TriStar Associates Small Business Bookkeeping Service

Reconciling your business checking account each month allows us to keep your bank account, accounting, and taxes up-to-date. Having us reconcile your account each month allows you to…

• Identify lost checks, lost deposits and unauthorized wire transactions.
• Detect and prevent excess/unjustified bank charges and ensures transactions are posted correctly by your bank.
• Detect and prevent embezzlement of funds from within your company.
• Know how your business is doing? You can’t really know unless all accounts are reconciled and properly accounted for on your financial statement.
• Manage your cash more effectively. Proper management of funds not only saves money, it makes money for you.
• Protect yourself. By timely reconciling and promptly objecting to your bank about any unauthorized, fraudulent or forged checks presented to your bank and paid by that bank, you can relieve your agency of responsibility for the shortfall and transfer the risk to the bank. This reason to reconcile alone should be enough. Crime exists.

You will sleep better at night knowing your bank accounts are reconciled, in balance and that all escrow funds, accounts, checks and disbursed funds are properly accounted for.

Balance Sheet & Income Statement Generation Services

An income statement, otherwise known as a profit and loss statement, basically adds an itemized list of all your revenues and subtracts an itemized list of all your expenses to come up with a profit or loss for the period. An income statement allows you to…

• Track revenues and expenses so that you can determine the operating performance of your business.
• Determine what areas of your business are over-budget or under-budget.
• Identify specific items that are causing unexpected expenditures. Like phone, fax, mail, or supply expenses.
• Track dramatic increases in product returns or cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales.
• Determine your income tax liability.

And a balance sheet gives you a snapshot of your business’ financial condition at a specific moment in time. A balance sheet helps you:

• Quickly get a handle on the financial strength and capabilities of your business
• Identify and analyze trends, particularly in the area of receivables and payables. For example, if your receivables cycle is lengthening, maybe you can collect your receivables more aggressively
• Determine if your business is in a position to expand
• Determine if your business can easily handle the normal financial ebbs and flows of revenues and expenses
• Determine if you need to take immediate steps to bolster cash reserves

Determine if your business has been slowing down payables to forestall an inevitable cash shortage

Balance sheets, along with income statements, are the most basic elements in providing financial reporting to potential lenders such as banks, investors, and vendors who are considering how much credit to grant you.

Cash Flow Management

A wise business owner once said, “Happiness is a positive cash flow.” As a business owner, I’m sure you agree. Everything is better when your cash-in exceeds your cash-out. Our cash management service allows you to…

• Know when, where, and how your cash needs will occur.
• Know what the best sources are for meeting your additional cash needs.
• Be prepared to meet these needs when they occur, by keeping good relationships with bankers and other creditors.

The starting point for avoiding a cash crisis is allowing us to develop a cash flow projection for you. We can help you develop both short-term (weekly, monthly) cash flow projections to help you manage daily cash, and long-term (annual, 3-5 year) cash flow projections to help you develop the necessary capital strategy to meet your business needs.

We also prepare historical cash flow statements to help you gain an understanding about where all the money went.

Creating an accurate cash flow projection is just one of the many cash management services we provide. You also get…

• Help obtaining an appropriate line of credit
• Cash collection acceleration techniques
• Proven effective collection policies
• Proven effective payment policies
• Help obtaining the maximum rate of return on your idle cash

To learn more about how we can help you avoid stressful cash shortages please complete this form to get a free consultation.

General Ledger Accounting

The general ledger is the core of your company’s financial records. These records constitute the central “books” of your system. Since every transaction flows through the general ledger, a problem with your general ledger throws off all your books.

Having us review your general ledger system each month allows us to hunt down any discrepancies such as double billings or any unrecorded payments. Then we’ll fix the discrepancies so your books are always accurate and kept in tip top shape.

Unlimited Consultations

We are always available to spend time with you so you fully understand how to interpret and utilize the financial information we provide. Our consultations are already included in our price, so please feel free to call us whenever you have a question or concern.

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Why do we recommend and support QuickBooks for our clients? QuickBooks is the ideal business accounting software for small to mid-sized business owners. You can use it to run a $5 million or a $25 million business for a few hundred bucks. QuickBooks accounting software is truly one of the great bargains in business.

Our QuickBooks services include:

• QuickBooks Setup – although QuickBooks is designed for the layman to understand, the initial setup and installation can be tricky. Save hours of frustration by allowing us to setup QuickBooks for you correctly
• QuickBooks Training – we can train you or your employees to properly operate QuickBooks specifically for your business.
• QuickAnswers – employees in your accounting department will find comfort in knowing that the answers to their QuickBooks questions are only an email or phone-call away. Email and telephone support prevents many wasted hours of aggravation and embarrassment
• QuickTuneup – whether you need to prepare your books for tax time, a financial review, or you just need to clean up some problem areas, you’ll get your QuickBooks running smoothly again with a complete Tune-up.

You can rest assured knowing that QuickBooks is a stable, reliable and proven product. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses throughout the world have chosen QuickBooks as their accounting software. You can’t go wrong with a software program with such an extensive installed user base.

