Top 10 Small Business Bookkeeping Tips

[ad_1] These small business bookkeeping tips will help you get your books up to date and keep them that way in less time. They'll help you maintain financial control, and help you manage your working capital more effectively and securely.

1. Before you contemplate recording any transactions in your ledgers, organize your paperwork in your files according to these bookkeeping basics. It will save you time, and time is money.
2. Work out how much you earn in your business per hour. If the answer is more than what it will cost to hire a professional bookkeeper, then hire one. If not, then do the transaction processing yourself. Get a tax accountant to do your year end filing so you don't have to keep up with arbitrary government rule making, and miss out on tax allowances.
3. When you've got your paperwork in order then consider how you're going to record your transactions. This could be in a traditional hand written ledger, or more likely using software. Understand your bookkeeping software requirements before you buy anything to prevent dissatisfaction.
4. If you don't have much money for investing in financial software, then consider using open source accounting software.This can be obtained for little or no cost. Click the link above to learn the advantages and disadvantages of using open source.
5. After you've decided what you're going to record your transactions in then follow these basic bookkeeping tips to make sure you record your transactions in the most efficient manner possible.
6. Make sure all cash is accounted for by performing a bank reconciliation. Ensure the transactions that are recorded on your bank statements are recorded in your books, and the balance on your statement is in agreement with that in your books. Make sure that you know the amount of any uncleared and unpresented checks (cheques) which will explain any actual difference between the statement and the account on your ledger.
7. Likewise, make sure all petty cash is accounted for by counting the cash in your cash box and agreeing it to your cash book.
8. Perform routine counts on items you carry in stock, and ensure that what is recorded in your books agrees with the quantity you have on the shelf. This is an area where strict control pays dividends as unexplainable differences often occur usually due to sales 'samples', spoilage, quality defects, returns etc. This is an important area to get right as any differences will have to be reflected in the financial statements and usually affect the profit line directly.
9. Keep a Fixed Assets register. While not a ledger in your books as such, a fixed assets register is essential to keep track of essential business equipment. This means the cost, the location the depreciation, the purchase date and the remaining life. The value of these assets are carried in your balance sheet. It can be surprising how, as you grow, things you thought you had have gone! Especially small high value technology.
10. Follow these small business bookkeeping tips, but don't forget to use the information kept within your books intelligently. Working capital management is how you manage your daily, weekly, and monthly cash, debtors, supplier payments and inventory/stock control to keep you in business, and really make a difference to the bottom line (the profit line) of your business.

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Start Your Day With Curiosity and Contemplation—150 Random Shower Thoughts That Will Make You Laugh and Think - Parade Magazine

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15+ 10-Minute High-Fiber, High-Protein Breakfast Recipes - EatingWell

These breakfast recipes take 10 minutes or less to make so they're a great option for busy mornings. They're also super nutritious and filling, packing at least 6 grams of fiber and 15 grams of protein per serving. The combination of these nutrients carry many benefits since fiber and protein alike can help support bone health, healthy digestion and healthy immune function while keeping you feeling full and satisfied. Recipes like our Raspberry Yogurt Cereal Bowl and Breakfast Salad with Egg & Salsa Verde Vinaigrette are quick and easy ways to start your day off right. Salad for breakfast? Don't knock it until you've tried it. We love how this meal gives you 3 whole cups of vegetables to start your day. For breakfast, snack or a healthy dessert, try using yogurt instead of milk for your cereal. If making this as a to-go snack, keep the cereal separate and top just before eating. This blackberry smoothie has plenty of fresh berry flavor and sweetness from banana and honey. And with only 5 minutes from start to finish, it's the perfect breakfast for busy mornings. If fresh blackberries aren't available, feel free to use frozen in this easy and healthy smoothie. This quick egg scramble with hearty bread is one of the best breakfasts for weight loss. It combines protein-packed eggs and superfood raspberries with filling whole-grain toast and nutrient-rich spinach. The protein and fiber help fill you up and keep you going through the morning.   This healthy smoothie is not only delicious--it also boosts your daily dose of anti-inflammatory foods. It starts with a base of creamy gut-friendly kefir and includes cherries, which can lower the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Heart-healthy fats in avocado, almond butter and chia seeds deliver additional anti-inflammatory compounds to the body, while spinach offers a mix of antioxidants that sweep up harmful free radicals. Fresh ginger adds zing, plus a compound called gingerol, which preliminary studies suggest may improve inflammatory markers of heart disease if consumed daily. This creamy high-protein shake will keep you satisfied for hours and tastes like a chocolate-peanut butter banana milkshake. You don't even need to add protein powder, thanks to the naturally occurring protein in the soymilk, Greek yogurt and peanut butter. This fresh-tasting bagel breakfast sandwich comes together in minutes with just a few ingredients. Creamy avocado pairs with crunchy onions and sprouts for a filling, healthy breakfast with layers of flavor. Burrata (cream-filled fresh mozzarella cheese) takes this avocado toast recipe to the next level for a decadent, yet weekday-friendly breakfast. Red lentils give this smoothie a plant-based protein boost. To make this smoothie vegan, try using unsweetened coconut beverage or almond milk in place of the dairy milk. Pico de gallo and cheesy eggs make this quick breakfast flavorful and satisfying.   Pair pimiento cheese with spinach, eggs and hot sauce for a satisfying breakfast sandwich that's ready in just 10 minutes. This healthy green smoothie gets super creamy from the frozen banana and avocado. Make ahead (up to 1 day) and store it in the fridge until you need a veggie boost. This healthy smoothie recipe is a gateway to the smoothie-bowl craze. Use whatever fruit, nuts and seeds you like best to make it your own. Be sure to use frozen fruit in Step 1 to yield a creamy, frosty base for the toppings.   Hard-boiled eggs are combined with spinach, cheese and salsa for a quick, flavorful breakfast. Mashed avocado provides a creamy element while a squeeze of lime juice brings acidity.   This strawberry parfait recipe combines fresh fruit, Greek yogurt and crunchy granola for an easy breakfast. Pack the parfait in a mason jar for a healthy breakfast on the go.   Greek yogurt and nut butter boost protein, and ground flaxseed adds omega-3s in this fresh fruit smoothie recipe. Use ice cubes if you like a frosty smoothie or opt for water if you don't want it so cold.   Hummus, sprouts and avocado top sprouted whole-wheat bread in this healthy vegan lunch idea. Look for sprouted bread in the freezer section of your grocery store.   For this healthy smoothie bowl recipe, be sure to use frozen fruit (not fresh) to keep the texture thick, creamy and frosty.   Skip the PB & J sandwich but get the flavors in this healthy smoothie! Greek yogurt, spinach and strawberries are blended with peanut butter in this healthy, protein-rich smoothie recipe.   In this Mediterranean-inspired snack, dried figs and honey top plain yogurt. Substitute fresh figs if you can find them.   source https://4awesome.streamstorecloud.com/15-10-minute-high-fiber-high-protein-breakfast-recipes-eatingwell/?feed_id=36974&_unique_id=6468faefe3214

