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Accounting

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Accounting

Best Small Business Accounting Software

October 25, 2022. 16 MIN READ Written By: Mark Calatrava
  • Woman using calculator calculating expenses.

    Top 13 Bookkeeping & Accounting Tips for Small Business Owners

  • QuickBooks Online dashboard seen on a computer screen.

    QuickBooks Online Comparison: Which Version Is the Best for You?

  • A man using calculator while doing a calculations.

    6 Best QuickBooks Alternatives in 2023 (Free & Paid)

Meet our Experts

Tim Yoder

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Mark Calatrava

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Eric Gerard Ruiz

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Danielle Bauter

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  • Choosing Your Accounting Software
  • Accounting Software by Industry
  • Mobile Accounting Apps
  • Explore QuickBooks
  • Learn QuickBooks
  • Popular Software Reviews
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Accounting

5 Best Accounting Software Programs for Freelancers in 2023

January 11, 2023. 2 MIN READ Written By: Eric Gerard Ruiz
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Best Free Accounting Software Programs for 2023

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7 Best Invoicing Software Programs for Small Businesses 2023

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5 Best Accounting Software Programs for Mac

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Accounting

Best Real Estate Accounting Software Options for 2023

January 12, 2023. 5 MIN READ Written By: Mark Calatrava
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6 Best Farm Accounting Software Options for 2023

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Best Law Firm Accounting Software in 2023

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Best 4 Trucking Accounting Software Programs

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Accounting

5 Best Mileage Tracker Apps for Small Businesses

September 27, 2022. 6 MIN READ Written By: Tim Yoder
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6 Best Receipt Scanner Apps in 2023

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5 Best Mobile Accounting Apps for 2023

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6 Best Business Expense Tracker Apps

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Accounting

What Is QuickBooks & What Does It Do?

January 31, 2023. 12 MIN READ Written By: Mark Calatrava
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QuickBooks Online Comparison: Which Version Is the Best for You?

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QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: Which Is Right for You?

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QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping Review & Pricing in 2023

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Accounting

46 Free QuickBooks Tutorials: Learn QuickBooks Fast

November 03, 2022. 8 MIN READ Written By: Tim Yoder
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Top 14 QuickBooks Online Tips (Including Keyboard Shortcuts)

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How To Set Up Company Information in QuickBooks Online

How to print checks in quickbooks online.

How To Write & Print Checks in QuickBooks Online

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Accounting

QuickBooks Online Review: Features & Pricing for 2023

October 20, 2022. 11 MIN READ Written By: Tim Yoder
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FreshBooks Review: Features, Pricing & Alternatives for 2023

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Xero Review: Features, Pricing & Alternatives in 2023

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Zoho Books Review: Features & Pricing for 2023

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Accounting

How To Find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor in 4 Steps

August 10, 2022. 6 MIN READ Written By: Tim Yoder
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Accounting

How To Become Certified as a QuickBooks ProAdvisor in 5 Steps

September 15, 2022. 4 MIN READ Written By: Mark Calatrava
Accounting

9 Best Online Bookkeeping Services in 2023

December 09, 2022. 8 MIN READ Written By: Danielle Bauter
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Meet our Experts

