Different businesses break their books in different ways.
A contractor, an online store and a restaurant have almost nothing in common except that a generic chart of accounts fails all three. Here is how we set each one up.
Contractors and trades
Job costing is where contracting businesses either make money or quietly lose it, and most accounting files are not set up to show the difference.
- Costs tracked per job so you can see which projects earned and which did not
- Progress billing and retainage handled correctly
- Subcontractor payments tracked with 1099s ready in January
- Equipment and vehicle costs allocated properly
- Work in progress reported so your numbers reflect reality mid project
E-commerce and online retail
Marketplace payouts are net of fees, refunds and reserves, which means the money landing in your bank has almost no relationship to what you actually sold.
- Payouts reconciled against gross sales, fees and refunds
- Inventory and cost of goods sold tracked so margin is real
- Multi state sales tax tracked and reported
- Multiple sales channels consolidated into one clear picture
- Returns and chargebacks recorded where they belong
Restaurants and hospitality
Margin in hospitality moves week to week, and by the time a quarterly report arrives the moment to react has passed.
- Daily sales imported and reconciled against deposits
- Tip reporting and allocation handled to the rules
- Food cost and labour cost tracked as a share of revenue
- Vendor invoices matched and accrued correctly
- Weekly flash figures where you need them, not just month end
Professional services and consultants
When you bill your time, the useful questions are which clients are profitable and how much unbilled work is sitting on the books.
- Revenue recognised properly on retainers and milestones
- Client and project level profitability
- Unbilled work in progress tracked so nothing is forgotten
- Contractor and subcontractor costs allocated to the right engagement
- Quarterly estimated tax figures prepared for your CPA
Nonprofits and small associations
Restricted funds have to be tracked separately and reported accurately, and a general purpose bookkeeping setup will not do it.
- Restricted and unrestricted funds tracked separately
- Grant reporting prepared to the funder's format
- Program versus administrative cost allocation
- Board ready financial statements each month
- Support for the annual 990 and audit preparation
Your business not listed here?
The list is not exhaustive. If you run a small business and the books are behind or unclear, the first call will tell you quickly whether we can help.