Tag: baton Rouge la cpa

No matter how impressive your vision for your company may be, success requires hard work and strategic planning. Highly successful business owners learn to set goals realistically and effectively. Mastering the skills of effective goal-setting, strategic planning, and assessing goals will help you to find greater success in your business and develop great business management skills.

Set Incremental Goals

Start small when setting goals by establishing daily and weekly goals. It can be easy to let ambition take over while you dream of long-term goals. However, you cannot reach your long-term goals without smaller victories along the way. Setting smaller, incremental goals provides the opportunity for you to be in consistent control of your business. You will know if you miss a weekly goal, and you can then adjust your strategy to make sure your team can stay on track moving forward. If you are only setting quarterly or yearly goals it can come as a surprise when you miss them, or your team might be left struggling to meet them in the eleventh hour.

Make Goals Visible

You and your team need a visual reminder of what your goals are and when you plan to achieve them. Put them up on a bulletin board in the office, or include them on your calendar. Write your goals in a place you look at daily as a consistent reminder. We all have those back-of-the-mind thoughts or ideas that might be good if implemented, but they are frequently forgotten. A thought without a goal or deadline is merely a wish. Our CPA in 70808 wants you to make your goals visible to you and your entire team.

Measure Your Goals

How will you know if you achieved your goal if you cannot measure it? Goals should have a measurable standard. Perhaps your goal is to see a 20% increase in your monthly new client numbers in a 6 month time frame. By defining specific numbers and time frames, your goals will lead to action. Abstract goals are often set and missed. When a goal is clear and measurable, you can more easily create a plan that accomplishes the goal at hand. Once you’ve set measurable goals, make sure you have a method for evaluating them. Will you be reviewing your progress weekly, monthly, or quarterly? The time frame will vary based on the size of the goal and effort needed to evaluate change.

Evaluating your goal setting protocol will help you to identify areas of opportunity and areas that need improvement. It will help drive the success of your business. Contact our accounting firm in Baton Rouge, LA and let our experienced CPAs help you with your financial goal setting.

Quality leadership is a result of the utilization of characteristics that are identifiable and easily strengthened. When a team has a strong leader, they will work more efficiently and the workplace will be overall a better environment. Without a leader, even the best employee can’t reach their full potential. The following characteristics shared by our CPA in Baton Rouge, LA have proven to be critical qualities in a leader:

• Appreciation

When your team members are acknowledged and appreciated, you will foster a working environment that rewards and motivates the contributions made. There are many ways to demonstrate appreciation for your team, including verbal recognition (public praise), bonuses and pay increases, extra time off, gifts, meals and more. Showing appreciation will increase the amount of respect you receive from your team.

• Accountability

A great team will appreciate and thrive with the appropriate accountability. Setting clear expectations and communicating clearly will help to establish this. After setting the expectations, you can then put accountability measures in place. Checking team member deadlines and reviewing work quality will help to maintain accountability. Providing honest feedback to your team will allow them to achieve the professional growth they likely desire. When balanced with appreciation and facilitated with respectful communication, accountability can lead a team to new levels.

• Compassion

Compassion will help you to naturally understand and cater to the needs of your team. Understanding the importance of work-life balance, considering benefits that matter to a team, and allowing for trusting relationships to form are all ways to demonstrate compassion as a leader.

• Honesty

Dishonest communication can often lead to confrontation and problems long term. Imagine that a team member is underperforming regularly. It may be uncomfortable for an employer to confront this difficult situation. Instead of directly and honestly discussing the needs of the business, the leader may instead try to sugar-coat the feedback and soften the communication.

Unfortunately, this won’t allow the team member to correct the communication or to begin looking for more appropriate employment. Long term dishonesty can lead to a dysfunctional team.

Excellent leadership can take time to establish. It can make or break the success of a business and a team. Strengthening leadership skills can be an invaluable contribution to your business. Contact our accounting firm in Baton Rouge, LA for a business evaluation and further analysis on the leadership within your business.

Starting your preparation early for tax season can help to save you a lot of time, money, and stress in the long run. Evaluating spending, tax implications, and tax laws can help you in your planning process. Annual financial reports show that Americans overpay on their taxes by a collective one billion dollars every year. This often happens when businesses fail to hire tax professionals who are well-versed in tax credits and deductions.

