This could save you a considerable amount of money over time, so it’s something to keep in mind when evaluating whether the LIFO method will work for your business. In January, Kelly’s Flower Shop purchases 100 exotic flowering plants for $25 each and 50 rose bushes for $15 each. Once March rolls around, it purchases 25 more flowering plants for $30 each and 125 more rose bushes for $20 each. It sells 50 exotic plants and 25 rose bushes during the first quarter of the year for a total of 75 items. The average cost method produces results that fall somewhere between FIFO and LIFO.

Which Is Better, LIFO or FIFO?

The higher COGS under LIFO decreases net profits and thus creates a lower tax bill for One Cup. This is why LIFO is controversial; opponents argue that during times of inflation, LIFO grants an unfair tax holiday for companies. In response, proponents claim that any tax savings experienced by the firm are reinvested and are of no real consequence to the economy. Furthermore, proponents argue that lexington bookkeeping services a firm’s tax bill when operating under FIFO is unfair (as a result of inflation). Suppose there’s a company called One Cup, Inc. that buys coffee mugs from wholesalers and sells them on the internet.

Current COGS Financial Information

Companies have their choice between several different accounting inventory methods, though there are restrictions regarding IFRS. Companies that opt for the LIFO method sell the most recent inventory times which usually cost more to obtain or manufacture, while the FIFO method results in a lower cost of goods sold and higher inventory. A company’s taxable income, net income, and balance sheet balances will all vary based on the inventory method selected. The store’s ending inventory balance is 30 of the $54 units plus 100 of the $50 units, for a total of $6,620. The sum of $6,480 cost of goods sold and $6,620 ending inventory is $13,100, the total inventory cost. The first in, first out (FIFO) cost method assumes that the oldest inventory items are sold first, while the last in, first out method (LIFO) states that the newest items are sold first.

Average Cost

As long as your inventory costs increase over time, you can enjoy substantial tax savings. It is up to the company to decide, though there are parameters based on the accounting method the company uses. In addition, companies often try to match the physical movement of inventory to the inventory method they use.

The company’s bookkeeping total inventory cost is $13,100, and the cost is allocated to either the cost of goods sold balance or ending inventory. Two hundred fifty shirts are purchased, and 120 are sold, leaving 130 units in ending inventory. LIFO is used to calculate inventory value when the inventory production or acquisition costs substantially increase year after year, due to inflation or otherwise. Even though this method demonstrates a drop in company profits, it helps with tax savings due to higher inventory write-offs. Last in, first out (LIFO) is a method used to account for business inventory that records the most hiring process steps for 2021 recently produced items in a series as the ones that are sold first.

Inventory values when all units are sold

Learn more about the difference between LIFO vs FIFO inventory valuation methods. The LIFO method assumes that Brad is selling off his most recent inventory first. Since customers expect new novels to be circulated onto Brad’s store shelves regularly, then it is likely that Brad has been doing exactly that. In fact, the very oldest inventory of books may stay in inventory forever and never be circulated. This is a common problem with the LIFO method once a business starts using it, in that the older inventory never gets onto shelves and sold. Depending on the business, the older products may eventually become outdated or obsolete.

The Sterling example computes inventory valuation for a retailer, and this accounting process also applies to manufacturers and wholesalers (distributors). The costs included for manufacturers, however, are different from the costs for retailers and wholesalers. You also need to understand the regulatory and tax issues related to inventory valuation.FIFO is the more straightforward method to use, and most businesses stick with the FIFO method. LIFO results in a higher cost of goods sold, which translates to a lower gross income and profit. This typically means a business will pay less in taxes under the LIFO method. It also means that the remaining inventory has a lower value since it was purchased at a lower cost.

In a standard inflationary economy, the price of materials and labor used to produce a product steadily increases. This means the most recently purchased goods are bought at a higher cost than earlier goods. These price changes have implications for the cost of goods sold, inventory value, and taxable income.

1. We’ll also compare the LIFO and FIFO inventory costing methods so you can choose the right valuation system for your business.
2. Because the expenses are usually lower under the FIFO method, net income is higher, resulting in a potentially higher tax liability.
3. LIFO is more popular among businesses with large inventories so that they can reap the benefits of higher cash flows and lower taxes when prices are rising.
4. All costs are posted to the cost of goods sold account, and ending inventory has a zero balance.
5. The opposite method is FIFO, where the oldest inventory is recorded as the first sold.

