Branding your Invoices
November 10, 2008 by Kylie Short · 1 Comment
Why customise your invoices?
Customising invoices is something a lot of small business owners neglect to do, not realising the opportunity for what it is. Customised invoices are an excellent opportunity to brand your business. Just as you would have brand consistency between your business cards, letterheads, marketing materials, website and more, you also need to brand your invoices.
As a bookkeeper and small business owner, it has gotten to the point where I can tell you exactly what software that business is using to maintain their books. For me, I find this sad and boring too. Why not take the time to add your logo? Why not take the time to add your website details? Why not take the time to get rid of that ugly Times New Roman font and use the font from your logo or the style guide for your business?
Lets think about the purpose of an invoice. It’s to ensure you get paid promptly and on time. If your invoice stands out from the others and is easily recognisable, it stands to reason that you will be paid more promptly. I have a client who has designed her invoices to look like a utility bill. The idea behind her reasoning is that if it looks like a bill it will be paid more promptly to ensure services are not disconnected.
To customise your invoices you simply do the following:
MYOB
• Click on Sales and then Print/Email Invoices
• Click on Advance Filters and then on Customise
• You can now edit the invoice and save with a new name
QuickBooks
• Click on Lists and then templates
• High light the form you wish to customise and then right click and edit
• Make your changes and save
The bonus with each software package is that you can have multiple invoice templates for the same business. For example, Tilda Virtual Services is a sole trader. But I also own Tilda Hosting. I have a separate website, branding and domain for hosting to the virtual assistance website. For income tax purposes, my accountant will lump all my income together regardless of which trading name earned it and for that reason I also decided to keep the records for both in the same data-file in QuickBooks. Through using two invoicing templates and classes (talking about classes is a discussion for another day…) I’ve managed to cut down my bookkeeping time and have everything together for the accountant.
So think about your invoices and how they represent your business. Can they be modified to suit the brand you’ve built for your business or do they need a total makeover?
First published in the Business Mums Network Magazine. Click here for more details!
Personal Development
August 29, 2008 by Kylie Short · 2 Comments
As you all know by now, one of my objectives in business is to continually undergo training and personal development. Well, this is just a quick note to say that I’ll be unavailable Monday and Tuesday 1-2 September as I have AAPB coming here to assess my skills in bookkeeping. This is particularly important for me as under the new regulations about to be passed by the Australian Government, if I wish to continue to provide bookkeeping services, I’ll need to pass a minimum level of competency in order to gain my BAS (Business Activity Statement) Service Provider accreditation and number.
Wish me luck!
Getting ready for the end of financial year
July 8, 2008 by Kylie Short · 1 Comment
It happens all the time so don’t feel alone. Yet again another financial year has come and hit you smack bang over the head and you vaguely remember promising your accountant to hire a bookkeeper but with everything on your plate you kind of forgot. Your bookkeeping consists of that pile over there of…. stuff… and kids toys. Well maybe not the kids toys and you promised yourself to do it right this year but it didn’t happen.
All I’m going to do is give you the evil bookkeeper stare.
Getting ready for the end of financial year isn’t supposed to be a big deal. If you create a system for dealing with it regularly, bookkeeping becomes less of a chore.
The short answer (no pun intended of course) here is to outsource your bookkeeping to a qualified bookkeeper but if you are still at the stage of wanting to do it all yourself you crazy kid you, then here are some tips:
- Buy some bookkeeping software! My favourite is QuickBooks but buy something easy to use and have it set up by a professional.
- Do your bookkeeping regularly. I do mine on a Monday morning and except for end of month invoicing, I can tell you at any given time my financial position, what I am owed and what I owe to others.
- Set up your filing system at the beginning of the financial year. Figure out a way to look after your receipts. Here in Australia you need to keep your records for at least five years. After that, feel free to line the kitty litter with it but until then, FILE it so you can find things easily.
- Did I say do your bookkeeping regularly?
End of financial year doesn’t have to be painful. Now is the perfect time to sort it out and give your accountant one less ulcer/client to worry about.
You might even save some money too in the process…
How to account for barter arrangements?
May 9, 2008 by Kylie Short · 1 Comment
Regardless of the stage in business you are currently at, you’ll have come across the bartering system and the vast benefits on the hip pocket and goals. The only problem is, how do you account for this in your bookkeeping software?
Here’s how…
- Create another ‘bank’ account in your chart of accounts called Contra Clearing Account.
- When supplying someone with goods or services, prepare your invoice as you would normally.
- Create a bill from your supplier as you would normally.
- To clear both transactions out of the system, enter a customer payment against your invoice BUT deposit the money to your new Contra Clearing Account.
- To then clear out the bill, create a cheque/check but write it from the Contra Clearing Account.
- Now when you reconcile the Contra Clearing Account it should now be zeroed out (where goods/services are exchanged or bartered at the same rate.
To accurately track your sales and purchases you do need to record your barter transactions. In the case of Australian businesses you are also liable for the GST on these transactions too. Please check with your own taxation department for country specific rules.
Recording PayPal merchant fees in your bookkeeping software
February 4, 2008 by Kylie Short · 3 Comments
Hands up if you are an online business that accepts payment through PayPal or your Internet merchant account. Do you know how to enter PayPal transactions and their fees into your bookkeeping software?
If you are using QuickBooks or MYOB the process is very similar. Firstly, you need to decide how to treat your PayPal merchant account. You need to decide if you are going to treat it as another bank account and reconcile it each month or if you are going to create journal entries to record the transactions?
My personal preference is to create another bank account and then reconcile it each and every month (you can stop groaning now). But as any user of PayPal will tell you, they take their cut of the payment straight away and so while you have money in your PayPal account, its not for the full amount. How do we reflect this in our books because the PayPal fees are a business expense??
Entering PayPal transactions is a two step process when you need to firstly create a separate bank account for your merchant account. When you record your payment in your bookkeeping software, make sure you do the following:
MYOB Accounting Australia
- Click on Sales.
- Click on Receive Payments.
- Make sure you click on Group with undeposited funds at the top of the window.
- Allocate the payment to the correct invoice and click record.
- Now click on Banking.
- Click on Prepare Bank Deposit.
- Click on Deposit Adjustment and enter the details of PayPal’s fee. Make sure you allocate the Tax code of N-T FRE (for the Aussies).
- Record the adjustment. You should see it beneath the deposit paid by your customer/client.
- Tick both transactions and note that the total deposit amount has been reduced by the PayPal fee amount.
- Click record and reconcile the account as usual!
QuickBooks Premier Australia
- Click on the Customer Navigator.
- Click on Receive Payments.
- Enter the details of the payment and ensure you Group with other deposits at the bottom.
- Click save and close.
- Click on Deposit.
- In the Make Deposits window you will see the details of your customer’s PayPal payment. Underneath this payment enter the name (or account number) of the account you are using to track your merchant fees in the From Account. In the Amount column, enter the PayPal fee as a negative figure. The Deposit subtotal should be the net amount from your PayPal statement.
- Click Save and Close.
- Reconcile your PayPal account as per usual.
Now tidy up those PayPal transactions… no excuse… off you go!