces the time and effort required for manual data entry, allowing entrepreneurs to focus on their core business activities.

We’ve seen it time and time again. Companies need administrative assistants, but the organization doesn’t have enough work to fill a 40-hour week. So, they assign bookkeeping tasks to “keep them busy.” Bookkeeping shouldn’t just be busy work for employees who aren’t passionate about giving it their all. And bookkeeping shouldn’t be an added burden for small business owners who already have too much on their plates.

Why Outsource Bookkeeping?

Accurate, up-to-date bookkeeping contributes to the success of a small business. Even if you outsource, bookkeeping is an integral part of business operations. Prosperity Bookkeeping works closely with bookkeeping clients. By optimizing the vendor-client working relationship, we maximize the value we provide. Successful vendor-client relationships evolve into partnerships. Thus, bookkeeping becomes a collaborative effort. To achieve that goal, here are 4 tips for having a great relationship with your bookkeeper, Prosperity Bookkeeping.

While bookkeeping may seem like a tedious and mundane task, maintaining a clean set of books plays a critical role in keeping a business afloat. Managing a successful business requires sound bookkeeping. By collecting, recording, and organizing financial information, an organization creates an accurate picture of its fiscal health. Accurate financial data gives small businesses the necessary information to make key investment, operating, and financing decisions. (Small Business Bookkeeping 2023 Guide) Unfortunately, many small businesses commit bookkeeping mistakes which can escalate into major errors and negatively impact the company. To successfully manage a small business, it’s important to avoid these common bookkeeping mistakes.

QuickBooks Online makes running a small business so much easier. This industry-leading accounting software automates business-finance tasks and puts financial statements at your fingertips. QuickBooks Online is a real time saver, offering a range of finance and accounting solutions for small businesses.

Despite all of its advantages, once in a while, QuickBooks Online throws a wrench in your ability to manage a clean set of books. For example, why does QuickBooks show a negative number when you make a deposit in Accounts Receivable? This is a frustrating feature of QuickBooks Online’s default process for recording upfront payments and down payments.

Hey there! Are you considering outsourcing your bookkeeping but worried about the cost? It's a common concern for many business owners, but the truth is, the cost of outsourcing your bookkeeping can vary depending on a variety of factors. In this blog post, we'll go over the real cost of outsourcing your bookkeeping so you can make an informed decision that's right for your business.

Do you need to hire a bookkeeper? Perhaps your bookkeeper quit or your staff is overwhelmed with other responsibilities or isn’t passionate about bookkeeping. Or maybe you no longer have time to do your own books. Whatever the reason you’re looking to outsource your bookkeeping, you need to find the right bookkeeper for our organization.

As a business owner, keeping track of your financial transactions and maintaining accurate records of your income and expenses is critical for success. However, bookkeeping can be a daunting and time-consuming task, especially if you don’t have prior experience in accounting. This is where Prosperity Bookkeeping LLC’s five tips for better bookkeeping come in handy.

New trends in bookkeeping emerge every year. Prosperity Bookkeeping strives to keep up-to-date on the latest bookkeeping compliance, technology, and service trends. Here are a few bookkeeping trends that we see shaping the future of the industry.

1. Remote, Shared Access of Cloud-Based Accounting

Because of its flexibility, scalability, and convenience, cloud-based accounting systems are growing in popularity. With cloud-based accounting, organizations maintain their business financial data online. Thus, business owners can view and track their finances at anytime from anywhere. Businesses can grant access to multiple users who can collaborate remotely online. To ensure the confidentiality and security of the financial data, users can be granted limited authorization. Cloud computing gives Prosperity Bookkeeping and our clients 24/7/365 access to financial data from anywhere in the world.

Business owners thrive on the DIY mentality. Consequently, many small business owners think they should be able to do it all, including keeping their books and financial records. After all, user-friendly software like QuickBooks makes DIY bookkeeping attractive. So, it’s no surprise that business owners find it especially difficult to let go of DIY bookkeeping and hire a bookkeeper, like Prosperity Bookkeeping. Let’s look at 5 reasons why DIY bookkeeping doesn’t work for many small business owners.

Do you really want to spend your precious time on bookwork?

Bookkeepers handle a range of financial activities for a business, from bill payment to payroll and tax filing. All of these business activities take time. Business owners who spend time in the office with DIY bookkeeping aren’t pursuing new accounts, managing employees, or engaging with customers. Bookkeeping takes the boss away from working on business growth. Plus, who wants to spend their nights and weekends playing catch-up when accounting gets put off too long?

As a small business owner, you have so many irons in the fire. Because of this, it is easy to push your bookkeeping to the back burner. We understand, because we’re business owners, too. But be forewarned! “I’ll catch up later” only works for so long.

Dangers of Delayed Bookkeeping

Lackadaisical and delayed bookkeeping can affect a business owner’s ability to:

• Make smart business decisions
• Take advantage for all available tax deductions
• Secure capital for growth
• Catch outstanding receivables, so you’re not leaving money on the table
• Avoid underpaying taxes which can result in costly interest and IRS penalties
• Promptly fix bookkeeping errors that might otherwise snowball and lead to inaccurate tax filings and financial statements

Simple acts of kindness contribute to a more positive, optimistic, and happier community. Many companies set a budget for charitable giving at the start of the year. Philanthropy serves a number of purposes – most importantly, to positively impact the community. At Prosperity Bookkeeping, we support causes in a wide range of areas, including ending poverty (Circles USA - can you spot me in the video?), inclusivity (myTeam Triumph and The Privilege Institute), appreciation for the arts (The Art Garage), and so many more.

Benefits of Charitable Giving

Companies benefit in many ways from donating to charities. First, donations support the mission of the nonprofits that you, your employees, and your customers care about. Second, employees feel good about working for an organization that gives back, so charitable giving is a vital part of the corporate culture. Third, when you give a charitable donation, you affiliate your company with the recipient, opening new avenues for collaboration. And don’t forget, giving to charity is good PR. So, consider sharing donation photos and information on social media, newsletters, and other marketing platforms. From a marketing standpoint, this is a two-way relationship. The charity can also publicize your charitable support, giving your organization recognition and credibility.

Finding immediate and emergency solutions for cash flow issues.

What would you do if you woke up and found out that your business has less than three months left to live?

It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare. When a business is running out of runway and it’s a matter of “take off” or “crash”, what should you do?

The Prosperity Bookkeeping LLC  team wishes you the happiest of holidays this season. May the New Year be filled with joy, health, and prosperity!

With today’s unprecedented labor shortage, small business owners are doing all they can to recruit, hire, and retain quality workers. They’re even becoming more creative in ways to engage workers. An employee bonus is an employment perk that motivates and rewards workers and inspires loyalty. Bonuses come in two general categories: performance-based bonuses, to acknowledge employees for specific achievements, and non-performance bonuses, for general appreciation and goodwill. Here are nine of the most common types of employee bonuses.

As the end of the year draws near, many small business owners are considering bonus pay for their employees. Companies have plenty of good reasons to provide this employment perk. When the company is having a good year, employers have the flexibility to award bonuses; employees share in the wealth. Or on the flip side, employees share in the pain if the company isn’t having a good year and doesn’t issue bonuses.

Unlike employee raises that commit employers to long-term, cumulative expenditures, bonuses are one-time perks. Thus, bonuses are easier to control and introduce in manageable levels. Bonuses come in a variety of forms and can be used in addition to raises to compensate, reward, and retain quality workers.