As a result, FIFO can increase net income because inventory that might be several years old–which was acquired for a lower cost–is used to value COGS. However, the higher net income means the company would have a higher tax liability. When all 250 units are sold, the entire inventory cost ($13,100) is posted to the cost of goods sold. Let’s assume that Sterling sells all of the units at $80 per unit, for a total of $20,000.

Placed Advertisement in The Dawn at a cost of $165, payment to be made within 30 days. Paid rent for the month of August $4,400 and accrued rent expenses was $600. Bought goods from Ahmed Co. $60,000 paid $15,000 cash and remaining Note payable pay within 30 days. Following are transaction for the month of August 2016, prepare Journal Entry, General Ledgers and Trial Balance.

This way you can make sure that you have enough purchases for the smooth manufacturing of the products. Sometimes, the general ledger is also known as the book of final entry. This includes equity, general reserve, and retained earnings out of the profit. At request of Kiwi Insurance, Inc, made repairs on boat of Jon Seaways. Sent bill for $5,620 for services rendered to Kiwi Insurance Inc. (credit Repair Service Revenue).

What are the benefits of using GL accounts?

This helps accountants, company management, analysts, investors, and other stakeholders assess the company’s performance on an ongoing basis. These transactions can include cash payments against an invoice and their totals, which are posted in corresponding accounts in the general ledger. In accounting software, the transactions will instead typically be recorded in subledgers or modules. A general ledger (GL) is a set of numbered accounts a business uses to keep track of its financial transactions and to prepare financial reports.

It is a group or collection of accounts that give you information regarding the detailed transactions with respect to each of such accounts. Revenue accounts in the general ledger are typically divided into categories, such as sales and https://www.bookstime.com/ interest. For example, sales may be further divided into retail sales and wholesale sales, or foreign sales and domestic sales. At the end of each period, transfer your journal entries into your general ledger for small business.

Types of General Ledger Accounts

So such a system of debit and credit helps in finding out the final position of every item at the end of the given accounting period. Accounts receivable (AR) refers to money that is owed to a company by its customers. The accounts receivable process begins when a customer purchases goods or services from a company and is issued an invoice. The customer usually has a set amount of time to pay the invoice, such as 30 days.

In other words, a ledger is a record that details all business accounts and account activity during a period. You can think of an account as a notebook filled with business transactions from a specific account, so the cash notebook would have records of all the business transactions involving cash. Some general ledger accounts can become summary records and will be referred to as control accounts.

general ledger (GL)

As a document, the trial balance exists outside of your general ledger—but it is not a stand-alone financial report. Think of your general ledger as growing the wheat before you make the bread that is your financial statements. It provides bookkeepers with the information they need to generate any reports. If you decide to research double-entry bookkeeping, you’ll probably come across the term “trial balance” often. Trial balances are a financial tool specific to double-entry bookkeeping. If you choose to set up a double-entry ledger, you should be ready to prepare trial balances regularly.

In that case, to get the job done—creating a chart of accounts, creating trial balances, and producing monthly financial reports—you should consider talking to a bookkeeper. If you’re more of an accounting software person, the general ledger isn’t something you use but an automated report you can pull. Your software of choice will probably have an option to “View general ledger,” which will show you all the journal entries you’ve entered (for a given time frame).

Revenue accounts

Further, these transactions are recorded based on the Duality Principle of Accounting. Say you own a publishing house Martin & Co. and purchased 20 kg paper on cash at $20 per kg on December 1, 2020. Therefore, the following is the journal and ledger that you need to record into books for such a transaction. One way to avoid errors is to use a POS system like Lightspeed Retail, which connects with accounting software to automatically sync data. To learn more about what Lightspeed Retail can do for your business, talk to an expert today.

Thus, with the Trial Balance, you can verify the accuracy of your accounts and prepare final accounts. But, you can refer to the related subsidiary account if you need to check any detail regarding the sales made to a specific customer. Accordingly, you do not record details of each sales transaction undertaken with various customers in the Accounts Receivable Control Account.

Owner’s equity

Each GL account needs an account name to make it easier to follow and understand as transactions are recorded. Thus, it can be very difficult to organize if you have a huge number of transactions in a given accounting period. General Ledger Codes are nothing but the numeric codes that you assign to different General Ledger Accounts. These accounts help you in organizing the General Ledger Accounts properly and recording transactions quickly.

