In This Issue

Use Both General and Subsidiary Ledgers to Make Better Business Decisions

Understand the Benefits of the Cash Flow Statement.

A GilbertFIT Case Study

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Review Your Business Policies for 2015

As the calendar turns over to a new year, updating your business tax planning will give you a head start on saving tax dollars. Here are three areas to review.

Vehicle records. As a general rule, you have two choices for deducting business auto expenses. You can use the standard mileage rate or the actual ...(Read More)

"Gilbert Associates consistently provides top-notch service while engaging our staff in a professional and friendly manner. We appreciate the partnership we've developed."

-East Bay Zoological Society

JANUARY 2015

It's a brand new year, which means that you are starting with a clean slate and have the opportunity to start your business records off on the right foot. It is imperative that you have a basic understanding of your businesses accounting records, even if it is not your primary role within the company. A great place to start is to make the time to understand your company general ledger and too familiarize yourself with the various entries in it.

We've also included an article on what is likely the most underutilized financial statement, the "Statement of Cash Flows". The Statement of Cash Flow is the road-map between your income statement and your cash balances.

If you need further explanation of any topics in this issue, don't hesitate to give us a call. We are here for you!

Don't Bankrupt Your Business

Building a successful business takes vision, passion, a viable product or service, and lots of hard work. Bankrupting a business is much easier. In fact, doing nothing to address systemic problems is often all that's needed to drive a company off the cliff. Four pitfalls to avoid include the following:

Ignoring the numbers. If management lacks a basic understanding of the company's financial statements, severe problems may not be addressed. For example, the balance sheet might be carrying obsolete inventory at inflated historical prices...(Read More)

Use Both General and Subsidiary Ledgers to Make Better Business Decisions

Prudent business managers don't relegate their company's record-keeping to the accounting department - at least not entirely. That doesn't mean managers have to be CPA's or debit-and-credit experts. But having a basic understanding of a business's accounting records shouldn't be considered optional. More than one firm has floundered because the company continued to spend beyond its means, suffering cash flow shortages while managers remained in the dark - until the accounting department showed up with bad news.

Central to any modern accounting system is the general ledger, also known as the book of accounts. It's "general" because it contains all the accounts of the business... (Read More)

Understand the Benefits of the Cash Flow Statement

Most businesses prepare three primary financial statements - the balance sheet, income (profit and loss) statement, and statement of cash flows. It's the third of these statements that often provides the most insight into day-to-day operations. Why? The cash flow statement focuses on transactions that may not directly affect a company's income, expenses, or financial standing at a given point in time.

The balance sheet may help a business owner to identify long-term trends such as declining receivables or increasing debt. But because that information is not directly stated on the balance sheet, it may be obscured, ...(Read More)

A GilbertFIT Case Study - CSG Needs Access to Experience Accounting Experts

The Problem:

Conservation Strategy Group's (CSG) has a rock-solid administrator who knows their business inside and out but isn't a trained accountant. While she had knowledge of QuickBooks, she still wasn't comfortable that she was doing everything the right way. The anxiety and stress was even more pronounced because there was no one to turn to for help in her office. Then, her IT consultant recommended Gilbert and the GilbertFIT solution for accounting support...(Read More)