Today is the 5th Annual Leave the Office Early Day.
Are you leaving early today? What are you plans for the day if you take off early? If I can manage it, here’s what I’ll be doing when I LEAVE EARLY.
See you on the lake.
Jun 022009
Every wonder what my typical day looks like? Here’s a peak:
8:00AM – Wake up and grab Blackberry to check e-mails that came in overnight, whew, nothing too pressing. Review my calendar and note that I don’t have any appointments today. Should be a good day. I’ll have plenty of time to work on the items in today’s file, should be able to finish everything.
8:15AM – Cell phone rings with client saying he’s going to drop by the box of work I’ve been asking about for three weeks. Tell him I’ll be at the office and should see him there.
8:45AM – Rush out the door grabbing a box of cereal on the way out hoping to beat client to the office.
8:55AM – Arrive at office. Client already came and left but was able to leave everything for me.
9:00AM – Heat a cup of tea and make a bowl of cereal to start the day.
9:05AM – Open e-mail and Morning Coffee to check my daily reading sites.
9:15AM – Client calls while I’m doing my morning reading to say he can’t find the e-mail with the address of his morning appointment. Stop reading to log into his computer and text him the address.
9:20AM – Return to morning reading.
9:25AM – Client calls back asking for another address that he can’t find. Log back in to his e-mail and text the second address.
9:30AM – Continue with morning reading.
9:45AM – Another client calls, huge proposal that was due yesterday was missing one page when he submitted it. Asks me to find the copy on his computer and resend to his customer. Log in to clients computer, find missing page and send to his customer on his behalf.
9:55AM – So much for my morning reading. Grab today’s tickler file and plan day adding the box that arrived this morning. Plenty of time today for everything scheduled.
10:00AM – Begin reconciling client’s checkbook and print accounts payable checks. Then start working on job costing report for project just completed to send to client for review.
10:35AM – Client calls with an urgent change needed to their custom estimate template. Quickly make the fix and e-mail them that it is finished.
10:45AM – Finish working on client’s job cost report and submit to him.
11:00AM – Pull out new client’s paperwork and begin setting up their QuickBooks file.
11:25AM – Phone rings, a business owner that I’ve been networking with via twitter that wants some information.
11:45AM – Return to new client’s set-up.
12:15PM – Phone rings, president of an organization I belong to requesting some time to discuss some issues/changes coming down the pipeline.
12:55PM – Review, sort, reply and file e-mail so I can get back to new client’s file.
1:00PM – Respond to bookkeeper that I oversee for a client and invite to Skype chat to discuss the problem she’s having with the client she’s working on.
1:25PM – Respond to protégé’s tweet about getting connected with local new anchorman’s blog and the publicity she’ll get.
1:30PM – Return to new client’s set-up.
3:30PM – Review box brought by client this morning and call client to let them know that the two files I needed weren’t in the box and that I can’t work on it until I get those files.
4:00PM – Wonder why I’m so hungry and realize I haven’t eaten anything since the bowl of cereal at 9:00AM.
4:05PM – Review, sort, reply and file e-mail so I can get back to new client’s file.
4:15PM – Pull file for client that was going to be worked on two days from now to reply to his urgent issue that came in via e-mail. Reply to him that it will be taken care of when the full reconciliation I completed on that day.
4:30PM – Compose e-mail to new client responding to concerns and asking for necessary information to proceed.
4:40PM – Receive notification of a proposal request. Put together proposal and send to potential client.
5:15PM – Get notification of meeting that I was going to attend at 6:00PM tonight.
5:15PM – Clear desk and file work for tomorrow. Read, review, and file e-mail inbox to zero. Quick scan of e-mail pending items to ensure nothing urgent was missed.
5:30PM – Run out the door with headset to make it home in time for webinar.
5:40PM – Drive through fast-food drive-thru for something to eat.
5:50PM – Get home turn on laptop and get ready for webinar with dinner on my lap.
6:00PM – Realize I got the wrong date on the webinar.
6:05PM – Spend some time on twitter and have discussion with local business owner regarding networking vs. sales.
6:25PM – Mark calendar for meeting with local business owner met on twitter.
6:30PM – Check e-mail and realize report that was due today for volunteer position didn’t get submitted.
6:35PM – Log in to office computer and compile information for report and submit to the appropriate person.
7:00PM – Review calendar for tomorrow and remember about the marketing group meeting.
7:05PM – Read three chapters of marketing book and prepare worksheets for meeting.
10:00PM – Watch the 6:00PM news that was previously recorded.
10:30PM – Check Blackberry for e-mails. Reply to Facebook requests and notifications. Reply to Twitter responses.
