Mark Kennedy

So you want to go paperless? Good luck…

OK I guess some help would be appreciated.  Going paperless or green is not a simple and easy task for businesses. This is due to the rigorous requirement by government to maintain records, usually given in paper form, so they can tax your success. 

Please don’t take me wrong about taxing success, I do have a few socialistic ideologies kicking around in my head.  For example I believe that if I want to live in a safe country, it costs money. If I want to live in a country with paved roads, taxes and government are necessary elements.  But this article is not about taxation or social ideology. It’s about going paperless!

My number one tip for going paperless, “Stop using paper”!  Seriously, stop it. If your business can use computing power use it, if not use paper.  Unless you are manufacturing a product that uses paper, you probably don’t need to use so much of it.

Perhaps we should talk about the barriers you may face to going paperless first. 

buy one soon.

1. I don’t know how.
2. It’s to expensive.
3. All other reasons are just different expressions of  number 1 or 1, no matter how you phrase it.

If we compile a list of all the uses we currently have for paper, we can better discuss the potential for stopping.  The problem with a list of uses of paper is that it is unique to your business. Every business is different and the way they function is a product of the processes and people that are part of that business.

Perhaps if we compiled a list of reasons why we use paper.

1. Easy to transport and store.
2. Versatile, it can be shared or transmitted via fax/mail/scan and email.
3. Easy to mark up or add to with a pen/pencil etc.
4. Habit, I have always used paper.
5. What if my computer crashes?
6. What if I get audited?
7. Isn’t it a requirement of the law?
8. It’s cheaper than computers.
9. I need to be a computer expert to get rid of paper.

Let’s look at each issue separately and see if they are real concerns or just “because that’s the way we do it”. Wait that might require more than a short article. OK, check back and see how this story evolves. You might just gain some freedom.  Let’s go paperless!!!!

On your team,

Mark

He is an accountant. I was concerned for him personally and selfishly because he disappeared every year at tax time and issues for which I needed his input and expertise for our businesses just went missing along with him.

His stress level had to begin creating severe health and emotional difficulties for him – his plaintive remarks, “this business is going to kill me” was enough evidence for me to know something had to be done. What accountant hasn’t gone through it, right?

Most people have no idea of what an accountant and her/his family goes through, particularly at tax time. Since I started this business and have been helping other accountants, I’ve been amazed at how many could just not wait until the time they could quit altogether.

Since starting my-eScribe, it has been rewarding to see how joy and excitement have returned to the lives of so many who had lost both from the rigors of accounting …plus my own joy at helping them become far more profitable, grow their business while actually having more time to do the things in their practice they wanted to do.

my-eScribe is a bookkeeping service (we don’t do payroll, tax, or any other things we believe should be left to a competent accountant). We work only with and through accounting firms whose principals tell me how solutions we have provided, in the way we approach bookkeeping, have brought about positive changes in their lives, including more time to invest in their marriages.

I am passionate about working with accountants. Such a vital and important field; the survival of many businesses is wholly dependent upon an accountant who really cares. The challenges accountants face can be horrendous, as they were with my friend. I’m thankful I was able to help him and all the others …because I have become compassionate for accountants.

I care about accountants; in fact, all business owners should!

Mark Kennedy,

http://my-eScribe.com

Mark Kennedy

In the pursuit of your passion that you call “my business”, you will find it much easier if you have done some self reflection.  Here is a list from a Professor who has a knack for discovering the heart of a person.

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter.”
Confucius

You can spend a lifetime answering these questions:

1. What are you proudest of, or what has given you the most satisfaction?
2. What aspect of your thought do people continue to misunderstand?
3. What are the greatest problems facing those in your discipline or field of passion?
4. What advice do you have for those outside your religious affiliation or belief system?
5. What books and authors have had the greatest influence upon you?
6. What are the beauties and utilities of your thinking, and what are its weaknesses and shortcomings?
7. How would you like to be remembered?
8. What holiday or celebration do you enjoy the most? Why?
9. After a busy day, how do you like to unwind?
10. What do you do well?
11. What do you like about yourself?
12. What would you like to change about yourself?
13. What’s one thing you really like about your life right now?
14. What is your favorite time of day? Day of the week? Time of the year? Why are these favorites?

This list was lifted without permission from an inspiring man who is loved by many, thank you Dennis Plies Professor of Music at Warner Pacific College.