Tim Yoder

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Mark Calatrava

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Eric Gerard Ruiz

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Danielle Bauter

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LATEST ARTICLES

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October 19, 2022

Wave Accounting Review: Features & Pricing in 2023

is a free cloud-based accounting software program that allows you to manage your bookkeeping, invoicing, and payment processes in one place. With it, you can send unlimited invoices, manage your accounting for free, and process financial transactions―payroll and payments―at a low cost. Wave Accounting Deciding Factors Wave Accounting New Features for 2023 Set and restrict user roles: In the user management settings, you can now invite a user and assign them specific roles. You can set them as Viewer, Editor, Payroll Manager, or Admin. Viewers have view-only access and no edit roles Editors receive edit permissions for all accounting and invoicing functions but can’t modify or view Wave settings, bank connections, and credit card payments Payroll Managers get full access to the payroll tab Admins have full access to everything. Small business coverage insurance through Next Insurance: Wave users can now sign up for Next Insurance within the Wave app. Take note that this isn’t an integration with Next Insurance—Wave only serves as a portal where you can apply for insurance. Workers’ compensation insurance through Next Insurance: Wave also offers a portal to Next Insurance so that you can sign up for workers’ compensation insurance. This insurance coverage is automatically included in payroll. Wave Accounting Alternatives Wave is free for accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning. We awarded Wave a perfect 5 out of 5 for pricing because while they charge for payment processing and additional services, the charge is very similar to what other software providers charge in addition to their monthly fee. Wave offers the additional services for a reasonable cost: Credit card payments: 2.9% + 60 cents per transaction or 3.4% + 60 cents per AMEX transaction. Bank payments: 1% per transaction but a minimum of $1 fee Wave Payroll: Fixed monthly cost of $35 for tax service states or $20 for self-service states. There is also an additional $6 per month per active employee or independent contractor. Wave Advisor: $149 per month for bookkeeping support Accounting and payroll coaching: $329 per coaching session and email support Wave Accounting Case Study At Fit Small Business (FSB), we’ve developed a case study to evaluate accounting software across 11 different categories based on a common set of facts and functions. The graph below shows how Wave scores across each category compared with two of its competitors, Lendio Accounting and QuickBooks Online Plus. We provide a detailed explanation of the scores in the Features section. Wave and Lendio Accounting, two free accounting software in the list, are nearly head-to-head in almost all features. However, we like to emphasize that Wave isn’t strong in ease of use. This area is important because some small business owners prefer to do-it-yourself (DIY) their business’s bookkeeping, and limited customer support channels make it difficult for DIY bookkeepers to access solutions to their problems. But overall, both Wave and offer competitive accounting features as a free software service. We also compared Wave with , a paid software service. QuickBooks Online is our best small business accounting software, and since it’s paid, it outshines Wave in terms of features. Though Wave’s scores are low as compared to QuickBooks Online, we still think Wave suits new businesses―less than two years in operation―because it’s free. But as your business grows, shifting to QuickBooks Online is the best option. Wave Accounting Features Wave doesn’t skimp on basic features for small businesses, but it also has some limitations, considering it’s free software. In our internal case study, we examined Wave up close across 11 categories and achieved the following scores and results. You can learn more about the features by watching the video of our accounting expert as he assesses Wave based on the case study criteria. Assisted Bookkeeping Options You can hire Wave Advisor at $149 or more per month to help you with bookkeeping and taxes. There’s also Accounting & Payroll coaching for a one-time fee of $329. You’ll get access to unlimited email support for 30 days, live chat with customer support, and two hours of live coaching. While we appreciate having these kinds of services, it's an additional cost to users, and we don’t fully recommend for solopreneurs and freelancers buying these additional services unless there’s a budget allocated for accounting assistance. Wave Accounting Integrations Wave can integrate with Google Sheets and BlueCamroo directly from its interface. However, the rest of the integration must be made through Zapier. If you have a Zapier subscription, you can integrate a lot of ecommerce apps. Wave has very high positive ratings on user review websites. Around 90% of the user reviews gave a score of about 4 stars, which means that many still like it despite certain cons about the software. GetApp: 4.4 out of 5 stars based on around 1,280 reviews TrustRadius: 6.8 out of 10 based on about 160 reviews Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Is Wave Accounting secure? Yes. Wave uses 256-bit transport layer security (TLS) encryption for data security, and all accounting data are stored in servers monitored 24/7. Your credit card numbers are also not stored in Wave. How many users can I invite to Wave Accounting? You can invite as many users as you like. When inviting users, you can give them roles to limit their ability to edit, create, or delete transactions or generate reports. To add more users, go to Settings and click Users under User Management. Is Wave Accounting free for all? Yes. You can use the free accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning features. However, third-party integrations and payment processing are excluded from the free version of Wave. If you want to integrate other apps using Zapier, you have to subscribe to Zapier. Bottom Line We hope this case study provides you with insightful information and analysis to help you decide whether is the best fit. Despite several limitations, it still has plenty to offer small businesses. It contains essential functionality that will help you pay bills, invoice customers, and track your expenses. It doesn’t have the best customer service, but most of its features are easy to use, so you shouldn’t have any trouble setting it up and using it.