– FIXED EQUIPMENT – INFRASTRUCUTURE
Permanently attached fixtures or machinery that cannot be removed without impairing the use of the asset. – SPECIAL CONTRACTUAL WORK – INFRASTRUCTURE
Other contractual arrangements that are made during the construction of an infrastructure project. – CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT – INFRASTRUCTURE
Costs https://www.bookstime.com/articles/general-ledger-account incurred by the primary contractor during construction of an infrastructure project. – SPECIAL CONTRACTUAL WORK – BUILDINGS
Other contractual arrangements that are made during the construction of a building. – CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT-BUILDINGS
Costs incurred by the primary contractor in the construction of a building.

These ratios are important for assessing how a company generates revenue and profits using business expenses and assets in a given period. Internal and external stakeholders use financial ratios for competitor analysis, market valuation, benchmarking, and performance management. The ratios you will use most frequently are common size ratios from the income statement, the current ratio, the quick https://www.bookstime.com/ ratio and return on assets. Your specific type of business may require you to use some or all of the other ratios as well. The use of financial ratios is a time-tested method of analyzing a business. Wall Street investment firms, bank loan officers and knowledgeable business owners all use financial ratio analysis to learn more about a company’s current financial health as well as its potential.

It is the number of times a company’s current assets exceed its current liabilities, which is an indication of the solvency of that business. Financial ratios can be an effective strengths
and weaknesses analysis tool. Their principal use is to assess the
firm’s ability to survive. To survive in the long term, the firm
must be profitable and solvent. Profitability is defined as the
difference between a firm’s revenues and its expenses.

Working Capital Ratio

The best way to use P/E is often as a relative value comparison tool for stocks you’re interested in, or you might want to compare the P/E of one or more stocks to an industry average. They can rate and compare one company against another that you might be considering investing in. The term “ratio” conjures up complex and frustrating high school math problems, but that need not be the case. Ratios can help make you a more informed investor when they’re properly understood and applied. You can learn all the business vocabulary you need with this basic accounting terms infographic. Cash at end of period is $2,200—her starting cash amount, plus the money she earned this month.

Pareto Labs offers engaging on demand courses in business fundamentals. Our library of 200+ lessons will teach you exactly what you need to know to use it at work tomorrow. This is a key indicator of how well a company’s investment in assets (a new factory for example) is helping it  generate sales. This ratio should tell you how much money a company has left over to pay  interest. It’s often used by banks to determine whether a loan should be approved, because it indicates if  a company likely has enough money to pay back its debt, plus interest. What we can see, however, is that the company is financed more with shareholder funds (equity) than it is with debt as the debt-to-asset ratio for both years is under 50% and dropping.

What are 5 key financial ratios?

We’ve briefly highlighted six of the most common and the easiest to calculate. Return-on-equity or ROE is a metric used to analyze investment returns. It’s a measure of how effectively a company uses shareholder equity to generate income.

A small ITO ratio suggests that the firm is
holding excess inventory levels given its level of total revenue. Likewise, a large ITO ratio may signal potential “stock outs” which
could result in lost revenue if the firm is unable to meet the
demand for its products and services. You can earn our Financial Ratios Certificate of Achievement when you join PRO Plus. To help you master this topic and earn your certificate, you will also receive lifetime access to our premium financial ratios materials.

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But EBITDA is determined by your own day-to-day operations—so your operating profit margin is the ratio you have the greatest control over. Your operating profit margin is similar to your gross profit margin, but taking general expenses into account as well. You can increase this profit margin by raising prices, lowering COGS, or lowering operating expenses and overhead. Compute a current ratio and a quick ratio using your company’s balance sheet data.

In the event that all short-term liabilities suddenly became due, liquidity ratios provide a glimpse as to whether your company would be able to cover those debts. Working capital is a measure of cash flow, and not a real ratio. Lenders use it to evaluate a https://www.bookstime.com/articles/financial-ratios company’s ability to weather hard times. Loan agreements often specify that the borrower must maintain a specified level of working capital. Although it may be somewhat unfamiliar to you, financial ratio analysis is neither sophisticated nor complicated.

Times interest earned (TIE) ratio

Generally, experts recommend you keep your cash flow coverage ratio above 1.0 to attract investors. Do that by taking all your current liabilities at the beginning of an accounting period, all your current liabilities at the end of a period, adding them together and dividing by 2. To use this formula, you need to calculate your current average liability. Your current liability can change month to month as you pay down the principle on a debt; calculating an average takes that into account, so you can get a ballpark figure. That’s Suraya’s total cash flow from operations ($700) minus the cash she spent on equipment ($500).