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We offer payroll solutions that meet your business’s needs and enable you to spend time doing what you do best–running your company. Why you should outsource your payroll…

• It’s Cost Effective – Use your staff more efficiently by letting us handle payroll and the associated legal details. Reduce overhead by removing the need to hire specialized employees.
• It’s a Time Saver – Our payroll service eliminates the burden of customizing, updating and maintaining your own payroll system–no more data entry, no more researching updates or new laws, no more worries.
• Worry Free Payroll Tax Filing – Eliminate the risks of calculating and filing your own payroll taxes by having professionals do it for you. Federal, state and local payroll tax laws are frequently changing and becoming more complex.  How much time do you want to spend  learning all the rules and keeping your information up to date?
• Allows You To Focus On Core Competencies – Our professional staff allow you to focus on the core competencies of your business. We are accounting professionals–you get the experts working for you and with you.
• Comprehensive Reports – You get a wide variety of user-friendly and accurate payroll reports. For a nominal fee, we will include union reports, certified payroll, workers’ compensation reports and much more.

Our Payroll Service Solutions

We know that when it comes to payroll service – no one size fits all. That’s why we offer the following 3 custom payroll processing options.

1. Comprehensive Payroll Services – Our Comprehensive Payroll Service takes care of all of the payroll processing for you, so that you won’t have to. You get…

• Your payroll checks prepared and printed on-time, every-time.
• All of your payroll checks are laser printed on “blank” check stock to ensure maximum security and meet the micro encoding standards as set forth by the Federal Reserve System.
• Free Direct Deposits
• Worry Free IRS and State tax reporting as well as EFTPS tax deposits.
• User friendly, and easy to understand monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll tax reports, including W-2, W-3 and 1099 forms.
• Detailed reports on your employee’s vacation, sick days, and personal days accruals.
• Creation and filing of the required new hire reports
• Your payroll records are maintained in tip top shape.

2. After-the-Fact-Payroll Services – We will take your manually-prepared payroll records and other payroll information and post this information to our data files, so you get…

• Worry Free IRS and State tax reporting as well as EFTPS tax deposits.

• User friendly, and easy to understand monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll tax reports, including W-2, W-3 and 1099 forms.

• Detailed reports on your employee’s vacation, sick days, and personal days accruals.
• Creation and filing of the required new hire reports
• Your payroll records are maintained in tip top shape.

3. Online Payroll Processing – You can enter your employee’s hours and earnings securely online and get…

• The ability to instantly print payroll checks on your own printer.
• Free Direct Deposits
• Worry Free IRS and State tax reporting as well as EFTPS tax deposits.
• User friendly, and easy to understand monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll tax reports, including W-2, W-3 and 1099 forms.
• Detailed reports on your employee’s vacation, sick days, and personal days accruals.
• Creation and filing of the required new hire reports
• Your payroll records are maintained in tip top shape.

Custom Payroll Reports Service

There seems to be an endless amount of special reports Government agencies require. We can prepare the following reports for you.

• Worker’s Compensation Audits
• Unemployment Claims
• Social Security Audits
• Child Support Audits
• W-2 and W-3 processing
• 1099 and 1096 processing
• Preparation/assistance with Federal and State registration forms

What Do Our Payroll Services Cost?

In order to give you an accurate price for our payroll services we need to know a little more about your business and what services you’re interested in. Our prices are very affordable.

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Each year the IRS requires most tax-exempt organizations to submit the Form 990 and its relations, which includes the following items:

1. Income Statement with very specific revenue and expense categories like donations, salaries, postage, rent…
2. Balance Sheet with specific categories like cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable…
3. Functional Expense Statement with all the expenses allocated to either program services, fundraising, or operations.
4. Individual Program Expense Statement that reports all of the expenses for each program or service like seminar programs or educational mailings.
5. Revenue Support Schedules that detail the organization’s sources of income in specific categories like charitable donations, membership fees, investment income.

The IRS uses these very specific revenue and expense classifications to determine if your organization will retain its tax-exempt status. So it’s imperative that you build your accounting system around these revenue and expense classifications.

We can help you setup and maintain your non-profit organization’s tax-exempt status by handling all the IRS reporting for you. 

Here’s what we do for you…

• Design, install, and maintain your Accounting System
• Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly payroll preparation
• Payroll Tax Preparation and Deposits
• Provide training for your accounting personnel
• Complete and file your non-profit status application
• Provide training for your board on non-profit financial statement usage and effective budgeting practices
• Prepare and file the 990 and 990T tax forms
• Prepare your initial start-up documentation, including incorporation, federal employee identification number (FEIN), and payroll setup with federal and state agencies.
• Churches: We prepare the pastoral housing allowance and other required benefit documentation to meet the complex dual status of ministers.

f you’re starting a new not-for-profit organization we can help you prepare your organization’s 501 (c)(3) application for tax-exempt status.

Here’s what’s needed…

Articles of Incorporation containing the Exempt Purpose Statement as described in IRS Code section 501(c)(3) and defined in Treasury Regulation 1.501(c)(3)-1 Paragraph d and the Dissolution Statement described in Treasury Regulation 1.501(c)(3)-1 Paragraph b subparagraph 4 (“Organizational Test”).