WRITTEN BY: Tim Yoder

Fyle logo.

October 18, 2022

Fyle Review: Features, Pricing & Alternatives

Fyle is an expense management software and our best business expense tracker for Visa and Mastercard (coming soon) users. You can connect any corporate card program in Fyle and wait for the transactions to be recorded in the system. For added convenience, you can also add expenses through Gmail, Outlook 365, or Slack. Fyle pricing starts at $6.99 per active user, per month. Fyle Deciding Factors Fyle Alternatives Fyle Pricing Fyle has three pricing plans. It has no free trial and plans start at $6.99 per active user. The most recommended plan is Business because it contains most of Fyle’s features. An active user is a user who submits at least one expense. Fyle only bills you for active users. Employees whose roles are just reviewing and approving expenses aren’t active users. But if approvers also submit expenses, they’re considered as active users. Fyle Features Fyle’s features provide a multisolution tool for your business. After reviewing its features, we discovered that it combines mileage tracking, receipt scanning, and project finance management into one software. Let’s go over each of these features. Fyle Integrations We like Fyle because it integrates with many third-party apps that are common in modern small businesses. It can integrate with the following software services: Oracle NetSuite QuickBooks Online Sage Intacct Xero and Bill (coming soon) FinancialForce (coming soon) Google Suite Slack Microsoft 365 HRMS PeopleStrategy (coming soon) TravelPerk What Users Say in Fyle Reviews Fyle reviews are positive, and users say they’re happy with its features. Though there were negative comments, the overall verdict of most users is positive—and most would recommend the platform. Most negative reviews are from Google Play, but Fyle replies to every negative review. Software Advice: 4.52 out of 5 stars based on ~145 reviews G2.com: 4.6 out of 5 stars based on ~915 reviews App Store: 4.2 out of 5 stars based on ~25 reviews Google Play: 3.0 out of 5 stars based on ~580 reviews Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What is expense management? It’s the process of reviewing, approving, and refunding expenses initiated by employees. Expense management can also be a system within a company that helps in gathering, classifying, and organizing expense data into meaningful reports. Why do companies need expense management? Expense management reduces expense fraud and ensures that company resources are used efficiently and appropriately. Proper expense management helps your company gain control over spending and assess periodic cash needs. Do I need an expense tracker? Getting an expense tracker is never a bad idea regardless of the business size. There are free and paid expense trackers available today. If your business can’t yet afford a paid tracker, you can first try free apps, then switch to paid apps once there’s a business need for premium expense tracking features. Bottom Line is a convenient expense tracker that supplements your small business accounting software. You can manage expenses in the platform, then transfer everything to your accounting software. However, we don’t recommend using it as a substitute for accounting software as it’s only an expense tracker and can’t track profit and loss (P&L).

WRITTEN BY: Tim Yoder

QuickBooks Online dashboard seen on a computer screen.

October 13, 2022

QuickBooks Online Comparison: Which Version Is the Best for You?