Financial ratios are good key performance indicators used to measure a company’s performance over time compared to competitors and the industry. Calculating accurate financial ratios and interpreting the ratios help business leaders and investors make the right decisions. Companies use the return on assets ratio to determine how much profits they generate from total assets or resources, including current and noncurrent assets. To find the quick ratio for his company, we’d add his most-liquid assets ($80,000 + $20,000) and divide them by his current liabilities to find his quick ratio of 0.5. Since this is less than 1.0, Matt doesn’t have enough assets he can quickly convert to cash to cover his current liabilities.

How to Calculate Financial Ratios of Performance

This ratio shows how quickly a company can settle current obligations. Another common efficiency ratio and capacity ratio is the equity turnover ratio. Like the working capital turnover ratio, the equity turnover ratio looks at how efficiently a business is using its value — in this case, equity — to drive construction revenue. Liquidity ratios determine a company’s ability to pay off short-term debts using available assets.

On the
other hand, remember that accounts receivable must be financed by
either debt or equity funds. If the RTOT is too high, the firm is
extending a lot of credit to other firms, and the financing cost
may become excessive. Another concern is that the longer a firm
extends credit, the greater is the risk that the firm’s accounts
receivable will ever be repaid. A cash flow margin ratio calculates how well a company can translate sales into actual cash.

In total, she had $200 cash come into her business this month. The Z-Score is at the end of our list neither because it is the least important, nor because it’s at the end of the alphabet. In return for doing a little more arithmetic, however, you get a number—a Z-Score—which most experts regard as a very accurate guide to your company’s financial solvency. In blunt terms, a Z-Score of 1.81 or below means you are headed for bankruptcy. Using balance sheet data for the Doobie Company, we can compute the debt-to-worth ratio for the company. In general, quick ratios between 0.5 and 1 are considered satisfactory—as long as the collection of receivables is not expected to slow.

There may be others that are common to your industry, or that you will want to create for a specific purpose within your company. Difficult problems arise when making comparisons
across firms in an industry. In addition, firms within an “industry” often
differ substantially in their structure and type of business,
making industry comparisons less meaningful.

While the application process varies depending on the specific lender, you can follow these general steps to get a business line of credit. So, if your application was https://bookkeeping-reviews.com/how-to-get-a-business-loan-in-6-simple-steps/ rejected on the first try, you’re not alone. However, you may have better luck if you resubmit your application or simply choose another lender or type of financing.

Before you apply, it’s helpful to understand how lenders are likely to evaluate your business loan application. Lender profits are based upon whether or not borrowers pay back loans. With that in mind, they may consider a number of factors including revenue or cash flow, time in business, personal credit scores, business credit scores, collateral, and industry. It can be difficult to find business loans for startups because lenders prefer a track record of successfully servicing debt as well as running a business. Traditional lenders will often require two years in business, but some online lenders only require a year in business. Idea-stage startups (businesses without revenues) have the most difficult time qualifying for term loans or lines of credit, but a business credit card or crowdfunding could be a good option.

Step 5: Submit Your Application & Provide Documents to the Lender

He presented his vision for Great Outdoors Tulsa, showcasing his extensive knowledge of the outdoor industry and emphasizing the untapped market potential in the area. To get started, tally up anything extra you have that could be used for capital. Boats and extra houses or cars are the obvious things, but anything else that you can call “extra” could be used to help you fund your business. You’ll be living lean for a while, so you must pay special attention to your personal and business finances to come out on top. Since it’s all about reducing the risks, banks will often ask newer businesses that depend on the key founders to take out insurance against the deaths of one or more of the founders. And the fine print can direct the payout on death to go to the bank first, to pay off the loan.

• Turnaround times vary by lender, and it can take as little as five minutes or as long as several days to get a decision.
• Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades.
• If your company routinely deals with invoices, you’ve most likely experienced the headache of delayed payments.
• Find the ideal business loan for your qualifications and company’s needs by comparing offers before applying.
• These two factors are perhaps the most important when cash is tight.