There are a number of deductions that your business can consider. Some of the most popular deductions are as follows:

• Charitable Expenses: Depending upon the nature of your donation and the extent to which you have documented it, you may be eligible for a charitable contribution deduction. For example, if your business makes a large monetary donation to the local food pantry and you save all receipts, you can use that as a tax deduction.
• Job Hunting Costs: Whether you are seeking employment or paying money to a recruitment company to hire a team member, you may have expenses in this category that are worthy of consideration.
• Lifetime Learning Credit: With proper documentation, if you have taking a large amount of expensive continuing education, you may qualify for a tax credit.

Changes to the Bigger Picture

In addition to claiming credits during the actual filing process, there are a number of bigger changes that you may want to consider during the upcoming year.

• Choosing the Right Business Structure- An experienced accountant can help analyze your business structure and decide if it is the best fit for your business.
• Maximizing Your Medical Benefits- Any smart tax strategy includes proper management of medical benefits. Businesses with a certain number of employees can take advantage of the Medical Expense Reimbursement Plans. These plans allow you to write off medical bills as business expenses.
• Choosing the Right Retirement Plan- Retirement plans help to ensure financial stability and living standards when you eventually decide to retire. Our experienced CPA in Baton Rouge can help you choose the right plan to help you meet your goals.

Tax season only comes once per year, but business professionals should be thinking about the tax implications well before April rolls around. Our experienced accountants can help turn a hefty payment into a large return. Contact our accounting firm in Baton Rouge, LA today for a tax consultation with one of our accountants.

An efficient system to have in place when onboarding new team members is the 30-60-90 planning system. This method uses identifiable goals and objectives to help review new employees and analyze their progress. With the 30-60-90 planning method, you will more easily integrate new team members and help them on the path to success.

30 Days

Establishing relationships are at the heart of the first 30 days. This time is also vital for setting team member and business expectations. Be sure to communicate with new hires to create three or more goals to work on during the first month of employment. Emphasize the importance of absorbing as much information as possible during this time period.

60 Days

After the first 60 days, your new team member should be into a good routine. They should be able to fully execute the things that they have learned with confidence. At this point, the focus should be shifting toward contributing to the company’s mission.

90 Days

By the three month mark, our Baton Rouge accountant says that your team member should be fully integrated into your business workflow and executing responsibilities independently. They should be able to take the lead on projects or tasks without any supervision. When problems arise, they should be able to solve them proactively and prevent any further issues.

Creating a 30-60-90 Plan

The best 30-60-90 plans look beyond solely analyzing the numbers. You want your new employee to think critically as they settle into their new role. There are a few things that you can keep in mind as you create a plan to optimize your team’s success.

• Focus on the Big Picture: Think about why you hired this person for this role, whether it be to expand your team or fill in a need for your business. Make sure they create goals and metrics based upon the vision of your business.
• Ask and Answer Questions: Create an understanding of the baseline status quo. Encourage them to ask questions to help them understand priorities and direction.
• Be Flexible:  Don’t worry if your new hire isn’t the perfect fit immediately. Three months is a significant amount of time and there is an adjustment period. Provide guidance and correction as necessary.

With use of the 30-60-90 method and proper planning, you can help integrate new team members into your business and help to achieve long-term goals. Contributions from every team member are vital to the success of your business. Contact our accounting firm in Baton Rouge, LA today to schedule a consultation for help with setting up your 30-60-90 plan.

It’s no secret that, as a business owner, you take on a great deal of responsibility and overwhelming  financial stress. Here at Apple Guerin, the main goal our our accounting team in Baton Rouge is to help you achieve financial freedom so that you can completely focus on leadership and business growth. The following tips will help you create a more solid foundation for your business and help you along in your financial journey.

1. Organization is key. It is important to make sure that you always have systems in place. This will ensure that no details are missed and that everyone has a protocol to follow. Disorganization can quickly lead to unhappy customers, and ultimately, the downfall of a business. Efficient organization can also help bring opportunities for improvement to your attention.

2. Dream big.  Your business will only be as successful as you envision it to be. Set clear goals with deadlines to use as a ruler for your success. Goals will help with financial decisions that present themselves. By setting goals with clear expectations, you will be able to assess how small decisions can have a true impact on your business in the future. It will help you define a clear path toward your financial freedom.

3. Always have a plan. Without both short-term and long-term financial plans in place, you will be setting yourself up to fail. How will new earnings be allocated; how much will go toward savings? Are you budgeting for new purchases? Where will money come from if business gets slow?  If you don’t already have the answers to these questions, this is a great place to start. Planning for the unexpected helps to ensure that your business will survive surprise expenses.