QuickBooks Online has five versions, Self-Employed, Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced, and pricing runs from $15 to $200 per month. Based on our QuickBooks Online comparison, your ideal plan depends on the number of users you need and whether your business requires features like accounts payable (A/P), time and expense billing, or inventory. : Best for small service business owners who report business income on Schedule C of their personal tax return and have no employees : Best for small service businesses that have employees and issue invoices regularly : Best for small businesses needing to assign hours worked to customers, track bills due, and provide access for up to three users : Best for retailers, wholesalers, contractors, and other small businesses requiring inventory tracking, job costing, budgeting, and access for up to five users : Best for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) wanting more detailed reporting, custom user permissions, a dedicated support manager, and access for up to 25 users QuickBooks Online Comparison: Pricing & Features QuickBooks Online is our overall best small business accounting software. To help narrow down the best plan for your business, answer a few short questions below. This will offer you a customized recommendation based on the responses you give. Afterward, continue reading our article for a more detailed comparison of the five QuickBooks Online versions. FSB Case Study To help you determine which QuickBooks Online plan is best for you, we formulated an internal case study showcasing the key differences among the options. We evaluated each based on a fixed set of categories and functions, including general features, banking and cash management, A/P, and accounts receivable (A/R), among others. In the latter part of the discussion, we present a detailed evaluation of each plan and a head-to-head comparison to see which one fits your needs. We conducted separate evaluations for each option—except for QuickBooks Self-Employed as it isn’t a full-fledged double-entry accounting software and has limited accounting features. QuickBooks Self-Employed vs QuickBooks Simple Start works very well for people who work for themselves in a service industry and report their business income on Schedule C of their personal income tax return. We even consider it the best for tracking freelance income and filing tax returns in our guide to the best accounting software for freelancers. Check out our review of QuickBooks Online Self-Employed to see what it can do for freelancers and solopreneurs. Meanwhile, includes payroll processing, which allows you to calculate and track payroll taxes, and is preferable to Self-Employed if you need to track assets and liabilities and use automated sales tax on invoices. It’s a great fit if you’ll be doing the bookkeeping yourself and don’t need inventory accounting. If you want a dedicated expert to handle your ongoing bookkeeping work, you can sign up for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, available in Simple Start and all higher plans. QuickBooks Simple Start vs QuickBooks Essentials The advantage of QuickBooks Essentials vs Simple Start is the ability to assign hours worked to specific customers. Very small businesses that bill customers for hourly services usually find that Essentials meets their needs, and most companies that choose Essentials over Simple Start do so because they either need more than one user or wish to add billable time to invoices automatically. Unfortunately, you can't assign billable expenses unless you upgrade to Plus. QuickBooks Essentials vs QuickBooks Plus is a substantial upgrade compared to Essentials. The most crucial improvements are that Plus allows you to create billable expenses and assign them to customers, track inventory costs and calculate P&L by project. Other helpful features in Plus are budgets, classes, customer types, locations, and unlimited report-only users. Retailers and wholesalers should choose Plus so that they can track the quantity on hand and the cost of inventory. Contractors should also select Plus to track the profitability of individual projects. Other businesses should consider whether tracking P&L by class and location is worth the extra $30 per month. You can learn more about QuickBooks Online’s most popular version by reading our complete QuickBooks Online Plus review. QuickBooks Plus vs QuickBooks Advanced has many bells and whistles compared to Plus, but no additional features that are crucial to good bookkeeping, such as it removes the limitations on the number of classes, locations, and chart of accounts, making it ideal for businesses with a growing staff. So, unless you need more than five user seats, support from a dedicated success manager, and free training to help your team members familiarize themselves with new features, then you can stick with Plus. QuickBooks Online Plan Comparison Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Which QuickBooks Online plan is right for you? The right QuickBooks Online plan depends on the size of your business and the features you need. For example, Self-Employed is best for freelancers or solopreneurs who need to monitor income and expenses, while Simple Start works well for very small businesses wanting to track assets and liabilities but not unpaid bills. Growing businesses with up to five users should consider Essentials, especially if they need to generate accrual-based financial statements. If you need inventory and project management, go with Plus. However, if you scale to 25 users, then upgrade to Advanced. Can I upgrade or downgrade my QuickBooks Online subscription? Yes, you can. You may check out QuickBooks’s guide to upgrading or downgrading your QuickBooks Online subscription. Is QuickBooks Online better than QuickBooks Desktop? QuickBooks Online is better than QuickBooks Desktop if you prefer a cloud-based accounting software to a locally installed one. QuickBooks Online’s biggest advantage is its ability to be accessed from anywhere with an internet-enabled device, making it easy for you to share your files with your accountant. As a locally installed program, QuickBooks Desktop makes it a bit hard for you to share your files with your bookkeeper—unless you have one working on-site. Read our comparison of QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop to learn more. When do I need to consider a QuickBooks Online alternative? QuickBooks Online isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Some instances where you need to find an alternative include: You want free accounting software: If you’re looking for a free invoicing and accounting solution, you should consider Lendio Accounting (formerly Sunrise). You need parts inventory management: While QuickBooks Online has strong inventory management features, it can’t track parts and inventory assemblies. If you’re a manufacturing company that needs this feature, QuickBooks Desktop Pro is a good alternative. Fixed assets are a big part of your business: QuickBooks Online can’t track fixed assets. We recommend Xero if you need to track depreciation for your fixed assets, like office equipment, machinery, and vehicles. If you think QuickBooks isn’t for you, check out our top alternatives to QuickBooks to see if you can find something better. Bottom Line The best version depends on the size of your business and your particular needs. If you heavily deal with inventory or large projects, Plus is the best option. However, self-employed persons should consider Self-Employed—unless they have an employer, which will require an upgrade to Simple Start. If your business is service-based without any inventory, then Essentials should provide everything you need while saving you $30 per month compared to Plus. If you’re scaling from five to 25 users, then go with Advanced.

