Learn how to check your books to make sure they are being done correctly.

1. Know Your
Numbers –
Know Your
Business

2. Strong words with a powerful message
If you are not an accounting professional, how do you know if your bookkeeper
is providing your company with the level of expertise you desire and require?

3. CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction
• Taking Control
• Managerial Accounting – What is it?
Chapter 2 The Truths About Intelligent Bookkeeping
•TRUTH #1 – It Takes Nectar to Make Honey
•TRUTH #2 – Turning a Swarm into a Hive
•TRUTH #3 – Harvesting Your Honey into Money
Chapter 3 Know How to Put This Information to Work for You
•Evaluate the Effectiveness of your Financial Reports
• Look for Upside Down Balance on Your Balance Sheet
• Look at your Bank Reconciliation Report
• Review Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Reporting
• Checking Payroll Activity
Chapter 4 About Us
• Our Unique Approach to Bookkeeping
• Small Business Financial Officer – SBFO
• Senior Accountant
• BizKeeper
•About Us

4. Accuracy Partnered with Checks and Balances
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------- Out
Garbage In – Garbage
As ---------------------------------------------------------------------
a business owner, your company is hired because you offer expertise
and knowledge about a particular service or provide a valuable
----------------------------
product. You are professionals in our particular line of work. There is
often the expectation that everyone else offering their expertise for hire
is also a professional and therefore, knows what they are doing. They
---------------------------------------------------------------------  GOOD NEWS
may believe they do, however, tax laws, state laws and local
regulations are changing constantly, and not every bookkeeper stays
----------------------------
up with those changes or understand them. Since there are almost no
As a business owner there
are measures you can take
educational requirements to be a bookkeeper, a business owner needs 
to ---------------------------------------------------------------------
to avoid costly bookkeeping
be able to hire the right bookkeeper and monitor their work. errors.
As ---------------------------- may not be your strong point, but
a business owner, accounting
know WHAT YOU EXPECT AT THE BOTTOM LINE. Often small business  You are in control
---------------------------------------------------------------------
owners choose an inexpensive bookkeeper to save short-term costs.
However, the long-term costs appears when a CPA tells the business
owner they need to clean up their accounting records so they can
----------------------------
prepare your tax return? They are going to charge the business owner
their rate to fix work the owner has already paid for---making an
---------------------------------------------------------------------
inexpensive bookkeeper not such a bargain.
----------------------------

5. Taking Control
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, What’s Up with the Bee Thing—
-------------------------------- logo, you will see us use BEE
You may be wondering why the BEE
ANALOGIES throughout this book. The word APIS is the Latin word for
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―honeybee.‖ We use the comparisons to bees, honey, nectar and hives,
etc. Because bees have got a great business model. Just think about it,
they are organized, store assets for the future, have contingency plans,
--------------------------------
constantly monitor their inventory, adapt to their environment and
everyone in the company knows their job and how they contribute to the
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overall success of the organization. They do naturally what great
businesses work hard to achieve and maintain. If more companies had
similar business models, more companies would realize their goals and
If accounting and bookkeeping isn’t your --------------------------------
dreams. The second part of our name is BUSINESS SOLUTIONS. We position
forte, don’t worry—it’s ours. The Apis ourselves as a proactive financial advocate for our clients. As solution
colony of Small Business Financial
Officers (SBFO®) teamed with busy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
experts we not only provide accounting and bookkeeping solutions, we
also align ourselves with various highly qualified business support
BizKeepers knows how important your providers, i.e. IT, tax preparation, marketing, sales, insurance, and
business is to you and how important your --------------------------------
financial planners just to name a few. We understand running a
books are to your business. Whether
successful business requires a variety of skills and talents, some of which
you’re doing your books
yourself, outsourcing with a bookkeeper -----------------------------------------------------------------
are better outsourced with proven professionals in their respective fields.
or looking to do so in the future—we want
to make sure that your business is getting
what it needs from your books so you can
-----------------
get what you need from your business.

