Basic Accounting


Recent Basic Accounting Articles

Who Needs a Bank Anyway?

By Ilan Mochari |  Feb 1, 2000

Nontraditional lenders are emerging as a real alternative to bank financing for growth companies.  Read more

Accounts Payable: Catching Costly Errors

By Jill Andresky Fraser |  Jan 1, 2000

A CEO explains how costly errors can be when vendors overbill.  Read more

Collection No-No's

Jan 1, 2000

Don't even think about adopting an alias when pursuing credit deadbeats. It's illegal in some states. Even themost innocuous action can prove risky. If, f...  Read more

Quote: Real Leadership

Jan 1, 2000

"People are our only long-term competitive advantage. Therefore, a leader is responsible for creating an operating environment where people can do great t...  Read more

Baby, You Can Drive My Company

By Ilan Mochari |  Jan 1, 2000

It could be called the founder's quandary: how do you delegate key functions and yet maintain control? Lori Booker, who founded $2.4-million CBR Pu...  Read more

In a Former Life: Itzhak Fisher

By Ilan Mochari |  Jan 1, 2000

Itzhak Fisher, 43 Present life: Cofounder and CEO of RSL Communications, a $1.4-billion telecommunications com...  Read more

Success by Association

By David E. Gumpert |  Dec 30, 1999

As you start your business, you aren't solely in control of your success. Suppliers, creditors, and your competition will mold your every move. In this ex...  Read more

Using Critical Numbers: An Action Checklist

By Karen Carney |  Dec 11, 1999

Are you doing all you can to help employees move your company's key numbers in the right direction? Use this checklist to find out. ...  Read more

Swipe These Critical Numbers!

By Karen Carney |  Dec 11, 1999

Here's a sampling of common critical numbers by company, industry, and sector. Use this list as a benchmark or tailor these numbers to suit your own needs...  Read more

Boosting Performance with Critical Numbers

By John Case |  Dec 11, 1999

Learn how to figure out your company's critical numbers -- and how to use them to build a stronger company.  Read more

Letting Go in the Right Way

By Ilan Mochari |  Dec 1, 1999

Outsourcing payroll and benefits may save money -- but can carry risks Show of hands -- anyone out there not worried about the cos...  Read more

Ann Winblad: My Biggest Mistake

By Mike Hofman |  Dec 1, 1999

ANN WINBLAD Cofounder of and partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, in San Francisco, which has more than $500 million in...  Read more

The Nonprofit's Motive

By Samuel Fromartz |  Dec 1, 1999

A look at how Charles Lief, president of the nonprofit Greyston Foundation, is devising for-profit ventures to generate income, create jobs, and expand his o...  Read more

Get More Out of Your Cash

By David E. Gumpert |  Nov 22, 1999

The more you can squeeze out of your cash, the better off you are. That is true, but only to a point. Your efforts to get more out of your cash must be ba...  Read more

Best of the Small Business Web: Full of Bean Counters

By Leigh Buchanan |  Nov 15, 1999

Results Accountants' Systems, an online community, turns a one-shot workshop for accountants into a lifelong commitment.  Read more

Too Much, Too Soon

By Ilan Mochari |  Nov 1, 1999

Sometimes fast growth is bad for your business How does it feel to purposely halt your company's growth for a full year? "Extremel...  Read more

By the Numbers: Choosing Software

By Ilan Mochari |  Nov 1, 1999

When it comes to purchasing new software, many businesses make the mistake of buying whatever's low cost and easy to teach. But Matthew de Ganon, a founde...  Read more

Getting Money from a Moving Target

Oct 25, 1999

Q: I have a civil judgment in the state of California through the Labor Board against a former employer. The employer has since moved to ...  Read more

Accounting Doesn't Have to Be Mind-Numbing

Oct 22, 1999

Perhaps the hardest part of accounting is getting over the psychological hang-up that most people seem to have about it. Many of us are loath to balance o...  Read more

Judgment Worth Paper on Which It's Printed

Oct 21, 1999

First write a letter demanding payment. Mind both your Ps and Qs; keep your missive polite and straightforward. If you need help with this - especially th...  Read more

Show Them the Money

Oct 21, 1999

A demonstrate with actual dollars can teach employees your cost structure, so they'll make better decisions.  Read more

Stop, Thief!

Oct 21, 1999

Entrepreneur David Schulhof never imagined that one of his own workers would rip him off. Until, that is, an accounting manager he hired at a company he o...  Read more

Inc. 500 All-Stars

By Mike Hofman |  Oct 15, 1999

A look at the companies that have achieved the distinction of appearing on the Inc. 500 a staggering 5 times. Plus: Household-name companies that earned thei...  Read more

A Simple Little System

By Ilan Mochari |  Oct 1, 1999

By going back to basics, one company created a blueprint for saving boatloads of cash Three years ago the management of Hi-Shear T...  Read more

By the (Open) Book

By Ken Anderson |  Sep 15, 1999

Putting your financial information on an intranet can be unnerving. But for Ken Anderson, president of the $11-million engineering-design firm Anderson ...  Read more

Budget Blueprint

By Ilan Mochari |  Sep 15, 1999

To determine if Mountain Sales Services could buy big assets without crippling cash flow, CFO Kirk LaPoure turned to BallPark Business Valuation ...  Read more

FYI: The Talk of the Inc. 500

By George Gendron |  Sep 1, 1999

Inc.'s editor recounts what all the buzz was about at this year's Inc. 500 conference and lists the most memorable quotes from both attendees and guest speak...  Read more

Money Talk

By Jill Andresky Fraser |  Sep 1, 1999

Holly Hitzemann, president and owner of Great American Stock, suggests that the key to building a good relationship with your banker is knowing how and when ...  Read more

Take This Job and Love it

By Jeffrey L. Seglin |  Sep 1, 1999

Reviews of eight business books, including three books from CEOs on the angst and joys of building a company, three books on open-book management, and two bo...  Read more

Key Questions to Ask a Prospective CPA

By Michael Pellecchia |  Aug 15, 1999

The worst way to find a CPA is to "call one up and hire him" sight unseen, believes Irving L. Blackman, a frequently published CPA and senior partner in B...  Read more

Turning Assets into Cash

By Michael Pellecchia |  Aug 15, 1999

Your largest current assets, against which you might borrow, are probably receivables and inventory. Ideally, both of these assets turn into cash as soon ...  Read more

Choosing Accounting Software

By Michael Pellecchia |  Aug 15, 1999

Here's what you need to consider when choosing accounting software: Auditing features. These might include a map mode, an...  Read more

Establishing Credit Limits

By Michael Pellecchia |  Aug 15, 1999

There is no precise method of allocating credit. However, a simple policy that works well is to allocate customers to one of the four categories of credit...  Read more

Collection Techniques to Avoid

By Michael Pellecchia |  Aug 15, 1999

Past-due accounts present a number of problems, one of which is how to collect them. When faced with this uncomfortable issue, avoid using these collectio...  Read more

Action Plan: Debt Management and Banking

By Michael Pellecchia |  Aug 15, 1999

Debt management and cash flow management are inseparable. A poorly managed cash flow will eventually surface as a depletion of working capital. If working...  Read more