Insulating a Slipform Stone House

[ad_1] There can be no question that insulation should be of primary importance when considering new house construction. Slipform stone houses are no exception to this rule. Helen and Scott Nearing, early proponents of this stone building technique, claimed that their New England homes were comfortable year-round without much thought given to insulation - indeed, their first slipform home was built right into a Vermont cliff-face, and made use of bare ledge as one wall. While the thermal mass of the earth itself surely served to maintain house temperatures above freezing, by modern standards, there can be no doubt that this uninsulated stone house would make for a chilly winter. Insulation is key to efficiency, and there are a number of ways to insulate a slipform stone structure. Stud Wall and fiberglass batting One common approach to the question of insulation in stone and concrete structures is the construction of a standard framed stud wall against the interior wall. This framed wall is then insulated in the traditional manner, using fiberglass batting insulation between the studs. While this approach works fine, and brings the comfort of familiarity to many builders, the construction of the stud wall is wasteful, and the studs themselves present the opportunity for thermal bridging, significantly reducing the overall insulation of the house. Rigid Insulation Rigid insulation offers a number of opportunities when it comes to insulating slipform stone homes. Rigid insulation, correctly installed, allows for no thermal bridging and creates a tight envelope inside the house. There are a number of techniques for building this type of insulation right into the walls themselves, either by laying the insulation inside the forms as you build, or replacing the interior forms entirely with nailbase - rigid insulation mated with OSB, plywood, or even sheetrock on one side. Adding rigid insulation after the walls are standing can present a challenge to the typical owner/builder. The biggest hurdle here is figuring out how to secure the insulation to the stone/concrete wall. One of the best ways to do this is using furring strips - narrow boards attached to the wall, into which screws can be driven. A powder-actuated nail gun, or ramset can be used to attach the furring strips to the wall. Another approach is to embed the furring strips into the concrete itself as you build the walls. The downside to this approach is that the furring strips will degrade and rot away over the decades, leaving gaps in the wall and weakening the overall structure. Fully removing the furring strips and replacing them could be a challenge. Spray-on Insulation This nifty product could be used to spray a seamless layer of insulating foam directly onto the interior of the slipform wall. The insulation would then be cut, sanded, or squashed flat before a finish layer of sheetrock is applied. Both of the above approaches present difficulties when it comes to hanging anything on the walls, as there are no interior studs for screwing or nailing into. Strategically placed furring strips could be used for this purpose. There are any number of other conventional and unconventional approaches that you might pursue in insulating your slipform stone masonry structure, but these three options are both simple to implement and proven in many homes over a number of years. Whatever you decide, it's very important to ensure that your slipform stone house is snug and well insulated. [ad_2] Source by Rick R Young https://1home.streamstorecloud.com/insulating-a-slipform-stone-house/?feed_id=36965&_unique_id=6467d4965bdff

Home and Gardening Flower Box and Other Accents

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Technology offers a lot of innovation in today's method of accentuating our home with gardening. There are various ways on how we can make some wonderful home interior arrangements. We just need some gardening boxes or ornaments to complete the theme.