You’re most likely to qualify for a low interest business line of credit if your FICO credit score is at least 670. If your credit score is fair or poor (580 or less), it may be harder for you to find a loan with low rates, or get approved at all. There are alternative lenders that may offer business lines of credit no matter your credit score, but be sure you can afford the payments before taking on any debt. First, you’ll need find the right type of loan for your small business based on factors like your business needs, credit score, time in business and revenue. Comparing lenders is also key to finding the lowest interest rate and most favorable terms available to your small business. Applying for online business loans is often quick and automated — you may even receive immediate approval if you meet the requirements.

Decide How Much Funding You Need

You’ll also need to make sure that you meet the lender’s requirements for credit score, time in business and cash flow, ensuring that your business can easily handle loan repayments. Let’s walk through the process for choosing and applying for a business loan step by step. “If you do take on short-term financing of any kind, shop around to find the best rates and fees, pay it down ASAP, and don’t become too dependent on it.” Getting a business loan can be important for running and building your company, whether you’re expanding to a new location, preparing for a busy season, or dealing with an emergency repair. However, requirements, rates, and repayment terms can vary depending on the type of loan. If you want to align financing with your goals, you’ll need to understand and compare your options.

• A business line of credit is a handy way to access financing as needed rather than receiving a lump-sum payment such as with a small business loan.
• Security for the lender may mean lower rates for you, but also the risk of losing an asset.
• We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site.
• You’ll be living lean for a while, so you must pay special attention to your personal and business finances to come out on top.

Depending on the lender, applying for a business loan can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. But taking on a potentially significant financial obligation at the outset of a new venture is a major decision, especially for entrepreneurs launching completely untested business ideas. With this line of credit, you only pay interest on the cash you draw from the credit line and any unused credit doesn’t accrue interest. Like a business loan, a business line of credit can be unsecured or secured with collateral. Finder.com is an independent comparison platform and
information service that aims to provide you with information to help you make better decisions.

Find Out How to Get Approved

Finder monitors and updates our site to ensure that what we’re sharing is clear, honest and current. Our information is based on independent research and may differ from what you see from a financial institution or service provider. When comparing offers or services, verify relevant information with the institution or provider’s site. Other factors, like your industry or business structure can affect your ability to qualify for a loan. For example, corporations and LLCs can find financing almost anywhere but partnerships and sole proprietors may have fewer options. Don’t ignore trade credit from your suppliers either, that is one of the most underused types of business credit available to businesses.

While these loans are definitely friendlier to smaller businesses, it can still take up to 90 days for an SBA loan to be processed. Business loans are among the most common forms of financing available to founders looking to start a business or support business needs. But the choice of whether to apply for a business loan is a major decision for every business owner, and not one to be taken lightly. Lenders that offer business lines of credit charge a variety of fees and penalties. Before you finalize an application, compare fees and interest rates to ensure you’re getting the best deal.

A conventional lender can be an option if you have a good credit score and small business finances. In case you don’t meet these requirements, you can look online for less traditional loan options, such as a merchant cash advance. Before we get into what you need to get a business loan, you should probably understand what a business loan really is. But the loan is used to cover a wide array of different business needs, whether that’s equipment, inventory, or just basic working capital. These different needs can sometimes determine the type of loan you’d want to apply for—which we’ll get into below. You can probably use a traditional lender if you have a good credit score and small business finances.

As a small business owner, your personal credit score will often be a part of an evaluation of your creditworthiness. This is especially true for younger businesses or those without significant revenues. That’s because lenders are trying to determine whether you are likely to make payments on time, based upon what you’ve done in the past. Before you apply for small business financing, it’s critical that you understand your credit profile.

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You can typically avoid this fee by choosing standard ACH processing, but you may have to wait an extra one or two business days to receive the funds. A business line of credit is a form of revolving credit that allows you to withdraw money as needed, as opposed to a typical loan that’s paid in a lump sum. A business line of credit can be best for managing cash flow and ongoing expenses, and you can draw on it up to a predetermined limit. Anna Serio is a lead editor at Finder, specializing in consumer and business financing. A trusted lending expert and former certified commercial loan officer, Anna’s written and edited more than 1,000 articles on Finder to help Americans strengthen their financial literacy. Her expertise and analysis on personal, student, business and car loans has been featured in publications like Business Insider, CNBC and Nasdaq, and has appeared on NBC and KADN.

• Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
• A typical business line of credit has a draw period that lasts for anywhere from one to five years, and during that time, you can withdraw money from your line of credit.
• Once you reach the limit, you need to continue making repayments and can’t make additional draws.
• After you create a Nav account and connect your business data, you can see if the business credit bureaus have your business on file.

