Basic Accounting


Recent Basic Accounting Articles

Minimize Expenses and Save Your Business Money 

Advice from Warren Jolly, chief executive of Affiliate Media, and Scott Gerber, founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.  Watch video

Are You a 'Small Giant'?

Not every business owner measures success purely based on the bottom line. Meet others like you.  Read more

The Single Most Important Rule of Business

Entrepreneurs are great at meeting challenges with optimism--but sometimes that's not what the business needs.  Read more

How to Stay Alive When Business Shrinks

You've used everything you had to keep going, but it may not be enough. Norm Brodsky weighs in on what to do next.  Read more

Worry About Quality, Not Profits 

James Miller talks about what his customers really value.  Watch video

Cash Is King: 5 Simple Rules for Creating a Cash Flow Plan

Cash is paramount for running a business. Here are five easy rules for creating a positive cash flow plan for your company.  Read more

Do It Today: A Small Business Check-Up 

Tips to make sure your is business healthy from Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, co-founder of Gilt Groupe, and Scott Gerber, founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.  Watch video

Smooth Out Irregular Cash Flow: 8 Tips 

Incentivize your customers to pay early, and keep overhead low. Plus other advice from Rahim Fazal, co-founder of social media firm Involver.  Watch video

Don't Let Expenses Snowball

A sticker price is one thing. Be sure you factor in all costs of your expenses. Here's what I mean.  Read more

Should You Track Economic Value Added?

It's a complicated formula that provides excellent insight into performance... but does it matter for your business?  Read more

How a Mortgage Can Save Your Business

Refinancing at today's microscopic rates can build you a cash-flow cushion that could save your bacon one day. What are you waiting for?  Read more

Start-up Budget: Don't Miss These 5 Expenses

Calculating your annual cost structure? Be sure you count these.  Read more

5 Ways to Get Your Business Through Crisis

When a marketing initiative fell through, my husband and I were left holding hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory. Here's how we turned things around.  Read more

Will 2012 Be the Year of the Health Tech Start-up?

Healthcare in America is in shambles. Can tech start-ups come to the rescue?  Read more

5 Ways to Reward Your All-Star Employees

There's no such thing as too much employee recognition. Learn five ways to reward your team.  Read more

How to Accomplish the Impossible

Genius sometimes just means not realizing that something is impossible.  Read more

5 Personal Money Tips for Women Owners

You run your own business, and data show you probably invest more successfully than men. So why is money still so intimidating?  Read more

Post Office Delays: How to Avoid a Cash Flow Crunch

Changes coming soon to the U.S. Postal Service will slow payments from your clients. Take steps to minimize the impact now.  Read more

The Real Value of Your Business

Measures like Price-Earnings Ratio and EBITDA multiples are just gross generalizations of the value of your business. Here's how to determine the real value.  Read more

4 Business Metrics You Can’t Afford to Ignore

Profit and revenue tell you a lot--but they don't tell you everything about the health of your business.  Read more

From SAS 70 to SSAE 16: How to Keep Your Cloud Service On-Track

You may be familiar with SAS 70: an audit standard used for businesses that provide a service relating to their clients’ finances.  If you feel...  Read more

How to Get Your Managers to Think Like Owners

Cash flow is like oxygen. If it runs out, nothing else matters. Here's how to encourage your managers to stretch every dollar. Hint: Make sure their jobs dep...  Read more

New Rules of Getting a Small Business Loan

The worst of the economic plummet appears to be over. Use this upswing to your advantage with these tips on getting the money your business needs.  Read more

Business Plans by the Numbers

When writing a business plan, here's how to run the numbers that matter without getting hung-up on those that don't.  Read more

A Female Spin on Starting a Business

Normally I don't focus on male- or female-specific entrepreneurial challenges, but having received two books by women entrepreneurs in the last few weeks,...  Read more

An SBDC That Focuses on Cash Flow

To help business owners improve their financial literacy, the Vancouver Small Business Development Center produces a three-day workshop that covers accountin...  Read more

How to Perform a Break-Even Analysis

How many units of stuff—say, how many ham sandwiches, iPhone apps, or hours of consulting services—must you sell in order to cover your costs?  Read more

How to Pay Less in Taxes

Norm Brodsky says the secret to keeping your taxes low is knowing your numbers.  Read more

How to Comply With the New Revenue Recognition Rules

When the Financial Accounting Standards Board updated the business accounting rules earlier this year, Apple was quick to embrace them. Here's a look at how ...  Read more

How to Cut Your Reliance on Credit

Companies that budget based on cash flows can avoid fees and charges, decrease their need for external credit, and improve their overall cash position.  Read more

How to Use EBITDA to Value Your Company

It's not the only number potential buyers look at, but EBITDA will give you a solid idea of how they'll start evaluating your business.  Read more

How to Bring a Food Product to Market

So you can cook, preserve, brew, pickle, or roast with the best of 'em. But is your product ready to compete with the other artisanal goods on the market she...  Read more

Tips for Calculating Your Gross Margin

If it feels like ages since you took Accounting 101, here's a detailed refresher on how understanding gross margins can help you make the right business deci...  Read more

Book Review: Islands of Profit In a Sea of Red Ink

Author Jonathan L. S. Byrnes addresses why 40 percent of your business is unprofitable.  Read more

American Apparel Nears Bankruptcy

With huge losses and slumping sales, the hipster clothing brand says it "may not have sufficient liquidity necessary to sustain operations."  Read more