• Employer Identification Number
• By-laws of the Organization
• Minutes of Board Meetings
• Names, Addresses, and Resumes of Board Members
• Names and addresses of all Active Members
• Inventory of Assets like cash, furniture, equipment, property, pledges…
• Inventory of Liabilities like mortgages, accounts payable, loans…
• Rent/Lease Agreements and Contracts
• Revenue and Expense Statements for the last four years or as far back as possible if your organization has been in existence for less than four years.
• Written Reason for Formation and History of the organization.
• Organization Mission Statement or Statement of Faith or Beliefs for Churches and other Religious Organizations.
• Organization Activities, Operations and Programs Documentation including your statement of purpose & operations, food programs, fundraisers, flyers/brochures/pamphlets…
• Financial Support Documentation including all sources of revenue like contributions, tithes, offerings, fundraisers…
• Fund Raising Program Descriptions
• IRS Processing/Filing Fee

We are happy to prepare any of these items if you need help.

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Growing businesses often reach a point where they need professional financial advice, but can’t afford a full-time CFO or controller. If you’re fortunate enough to be in this position then we have the perfect solution for you. 

Our Part-Time CFO service gives you a professional financial manager who works with you to help guide your business to success. Here’s what you get with our Part-Time CFO services…

More time to focus on new services, new customers and other core business issues.

Better understanding of the financial side of your business. So you have less surprises and more control over the money.

Improved decision-making capabilities from clearly seeing the hard and true numbers of your business.

A readily available sounding board to help you with those tough business decisions and help you clarify your business plans.

The comfort from knowing that a professional is overseeing, protecting and constantly improving the financial side of your business.

A professional who establishes strong financial controls in your business to reduce employee theft and increase profits.

• Training and managing your accounting staff.
• Improved quality and timeliness of financial information.
• Budget preparation and monitoring.
• Profitability analysis by service or product line.
• Tax saving strategies.
• Trend analysis.
• Assistance in defining long-range plans and the quantification of goals.
• Cash management.
• Liaison with bankers, attorneys, vendors, insurance agents, etc.
• Assistance in obtaining financing from banks, including assistance with negotiations.
• Review/negotiation of insurance policies.
• Development of company accounting procedure manuals.
• Analysis of equipment purchases, expansions, etc.
• Mergers and acquisitions assistance
• Custom designed collection policies and procedures

If you’d like to learn more about our Part-Time CFO Services please complete this form to get a free consultation.

Submitting a business loan application without adequate preparation sends a clear message to the lender: High Risk! Therefore, it pays to be prepared and organized in your approach for financing.

Put your best foot forward by allowing us to prepare a winning loan proposal for you. Our proposals have a high likelihood of success because they’re created from the lender’s perspective. 

Our winning loan proposals service comes complete with…

• Executive Summary: Where we concisely state the purpose of the loan, the exact amount of money required, an explanation of what the loan will be used for and why it’s needed.
• Pro-forma Cash Budgets and Financial Statements: We use your data and underlying assumptions to prepare information that your banker can easily read and buy in to.
• Owners Personal Financial Statements: We make copies of the last 3 years of personal tax returns for the bank as well as identify the collateral being pledged as security for the loan.
• Representation: We help substantiate your financial needs/position to your banker in person.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can obtain the money you need to grow your business please complete this form.

A Strategic Business Plan is much more than a tool to obtain financing. If you still have all your plans and ideas locked up inside your head, preparing a strategic plan can help you clarify your company’s direction. It can ensure that your key leaders are all on the same page, and keeps both management and staff focused on the tasks at hand.

• A Strategic Plan is often needed when…
• Starting a new venture, product or service
• Expanding a current organization, product or service
• Buying a new business, product or service
• Turning around a declining business

The Strategic Plan provides a blueprint, describing your company, its products, the competitive environment, management team, financial health, and business risks.

The plan allows you to…

• Identify and describe the target customer profile, features, advantages and benefits of your new venture, product or service.
• Justify that your plans are credible by fully researching the need being filled with your new venture.
• Develop marketing plans including full descriptions of targeted promotional campaigns with implementation timelines. You also get to examine market conditions, the nature of your customers, as well as your competitors, sales potential, and projected results of your promotional campaigns.
• Develop staffing plans including identifying the key players, skills, attitudes and expertise needed to build the venture.
• Develop management plans including full descriptions of management systems and timelines for implementation.
• Develop financial plans including projected startup costs, operating costs, revenue, profits, and break-even analysis for the first 3 to 5 years.

• Projected financial plans allow you to effectively predict upcoming problems, or prevent them. In other words, the perspective gained through your Strategic Business Plan can make a significant contribution to your company’s success, and help you get the funding you require. In fact, most lending institutions and private investors will not even talk to you without a solid financial plan.

• Identify building and equipment needs including vendors and cost estimates.
• Formulate company milestones including timelines for upcoming products and services in development.

Remember: Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Let us help you develop a powerful Strategic Business Plan that drives your business to the level of success you deserve.