Thecla Nchia - Smartpa Partner

29/01/2022

Happy weekend

I know it's been a while since I've been on here. Long story but will start sharing again

Enjoy your weekend

13/01/2022

How well do you know your business?

Do you know if you are making a profit or a loss?

Here is a very simple guide I have put together to help you understand your business better. This is a very common small business report and its very important that as business owners, we know what is happening in our business.

https://kontrygirl.co.uk/profit-and-loss-statement-for-small-businesses/

12/01/2022

Have a lovely day😍

08/01/2022

Happy New Year

Hope you are as excited as I am to see what 2022 will turn out. I have some very ambitious goals I am looking forward to smashing this year.

I just finished a call with a prospect and wanted to share some tips on understanding the difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper. The client phoned this morning just as an inquiry with the assumption that an accountant and a bookkeeper are the same.

An accountant and a bookkeeper are not the same and while they may do the same things, an accountant is much more qualified than a bookkeeper. They often hire a bookkeeper to deal with some of the tasks mentioned in the link below.

Hope this helps you understand the difference and decide who you need for your business.

As a business owner, understanding the difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper can save you time and money in your business

30/12/2021

I hope you are as excited as I am for 2022

Just finished setting some personal and business goals and spent some time reflecting on my wins and losses for the year. Not sure about you, but I had a lot to count in terms of blessings and for my failures/losses, I look forward to making a difference in 2022

Happy new year

22/12/2021

What do you like most about Christmas?

07/12/2021

Business can be unpredictable.🤔

Business partners let you down, contracts fall through, a supplier raises prices, or a competitor cuts theirs. Any of these and an infinite number of other things can push your business into dire financial straits.

If you're a business owner in a partnership or sole proprietor status, you need to know that you may be on the hook personally for debts incurred by your business. You have to be extra careful in these situations if you think your business is in trouble. You don't want your business to destroy your personal finances.

Limited liability companies and corporations on the other hand insulate the owners' personal assets from the business so that the business can close and it will not have an impact on the owners' personal finances.

But regardless of business structure, dire financial straits are defined as having more expenses than income, having little cash in the bank, and not being able to meet financial commitments like salaries, accounts payable, or debt repayments.

But business owners are a resourceful bunch. So maybe the business shrinks its staff, or maybe it moves to a smaller office, or maybe it moves into the owner's home, or maybe the owner moves in with his parents to free up some cash, or borrows on his credit card. Or if they really believe in their business, maybe they borrow against their home.

I would recommend trying these to shed some light on the situation.

✔Cut any and all expenses that you possibly can. Do not go deeper into personal and/or professional debt. This may mean making the awful decisions like cutting staff or giving up office rental.

✔Rank the business' debt obligations. What are the expenses that are mission critical to your business?

✔Do an analysis of where you are and what the impact that further financial problems will have on your personal financial and physical health.

But what happens when all of the options are explored, and you're still coming up empty handed?

02/12/2021

“Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes" B E N J A M I N F R A N K L I N

If you start, run, or work in a small business, taxes play a big role in your day-to-day life. It's always advisable to work with professionals for your tax needs.

✔Taxes can be one of the biggest expenses your business faces. Hence, it makes all the sense in the world to understand how to manage them and where possible, minimize them.

It's important to benchmark where you are now with your taxes. This means planning/budgeting. For years where there could be higher or lower tax burdens on your business.
Plan for a worst-case scenario when you may need to cut expenses and a best-case scenario where you'll have additional money to deploy in growing your business or keeping for yourself.

✔Every business has a different way they are being taxed. For instance, limited liability companies, the business isn't taxed, but the owners are, and for corporations, both the business and the owners are taxed.
Whether you're a solopreneur, someone with a side hustle, or the owner or employee of a small business, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you are up to date with your taxes.

✔Tax time is really a year-round issue when you run a business. For business owners taking care of their own taxes, tracking expenses, staying ahead of fees and levies, and meeting filing dates isn't easy.

👋So, if you can afford it, getting help is well worth it. But at the same time, you need to be judicious with how you engage that help.
Bookkeepers handle day-to-day financial matters within a company.
Data entry, tracking expenses, paying invoices, and perhaps helping with payroll.

👋A bookkeeper can be a godsend for business owners, as they allow them to spend time on generating income for the business versus dealing with paperwork. — 👋

E:[email protected]

01/12/2021

Chances are you got into business because you were excited about the work that you do for your clients.

I don't know many business owners that get excited about managing expenses and doing their taxes. But as a business owner you run a small business, and doing your taxes is part of the job.

So the easier you can make the process, the happier you'll be.

Thankfully, there are a few basics to know for a business owner and several software tools that can help. . I recommend using QuickBooks Self-Employed, FreshBooks, or Wave. Each of these can connect to your bank accounts, automatically recognize every expense, and then give you the ability to label those into categories.

This will help you calculate your deductions at the end of the year.

If you just need a pure accounting tool, I recommend QuickBooks Self-Employed, but it's purely an expense accounting tool, it's not for sending invoices, proposals, or anything else. But for a small monthly fee, it allows you to let others, like an accountant, access your information

If you are a medium to large business, then you might look at purchasing a different type of software that fits your needs.

Whatever tools you use to help manage your accounting, it's good practice to do the work of labelling your expense a little bit at a time instead of all at once one time a year. This way, you stay on top of your finances and avoid the typical stress of tax day.

What tools do you use in your business?

E:[email protected]

30/11/2021

👋 How do you know you have a cashflow problem in your business?

When we start out in business, the first thing we do is to create a budget. This helps us estimate our income and expenditure for a set period.

This is where cashflow then comes in.

But what is a cashflow? This is the timing of when money comes into the business and when it goes out.

Let's assume you have a 7 days payment terms with suppliers and your customers only pay you with a 30 days payment terms. You are likely to have a cashflow issue here as the cash is not flowing fast enough and sometimes, some customers don't pay on time. This is a very simplified example to illustrate my point

How do you rectify this?

If you are a small business or a start - up, you can do either of the following;

👋 Negotiate payment terms with your customer

👋 You can invoice every week rather than every month

👋 Categorise your expenses by analysing what you are spending or where

👋 Forecast; this is very important. Its not enough to just set a budget and forget about it. Create a very detailed forecast and use the information to drive a budget for your business

Still unsure whether you have a cashflow problem or want to discuss some strategies to discuss a more sustainable growth?

E: [email protected]

25/11/2021

Do you have a business? Or do you have a job?

Why did you really start a business?

Starting a business means to connect with other people through different networks, you join groups on Facebook or LinkedIn and then become part of a community etc.

So, now you are not alone because you can reach out when you have questions or need support. You learn from each other and for those who have been business owners for a while, they tell you about their journey and that gives you some hope(like it does for me😊)

Yesterday, I listened to a video by Jo Wood FICB where she talked about the difference between a job and a business. I don't think I have ever really looked at the two carefully and for me, a job meant I am employed and working for someone else and a business, I am running it and I am being my own boss. But what if in my own business I am still treating it as a job?

I started a business so I can have that flexibility that I always desired; spend time with family more, travel even more, give back to the community by pursuing causes that matter to me, create more jobs etc.
But for this to become a reality I have to change my mindset once again and stop treating it like a job and see myself as the business owner with those goals.

Why did you really start a business? To be your own boss/employee or run a business?

19/11/2021

When you outsource to a virtual assistant, you save the standard overhead of a full-time employee. Contract work also allows you to pay for actual hours worked. Instead of paying an employee for 40-hours a week regardless of workload, you only pay remote workers for their time logged on the key tasks assigned.
Would love to hear from you

E: [email protected]