Flower box is the most widely used container gardening method to give our home a greener touch. We can either buy container boxes or make some customized window boxes for our window ledges. To create such a wonderful style for our container boxes, we need to select a matching flowering plant to the box theme. Selection would need to be more bountiful blooms of flowers that could cover most part of the box. It really gives a stunning look to the design if the flowering plants will cover most of the box design. If you want to have a designer box instead, you can choose to trimming the plant or pick one that does not have an overflowing bloom.

Planter box is another one gardening decoration that we could include in our home improvement plan. It happens to have different varieties and that includes the commercial planters. Commercial planters are normally big and the name itself tells that it is designed for business buildings. Mostly it placed on the lobbies and patios. Restaurants, hotels, and malls are usually using commercial planters to give the building the environmental look and concept. Other planter boxes would include the wooden, PVC planters, fiberglass and illuminated planters.

Another accent that we can add to our home and garden is the hanging basket. Hanging baskets are normally plain and we just have to develop the flowering plant that goes well with it. Mostly bountiful flowering plants are used for hanging baskets such as supertunias, sunsatias, and kalanchoe.

Terrariums are one of the newest modern home and gardening ornaments that are not yet being used by most people. It is actually an aquarium but is improvised and made as a container gardening box. There are different types of terrariums namely, bubble, globe and hanging glass terrariums. They can be either attached on the wall or hung on the ceiling.

All these ideas are possible if we just open our minds to innovation for home and gardening.

[ad_2] Source by Ernestus Penuela https://1home.streamstorecloud.com/home-and-gardening-flower-box-and-other-accents/?feed_id=36960&_unique_id=6467cf3d0d918

New technology at McGhee-Tyson Airport to streamline security checks - WATE 6 On Your Side

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A Few Home Inspection Plumbing Basics

[ad_1] When a home inspector inspects a home, plumbing is one of the critical systems he examines for his report to you. Naturally, one of the first things he will do is to check faucets and fixtures, looking for leaks. According to the American Water Works Association, almost 15 percent of all the water used in a typical household is wasted through plumbing leaks, leaky faucets and wasted water. Finding and fixing leaks will save money on water and energy bills. Furthermore, water damage to floors and the foundation is all too common and must be dealt with to prevent further problems. Also, though it sounds silly and unnecessary at first, your home inspector will make sure cold water comes from the right side and hot water from the left when faucets are turned on. That's the conventional standard. You wouldn't want anyone to be surprised by getting scalded in the shower because they thought they were turning on the cold water. Your inspector will check the type and condition of water pipes, which are usually made of copper, brass, or galvanized steel. Copper is the most desirable material, with brass next, and galvanized steel the least desirable. Copper is best for water distribution piping. It lasts the longest and is usually trouble free. As for brass pipes, mineral content in the water affects their durability. White mineral deposits on brass pipes means there are pinhole leaks. This shows the pipes are deteriorating and may need replaced at some point in the future. Galvanized steel pipes corrode on the inside which constricts water flow. It's like trying to merge three lanes of highway traffic into two or even one. When these pipes are in poor condition, using more than one water fixture at a time causes problems. For example, if someone is taking a shower, avoid flushing the toilet, using the dishwasher or the washing machine because the shower will either become very hot or cold. When you're purchasing a home, your inspector should tell you what material the plumbing pipes are made of and what condition they're in. Replacing water distribution piping is quite costly, should it be necessary. Your inspector should also let you know about the water supply pipe that brings water into the home. Again, copper is the best material because, if the pipe is made of galvanized steel, it could have the same corrosion problem noted above. If this pipe is made from lead, excessive amounts of lead may be leaching into the water, which poses a health hazard. The best solution is to replace this pipe. However, this costs thousands of dollars. If contaminants such as lead are coming into the home's water supply, consider adding a water filtration system where water enters the building. Also consider adding a water treatment system in the kitchen where water is used for drinking and cooking. The water heater is another important item your inspector will check. If it's a gas water heater, it must be installed properly and allow for good ventilation. A metal flue pipe must let toxic gases flow up and out of the home through a chimney. Improper ventilation will result in accumulation of toxic and deadly carbon monoxide. If the flue pipe slopes downward it should be repaired and replaced. Heat from the water heater's gas combustion must rise upward, as it is meant to do. These are just some of the plumbing issues your home inspector's report will address. A home's plumbing is one of the most important areas in need of attention before a home is purchased or sold. Spotting and taking care of problems now will keep many problems in the future at bay. [ad_2] Source by David Haigh https://1home.streamstorecloud.com/a-few-home-inspection-plumbing-basics/?feed_id=36948&_unique_id=6466dfcf52ab4