Amethyst Financial Services

05/13/2021

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/tax-refund-delay-backlog-returns-growing-irs-2021-05-12/

Almost 31 million returns are being held for manual review, delaying refunds. "I depend on that money," one taxpayer says.

11/23/2019

Sometimes we get stuck looking at our monthly performance or focused on our current bank balance. You'll have people tell you to look to where you want to go in the future and not focus on the past. While that's true, evaluating your past performance is still a big part of choosing your future direction.

For my own business as well as my clients, I always evaluate current performance against prior months, quarters, years, etc. It's so important to see where you started and where you are now. Hopefully you see an improvement, where your revenue grows from one year to the next. But it's equally important if you have less success now than you did in a prior period. Without this evaluation, how else will you know if your actions are having the intended effect?

When was the last time you compared current performance to past performance? It can be such a boost to see where you were and how far you've come. It can show you how you're performing and help guide where you want your business to grow.

If you haven't done this evaluation on your business before, contact me! I'd love to help you see where your financials are now and help you figure out the direction you'd like to go as we move into a new year.

Photo credit: ID 138066786 © Tinnakorn Jorruang | Dreamstime.com

11/21/2019

Payroll can be one of the more stressful parts of running a business, but it doesn't have to be. Between tracking time, managing employees, and paying taxes, it can be a lot to deal with while you're also trying to grow your business.

Have you thought about:

- How much would it help to have your payroll taken care of for you so you can focus on growing your business?

- If you could pay a flat rate per month regardless of how often your employees are paid, instead of having a fee with every payroll run?

I have partnered with both Gusto and QuickBooks Online for payroll, and I can help you streamline your payroll process so it is as pain-free as possible.

Message me if you need some help with your payroll, or if there are any questions/issues I can assist with as we wrap up 2019!

10/14/2019

Do you know, with 100% certainty, that you do or do not need to collect sales tax for your business? If you're not sure, definitely check on that and make sure you're collecting it and filing each month as you are required.

This is a helpful link for Ohio but you can find it for another state if needed. Just make sure you do your research or contact me and I can help you out!

https://www.tax.ohio.gov/faq/tabid/6315/Default.aspx?QuestionID=434&AFMID=11354

10/07/2019

New "Tip Mondays" starting again next week! For now though, I thought this was a good article to share. For both your business and your personal finances, you need to know exactly where your money is going.

I applied the KonMari method to my finances and learned how to appreciate my money — and my debt — and organize my savings.

09/16/2019

I compare my spending each month against my yearly budget to ensure I’m on track and so I can adjust if needed. Unexpected things always come up, so this monthly evaluation makes me prepared for that.

I actually started a draft of my 2020 business budget back in July! It took 15 minutes. I just copied over my current budget, made a few notes and adjustments for new categories I know I’ll need, and that’s it. I’m continuing to tweak that as the year progresses and will have a finalized 2020 budget ready in December. Because I’ve been working on it a little at a time though, it’ll basically be done by the time I need it.

Sometimes all you need is 5-10 minutes here and there to make a few notes. It can save you a ton of time later on.

What’s something you need to plan ahead for with your business? If you don’t have a budget, what is stopping you?

09/11/2019

This is my current view while I wait to pick up my kids from preschool. And it’s confession time...

I love to-do lists! My meeting ended early so I got to the preschool with 20 minutes until the doors open. I spent that time going through my weekly to-do list and figuring out what has to be done today, what has to wait until tomorrow, adding new items, and my favorite moment of crossing off what I’ve already done.

I still use apps like Google Keep for our household lists, like an ongoing grocery list, meal plan, etc. For my business though, I find that I prefer to still write it all down. I just got the RocketBook a couple months ago and I love it. You use a certain type of pen that makes the entire book erasable. Every week, I take a picture of my notes and lists (which route as a pdf to the folders you assign on your shared drive or to your email) and then erase it and start over again for the new week. It’s a bit old school by writing it down, blended with the new technology of an erasable notebook that is easy to scan as a pdf and save.

What’s your preference for lists? If anyone has a great way of tracking their to-do lists, comment and let me know!