6. High Quality Accounting and Bookkeeping
Professionals Offer a Service Essential to Every
Business
?
Y
Why Is It Important?
Good business records make
Your business records you look good to the bank. HEADLINE
are an important key to Good business records allow
your success. They tell you to accurately target
you if your current immediate returns on
activities are profitable. investments as well as identify
They tell you how much excessive spending.
money you have tied
up with customers who
have not paid yet. They
enable you to get all You Can Utilize Your Financial
tax deductions possible. Records Optimally by:
You can utilize your financial records
optimally by:
 Having Accurate Data
An Accounting and  Organizing Your Data
Informatively into Managerial
Bookkeeping Professional Reports
Does All This and More...  Analyzing the Information and
Strategizing

7. Managerial Accounting vs. Financial Accounting
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Financial Accounting -
-------------------------
Produces annual reports mainly for external
stakeholders.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Managerial Accounting
--------------------------------
The process of preparing management reports and
accounts that provide accurate and timely financial
-----------------------------------------------------------------
and statistical information required the business owners
-------------------------------- day-to-day and short-term
and management to make
decisions.
A Professional Bookkeeper Can -----------------------------------------------------------------
Help You Do Managerial
Management accounting generates monthly or
Accounting --------------------------------
weekly reports for the organization’s internal audience.
These reports typically show the amount of cash, sales
 “Make Strategic Decisions -----------------------------------------------------------------
revenue generated, amount of orders in hand, state of
Based on Fact Not Hope.” accounts payable, outstanding debts, raw material
--------------------------------
and inventory with trend charts, variance analysis and
other statistics.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

8. CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction
•Taking Control
•Managerial Accounting – What is it?
Chapter 2 The Truths About Intelligent Bookkeeping
•TRUTH #1 – It Takes Nectar to Make Honey
•TRUTH #2 – Turning a Swarm into a Hive
•TRUTH #3 – Harvesting Your Honey into Money
Chapter 3 Know How to Put This Information to Work for You
• Evaluate the Effectiveness of your Financial Reports
• Look for Upside Down Balance on Your Balance Sheet
• Look at your Bank Reconciliation Report
• Review Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Reporting
• Checking Payroll Activity
Chapter 4 About Us
• Our Unique Approach to Bookkeeping
• Small Business Financial Officer – SBFO
• Senior Accountant
• BizKeeper
• About Us

9. The Truths About Intelligent Bookkeeping
The following information outlines three essential truths about
accounting and bookkeeping as a management tool.

10. Truth #1 – It Takes Nectar to Make Honey
You want your financial
records to give you
meaningful reporting
Mistakes can be costly—look at the The Truth is...
following examples:
capabilities. You want to
accurately target When you data is
immediate returns on Example One - complete, accurate and
investments. You want to
identify excessive  Inaccurate or misclassified data may properly classified, costly
spending. require your CPA to clean up your mistakes like those above do
accounting records—at their rates—
before preparing your taxes. Accurate
not happen. Knowing your
Accurate and complete and properly classified data entry gives bookkeeper is providing you
data entry is absolutely your tax preparer the tools needed to with reliable data allows you to
essential to the success of maximize tax deductions and saves you
your business. money on the cost of tax preparation turn your focus to organizing
the information into reporting
Example Two - that will take you from spending
 Incomplete and inaccurate data entry your money to managing your
is misleading when pricing products and money.
services allowing for decreased overall
profits. Complete and accurate data
entry provides you with the information
Without nectar there is no you need to correctly price your products
honey—Without
and services to cover direct and indirect
complete, accurate and
properly classified data there is costs and make a profit.
not reliable financial
information for your company.