You might have to look online for less conventional loan options, like a merchant cash advance, if you don’t meet those requirements. Online lenders, also called nonbank or alternative lenders, utilize digital underwriting technology to approve or deny business loan applications with record speed. For https://bookkeeping-reviews.com/ example, Fundbox claims to make a funding decision in as little as three minutes. If you can’t gain approval from a traditional bank, you might have a better shot with an alternative lender since they tend to look beyond credit scores. Some lenders can prescreen your application with a few questions.

Stone tablets that outlined transactions between two parties were discovered in the ruins of Babylon. Record-keeping documents were found for estates and farms in ancient Greece and Rome. As time passed, the use of machinery facilitated mass production during the Industrial Revolution, and bookkeeping became an essential need. The growth of industry increased the demand for technology to keep up with fast-paced business transactions.

Overall, this process reduces manual data entry, which translates to less human error and better efficiency. In high demand is RPA, one of the more popular of the latest technologies to help companies automate rule-based tasks in accounting and to eliminate manual entry. According to a report from Tipalti, an accounting software company, 76% of finance executives concur that manual tasks are still a heavy burden to their teams. By doing so, your accounting department or firm can experience enhanced efficiency and seamless integration for automated tax preparation and planning.

Cloud Computing

Big data has become a rich resource that needs to be tapped to compete effectively. But for businesses ready to leverage the potential of digital tools, this shift is an opportunity, not a threat. Far from replacing the accountant, technology is empowering the accountant to rise to loftier heights, which bodes well for the future of the profession. Young prospective accountants are coming into a world set to be transformed by technology, where they will be involved in high-value, high-impact activities driven by innovation.

In today’s finance and business landscape, the importance of technology in accounting cannot be overstated. As the accounting domain adapts to dynamic market demands and evolving regulations, technology emerges as a fundamental pillar for staying ahead. For insurers, all of these regulatory and accounting changes and technological advancements are happening in a volatile market environment characterised by unsettled inflation and interest rates, which can hinder investment appetite for new technology. Accrual accounting means transactions are recorded even if cash hasn’t yet changed hands.

How HighRadius Helps Organizations to Automate their Accounting Process?

A small business with more moving parts such as inventory, receivable and payable accounts, and staff payroll probably should use the double-entry bookkeeping method. If you have a bookkeeper and employees, establish rules and procedures for access and security. Well-maintained financial records help lenders and investors to get a clear picture of your business’s condition—critical information they need when considering whether to provide you with additional funding. Knowing your business’s financial health is essential to survival because most small businesses lack the resources of bigger companies; a few missteps can lead to a cash crunch.

This helps ensure all business transactions are properly categorized and ready for use in creating income statements, cash flow statements, the balance sheet, and any other other financial statements. Whether it’s updating your books or keeping in contact with your tax adviser, maintain your business’s financial records and expenses throughout the year. Without any hiccups or last-minute scrambles, you’ll be able to enter tax season confidently. The double-entry system of bookkeeping is common in accounting software programs like QuickBooks.

Cloud computing is driving collaboration in a remote world

These programs allow small business owners to accurately enter and edit financial information on their own, and make better decisions in a much more efficient manner. The new technology benefits business owners because of its accessibility, convenient storage of financials, and ability (if needed) to be discussed with accountants over the phone. In recent years, technology has become a vital component of the accounting and bookkeeping industry. The days of consistent on-site consulting have morphed into brief off-site meetings, with a plethora of additional software now serving as accompaniment for visibility and accountability of business tasks.

In essence, cloud-based accounting technology makes it easy for accountants to maintain their day-to-day accounting activities while providing real-time access to critical data for proactive client engagement and guidance. With today’s accounting technology in place, accountants can shift their focus from tedious tasks to more value-added work. This creates an opportunity capitalize on knowledge and expertise to build more meaningful relationships with clients and create a more sustainable, year-round business bookkeeping technology model that goes beyond tax season. With accounting technology automation and sophisticated diagnostics, accountants no longer have to manually enter information, detect blank fields, or search for numbers that don’t add up. Accounting technology enables accountants to link returns using a tax ID number, so the same changes don’t have to be made across multiple documents. By comparing a tax return with last year’s documents, accounting technology can catch errors before it’s too late to fix them.