Try to answer 1 per month, spend at least 30 minutes on each question. Maybe take a walk and ponder. You will find anwering just one of these questions a rewarding experience. And remember:

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”
Peter F. Drucker

Mark Kennedy

First the bad news…the life and expectations your parents had will not be available for you.  Unless you are a baby boomer and have the life already..  This message is for those born after 1962.

Why? because the socioeconomic conditions that created the world they grew up in don’t exist.  We are back to the way things have been for thousands of years.

Wait… is that bad news?

To arrive at the conclusion that things like, pensions, lifelong jobs, a white picket fence, dog and two cars in the garage are what makes a good life is somewhat judgmental on my part. In fact most of the worlds population don’t have those things.  So how did your parents get them?

Let’s just call it an economic bubble and leave it at that, no point going down into an opinionated review of how we got here…or is there.

• Before 1950 over 50% of homes were rented. Over the next 50 years most homes were owned, up to 69%.
• Social security, while enacted in 1935 was never paid until 1940, now everyone can expect it, or can they?
• When they enacted social security they also enacted “payroll tax”, this means an employer has to pay tax to have you work for them.
• The current produce life cycle is 13 years and falling.
• Most of your parents worked for the same firm for their entire life.
• The average person under 40 can expect to have a new employer on average every 5 years.

A thing of the past, soon to be forgotten.

So why are these numbers important? The suggest a bubble, something out of the ordinary?  The bubble has burst.  So what is next or what do we go back to, is maybe a better question?

Value…plain and simple…Value.

Every entrepreneur provides some unique value that enhances someones life.  If you are not providing Value that improves someones life you probably won’t be in business long.  As an entrepreneur, you must be clear on what the value is you are providing, very clear.  You must be able to communicate in simple terms why anyone needs your product or service.

Your business exists purely to provide an unique Value for someone.  If you are an employee working for someone, you had better be clear on what your value is to that business and you had better be able to communicate it often. Because if you can’t you won’t have a job for long.

The fat, easy times are gone, long live the age of the entrepreneur!

On your team,

Mark Kennedy

Mark Kennedy

The best recipe must have the right ingredients. There are literally tens of thousands of books on the market today, just a guess, that tell you what you need to succeed in business. Should you buy them? Maybe, but not all of them and certainly not today.

How about getting that business degree that improves your chances for instant success?  Well, if I looked at most of the business entrepreneurs I know…definitely not! A degree will most likely get you a well paying job, increase your chance for advancement, but it won’t guarantee you a business of your own.

So what is the secret ingredient you have to have in your business recipe? The willingness to take a risk. What about all those other factors like money, a great idea and/or specific skills? Aren’t they the real key to owning a successful small business? Well let’s try an experiment and examine the following groups:

1. Family members

Are you out there on the wire? Do you have a plan to ensure you make it to the other side?

2. Your friends

3. Your high school buddies -  been to a class reunion yet?

4. Your college buddies – does higher education make for a good entrepreneur?

Of all the people in the combined lists above, how many of them have money, great ideas and/or specific skills? All of them. Yet only 1 in 10 has their own business.

Now for some of you this experiment is not fair because you have chosen people just like you as friends. Wise choice, but chances are there probably aren’t many entrepreneurs in your neighbourhood. In the United States there are only 20.4 million small businesses (2005 US Census), which is about 13.0% of the available labor force. In Canada approximately 12.4% of the population owns a business.

So my fellow risk taker, if you are going to take a risk, you had best calculate that risk carefully. How best to calculate your risk…PLAN.

On your team,

Mark Kennedy

Vince Schembri

In my working life, I have heard the following phrase “The Customer is Always Right” more times than I care to remember. Very recently, I was reading a sports article about a very well known athlete and their manager. The article explained that the business relationship was done and they were going their separate ways. Below the article, there was space for the readers to write their comments and this well known phrase came up constantly. Over and over, many different viewers stated that the business manager didn’t really know what they were doing as they were letting go of their so called “Golden Egg”.

The comments I read basically said how the “athlete/customer” has a right to what they want and the business manager’s job is to do as they say and not worry too much else, as they would make lots of money. I guess integrity means nothing and to say I was speechless would be an understatement. Yes, this has plenty to do with accounting. Follow me to see.

