SBDC LA: Business Finance Literacy 101 (Class 1 of 2)

Description

Many small companies struggle with the area of accounting. They ask questions such as; Should we use QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop or some other program? Should we hire someone or do it ourselves? What records do we need to keep for tax reporting? What is the difference between a bookkeeper, accountant and CPA? How do we know we are hiring the right person?

Unfortunately, too many small business owners blindly hire others to do the important function of accounting without fully understanding it themselves. This leads to costly mistakes and even tax filing issues.

This session will cover the basics of accounting, what you need to record and why. You will learn what information is required for tax filing and what information is important to monitor business performance.

We will also cover the choices in software and support, helping you to make informed decisions. You will learn how to interview people who provide financial services to make sure you are hiring the right person for the job.

In addition to this, we will discuss how to properly gather the right data to do a thorough analysis of your company’s performance and/or for forecasting. This part of the session prepares you for Session 2: learning financial calculations that answer business key questions.

In this first session you will learn:
• Accounting processes, including software choices
• The types of professional services available
• The difference in external reporting for taxes and internal financial management
• How to gather and arrange your data to calculate performance measurements