11:00PM – E-mail bookkeeping assistant to let her know you’ll be available tomorrow to discuss the problem she’s having finishing client’s work.
11:15PM – E-mail reminder to myself about tomorrow nights activity. Confirm 9:00AM coffee appointment with client.
11:30PM – Head for bed. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to finish the other three projects that were scheduled for today.
Day 2…
8:00AM – Wake up and grab Blackberry to check e-mails. Receive e-mail from client regarding 9:00AM coffee meeting. Her printer broke and she needs a report can I bring it.
8:30AM – Rush out the door to get to office, print report and make 9:00AM coffee appointment.
Here goes another day…
This week is National Take Back Your Time week. (I don’t make these things up, I promise.)
What are you doing to take back your time? What is your time? My time is the time I spend doing things I want to do. That usually involves doing things with my family, going hiking or to the lake. In order to make money to be able to do things with my time I have to be organized. I mentioned last week some of my organization tips. I also make it a point to know when to leave the office so I have some down time. I schedule activities into my day/week/month so I have things to do that is MINE.
What do you do to take back your time?
If you’re not a bookkeeper you’re probably thinking you can skip this post. Think again. If you own your own business this is a super important post for you to read. In fact, if you’re a bookkeeper or accountant you’ll probably be bored reading this. If you don’t have a bookkeeping or accounting background you probably think you don’t need to know anything about accounting. Wrong. If you are a business owner it’s super important that you have at the very least a basic knowledge of accounting. So, let’s get a basic knowledge of your financial statements.
First, a brief disclaimer: reading this isn’t going to make you an expert on financial statement. It is going to give you a basic knowledge of financial statements for your own business use.
So, there are two main financial statements: the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet. Many people think the Income Statement is the most important financial statement, that’s not exactly the case…the Balance Sheet is pretty important. In fact, the Income Statement is summarized on your Balance Sheet.
Income Statement
You may also hear the Income Statement referred to as a Profit & Loss Statement. Really they are the same thing. I know, confusing, but it’s the way it is.
The Income Statement is broken in to two parts (sometimes three…but don’t worry I’ll get to that) the income section and the expense section. Then we have what some consider the most important part: your net profit (or if you’re unfortunate loss). Your net profit is simply your income minus your expenses.
Income is all the money you bring in and expenses are everything you pay out. Clear as mud, right?
Then we have that third section I mentioned. Here’s where it can get a little confusing. Occasionally you’ll see a section called Cost of Goods Sold. This section is used by some companies to break out specific income related costs. For example: a painting contractor would have painting payroll, payroll taxes, paint, and equipment rental that would be directly related to the cost of earning his income. That would go to the Cost of Goods Sold section. In the expense section expenses that are related to the overall cost of running the business would go. For example: office rent, accounting fees, and office supplies would go in the expense section.
Balance Sheet
The Balance Sheet tends to be a little more confusing to a lot of people. Really it, isn’t. The Balance Sheet consists of three sections: assets, liabilities, and equity. A Balance Sheet must balance. To do that the Assets must equal Liabilities plus Equity. Trust me, it works.
So, what is an asset? Assets are those things that the company owns: bank accounts, accounts receivable, loans people owe your company, furniture and other property.
Liabilities are those things the company owes: loans from others, accounts payable, sales taxes owed (on your sales), and other debt.
Simply put equity is assets minus liability. Within the Equity section you’ll see two other items: Retained Earnings and Net Income. Retained earnings is the sum of all prior years net incomes. Net Income is the current year’s net income (from the Income Statement — see I told you the Income Statement was summarized on the Balance Sheet).
Now for my bookkeeper soap box. Many business owners ignore the balance sheet and assume it’s not important. Many times mistakes happen on your balance sheet that could negatively affect your business. I HIGHLY recommend watching your balance sheet and keeping each of it’s accounts checked.
So, there you have it, a very basic lesson on financial statements.
Aug 012008
It’s hard for me to believe but August marks the 6th anniversary of Taylored Office Solutions. We’ve come a long way in six years!
Six years ago I was bumbling around trying to figure out how I could do all this on my own. Today I have client’s that rely on me for my bookkeeping expertise and ask me for advice for their own businesses. I still have a hard time sometimes accepting that I’m a success.
Six years ago I had one small client that asked me to clean up a huge mess his prior two bookkeepers made. Today I’ve helped that same client walk through some major business changes. I have the privilege of leading other virtual bookkeepers as they start their own businesses. People ask me for advice on how they can do what I do. Who would have known six years ago that this crazy girl who needed a few extra bucks would build a company that would be so successful.
Here’s to our future!
