ING DIRECT Canada leads the way in online banking with Cheque-In.

Kudos to ING DIRECT for raising the bar in online banking with Cheque-In.

"With Cheque-In, Canadians can deposit cheques quickly and securely using their smartphones, which are such a central part of our lives. This means we can now deposit a cheque as soon as we receive it, without the hassle of going to a bank branch or ABM, and our money can start earning interest right away. This is a huge step forward for consumers, banks and the payments industry."




Now the next step should be to take this to the next level with online accounting for Small Business. As a small business owner and ING customer, I believe this would be a huge leap forward in the online banking arena in Canada. What do you think?

Know the Story Behind the Financial Numbers in your Franchise Business

Do you know the Story behind the Numbers? 

Truly understanding what the numbers really mean is sometimes the most neglected part of running the business. And that’s where the story comes in. Ever number tells a story. They are all part of your business story. So often, the focus is on marketing and sales. But without the interpretation of accurate and timely financial information, most businesses are running blind and doomed to failure. You need to understand the numbers so you can see where your business has been (historical financial information) and where it’s going based on projected financial information. This helps you to run your business proactively based on informative decision making information. 

Here are a few crucial numbers you need to know and monitor to control your franchise business operations: 

Pay particular attention to cash flow. It’s still the king. Review the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement every month to assess net worth, net profits or losses and cash flow. On a quarterly basis, calculate the following financial ratios to evaluate key performance measures: Sales year to date Gross profit margin Cost of sales as a percentage of sales Labour rate as a percentage of sales 

By comparing these ratios to those of franchise or industry averages, you can determine the progress of your business. You can then take steps to achieve goals and objectives to improve performance. Financial information is only useful if you know how to interpret it and use it to make smart business decisions. 

We use online cloud based apps to help you tell your story. What numbers best tell your story? Are you using them to make informed business decisions?

Cloud Based Apps we recommend:

Xero for accounting and financial reporting

Shift Planning & Kairos for employee scheduling and time sheet reporting

Simple Pay for payroll

Vend for POS

Spotlight Reporting for financial and decision making reporting

Doing Work that Really Matters?

Are you Doing Work that Really Matters?



In the book, ReWORK by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, suggest that there are some important questions to ask yourself to determine and ensure you're doing work that really matters. 

Here they are:

• Why are you doing this?
• What problem are you solving?
• Is this actually useful?
• Are you adding value?
• Will this change behavior?
• Is there an easier way?
• What could you be doing instead?
• Is this really worth it?

So go ahead and start asking yourself these thought provoking questions. You may be surprised at what you discover. Either you're throwing good time after bad work or you're on the right track.

Is your Business Game Score Accurate & Timely?

Imagine a sporting event ( in this case a basketball game) where no one is keeping score. Or alternatively, they’re keeping the wrong score. In a competitive world, these scenarios do not make any sense. In fact, we might even wonder what’s the purpose of playing in a  game without keeping score or not correctly keeping track of the score. Conversely, you’re watching the game where the score is being kept.... and accurately. Now every time someone scores, your eyes turn towards the scoreboard. Can you relate to this? Looking at the first scenario, running a business without accurate and timely financial statements is really no different. However, in the second scenario, it’s completely different. It’s also a more enjoyable game.

Often small business owners don’t know the score or it’s not kept accurately and in a timely manner. So they have learned to not trust their financial statements over time because they are either inaccurate, not timely to have any relevance, or both. The number one priority of an accounting professional is the preparation, analysis, and presentation of the accurate financial statements on time every month.

There are three core statements that drive this monthly reporting process are the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flow. There are lots of reasons and issues that cause the financial statements to not be timely or maybe inaccurate, so it is no wonder many business owners do not trust them. But these issues can and should be resolved so that owners know the score when they need to.

At the Storytelling Beancounter, our goal is to help the business owner with that. We have implemented processes and procedures to provide financial information that is relevant, timely and accurate. Ideally, most small businesses would finalize the prior month’s financials by the 15th or 20th of the following month. Now with online real time technology, the bar has been raised with a shorter  turnaround time. Exceptions may occasionally cause slight delays, but these should be rare exceptions. With accurate financial statements in their hands in a timely manner after the completion of the month, business owners are empowered to make relevant, impactful, and correct decisions to improve the profitability of their companies.

