Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Entrepreneurial Accounting Hows Your Reconciliation

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Entrepreneurial Accounting How's Your Reconciliation As a business owner who does a fair amount of her own accounting, I come up againstreconciliationfrequently. And, as a business and workplace adviser to others, I recognize its importance. Reconciliation is part of the ongoing accounting mix that leverages two or more financial records to make sure numbers match. In other words, it helps owners and accountants demonstrate that the money going out of an account is equal to the amount spent, and that the amount coming in is equal to the amount earned. Account reconciliation provides a mechanism for accurate balancing at the end of each recording period. If you dont do it properly, you will move forward with compounding inaccuracies and will risk your business overall integrity. When I started my business in 2004, the newSarbanes Oxley Acthad greatly tightened the reins on reporting reliability. Although the law had the biggest impact on large corporations, it encouraged me to establish strong accounting practices. Ill admit that I struggled with account reconciliation. An ongoing problem involved client payments that arrived significantly after I declared the income. But fortunately, I never experienced strange inconsistencies I couldnt explain. Over the last 14 years, Ive witnessed and personally experienced the following reconciliation pitfalls I hope other business owners can avoid. Reconciliation Pitfall #1: The Dreaded Spreadsheet As someone who studies and applies future of work technology, Im embarrassed to admit that I left my spreadsheets kicking and screaming. I was comfortable with them and grossly underestimated the manual processes involved with reconciliation. I regularly spent hours trying to get to the heart of a single discrepancy and even then, sometimes couldnt overcome the danger of human error. Today, we have the advantage of much more accuratecloud-based solutionsto access real-time financial data from any device at any time and track the flow/monitor the status of each reconciliation. Just make sure you certify and secure your chosen system. Reconciliation Pitfall #2: Non-Standard Processes I cant tell you how many times I fell prey to this one. Id do reconciliation one way, my business manager would have another approach, and then our accountant would come in and use a third technique. As you can imagine, this lack of standardization was problematic. To avoid this pitfall, sit down with all relevant parties and draft your organizations reconciliation policies. Store them in an online system connected to your financial data, make sure anyone new coming into the organization understands them and knows where to find them and emphasize their importance. For more where this came from, check out the American Express Business site.

Resume Requirements - What Are They?

Resume Requirements - What Are They?When it comes to writing a resume, a good portion of the attention should be paid to the resume requirements. The required parts include education, professional experience, and work experience. These elements are actually required when employers or recruiters request a resume for a job application.Education is the first part of the required features; you have to submit your high school diploma or equivalent if you want to get an interview. If you did not finish high school or do not have a high school diploma, then you can still have your resume included in the form. This does not mean that you will automatically get an interview if you have not finished school. However, employers usually like candidates who have a basic understanding of the job and have taken academic classes in their adult life.Professional experience can also be a requirement; there are some jobs where you will need to demonstrate that you have enough experience. Other jobs that require more experience include working as an assistant manager, project manager, business analyst, and more. When employers are looking for a candidate with experience, they look for someone who has more than a year of experience in a job that is relevant to the position that they are interviewing for. They do not hire people with little experience, because experience is only one factor that makes a good employee. Experience should be considered as part of a holistic evaluation of a person and the resume should include professional experiences and education to prove that you can perform in any situation.When it comes to work experience, it is important to remember that there are two types of employment positions; full-time and part-time. Some jobs are full-time and some are part-time. Full-time jobs typically require eight hours per day or more, while part-time jobs require only the minimum eight hours per day. Some employers prefer to hire people who have been employed for severa l years; they might need additional hours from their part-time employees, which means that they can do two jobs or they can even use their second job to expand their knowledge.When it comes to the work experience section of the resume requirements, employers are most interested in professional experience. In fact, most companies do not provide the written sample or test for career opportunities and they simply rely on candidates to show them samples or skills that they can show to prospective employers. Candidates who have a lot of experience in an area may be given a shot at the interview because of this.Some companies are hesitant to hire people with little work experience because it can take a long time to understand what a person has done or how to evaluate them. Also, experience is the key to getting hired because it shows that a person is capable of the job that they are applying for. Some people are afraid to take advantage of their degree because they do not know what to do with it. Some people also fear that the degree is too much and they can never really get the degree. That is why it is important to show employers that you have worked at something before and that you have mastered the fundamentals.The resume requirements for employers, however, are not for regular people. These applicants must know that their entire resume is the single resume that is seen by all of the applicants. Employers usually ask for a short list of samples of resumes and this list is only prepared by the candidate who has applied for the job. There is no list prepared by the employers; they usually make decisions based on how people react to the samples.To summarize, the resume requirements that are designed for applicants are not necessarily needed for people who already have a job. The requirements are also not for people who want to get into a job but are jobless or unemployed. They are primarily for job applicants who are very good in some aspects of a job or who had a great personal career and would make great employees.

8 Ideas to Turn Your Successful Blog into a Book - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

8 Ideas to Turn Your Successful Blog into a Book - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career If you currently have a successful blog with a moderate fan base of subscribers, you might be considering the benefits of having a book to expand your personal brand. One of the most difficult parts of getting started is figuring out how to market the ideas and blog content you have in book form, without republishing your blog posts or ideas in the same way. The more unique you can make your book content, the more likely your subscribers are to buy it. For an in-depth look at any of 8 the following methods to turn your blog into a book, you can sign up for my writer’s newsletter here. Here are 8 ways to turn your blog ideas into a full-blown book: For blogs in general: Write about a topic broader than your blog If you write a blog about golden retrievers, consider writing a book about dogs in general. Write about a niche within your blog topic â€" If you write a blog about career advice, consider writing a book about career advice for college graduates. Write in a different medium or style â€" if your blog is heavy on content, consider writing a photo book with funny captions in the same topic. If your blog is a how-to subject: Compile case studies and examples into a book â€" If your blog is about B2B SEO consulting, consider compiling a book of case studies from your previous work. Compile a reference book about something in your blog’s niche â€" If you write a blog about social networking, consider writing a book of demographics, tricks, and hacks for each social network. Partner with other bloggers in your niche to create a definitive guide â€" If you write a blog in a small niche, consider writing a definitive guide to your particular niche If your blog is more personal: Write a memoir of life lessons â€" If your blog is personal and it has achieved moderate success, write a memoir or a tell-all that reveals more about you than your blog does Write a fiction book about your topic â€" If you write a non-fiction blog, consider whether a fiction book would be a more interesting way to share the content For an in-depth look at any of these methods, I’ll be going into further detail in my writer’s newsletter, which you can sign up for here. Author: Monica O’Brien writes career advice for young professionals at her blog, Twenty Set. You can also follow her on Twitter (@monicaobrien).