Getting Ready for 2010

It’s nearly the New Year and you know what that means! Resolution time! While some of your resolutions might be related to other aspects of your life (stop smoking, exercise more, you know all the regular ones!), doubtlessly there will be a handful of resolutions related to your business. But how many of those resolutions are related to your business’ financials? You should have business goals, that’s rarely a problem for business owners; but what is more often a problem is making some of those goals FINANCIAL goals! No one likes talking about financials so financial goals get swept under the carpet. However, it’s the financial goals that can make or break your business!

We want you to be fully equipped with all kinds of ideas and habits BEFORE the bell strikes midnight and we discover that it’s the New Year! So this blog is going to be some “required reading” that you need to do before 2010 so you can prepare a few financial resolutions for your company.

Geekery for Rent: Five Accounting Tips for Small Businesses as they Enter 2010: This article isn’t easy to find but it’s a gem! Good, solid advice for business owners including ways to track your finances, reduce your overhead costs, manage relationships, reduce bills, plus a way to help you borrow money.

The Microenterprise Journal Blog: How to Select and Use Small Business Credit Cards: You may need to borrow money next year and credit cards are a type of loan (but a high interest loan!!!). This article shows you exactly what the title promises, empowering you to get a business credit card that is right for you.

WebWorkerDaily: How to Plan for a Successful New year: This article doesn’t seem to be related to finance at first, but it is, in fact, closely related to generating revenue from projects you like to do. It’s a step by step exercise that is well worth doing!

MintLife Blog: 8 Tax Strategies to Consider Before 2010: This article lists some smart ideas to help you get higher tax deductions or pay less tax. Now all of these ideas will apply to everyone, but even a few of them will make a difference on your tax return.

About.com (Small Business): 6 Year End Small Business Tax Tips: If the MintLife blog was more about finding tax deductions in your personal life, this article at About.com is about gaining some tax advantages in your small business.

Happy New Year!

- Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

Giving back in December

This month, a portion of the proceeds from new subscribers will be sent to the Cancer Research Institute. According to a video on their website, 7 million people die each year from cancer but it’s believed that it could get as high as 18 million people per year within the next 2 decades. Those are scary statistics and every single one of us has been affected by cancer – perhaps diagnosed in a friend or loved one.

The Cancer Research Institute focus on laboratory research in two areas: To improve cancer screening to help diagnose cancer sooner and to develop immune-based cancer cures. Cancer devastates, but with the help of organizations like the Cancer Research Institute, we can make progress.

We look forward to donating a portion of the proceeds from December’s new subscribers to this worthy cause.

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

Giving back in November

Each month we give back a portion of the proceeds from new subscribers who register in that month. In November, we were happy to give $150 to the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust. This trust gives care and assistance to veterans with post-traumatic stress, substance addictions, or blind or disabled veterans who need help regaining independence. Read more about the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust here.

Thank you to our troops who protect our freedom, and thank you to November’s new subscribers, a portion of whose initial registration was donated to the service trust.

Jesica Routier, IAC-EZ

Our latest release!

We’re so excited about our latest release, version 1.5. We call it “You Rang” because it reflects many of the requests and enhancements that you specifically asked for… and it comes at a time of the year when a lot of bells ring. (Seasonal movie quote: “every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings”).

So, here’s what we’ve created for you in this release:

New Features
You’ve asked for it, you’ve got it! We’ve brought in some account-based features for those of you who choose to use the account-based method of bookkeeping instead of the transactional-based method. (But hey, if you’re happy with the transactional-based method, you don’t need to switch).

Specifically, you’ll be able to…

• Add your balance sheet accounts
• See your balance sheet
• Add your bank accounts
• Reconcile your accounts
• Track your balances
• Show your account on your dashboard

And, you’ll also be able to remove archived, viewed messages.

All these changes have also necessitated a change in…

User Interface
The User Interface has been updated because we had to squeeze in all of these really cool features somewhere. We busted out the shoehorn we got in our stocking and made it fit!

Sneak Peak at 1.51/Tax Time!
As we gaze into our crystal ball for the new year, we are sorry to point out that it’s tax time. But, to help make tax time easier and maybe a wee bit more fun, our upcoming release – release 1.51 – will be related to tax time.

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