Where accounting makes "cents"

  Many businesses choose to consolidate, add or create LLCs to meet various needs or products and services that are offered. Often times these additions can create a routine accounting function called inter-company accounting. While many business owners are focused on money flowing in and out of the company, only the accountant is truly concerned about the inter-company accounting because sometimes it can be a real challenge. If you are struggling to manage your firm’s inter-company accounting then the answer you seek lies within Tradition Accounting’s product package. This type of function is serious, complex and when left unmanaged it can create exposed liability to the LLC. Many in-house bookkeepers will simply record the transactions as a due to/due from or some other incorrect method of recognition. What many business owners fail to realize is those due to/due from will never get zeroed out and will go on forever. Many expenses are often shared between each entity – st...

Many accountants, bookkeepers and tax preparers have maintained business operations with hard copies of paper, piled into storage closets into bankers boxes, without using cloud services. If the company that handles your financial data and tax returns didn’t use cloud services, online backups or access to an online client portal, would you continue doing business with them? 𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Modern day client portals are a game changer for accountants and business owners: 1. Client communication is increased with the use of a portal. 2. Both parties have increased document accessibility. 3. Data security is higher in the cloud than on your hard drive. 𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧...

𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎, 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒅. Most frauds start small and get bigger until someone notices unusual changes. Construction fraud has red flags that can be detected when you have the right controls in place or outsource to a consultant that maintains a neutral position. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭. Some flags to look out for are: 1. Missing subcontractor lien releases 2. Unauthorized changes or...

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐯𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? When contractors, construction companies and subcontractors are running multiple jobs at the same time it can be difficult to keep track of all the costs. Job cost reports provide critical information about the current status of jobs. 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒋𝒐𝒃𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. I have found that reviewing the estimate vs actual reporting can find errors in incorrect accounting, omission of costs not captured and show overhead allocation improperly recorded. Making sure to review the report every month is an important process for the bookkeeper, accountant, owner and estimator. Keeping these values in line...