Over the years, I have worked in a variety of different places and industries. Years ago, I worked as a manager in a fine dining restaurant. A regular of our restaurant came in tipsy one busy Friday night. He then drank more so that within a couple of hours, he was drunk. For whatever reason, he didn’t like his server and I’m sure the drinking had nothing to do with it. This customer came in regularly and spent a considerable amount of money when he did. As the night went along, he started raising his voice and was now making the other customers uncomfortable. He then proceeded to stand up and reach for the server, who happened to be female.

The manager is always right, RIGHT?

So, do you now think “The Customer Is Always Right”? I hope not as I didn’t either. I got between him and the server and told him to sit down. I also told him that if he had a complaint, he can come and talk to me anytime he wished when he was sober. This didn’t go over too well and he and his female guest just started at me. I told them that if they didn’t like what I had to say, they can pay their bill and leave. I’ll let your mind play out the rest as it wasn’t pretty………

Just over 10 years ago, I was the financial person in charge of a financial institution. This company had millions of dollars in deposits and I was completely responsible for all of the accounting. I had to account for every penny coming in and going out. I reported to the CEO and he reported everything to the board as we were in charge of the day to day operations. The CEO was in the process of restructuring the company with the board’s approval. An agreement had been reached with a third party and everyone agreed, until someone changed their minds. The board members wanted more and more of those millions and what they said was fine the first time and the second time really didn’t mean much. Of course they signed their agreements, but so what. Having had enough, the CEO and I resigned because we did not agree with our customer, the board. Can you guess what happened next?

Just do the deal my way or you're fired!!!

You see, everyone on the board is now in jail and the CEO and I are not. We knew deep down that a lot was at stake and that we would not be bought. The original 2 deals were extremely favourable for the board members and they just got greedy. Both the CEO and I were more than happy with what we were making and we knew we could make a lot more in the future under the right circumstances.……

Everything I have just explained to you affects your accounting. Your choices affect your life and this is directly related to what you do and how much you earn. In my examples above, I had to defend someone and I had to resign in another one. Each one had different outcomes for me. In the restaurant, I was able to lead a team of people who now followed me because they knew I would stand up for them. You can’t lead unless others follow and you won’t make more unless you have greater responsibilities. In the second example, had I followed the board members, I am quite sure I would not be writing this. The board members are all still in jail and I and the CEO are not.

Would you hire me as an accountant knowing I did not protect the funds of the depositor’s because I too wanted more? Reading that sports article reminded me that money should not be the main reason for “The Customer Is Always Right”. Remember who you are and your loved ones as they too will be affected. Had I followed suit with the board, my wife, her family and my family and friends all would have been affected. “The Customer IS NOT Always Right”, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat them with courtesy and respect. If you don’t, you will pay the price.

On your team,

Vince Schembri

Mark Kennedy

Your business is really just a tribe, out in the wild, trying to survive. What role do you play?

Are you the hunter, the skinner, the tanner, maybe the meat preserver or the cook?  You can’t be all of them…in your business you must fulfill a role in the tribe. What tribe you ask?

As a human being, you are born with dependency on others to help you survive. You are not born with the physical and mental capacity to survive on your own. As you grow, you may think that changes, but it doesn’t.

When you started your business, you had to go out and find customers, suppliers and co-workers to help you succeed.  These are your tribe. You can’t survive without all of them. Each fulfills a role. So what is your role?

Perhaps you are the hunter who goes out and kills the wild hog. Did you hunt alone? Maybe. What about hunting for bear or deer, can you do that alone? Who made sure that the wolves didn’t come and steal your meat after you killed it? Who helped you carry it back to the camp?

Know your role in the tribe, use it to add value to the whole tribe.

Once you arrived at the camp, did you cook it or preserve the hide? Well of course not, you’re not the hunter!

Within the tribe there is room for specialization. Each member can become very good at a particular skill. So, as each one improves their skills, the whole tribe benefits.

What is the point of all this tribe stuff? Go back to the beginning of the article. Your survival depends on your tribe, not to mention the level of success you achieve is also dependent on it.  So value each and every member, acknowledge their skills and be thankful you have such a great tribe.

Take the time to look at each member in your tribe, name them, understand the value they add to your success. Now reward them……

On your team,

Mark Kennedy

Mark Kennedy

I recently listened to a lecture where the speaker said we are already cyborgs.  I agree, based on the classic definition of “cyborg”. The question I am asking you is it a benefit to be a “business cyborg”?

