AAA Financial Svcs, LLC

10/04/2026

☕ Sunday Read with Roxana | Issue #006

October is National Women’s Small Business Month, and this one hits a little closer to home.

Building a business has reminded me how important it is to understand the financial side from the very beginning — not just after the business starts growing.

Good accounting gives you more than clean books.

It helps you understand:

• Whether the business is actually profitable
• Where the cash is going
• Which expenses are growing
• Whether pricing is working
• What you can realistically afford
• When it may be time to invest, hire, or make changes

For women building businesses of their own, financial confidence matters.

You do not need to know every accounting rule — but you should understand what your numbers are telling you.

💬 Question of the Week:
What part of the financial side of running a business has been the biggest learning curve for you?

09/27/2026

☕ Sunday Read with Roxana | Issue #005

1099 Season Starts Before January

One of the easiest ways to make January stressful is waiting until January to start checking your vendor information.

A better approach is to start reviewing it now.

Before year-end, take a look at:

• W-9s on file — Do you have one for every vendor who may require a 1099?
• Legal names and TINs — Make sure the information in your accounting system matches the W-9.
• Vendor classifications — Confirm contractors and other vendors are categorized correctly.
• Payment totals — Review year-to-date activity so surprises don’t show up in January.
• Payment methods — Know which payments may already be reported by a third-party processor.
• Missing information — Now is the time to chase down incomplete or outdated W-9s.

Why start now?

Because January should be about reviewing and filing, not spending days emailing vendors for information you could have collected months earlier.

A little cleanup now can make year-end reporting much smoother.

💬 Question of the Week

What causes the biggest headache during 1099 season?

Missing W-9s | Incorrect vendor information | Reviewing payment totals | Figuring out who actually needs a 1099 | Something else?

— Roxana Craton, MBA
Owner | AAA Financial Svcs LLC

#1099

09/06/2026

☕ Sunday Read with Roxana | Issue #004

Don’t Wait Until December to Think About Year-End

September is a great time for a financial check-in.

Year-end may still feel a few months away, but waiting until December to review your books can turn small issues into a much bigger cleanup project.

A few things worth reviewing now:

📊 Year-to-date financial performance
Compare revenue, expenses, and profitability to last year or to your budget.

💰 Accounts Receivable
Look at overdue customer balances and identify anything that needs follow-up.

📥 Accounts Payable
Make sure vendor bills are entered and outstanding obligations are accurate.

🏦 Balance Sheet accounts
Review loans, credit cards, fixed assets, payroll liabilities, and other accounts that often get overlooked.

🧾 1099 and W-9 information
Make sure vendor information is complete before January arrives.

📦 Fixed assets and equipment purchases
Confirm additions and disposals have been recorded properly.

💵 Cash flow
A profitable year doesn’t necessarily mean a comfortable cash position. Look at what you’ll need for the remainder of the year.

Why do this now?

Because September gives you something December doesn’t:

Time.

Time to correct errors.
Time to collect missing information.
Time to make informed decisions before the year is over.

A strong year-end close starts well before December 31.

💬 Question of the Week

What’s the one accounting task you always seem to leave until year-end?

— Roxana Craton, MBA, CFL
Owner | AAA Financial Svcs LLC

08/22/2026

🎓 I’ve been waiting to officially share this one!

Behind the scenes, I’ve been working toward another professional milestone, but I wanted to wait until the certificate was in hand before making it official.

I’m excited to share that I have earned the Certified Finance Leader (CFL) designation! 🎉

The certification included a 150-question, four-hour proctored examination, which I completed with a 94% score.

What I especially value about the CFL is its focus beyond traditional accounting. It emphasizes the broader role of today’s finance leader, from financial analysis and strategic decision-making to process improvement, working capital, controls, technology, and helping organizations use financial information to make better decisions.

That philosophy is also at the heart of AAA Financial Svcs, LLC.

Good accounting tells you what happened. Strong financial leadership helps you understand why it happened, what it means, and what to do next.

I’m proud to officially add:

Roxana Craton, MBA, CFL 🎓📊

Another investment in the knowledge, perspective, and leadership I bring to the businesses I serve.

08/16/2026

☕ Sunday Read with Roxana | Issue #003

Profitable… But Where’s the Cash?

A business can show a profit on its Profit & Loss Statement and still feel like there’s never enough money in the bank.

Why?

Because profit and cash flow are not the same thing.

Your P&L measures revenue earned minus expenses incurred.

Your bank balance reflects the actual timing of money coming in and going out.

That difference matters.

A profitable business can still experience cash pressure when:

💰 Customers haven’t paid their invoices yet
📦 Cash is tied up in inventory
🏦 Loan principal payments are leaving the bank account
💳 Credit cards or prior obligations are being paid down
🛠️ Equipment or other assets are purchased
📅 Expenses are paid before related revenue is collected
💵 Owners take distributions or draws

That’s why looking only at your bank balance — or only at your P&L — doesn’t give you the whole picture.

The takeaway?

Profit tells you whether your business model is making money.

Cash flow tells you whether your business has the cash available to operate.

Healthy businesses need to understand both.

💬 Question of the Week

Have you ever looked at a profitable P&L and wondered:

“Okay… so where did all the money go?” 😅

You’re definitely not the only one.

— Roxana Craton, MBA
Owner | AAA Financial Svcs LLC

08/10/2026

🎉 Officially Intuit Bookkeeping Certified!

