What is Zoho Expense for?

What is Zoho Expense for? Take the receipts out of your wallet, fill in the Excel file… already I feel like I’ve lost you. The expense account process is a tedious headache for managers of many companies. What if I told you that I have THE solution for you? The one that will bring you peace of mind and increased efficiency, the one that will allow you to settle your expense account in a few clicks… This solution is called: Zoho Expense . No need to use the Zoho suite to benefit from all the advantages of this application. Zoho Expense integrates with the following accounting applications, among others: Quickbooks online, Quickbooks desktop, Xero and Microsoft Dynamics. The concept is as follows: take a picture of your receipt from the Zoho Expense cellular app , categorize that expense, and your monthly expense report is ready for approval. What we love about Zoho Expense that will make your life easier  : Mobile application to take photos of receipts Available online on any type of device (cell phone, tablet, computer) Several packages depending on the number of users Affordable price (around $4 per month per user) What we love about Zoho Expense that will allow you to structure the process in your business: Approval of expense reports by superior or according to your approval policy Ability to select a monthly due date when producing a report Ability to set limits for certain types of expenses according to company policies Issue mileage reimbursements based on the number of kilometers traveled and/or based on the odometer. What we like about Zoho Expense as accountants  : Import credit card transactions to perform monthly reconciliations (especially for Desjardins, RBC, BMO, TD and National Bank) Export the expense account in a single PDF file including all receipts Synchronize expense categories with the chart of accounts Assign each expense to a project or client and categorize it as chargeable Associate expenses with tags such as a department, a region or a particular category of expenses What we like less about Zoho Expense  : It is not possible to connect credit cards from all Canadian banking institutions It is not possible to synchronize the flows of personal credit cards As a Zoho Expense user , I can tell you that my expense account is done much faster than before. No more lost receipts and hours spent recording my expenses in an Excel file. Welcome to the digital age! Zoho Expense , a well-invested $7/month/user! Thinking of integrating Zoho Expenses? communicate with us! contact us

How to reduce accounting costs?   Cost reduction is one of the main objectives of any business in order to improve its profitability. If this is one of your goals, keep in mind that this reduction should affect the productivity of your business as little as possible.  The important thing is to achieve effective cost reduction. Moreover, one aspect that can be costly for many companies is accounting. If you have issues with your billing, tax reporting, spreadsheets, or accounting, reducing accounting costs could benefit your organization.   Some companies have the resources to provide full financial service, but the reality is that many organizations are unable to hire accountants. This is why some companies add accounting duties to the administrative duties of the office manager.  If you ask yourself the question ” how to reduce my accounting costs?” », solutions are available to you.    Accounting outsourcing to reduce your costs    Many business owners don’t understand the importance of accounting and how it affects their organization’s long-term growth. If you want to be ahead of your competition, have a better turnover and grow your business, this is something that you must take seriously and that you must integrate into your strategy in order to achieve your goals. Unfortunately, many people responsible for overseeing a company’s financial operations do not receive the necessary training to be able to optimize them and understand the key concepts. They do not have the accounting expertise they need to analyze financial reports and implement the necessary measures to improve cash flow.  Plus, office managers have enough on their plate without having to deal with financial statements, tax reporting, balance sheets, sales team commission tracking, and more. The good news is that there is a solution: accounting outsourcing .  Indeed, if you outsource your accounting services, you will reduce your accounting costs. You are probably wondering, ” How can I reduce my costs by spending money on an outside service?” » By outsourcing your accounting, online accountants will take care of your finances and provide you with best practices (bookkeeping, payroll, use of accounting software, etc.). They will show you ways to control and reduce your costs by eliminating waste (overheads, etc.).  In addition, your employees will be able to concentrate on their usual tasks so you can maximize their skills which will lead to an improvement in their productivity. Reducing costs and improving productivity are just a few of the many benefits of accounting outsourcing .    Accounting software for better management     If you do not want to outsource your accounting management, you can optimize your time and money savings by integrating accounting software. At Cofinia , our team takes care of the integration of Zoho Books into your business as well as the training of your employees so that you can take full advantage of the advantages of this technological tool.  Zoho Books is cloud-based accounting software that’s perfect for SMBs and entrepreneurs who want to reduce their accounting costs and optimize their financial management. It allows you, among other things, to organize all your operations in one place, keep your invoices and unpaid accounts up to date. Instead of spending endless hours entering data, you can focus on growing your business! Need an accountant ?    