Here are some of the ways businesses can benefit by using our PRIME Services to run their operations efficiency and have  timely, decision making information at their fingertips;

Proactive	Focusing on decision making information and tools
Reliable	Data that is accurate and supportable
Insightful	Data and information that foster contemplation and discussion, both strategic and tactical, that actually improves performance
Meaningful	Via real time, Cloud computing technology using integrated apps  so you can spend your time improving your business, not analyzing hard-to-read and even harder-to-understand reports
Efficiency	Achieve operational efficiency by streamlining business processes via online technology

Accountants Talk SmartVault at Scaling New Heights

Going the paperless route with SmartVault. It's a Huge TimeSaver!

inSTREAM - the new kid on the block with Xero

5 easy steps to get up and running on an online accounting app for your small business

Step 1 - Decide to change

Think critically about your organization's challenges and goals, could your current accounting software be holding you back?

Step 2 - Define your needs

Document your business requirements and the issues with your current system.

Step 3 - Choose the right financial system

It's time to take a look at your shortlist of accounting software prospects. Ensure you’ll end up with the best financial software system for your organization, that you’ve thoroughly documented your needs, and that you’ll get no surprises. Now make your decision on the one that is the best fit for your business.

Step 4 - Deploy your new system

It's time to kick off the project. Meet with key stakeholders to ensure there's agreement on your specific business processes, and look at the best practices the software offers to streamline and automate as many processes as possible.

Build a go live timeline. You can deploy most online accounting apps in just a few weeks, along with any add-on customizations for your specific business needs.

Step 5 - Go live and beyond   

Congratulations! You’ve completed the testing and trained your users. Save money, manage growth, and improve overall performance.


Here's one such online accounting app you can try - Xero Online Accounting for Small Business. So go ahead, give it a try now!

 

Bridging the Communication Gap for Small Business Owners

It is said that communication is a two way street. Ideally in a conversation, one person talks, the other listens. The listening party acknowledges that what’s being said is understood. And then the exchange of words or sharing of ideas continues or the conversation ends. This knowledge sharing approach and dialoging can work in a business setting between business owners and their trusted financial advisors. Owners and advisors can meet in the middle and bridge the gap to have a shared understanding of the story of the business. 

Owners are usually interested in understanding the financial side of their business operations better to make proactive, informed decisions.They can be trained in what to look for, what questions to ask, how to read a statement of cash flows and get answers to their questions. They can be shown that a P&L only addresses one piece of the business puzzle and can learn to look to the Balance Sheet for new insights. They can learn to focus on not just one bottom line, but all three. 

The role of the business advisor is to communicate with owners, explain the numbers, and share knowledge. Through effective communication and expertise, they look beyond the transactions. and take a step back to see the business information from an owner's perspective. 

Can you envision this happening in your company? Imagine getting timely, relevant business information to make those important business decisions, proactively. Why not start a conversation with the Storytelling BeanCounter to see how this can work for your business.

Struggling with inefficent workflows in your accounting practice?

Many firms continue to play pass the baton with client jobs. Pick up and put down of files is rife and can add upwards of 30% to job cost.

Smart firms recognize this ongoing leakage of time for what it truly is… wastage. Instead, schedule client jobs according to client priority and preference, involve your clients in that scheduling, interview them (either face to face or remotely) and ensure all data is present before you start. It can be done, but it does take discipline, and frankly that’s something the accounting industry sometimes lacks.

Firms with a real workflow focus search for the workflow bottlenecks in their business. They implement performance standards at every stage of the job: compilation, review and finalization.

Do you recognize inefficient workflow management as a significant efficiency aspect?


Credit source: http://www.brownriggconsulting.com/about_viv

The Cloud Connected Small Business Ecosystem

On a mission to create a Cloud Connected Small Business Ecosystem

This small business ecosystem will allow business owners and  other key participants to work together more efficiently and effectively through an integrated online business management system.

Imagine the benefits of your people using the same tools to share ideas, create strategies, resolve problems, manage projects and document the know-how of running their organizations. You'll have a powerful collaborative team platform and environment that everyone uses to work together more closely.

Now, what if all of the tools were integrated into one online business management system?

That's the advantage of the Cloud Connected Business with Xero at the core. After all, anyone can use an online project management tool or knowledge base. But, the Cloud Connected Business System multiplies your benefit by connecting your projects, documents and information to your company's strategies.

For the Cloud Connected Small Business System, the mantra is  -  the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

·        Share Ideas

·        Create Strategies

·        Resolve problems

·        Manage Projects

·        Document your know-how

.        Team collaboration and communications

.        Streamlined processes

.        Efficient workflows

Apps we recommend to achieve this:

Xero

Workflow Max

Unleashed Inventory

Simple Pay

Shoeboxed

Dropbox

Spotlight Reporting

Blue Camroo

Vend

Shopify

Freshbooks

Capsule CRM

Google Apps

Industry specific Integrations:

Legal Industry

Xero

Actionstep

Franchise Industry

Xero

Shift Planning

Kairos

Simple Pay

    Online Retail Industry

    Xero

    Vend

    Shopify

   Real Estate Industry

   Xero

   WorkflowMAX