Cash flow and an entrepreneur community

Sometimes entrepreneurs need community, especially solo entrepreneurs, when it comes to handling tough business questions and decisions like cash flow.

There is a new web site for entrepreneurs based on interviews and business articles generated on the web. It's Runningasmallbusiness.net and just launched yesterday.

Go ahead and browse it to find articles related to business operations and topics like diversity in the workplace; accounting and bookkeeping; marketing and sales; and starting a business. There is also a section for business news.

Runningasmallbusiness.net will also add links to website solutions for small business owners and growing enterprises. It features my writings (Don Simkovich) and will contain interviews with business owners. A forum will be up and improved for entrepreneurs to connect in community and learn from each other.

Online business articles to help entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs who want to learn from the experiences of others can log on to a resource of links for small business owners -- a full listing of business articles.

Each one is completely free of charge but offers valuable resources and input on starting a business, accounting and bookkeeping, marketing, real life lessons, and there are a few articles dealing with international business.

Click here to read the full small business article listing.

Among the entrepreneurs featured are accountant Jackie David of Your Back Office, an accounting and bookkeeping firm in La Canada Flintridge. She serves businesses from Glendale and Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles.

Jason and Rodney Carr of Softline Home Fashions is also mentioned with a link to their article discussing real life business lessons of entrepreneurs.

Bookkeeping and your 2011 tax return

Here are the transactions you need to be aware of in order to file your 2011 small business tax return:

Cash transactions - these are items purchased will cash. Cash receipts are the only proof you have of the expense your business incurred. Separate them out and put them in similar categories, such as parking, fuel, and office supplies. Total each category.

Credit Card Transaction – collect all of your statements for the year. You will need to categorize each transaction by expense, same idea as the cash receipts. Total each category.

Bank Account Transactions - Collect bank statements the way you did the credit card records. Review the bank statements then categorize checks and debit transactions and get a total for the categories. Also, go through and categorize deposits that are income vs loans.

Business transactions paid by personal accounts. Sometimes, we forget the business credit/debit card and use our personal cards. Go through your personal credit card and bank statements and categorize the business transactions, and then total those up by category.

At this point an excel spreadsheet can be helpful. You can get a list of the categories you've created and enter the figures to come up with the grand totals.

Accountant Jackie David, who provides bookkeeping and accounting help around La Canada, California and Glendale, California will send a free the template she uses for anyone who signs up for her blog or contacts her through email. Log on to Jackie's accounting blog Technoccountant's Perspective.

Glendale-La Canada accountant focuses on helping web designers and ad agencies

Jackie David is principal of her accounting firm, Your Back Office, serving La Canada, California and helping small businesses with their bookkeeping and accounting in the greater Glendale area.

Her specific niche is working with web design companies and small advertising agencies.

She works with small businesses in the area with revenues of less than three million dollars, and while she handles the bookkeeping for companies in a variety of industrie, she especially enjoys helping creative service companies.

“I take care of the finances and let them do what they do best,” she told me. “They don’t want to worry about accounting.”

Jackie provides a transaction-based pricing system so companies only pay for the specific amount of work needing accomplished.

She helps companies with their unique needs that include pricing to maximize profits and offering cloud computing and cloud accounting solutions. Contact Jackie through her LinkedIn page or her blog, Technoccountant's Perspective.