The best decision to improve your company’s productivity and reduce your costs is to outsource your accounting, leaving it in the hands of a specialized company. This way, you can devote your time to the main tasks of your business, save time and make sure you don’t make mistakes.   Cofinia offers an accounting service for businesses. We guarantee proper accounting management and quality control:  A bookkeeping  Payroll processing that makes your life easier Budget control  Training to increase your productivity  Optimization of accounting processes to ensure better decision-making Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or if you wish to learn more about our services.    Stay tuned and don’t miss any of our new publications   Access our Tools We provide you with completely free tools to help you familiarize yourself with the management tools Make an appointment! Make a telephone appointment with us to learn more about what we offer as a service and how we can help you. Follow us Follow us on our social networks to learn more about our company, our values ​​and our services. facebooktwitteryoutube

8 Common Accounting Mistakes to Avoid For a business leader, accounting is generally nothing exciting. We have to invoice, pay our employees, remit our taxes, pay our installments. For many, these steps are done by an accounting technician or by the entrepreneur himself. How to know if the accounting is in order? Too often, when clients come to us, nothing goes right. The accounting is late, they don’t have access to the information and the line of credit is “in the piton” as they say. How did we get there? Here are the 8 most common accounting mistakes :  1. Not giving importance to accounting Taking the time to analyze your financial performance can make a big difference. It’s always easier to think that things will be better next month. However, one must understand what the numbers are made up of to ensure that the results are reliable. Too often there are errors in the entry of data such as duplicate expenses and payment entry errors. These elements lead to a distortion that can lead to bad decisions. 2. Not keeping administrative documents and receipts  Often contractors do not keep all receipts for their business expenses. Yet these expenses are reimbursable and by misplacing them, you could lose important tax deductions. We recommend that you keep your receipts and categorize them by date and type of expense. You should keep your accounting records for at least 10 years.  3. Not setting a set budget  It often happens that small businesses or self-employed people do not establish a budget in advance. However, this is a mistake to be avoided at all times. Planning your budget will allow you to limit your expenses and establish your financial goals.  4. Not using accounting software Data entry errors are one of the most common errors in accounting and unfortunately they result in significant loss of money. Although you can’t prevent this type of error 100%, there are tools you can use to improve your procedures and ensure that errors are corrected in a timely manner.  Accounting software like Zoho Books and Quickbooks provide real-time access to your financial data. Click here to find out how Zoho Books will save you time and money.  5. Not doing your accounting regularly Many entrepreneurs do their accounting when it comes time to remit taxes. However, memory is a faculty that forgets, so if you wait until the last minute to record your financial transactions and update your accounting journal, you will forget essential information. Indeed, you will probably miss receipts and you will look for what to attribute the entries or exits in your bank account. You may even have forgotten to invoice certain customers… That’s why it’s best to keep your accounting book up to date to avoid errors! 6. Trusting blindly Do you have an accounting technician or an accountant who takes care of the accounting? He too can make mistakes due to a lack of knowledge, rigor or time. If you don’t take the time to analyze and verify your financial results, you won’t be able to be sure of the quality of his work! 7. Not having documentation of the work to be done It is recommended to define who does what to avoid that certain tasks are not completed within the agreed deadlines. You also need to document critical processes and have a password manager. A good work plan makes it possible to establish the tasks to be carried out and to set deadlines. It serves as a basis for setting up controls and ensuring the rigor of everyone in carrying out their tasks. Very often, the departure of an employee leads to big problems because we simply do not know what she did or how she did it.  8. Not being up to date with legislation and your obligations Accounting and tax laws are constantly changing and it is your obligation to comply with them. You should always make sure you are up to date. This is why the use of reliable accounting software offering automatic updates is a solution to consider.  How do I correct accounting errors?  1. Use procedures for correcting accounting errors There are several general accounting techniques to correct errors such as zero’s complement, reversal, negative correction and transfer. 2. Use reliable accounting software  Reliable accounting software is the basis for optimizing and simplifying your financial management and headaches. A good software such as Zoho Books will allow you to record all the necessary information in a simple way in order to obtain a clear vision of the financial health of your company. This tool is essential to manage your bookkeeping and monitor your costs and revenues in order to maximize your profit margins.  With the help of Cofinia, you can learn how to use this software to your advantage. Our experts take care of automating the necessary Zoho Books modules for your business to save you valuable time and money!  