4. Make wise financial decisions. When starting a business, our certified accountant in Baton Rouge agree that it is inevitable that you will acquire some strategic debt. The key to success in the business will be an analysis of your return on investment. Don’t make big purchases without a thorough analysis of the value that it will bring to your business.

If you need help creating a plan or making a financial decision, Apple Guerin is available to help. Our goal is to put you on the path toward financial freedom. We want to help take some of the financial stress away so that you can focus on your community, clients, and business growth. Contact our accounting firm in Baton Rouge, LA today for a business consultation.

Business management tools refer to applications, methods, and systems that are used in everyday operations. The tools can be used to ensure that you maintain a successful, growing business. In today’s world, it is important to stay on top of changing markets, increasing costs, and supply shortages. The following business management tools shared by our accounting team in Baton Rouge can help you to manage your operations and deal with the challenges that business owners are currently facing.

Strong Leadership

Behind the scenes of every successful business is a strong leader. Empathy, confidence, and accountability are three of the top characteristics of a strong leader. As the owner of a business, it is important to make every attempt to fill the leadership role. Consistency is key in this situation.

Developing the leadership role can take some time, but don’t be discouraged. Consider enrolling in a business leadership course. Communicate with your team to see what they find important in a leader. Communication is essential and a happy team often correlates with a productive, successful business. Contact our Baton Rouge financial consultants to get started.

Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the process of analyzing data to improve relationships with customers. Your business website, social media, and marketing materials are all sources that you can use to help compile data. This method allows you to analyze your customer base and learn more about their wants and needs.

The best way to incorporate customer relationship management into your business is to invest in a CRM system. These systems are programs that can track transactions and meetings, store customer information, and help to manage marketing campaigns. Some popular all-purpose softwares include Salesforce, Zoho, and HubSpot.

Mission Statements

Mission statements help to define your business philosophy and goals. A mission statement must address four questions:

1. What does the business do?
2. How does the business work?
3. Who is the customer?
4. What value does the business create?

Mission statements help create a clear, defined purpose to the business. In turn, this will create motivation for your team and help everyone to work toward a common goal.

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning goes hand in hand with mission statements. Planning involves defining a direction for your business. A proper business strategy will state how your business goals will be achieved with the resources that you have available.

To begin planning, start by writing down your core values and your five year vision. Then, determine what steps you will take to reach that vision. Meet with your team to help them understand the vision and goals. You can even ask them to help you brainstorm ways to achieve the goals. Team involvement helps tremendously with business success.

The management tools listed above, along with many other strategies, can help enhance the performance of your business. Contact our accounting firm in Baton Rouge, LA to find out more about maximizing your business potential and the business management tools we can provide you.

A main principle of financial planning would be to establish an emergency fund. It is important to have extra money saved up, especially in today’s society when the economy is changing constantly. You should be prepared for things you can’t control like a natural disaster, staffing upset, or an unplanned event. These things can all interrupt your business flow, and we are here to help. 

Defining a Financial Emergency

According to each practitioner’s unique circumstance, the criteria that constitutes a financial crisis may differ. If several team members were to quit at a larger, financially stable business, it would likely go unnoticed. However, for a small business this could be a big problem.

If there was a fire, flood, or other damaging event, it would be disastrous for any business, big or small. All of these scenarios are prime reasons for setting up a business emergency fund because you truly never know what could happen.

How Much Should You Set Aside?

The majority of financial advisors recommend saving between 3-6 months of salary in individual emergency funds. Nevertheless, these amounts probably won’t be enough for even a small business. There are several variables, but here are some questions you should ask yourself to find out what would be the best decision for you:

• What risks are not covered by insurance?
• How much are replacement costs for essential equipment that is damaged?
• What are your limits on insurance?
• How long can your business stay afloat if you are unable to generate revenue?
• What would it cost to arrange coverage for staff members who quit on short notice?
• How long can you wait for insurance claims to be processed?

Knowing Where to Start

A lot of people don’t anticipate financial crises, which means they won’t think to save money for a rainy day. If you have not started an emergency fund for your business, now is the time to start setting money aside and creating a plan. Don’t know where to start? A great place to start is by scheduling a consultation with our accounting team in 70808. We can assess your assets and figure out the next steps to make sure your business is financially secure for any crises that may occur. Call our accounting office in Baton Rouge, LA today.