WRITTEN BY: Mark Calatrava

Female employee handed a document to it's employer.

October 12, 2022

Segregation of Duties in Accounting for Small Businesses

Segregation of duties (SoD) in accounting is an internal control mechanism that prevents fraud and error, and proper SoD ensures checks and balances within the business. When there is no SoD in place, opportunities to commit fraud might arise, especially if it incentivizes the perpetrators. Due to limited administrative workforces, small businesses often face challenges in SoD as some admin employees have to handle two or three roles to cope. Good small business internal control dictates that some duties aren’t meant to be delegated to a single person. The existence of incompatible duties increases the risk of fraud, which is why the participation of the small business owner is a necessary compensating control to offset the existence of incompatible duties. There are three general functions that must be segregated. Let’s discuss each below. 1. Authorization Individuals who can authorize transactions cannot also be responsible for recording transactions nor should they have custody of the assets. If an authorizing person has access to the physical assets and records, it increases the risk of fraud and misappropriation of assets. Hence, employees who can authorize transactions mustn’t be involved in bookkeeping or safekeeping of physical assets. For instance, the person who authorizes a check to be written shouldn’t be the same person who records the check in the bookkeeping software or reconciles the checking account. If it’s impossible to do this, it’s best to delegate approval functions to the small business owner. 2. Recording & Reconciliation Individuals who record transactions, such as accounts receivable (A/R) staff, accounts payable (A/P) staff, and bookkeeper, mustn’t handle authorization and custody roles. Looking at the accounting process and bookkeeper’s responsibilities can help you spot incompatible duties affecting recording and reconciliation functions. To illustrate, if the A/P staff can authorize payment for business expenses, they can create and approve fictitious expenses and steal money from the business. Moreover, individuals who reconcile accounts, such as bank accounts, mustn’t handle custody roles because since they have access to cash payments from customers, they can alter A/R records and steal customer payments. Today, the most common business frauds arising from inadequate SoD in recording functions are the following: With proper SoD, you can reduce the risk of fraud in the business, but only up to a certain level. Collusions may exist within the company even if there’s proper SoD. 3. Custody Individuals who have access to assets, such as keys to the storage room and access to the business’s bank accounts, mustn’t handle recording and authorization functions. Let’s assume the company driver has the authority over fuel expenses. If they think fraudulently, they can be creative and charge the fuel expenses of their personal vehicle as fuel expenses of the company trucks. To mitigate this fraud risk area, they mustn’t have the authority to approve fuel expenses. Rather, the business may give them cash for fuel and require them to surrender receipts. Alternatively, they may use a corporate card for fuel expenses for ease of use. List of Incompatible Duties in the Business Cycle We listed a set of incompatible duties per function below. To apply this table in your small business, you must first classify employees with authorization, recording, and custody roles. Then, review the job descriptions of each employee and check if there are incompatible duties included. Remember, employees should never have duties listed under more than role like authorization, recording, or custody. For instance, an employee with authorization roles has the following responsibilities: review sales returns, approve sales returns, and prepare sales orders. If we check the incompatible duties in the Revenue and A/R cycle, we’ll see that the preparation of sales orders isn’t a duty of an employee with authorization roles. You may remove the incompatible duty from the job description to maintain proper SoD. If it’s impossible to remove an incompatible duty from an employee’s job description due to a limited workforce, the business owner must compensate for this SoD violation by placing another level of oversight on that employee. Bottom Line Separation of duties are essential controls that help prevent and detect the existence of fraud and error. Even in a small business setup, separating authorization, recording, and custody functions are vital to ensure the integrity of business transactions.