3. Work with a team of accounting experts  If you have difficulty analyzing your financial situation and you need help with your accounting organization (balance sheet accounts, expense accounts, income statement, etc.), don’t worry, Cofinia is here to help . help you. Many clients come to us because they can’t find qualified accounting staff. At Cofinia, we have the necessary expertise to take charge of the financial management of your company.  Do business with Cofinia for your accounting and you will have peace of mind. Here are some benefits of working with us:  We will optimize your processes so you can make informed decisions  We will train you in order to increase your productivity and that your team develops key skills Your accounting tasks will be carried out on time and according to standards. We have all three levels of resources; technicians, accountants and CFOs, no more recruitment and training headaches. We will establish a work schedule with deadlines We will help you with your payroll processing  We will help you better plan your expenses according to your income Do not hesitate to contact Cofinia if you have any questions concerning your accounts . It will be our pleasure to assess your needs and answer your questions!   Stay tuned and don’t miss any of our new publications   Access our Tools We provide you with completely free tools to help you familiarize yourself

5 accounting tricks to check your accounting management Cofinia has been supporting SMEs in business management and accounting management since 2016. Many clients have approached us to help them update their business accounting, knowing that there was a problem. However, in several other cases, we had to notify the client of shortcomings and problems that we observed when they entrusted us with a bookkeeping or system migration mandate. Here are 5 accounting tips to check if your accounting is in order: 1. Are your bank and credit card reconciliations done? Bookkeeping may seem routine to some people, but it comes with its own set of challenges. Too often, we find that the bank reconciliation is not carried out. Especially since with accounting software like Zoho Books and Quickbooks that synchronize with your bank accounts and regardless of the transactions, it is easy to consider these reconciliations as a proper reconciliation. 2. Are your taxes properly configured and the tax reports properly executed? It is not enough to have rates of 5% for the GST and 9.975% for the QST, you also have to know when to use them. For example, do you apply a 50% reduction on these taxes for entertainment costs? What is the frequency of your tax reports? Are the revenues declared for the period identical to the revenues invoiced? Have you taken into account any transactions or corrections recorded on a date prior to your last report? 3. Do balance sheet items include amounts that have not changed for more than one fiscal year? This might be normal for share capital, but this is not the case for prepaid or accrued expenses. Too often, amounts are posted to these accounts but not processed correctly afterwards. Prepaid fees should normally reduce periodically. For example, when paying an annual insurance premium, we will put 11/12 of the amount in prepaid expenses in the period and this will reduce the amount periodically each month. For accrued expenses, it often happens to record, for example, a bonus provision or an expense for an invoice that will be received in a later period. Often, when the time comes to process the invoice or the disbursement of the bonus, the expense account is applied a second time instead of reducing the accrued charge. It may be a simple oversight, but one that will skew the company’s results. 4. Do your financial results fluctuate a lot each month? I really like looking at a comparative income statement . I compare it month by month since the beginning of the year or I compare the current month to the same month of the previous year if the company has cyclical operations. I analyze the variations for each line of income or expense. Often, the expense amounts are higher in certain months, indicating to me that the accounting treatment is not appropriate. We often see this case in equipment costs. We sometimes forget to recognize a fixed asset when buying a computer.  One of the accounting principles is to pass an expense in connection with the life of an asset. This is how depreciation should be calculated. This way of analyzing the results will also make it possible to detect errors of double entry. 5. Have year-end entries been accounted for? At the end of the year, you send your information to your accountant to file your tax returns and sometimes a notice to reader or a review engagement. The accountant will certainly have to make adjustments, for example, reclassifications, non-current transactions such as disposals of assets, but also the calculation of depreciation and taxes. These entries are generally sent by your accountant at the same time as the financial statements. These entries must be recorded in your accounting system so that your beginning of year balances on the balance sheet are accurate. Here’s a 6th bonus tip! 6. Do you have unapplied credit notes on your customer and supplier invoices?  In many cases, suppliers issue you credits that are “forgotten” in your accounts payable. This money is due to you. Regularly check the dates of the credits to ensure that you are reimbursed if no purchase is planned in the near future. If you have any questions, our team of experts is available to guide you through the accounting of your business. It will be our pleasure to advise you on the accounting management software adapted to your needs and to help you with the implementation. If you want to save time and money, do not hesitate to contact us ! Stay tuned and don’t miss any of our new publications   Access our Tools We provide you with completely free tools to help you familiarize yourself with the management tools Make an appointment! Make a telephone appointment with us to learn more about what we offer as a service and how we can help you. Follow us Follow us on our social networks to learn more about our company, our values ​​and our services.