I’m excited to add another credential to my professional development and continue building on the accounting experience I bring to AAA Financial Svcs LLC.

The certification reinforces skills in areas that are at the heart of strong business accounting:

📊 Accounting
📈 Financial Statement Analysis
📑 Financial Statements
💻 QuickBooks

For me, continuing education is about more than adding another badge — it’s about staying sharp, continuing to grow, and making sure I’m bringing current knowledge and practical skills to the businesses I support.

One more milestone checked off. 💙

Roxana Craton, MBA
Owner | AAA Financial Svcs LLC

This certification is awarded to individuals who have passed the Intuit Bookkeeping Exam. Completion of this exam is neither an offer or guarantee of employment by Intuit or any other entity. Additional training, experience, or skills may be required. Intuit reserves the right to rescind and/or canc...

08/09/2026

☕ Sunday Read with Roxana | Issue #002

Month-End Is Done… Now Make the Next One Easier

For most businesses, July month-end is officially in the rearview mirror. 🎉

Before you completely forget about it until August 31st rolls around… how did it go?

Did you spend hours tracking down receipts?
Were there transactions you couldn’t remember?
Did you discover bills that hadn’t been entered?
Were you still reconciling accounts days later?

If so, now is actually the perfect time to fix it — not at the next month-end.

A smoother close starts with what you do during the month:

📅 Reconcile bank and credit card activity weekly.
Smaller batches are easier to review, and errors are much easier to identify while transactions are still fresh.

📥 Enter bills as they arrive.
Your Accounts Payable should tell you what you actually owe — not just what you remembered to enter.

🧾 Invoice customers promptly and monitor A/R.
Know who owes you money before you get to month-end.

📂 Create one process for receipts and documentation.
No more searching through emails, glove compartments, desk drawers and that one very safe place you definitely remember putting it. 😅

📊 Review your P&L and Balance Sheet during the month.
Month-end shouldn’t be the first time you look at your numbers.

The goal for August:

When August closes, you shouldn’t have to spend days building your financials.

You should be able to review, reconcile, investigate and close.

A good month-end process isn’t about seeing how fast you can close.

It’s about having accurate numbers you can actually use to run your business.

💬 Sunday question:
Now that July is closed, what was the biggest headache in your month-end process?

Tell me in the comments — it might just become next Sunday’s topic. 😉

— Roxana Craton, MBA
Owner | AAA Financial Svcs LLC

08/07/2026

🎉 Another certification added!

I’m excited to share that I’ve completed the QuickBooks Online Payroll Certification through Intuit.

Payroll is one of those areas where small errors can turn into bigger problems quickly, so continuing education and staying current with payroll systems and processes is important to me.

This certification strengthens the support I can provide to small businesses with:

• Payroll review and accuracy
• Payroll setup and workflow guidance
• QuickBooks Payroll support
• Payroll reporting
• Compliance-focused review
• Identifying issues before they become costly corrections

At AAA Financial Svcs LLC, my goal is to provide business owners with reliable accounting support, accurate financial information, and someone they can actually reach when they have questions.

Always learning. Always improving. And always looking for ways to better support small businesses. 💙

Roxana Craton, MBA
AAA Financial Svcs LLC

This badge is awarded to individuals who have passed the QuickBooks Online Payroll Certification exam. Completing the QuickBooks Online Payroll certification program and earning a badge demonstrates your proficiency in the QuickBook Online Payroll application. As a Certified ProAdvisor in QuickBooks...

08/02/2026

☕ Sunday Read with Roxana | Issue #001

How long does it take your business to close the month?

For many business owners, closing the month means finally catching up on bookkeeping.

But a proper month-end close is much more than that.

A consistent month-end process helps you:
📊 Make better business decisions
💰 Understand your true cash flow
🔍 Catch errors before they become costly
📈 Produce accurate financial statements
📅 Stay ahead of tax season

A few key steps include:
✔ Reconciling bank and credit card accounts
✔ Reviewing Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable
✔ Verifying payroll entries
✔ Recording recurring journal entries
✔ Reviewing your Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet
✔ Investigating unusual fluctuations before closing the month

Remember:

Closing the month quickly isn’t the goal. Closing it accurately is.

💬 I’m curious…

How long does it typically take your business to close the month?

🟦 1–3 days
🟦 4–7 days
🟦 More than a week
🟦 We don’t have a formal month-end process

Share your answer in the comments! I’d love to hear how other business owners approach month-end.

Have a topic you’d like me to cover in a future ☕ Sunday Read with Roxana? Let me know below!

08/01/2026

📊 Can you answer these three questions about your business?

✅ Are you making a profit?

✅ Do you know where your cash is going each month?

✅ Are your financial reports accurate enough to help you make business decisions?

Many business owners work incredibly hard but don’t always have the financial information they need to confidently manage and grow their business.

That’s where I come in.

At AAA Financial Svcs LLC, I help small businesses gain confidence in their financial information by providing:

• Financial Statement Preparation & Analysis
• Monthly Accounting Oversight
• Account Reconciliations
• QuickBooks Support
• Payroll Review & Compliance Guidance

My goal isn’t just to keep your books organized—it’s to provide reliable financial information that helps you make informed business decisions.

I’m currently accepting a limited number of new monthly clients.

If you’re looking for responsive, personalized accounting support—or know someone who is—I’d love to connect.

📍 Serving Ionia and surrounding communities

📞 616-635-9657
📧 [email protected]