WRITTEN BY: Tim Yoder

Hand holding a tablet with graphs on the screen, and paper money arounds it.

October 11, 2022

How To Do Petty Cash Accounting & Recording in 6 Steps

A petty cash fund is a small amount of cash on hand, usually less than $500, used to cover incidentals or petty expenses. Accounting for petty cash can be done either manually, since it only deals with small expenses, or made easier with bookkeeping software and employee expense cards. As such, we’ll show you how to do petty cash accounting manually and how can simplify and speed up petty cash accounting. Bottom Line If you plan to use petty cash for small business purchases like postage and office supplies, it may be handy to use the petty cash log to keep track of your transactions. Keeping careful records of cash expenditures will be a huge help when it comes time to reconcile your petty cash account. However, using accounting software, like , can make managing petty cash expenses easier and faster because it simplifies the recording of expenses.

WRITTEN BY: Eric Gerard Ruiz

The Fraud Triangle Theory..

October 11, 2022

What Is the Fraud Triangle in Accounting?

Designed by well-known criminologist Donald R. Cressey, the fraud triangle is a model for identifying the existence of fraud as exhibited in three risk factors: incentives, opportunities, and rationalization. It’s a guide for small business owners and managers to assess the possible areas in the business where fraud might exist. In the accounting process, we don’t look at fraud as if we’re about to prosecute someone in court. Rather, we look at fraud in accounting as a causative factor that causes material misstatements in the accounting records and financial statements and how we can prevent it from happening. 1. Incentives or Pressures Fraud may start when there are incentives at stake or pressures from the business owners. Examples of incentives include promotions, performance bonuses, salary increases, and fringe benefits. However, achieving certain performance goals and expectations is requisite before getting these incentives. Employees who desperately want to receive incentives may resort to fraud if performance goals aren’t met. Aside from incentives, pressure from top management or business owners to perform or be disciplined can be a root cause of fraud. For example, a sales manager might be under constant pressure from top management to exceed sales forecasts amid reluctant consumer buying behavior due to rising prices. Moreover, unrealistic management expectations or threats can be a source of pressure. Setting unrealistic goals that are hard to achieve can drive employees to commit fraud to save their jobs or prevent them from being demoted. 2. Opportunities Opportunities to commit fraud exist when small business internal controls are non-existent or weak. There is an opportunity to commit fraud if an employee believes that they can override internal controls or take advantage of its weaknesses. The lack of owner participation can also contribute to an opportunity to commit fraud. If the business owner doesn’t actively participate in daily operations, such as approving large expenses and signing checks, employees with financial problems might see an opportunity to steal money from the business. The lack of physical controls can also be an opportunity to commit fraud. For example, giving all employees access to the inventory storage unit gives rise to the opportunity to steal goods, especially if there are no security personnel or closed-caption TV (CCTV) cameras in place. 3. Attitudes or Rationalization The attitude of the small business owner or top management toward business operations and financial reporting is a risk factor. It is always the “tone at the top” that sets the company culture and ethics. If the owner brags about hiding income from the IRS, what effect might that have on the behavior of their employees? Hence, a business owner with unethical business practices should expect the same from their employees. Besides attitudes, some employees try to rationalize fraud. The rationalization of fraud arises from inadequacies within the business or personal problems. For example, employees who steal money from the company often rationalize this act as a way of getting back at their employers for giving them low salaries. Moreover, an employee who is heavy in debt can use this reason to steal money. “No one would know/see” is the common rationalization for fraud, especially if the employee is handling incompatible duties like recording payments in the accounting records and accepting cash from customers. Proper segregation of duties or active participation of the small business owner can eliminate possibilities of fraud only up to a certain extent. Since fraud is an act with an intention to conceal, collusions among employees with the same rationalizations to commit fraud can be hard to detect. 4. Kinds of Business Fraud There are two types of business fraud applicable to every business, fraudulent financial reporting and misappropriation of assets. These can exist regardless of the business size and anywhere in the bookkeeping process. Bottom Line Establishing a good internal control system can mitigate the risks of fraud, but only up to a certain level. Business owners and leaders should create a good working relationship and environment for employees to prevent them from resorting to fraudulent acts. Keeping employees happy and providing them with growth opportunities will help them align personal goals with business goals.