The business case for a service business With cloud applications, it is increasingly easy to have (almost) real-time access to the financial performance of our company. Of course, as an accountant, I am quite well equipped to analyze the numbers. On the other hand, as an entrepreneur, I must say that it takes on another meaning. For what? Because it’s not just numbers and it’s not enough to make decisions based on the analysis we make of these indicators. In the past, as CFO, I gave my opinion, I issued recommendations, but ultimately, it was the CEO and the management team who made the decisions. Since I founded Cofinia, I have asked myself the same kind of questions as the entrepreneurs I meet. My advantage, I know how to structure information to analyze results and make decisions. I must say that I don’t always make the right decisions, but as I’ve been told before, it’s better to make decisions and make mistakes than not to make any decisions. At least we learn. And I must say that I learn every day! Gross margin If your charter of accounts is well structured, you should be able to calculate the cost of the services you offer and, by extension, the gross margin. Why is this important? Because it is the first milestone in the analysis of profitability. Turnover is important, but what’s really important is making a profit. Many companies record salaries and expenses in a single accounting account heading. I always suggest separating the accounts into at least 3 distinct sections. Direct costs (related to services rendered) Sales and marketing costs Administrative costs In this way, it is possible to identify the gross margin (revenues less direct costs). A company generally owes a minimum of 50% gross profit. The effective rate I really like this indicator, because I find it very revealing about the performance to be achieved. It is calculated by dividing the income for the period by the number of hours worked. Note that if you have a lot of rebillable expenses, you must reduce the income by these amounts to give a more accurate picture. Thus, if you charge a rate of $100/hour, you will have an idea of ​​the real rate realized on your mandates by calculating the effective rate. There are often times that we are not able to charge our customers (learning about files, travel, resumption of work, etc.). It is therefore relevant to ensure that we are able to cover overhead costs and this will not be possible if our effective rate is lower than what is required and anticipated. Profitability by project or client Profitability is the key. It sounds simple, but when you start a business, you always want to give the customer more to establish our credibility, provide good service and ensure that our customers come back and refer us. Calculating the profitability by project or by client implies that timesheets must be made. For many, this is not a pleasant part, but it is essential. By assigning average rates to our resources, it is quite easy to determine if our projects/clients are profitable or if action needs to be taken. Sales recovery time Getting paid is the sinews of war. I often hear people say “I am making a profit, why is my bank account always empty?” “. The first thing I validate is if the company is indeed making money. When the entrepreneur pays himself in dividends, we sometimes realize that the profits are not enough. If we added the contractor’s salary, we would see that the income would not be sufficient. Then I look at the recovery period. No, I don’t look at the age of the accounts. It is useful, but it does not take into account the work carried out, but not invoiced. Indeed, it sometimes happens that we cannot systematically invoice all the work at the end of the month. According to accounting principles, it would be appropriate to recognize work in progress, but in general, small companies do not do this. Result, we do not realize, but we find ourselves recovering the costs between 60 to 90 days later. To calculate the DSO, here is how I proceed: Monthly income / Accounts receivable * 30 days Monthly income / (Accounts receivable + work in progress) *30 days This gives us the number of days to recover our costs. The burn rate or our monthly costs The costs of a service company are mainly made up of salaries. Next come administrative expenses such as rent, software costs, insurance costs and professional fees. It is quite simple to make a monthly average of these costs. Once this amount has been established, simply add an amount to cover interest costs, debt repayments, taxes and the shareholder’s dividend if applicable to establish the income to be generated. to meet the company’s obligations. I have, of course, simplified the explanation by not taking into account investments to be made and significant variable costs, but it can give you a good idea. Why is it useful? To find out how many sales you need to generate each month to generate enough profit. Stay tuned and don’t miss any of our new publications   Access our Tools We provide you with completely free tools to help you familiarize yourself with the management tools Make an appointment! Make a telephone appointment with us to learn more about what we offer as a service and how we can help you. Follow us Follow us on our social networks to learn more about our company, our values ​​and our services. facebooktwitteryoutube