Jul 312008
Working at home is great in so many ways, but I do get a little lonely now and then. Sometimes I miss the camaraderie that’s part of a brick-and-mortar job. But since joining Twitter, I feel like I have a bunch of friends around all day! I’m having a great time with this social networking site, and want to recommend it to all of you at-home workers, if you’re not already signed up.
Updates to Twitter (which are called “Tweets”) are limited to 140 characters, so any messages you send take only a few seconds to write. I check in to the site regularly throughout my work day, but really only spend a total of 20 minutes there, so I don’t feel like I’m wasting time. On the contrary, these brief visits boost my mood and keep me in close touch with people I care about.
When you don’t have the distractions of the business world around you, you can drive yourself pretty crazy with work. Since there’s nothing to interrupt your concentration, you can find yourself working like a dog, and not enjoying it that much.
It’s important to take a break now and then, to look up from your work and refresh your mind. Twitter is a great way to do that! Just log in, see what your friends are up to right now, take a few seconds to write your current update, and then return to your labor with new energy!
One rewarding way I use Twitter is by using the search feature to find people I’d like to get to know better. If I meet someone on an online networking forum or newsgroup, I can follow them on Twitter and learn new things about them and their ways of working and living. It’s a rich source of tips, ideas, and encouragement and it’s constantly available.
And then, of course, it’s a terrific way to keep up with what your friends are doing. I love being able to stay in contact even though we are busy with our separate lives. Just a word or two from someone you care about can make all the difference to your outlook.
If you’d like to have just a little company as you work at home, check out Twitter! But, be sure to follow me.
Oct 302007
First, I want to apologize for so many book recommendations lately. I’ve been doing a bit of reading to assist me in my work and the ones I’ve found helpful I’ve wanted to share. I am not turning this blog into a huge commercial…but when I find useful items I definitely want to pass them on whether they’re books, websites, or services. I know I appreciate when someone shares something great with me.
As business owners, employees, family members, or just as humans in this world we all have struggles that we go through. This past year has been one of those struggles for me and my family. My dad, who I’m very close to, has been sick since October, 2006 with kidney failure. Ten days ago he and my sister went into the hospital where my sister had surgery to donate one of her kidneys to my dad. The surgery was a huge success and because of my virtual business I’ve been able to be here for the surgery and to help take care of the two of them (and my 3 1/2 year old nephew) as they recover.
During the time before surgery, when they were in the hospital and post surgery appointments so far I’ve made quite a few trips to San Francisco which isn’t too bad except that it’s 50 miles each way to the hospital and back which has given me a lot of time in the car to think. A portion of the drive was the exact drive I used to take to a corporate job I had about eight years ago that I really liked. This has caused me to look back on my career path and ponder the whole work thing. A question came to mind:
Do you Live to Work or Work to Live?
Does your life revolve around your work? Is your reason for getting up each day to do your job? Or is your job the means by which you are able to live your life?
I can’t say one way of living is better or worse than the other but are YOU satisfied with your situation? If you are living to work are you happy with that? Or are you using your work to escape from a life you’re not happy with? If you are working to live is it because you hate your job or is it because your life is where your focus is?
Personally I work to live. I’ve had times where that was because I wasn’t satisfied with my current job situation but that isn’t the case now. I LOVE my job and what I do for a living. I couldn’t ask for anything better. But, my business is the means by which I am able to live my life. It allows me to be there for my family. To visit friends. To be the best person I am.
I urge you to look at your life. Are you living to work or working to live? Are you happy with your answer and your situation? If so, GREAT! If not, is there something you can do to change that situation? Can you change your career path? Can you refocus your life goals? Are there professional or personal improvements you can make to make you happy with your situation?
I’d love to hear if you Live to Work or Work to Live and how you like it.
Till later…
Aug 022007
Five years ago this month a very unexpected thing happened….Taylored Office Solutions was born. OK, it took a couple years for it to officially become “Taylored Office Solutions” but it was five years ago in August that I got my very first client for myself. (I happen to still have that client and am very proud of that fact.)
This little “accident” has become a whole lot more than I ever envisioned it to be. Five years ago I never would have imagined I’d be sitting in my own office with clients spread out across the country.
So, happy anniversary to me. Is this cause for a celebration???
Till later…
Jun 122007
For the first time in a really long time I took a real vacation. I didn’t bring my laptop with me and technology worked against me and I couldn’t log in to my office computer to check e-mail. You know what, it was GREAT. Sometimes you really need a break. This break was just what I need to regain some calm and be able to focus on work again.
I highly recommend taking a couple days work free to regroup. I think I might do this again some time. 
Till later…
Dec 262006
I hope your Christmas was great and that the last week of 2006 is productive or at the very least fun for you. My family is all here for the holidays so work has been put on hold for the week. (Well, except for the absolute necessities which includes a few payrolls.)