WRITTEN BY: Tim Yoder

Xendoo vs bench logo.

October 10, 2022

Xendoo vs Bench: Compare Features & Pricing

Xendoo and Bench are two popular online bookkeeping services. Xendoo is great for both ecommerce and franchise businesses, and its fractional chief financial officer (CFO) services can be useful for those seeking insights on how best to scale their business growth. Meanwhile, Bench is the better choice for businesses that need help with paying bills and invoicing customers. It’s also less expensive than Xendoo and offers tax services as part of its higher-priced plan, rather than as an add-on service. Xendoo vs Bench At a Glance Who Should Use Each Who Should Use an Alternative New businesses that require assistance with entity formation: Neither Bench nor Xendoo offer assistance with entity formation, but will prepare and file your articles of organization, file for your employer identification number (EIN), serve as your registered agent, and help ensure compliance with the IRS. Businesses seeking the lowest price for basic services: is an excellent alternative for users that only need basic services and prefer a more affordable choice. For $190 per month, you can obtain bookkeeping services without any transaction limits. You’ll also receive a discounted monthly fee for catch-up bookkeeping. Businesses that need advanced financial planning and advice: Since neither Xendoo nor Bench offers financial planning services like investment and business expansion, is a great option if you want a one-stop-shop bookkeeping solution that offers advanced planning and advice. Startup companies: is a better option for startups with big plans for rapid growth, as it offers not only CFO services but also controller services. Its services are built around the needs of startup businesses backed by venture capitalists. Your pilot controller can assist with the cost of goods sold (COGS) categorization, revenue recognition best practices, and other services as needed. Xendoo vs Bench: Pricing Xendoo offers three different subscription plans, which are priced based on the monthly expenses of your business and the number of bank and credit card accounts that are connected. The Essential Plan allows for monthly expenses of up to $50,000, the Growth plan for up to $75,000, and the Scale plan for up to $125,000. Custom plans are also available for businesses with more than $125,000 in monthly expenses. Xendoo also offers add-on tax and CFO services for an additional fee. If you opt for the annual subscription for either service, you’ll receive a discount. Meanwhile, Bench offers the same price no matter the monthly expenses. Its two plans—Essential and Premium—differ mainly in that the Premium plan includes tax services. However, you can only sign up for Premium on an annual basis. Also, while Bench doesn’t offer add-ons like CFO services, it does allow you to add on invoicing and bill pay services for an additional fee. You can also take advantage of Bench’s 30-day free trial, an incentive that Xendoo doesn’t offer. Xendoo vs Bench: Features One major difference in features is that Bench offers A/R and A/P services for an additional cost, which starts at $100 per hour. These aren’t available with Xendoo unless you use Xero or QuickBooks Online—both Xendoo integrations—to pay bills and invoice customers yourself. Xendoo’s fractional CFO services deliver the strategic insight needed to accelerate and scale the growth of your business, and you’ll receive expert advice and data-driven strategy from a financial expert. Two other Xendoo features that aren’t offered by Bench include multiple currency support and a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with its services. Both platforms integrate with Gusto for payroll support and offer a dedicated bookkeeper who is backed by the support of