The balance sheet is important to business operations in general. It provides a snapshot of what the company owns and what they owe to outside sources. The balance sheet is also known as a profit and loss account. By either name, this special form of financial statement provides great insight into an organization’s holdings.
Breaking Down the Balance Sheet
To clarify, a balance sheet shows how much money the organization has, how much property they own, and most importantly, how much money they owe. This is beneficial for outside sources to view – bankers, investors, and even potential creditors.
The balance sheet is broken down into several sections. Each section is grouped by liquidity – that is, how easily the particular asset can be converted into cash. The first section is short term assets. Within this category, cash is listed first, followed by near cash assets. Near cash assets are assets that can be easily converted into cash. Accounts receivable, money that people owe the organization, is also listed in this category.
The next category is the long term assets. These would include equipment, property, and buildings, along with long term accounts receivable. Gener
Read Full Post…
I’m 50 and self-employed. I am trying to save as much as possible for retirement. I’ve put the maximum allowable in my IRA ($6,000). What else can I do? Would contributing to a Roth at this age be advisable? What other options are out there?
Answer: You’re lucky — you actually have more options to save for retirement than people who don’t own their businesses, if you can spare the cash to make significant contributions.
You can contribute up to $14,000 annually to a SIMPLE IRA (the limit is $11,500 for people under 50). Another option is a simplified employee pension, or SEP. You can contribute as much as 20% of your net business profit or 25% of your salary (if you pay yourself with a W-2) to a maximum of $49,000 in 2011. For more details on SIMPLEs and SEPs, see IRS Publication 590.
If you want to contribute more than the SIMPLE’s $14,000 limit but a SEP won’t allow you to put aside enough, you can contribute a greater percentage of your income to a solo 401(k) or a solo Roth 401(k). With these pl
Read Full Post…
Saving money is simple when you take the time to look around your environment for saving opportunities. For most people, these simple saving methods are things that they never thought about before or believed that the savings would be so small that they would be insignificant. Every little bit counts when it comes to saving and small amounts quickly add up to an impressive amount when combined into a single saving plan.
Weatherproof Your Home
Sealing any drafty doorways or windows can save you quite a bit of money on your energy bills, especially when using your heat in the winter or your air conditioner in the summer. Lost heat can quickly result in your furnace working overtime, wasting electricity or natural gas every time the furnace turns on. Weatherproofing your home will result in smaller energy bills and the saved money can be used for paying down debt or bulking up your savings account.
Wash Laundry In Cold Water
To save even more on your energy costs, you should consider washing your laundry in cold water instead of using gallons of hot water heated by your water tank. In most cases, the benefits of washing your clothes in warm water versus washing your clothes in cold water are negligible and some people believe that washing clothes in cold water can actually extend the life of the clothing.
Turn Off Power Vampires
Many electronic devices continue to use power even after they have been turned off by the power switch, draining power and increasing your electricity bill. Stop feeding these electronic vampires by unplugging the devices from their power source, ensuring that they will not be able to access any more power until they are back in use. Pluggi
Read Full Post…
Chase has a limited time promotion where you can get up to 100,000 bonus British Airways miles when signing up for the Chase British Airways Visa. You will receive 50,000 bonus miles after you apply for the card and make your first purchase. Then if you spend $2,500 within 3 months of opening your account, you will receive another 50,000 bonus miles for a total of 100,000 BA miles which is good for 2 round-trip transatlantic flights!
This is an awesome deal, especially considering the fact that you use these miles on any of Biritish Airways’ partner airlines that are in the OneWorld Alliance. If you are in the US, your best best is to use them on Amierican Airlines if you want to use those miles for domestic travel.
Another nice feature of this card is that you pay no foreign transaction fees. I
Read Full Post…
It has been a bit of a while, but it seems that the major credit card issuers are finally bringing back some of the great offers that we saw prior to this whole housing mess. The Chase Freedom Mastercard is one of those cards that has a great offer if you are looking for a new credit card.
There is a $100 bonus when you spend $500 in the first 3 months after opening the account. And in addition to the bonus, there is a 0% APR for 12 months on Balance Transfers that are made within the first 30 days that the account in open. Note that there is a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater, however if you have a balance on another card with a higher interest rate, you will most likely save money moving it to a 0% rate. There is also a promo rate of 0% for 6 months on all purchases made with the card.
The Chase Freedom Mastercard also is a rewards card. It earns cash back based on the type of merchants that you shop at.
Read Full Post…
— Phoebe Santo @ 6:02 am — 
April 10, 2011