Accounting Made Easy for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

One of the first decisions you need to discuss with your accountant when  you start your business is whether you will utilize the cash method of accounting or the accrual method.  In this lesson we will discuss the differences between both methods.  In the next lesson we will go over when it is mandatory to use the accrual method of accounting.

When you first start out your business you will have to choose whether you will run on a cash basis or an accrual basis.  Most small businesses choose cash since it is simpler and easier to maintain.  However, there are times when you MUST use the accrual basis.  This video will explain when it is required by the I.R.S.

This lesson will discuss the various best practices that you should undertake when you start your business and good habits that can help you become successful.

One of the most important first steps you will undertake as a business owner is choosing the proper entity for your business.  In this lesson I will go over some of the tax considerations you need to keep in mind when choosing an entity.  Get with a good accountant to discuss which option would be beset for your particular situation.

One of the most important things you should do, especially during the early phases of your business is to come up with your break-even point.  You need to know how much sales do you need to generate before you can cover your fixed costs and variable costs and come out with a profit. In this lesson we will come up with the formula for break-even and we will use an example of running a microbrewery.

This lesson will describe what bank accounts you should set up and what you will need in order to get one set up at your bank.

In this lesson we will go over one of the first steps that you should undertake when you get your accounting system set up, whether you are doing it with software or some other method.  And that is setting up your chart of accounts.  This will be an index of the financial accounts that you use for your business and will form the basis of your financial statements.

In this lesson we will go over a commonly used financial statement that is known as the Balance Sheet.  This is a good statement to look at that can show the overall financial health of a company. 

In this lesson we will look at a company's Income Statement, one of the main financial statements that are used to evaluate the performance of a business.

Although this is a statement that is not commonly used since it only applies to companies that declare dividends, we will go over the Statement of Retained Earnings in this lesson.

Another important financial statement that is used by organizations to evaluate performance is the Cash Flow Statement.  We will look at the structure of this statement and why it sometimes differs from a traditional Income Statement.

One of the biggest struggles that many entrepreneurs face is deciding how much they can take on themselves versus delegating tasks and outsourcing what they need to.  In this lesson we will look at what you will probably need for your organization and look at the roles of bookkeepers, accountants and tax professionals.

This lesson will go over why you should utilize the services of a company that specializes in payroll processing.

Making sure you have a good tax professional will be crucial for your business especially for its first year of operations.  In this lesson we will look at the benefits of having a tax professional in your corner as well as how you can find one.

This is the final video of the course and includes coupon codes for my other courses.