a bookkeeping team and catch-up bookkeeping services. The two services also offer account reconciliation, transaction categorization, and tax consulting, preparation, and filing. However, day-to-day bookkeeping tasks like entering daily sales are unavailable. Xendoo vs Bench: Ease of Use Xendoo and Bench are fairly intuitive and easy to use, and their dashboards are user-friendly. They also feature an online portal and mobile app for you to communicate with your bookkeeper, which streamlines communication. The only difference between the two is that Bench has a wider selection of help resources, including an online help section with a searchable knowledge base and community support. Xendoo vs Bench: Integrations Xendoo and Bench have almost the same number of integrations, which range from accounting software to ecommerce, payroll, and tax integrations: Xendoo integrations: Xero, QuickBooks, Gusto, A2X, OFX, Biller Genie, TaxJar, Sellers Funding, Stripe, and Stax Bench integrations: Gusto, FreshBooks, Stripe, Square, Shopify, Attune, Keap, Brex, and Clio Xendoo vs Bench: Mobile App Xendoo’s mobile app is available for both iOS and Android while Bench’s app is for iOS only. Therefore, if you’re an Android user, then Xendoo is your best bet. Both, however, allow you to upload documents, communicate with your bookkeeper, and schedule appointments as needed. Bench is more advanced with the reports that it provides, and you can access real-time cash flow updates. You can also check your spending categories, with the ability to make corrections in the app. Meanwhile, Xendoo keeps you on top of your due dates with reminders and notifications for tax payments, but you’re not able to view your accounts in the app. Xendoo vs Bench: Customer Support Both solutions offer unlimited phone support with all plans and have strong customer support features. While Bench has more online resources, including a searchable knowledge base and community support, Xendoo has a slight edge with its live chat support feature. Bottom Line Xendoo and Bench are strong options for online bookkeeping services. Bench is a great fit for professional service businesses, especially those using FreshBooks. It even offers A/R and A/P services for an additional fee. Meanwhile, Xendoo is ideal for franchise and ecommerce businesses that could benefit from its specialized services, such as fractional CFO services. It’s also a good fit for Xero and QuickBooks Online users because of its software integrations, and while it’s more expensive than Bench, it has a money-back guarantee.

WRITTEN BY: Tim Yoder

A hand holding a credit card and phone.

October 6, 2022

How To Reconcile a Credit Card Balance in QuickBooks Desktop

In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of how to reconcile a credit card balance in QuickBooks Desktop, which is crucial to keep your financial transactions accurate and your company safe. We’ll teach you how to trace transactions from QuickBooks to your credit card statement and vice versa. If you aren’t a QuickBooks Desktop user yet, you can choose from a Pro, Premier, Enterprise, or Accountant package. We compare QuickBooks Desktop products to help you decide which one is right for you. If you decide to purchase Pro, one of our best small business accounting software, you will get a 33% discount on your first year. Here’s a tutorial video of the credit card reconciliation process in QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Premier. Wrap Up Congratulations on completing our lesson on how to reconcile credit cards in QuickBooks Desktop. If you are considering switching to QuickBooks Online, be sure to check out our tutorial on how to convert QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online.

WRITTEN BY: Tim Yoder

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