The lecture defined cyborg like this, “A human being whose body has been taken over in whole or in part by electromechanical devices”. The first and most obvious device is your cellphone.  Don’t believe it? Try living without your cellphone for a day. No, not on Sunday or whatever day you don’t take calls, try Monday!

Back to being a “business cyborg”, my definition, “A human being who uses electromechanical devices to increase efficiency and or profit”.  Are you using your electronics to make more money? You can, you should and you had better…because your competition certainly is.

Do you know what these things can do? 300 features are you only using 3 or 4?

1.Smart phones, like the iPhone or Android, so you are available where ever you are.

2. Make sure you have WiFi or 3G access for your cellphone. This allows you to get your emails, texts, even access your computer from anywhere.  Become portable so you can make profit anywhere, anytime.

3. Rent space on the cloud so your documents are all in one place, backed up and available 24-7 via the internet.

4. Blue tooth headset - Yes, a simple headset…means you can multitask. Walk and talk so you are making money while you are on your way to making more money.

5. Use a linked calendar – Link your phone to your computer so any appointments you make are on your desktop and your phone at the same time.  You should never ever miss an appointment. Try Microsoft Exchange.

6. Flash drive or USB Key - These are small enough to fit on your key-chain, large enough to store most of your important files and folders.  Get one, you’ll be surprised how often you can use it.

I am quite sure there are many, many, many more ways to use technology to improve your efficiency. This list is very small.  Do you have any great ways that help you?  Post them here, share…it will come back to you.

On your team,

Mark Kennedy

Vince Schembri

I remember the days of past when all of my accounting work was done by hand. Lots and lots of number crunching and there were tons of them. In the early 1980’s, computers were the way of the future and there was a lot of excitement with every upgrade. I still can see in my mind how much faster my new 486 computer was than my 386. I was just in AWE and the software that started coming with it was simply AMAZING!!!! I loved Lotus 1-2-3 and resisted Excel as long as I could. These software upgrades were going to make everyone’s work that much easier and give everyone plenty of time off, right?

Over the last 10 years, there have been many software packages in the accounting field. You guessed it as I am going to stick with what I know best. Just hang in there with me as there is a point to all of this. No matter what you use, each piece of software makes the claim that theirs is the best, easiest and will give you the information you have been wanting at the simple touch of a key stroke. The bulk of these packages are directed at small business owners and I can tell you first hand that it has created more confusion, coupled with the same poor quality of record keeping as before the computer age. Most of the people who buy it usually end up storing it on some shelf. If this is true then what’s really going on?

You see, regardless of the method of recording, the person doing the task still has the same old habits. WOW, rocket science, right? Not!!!! You can invent all you want in any field, but until the person using it is helped in doing their work in an efficient manner, you will still have poor results. What’s the answer you say? Stop pretending that there is a shortcut and make sure that whatever you use provides the result you want. Sure, software has reporting capabilities that using the old “hand” written method does not. With this being said, why do we have to use all these new fancy modules? What was wrong with the old way of doing things and just adding the reporting feature? What I propose is that no matter what software you have, go back to the very basics. In any sport, the athletes who perform the best are the ones who work on the basics on a regular basis. For a boxer, a left hook is a left hook. For a baseball batter, a hit is a hit. Just learn the basics through repetition and you will be a champion in your field.

Training prperly can save you from a lot of pain.

For any accounting software program, just use the general ledger like you did in years past. You will be able to enter the necessary info in your program and you can avoid most if not all of these new modules. Couple this with just a few of the enhancements that you no longer have to worry about, such as your debits and credits actually balancing if you do both sides of the entry and automatic report updates because every time you make a change, your reports are automatically updated (make sure you turn on this option). In my opinion, the old ledger sheets were perfect and all of these “new modules” have confused more people than they are worth.

It seems that most accounting software packages that I have looked at still have general ledger capabilities. If this was the way of the past to record transactions, why can’t it be used today and into the future? I can’t see any particular reason, can you? I have tested this approach and I can tell you first hand that it saves you both time and money. How? The time it takes for to you reconcile your bank and credit card statement(s) is shorter and any time you save can be used to go and make money working your business. If you don’t want to make any more money, go and take some time off and enjoy yourself.

On your team,

Vince Schembri

PS:       Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

PSS:    If you love Italians like I do, check this link out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzTBc-ARN5Y Play it a little loud as I did and have a good laugh……..