11. TRUTH #2- It Takes Organization to Turn a Nest into a Hive
--------------------------------------------------------------
Do Your Books Accurately Represent Your Company?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Are you charging enough to produce and deliver your
product and services?
--------------------------------
Solution: Define and group the cost of goods sold accounts on
-------------------------------------------clearly and easily
your Profit and Loss Statement so you can
identify all related costs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
2. Are you considering all business expenses when calculating
your bottom line?
Bees naturally group into nests giving them
--------------------------------
Solution: Define and group general expenses of doing business
a place to bring nectar to process into
honey, similar to the way any -----------------------------------------------------------------
on your Profit and Loss Statement so you know what factor to
bookkeeping system provides a business use when calculating the cost of overhead in your pricing.
with a path to enter and store data in order
to turn it into useful information. A hive is
--------------------------------
3. Are you proactive and tax planning or reactive and tax
what we call a honeybee community paying?
when it is being managed by beekeepers. -----------------------------------------------------------------
The hive is organized to facilitate Solution: Know which deductions you qualify for and have your
extracting honey without harming or --------------------------------reporting for your tax professional
bookkeeper prepare detailed
pointing them to the information they need to capture them.
disrupting the bees. This is our approach to
BizKeeping—we organize bookkeeping
systems in order to facilitate extracting
financial information from your business so
that your business can perform optimally.

12. More Questions About Your Records...
4. Do you know how your company is performing overall and comparatively to your industry?
Solution: Rely on comprehensive financial reporting that addresses your key indicators.
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Does your financial reporting support your current and financial goals?
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5. Are you comparing your actual financial activity to your budget?
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Solution: Utilize budget to actual reporting features within your accounting software to track
6. Are you planning for growth?
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Solution: Having consistent reporting allows you to plan for growth. Define your growth strategies using your
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historical data to help you analyze what has happened so you can plan for what needs to happen.
7. Are your financial records accurately positioning you for a future valuation and sale of your
-------------------------------------------------
company?
Solution: Clearly identify discretionary spending within your chart of accounts so a prospective buyer can
easily see the earnings capacity of your company.
The Truth is...
When your data is organized into informative reports you will know the answers to these questions. Knowing
your bookkeeper understands your business and your goals well enough to produce meaningful financial
reports allows you to go one step further into strategizing for growth, increasing profits and building your
financial future.

13. Truth #3 – It Takes a Watchful Eye to Turn Your
Honey into Money
Reports You Need to See At Least on a Monthly Basis
Profit and Loss Statement – Summarizes the
revenues, costs and expenses incurred during a specific
period of time. These records provide information that
shows the ability of a company to generate profit by
increasing revenue and reducing costs.
Statements of Cash Flows – is Balance Sheet – A financial
concerned with the flow of cash in and cash statement that summarizes a company’s
out of the business. The statement captures assets, liabilities and shareholders’ equity at a
both the current operating results and the specific point in time. These three balance
accompanying changes in the balance sheet segments give the business owner an
sheet. It is useful in determining the short- idea as to what the company owns and
term viability of a company, particularly its
ability to pay bills.
Financial owes as well as the amount invested by the
shareholders.
Reports
Banking, Credit Card and Accounts Payable Aging
Loan Reconciliations - Reports Report – Helps you determine how well
you are (or aren’t) paying your accounts
that compile data and make sure everything
payable. It is a great cash management
is accurate.
tool.
Accounts Receivable Aging Report -
shows the amounts owed to the company by its
customers, including the length of time the amounts have
been outstanding. Typically, the aging report categorizes
receivables as ―current,‖ ―30 days,‖ ―60 days,‖ ―90 days,‖
and ―120 days and over.‖ The purpose of this report is to
show the business owner what receivables need to be
dealt with more urgently because they have been
overdue longer.

14. If you are not familiar with what information is provided to you within each of these reports, ask
your bookkeeper. They will be able to help you understand each report and be able to help you
interpret the invaluable information they contain.
Talk with your accounting and bookkeeping professional about other reporting that will assist you
in managing your business. For instance, a business that bills clients for reimbursement of direct
expenses will want to see an unbilled costs report. Do not be your client’s banker. Recovering
costs quickly is vital to your cash flow.
You have money to spend on marketing, but none to waste. Tracking the return on your
investment with marketing efforts lets you know which campaigns are bringing you the business
you expect and which ones are costing you more money than they are worth.
Knowing how each department or store location is performing allows you to monitor managerial
staff and the profitability of product and service lines. Grouping all information together can be
misleading. When reporting easily identifies different facets of your business, you now have a tool
to help you oversee your entire company with a better perspective.
You worked long and hard last November putting together a budget for this year. How successful
have you been in reaching your goals? Do you need to make adjustments mid-year to your
operations to better meet your anticipated profits? Comparing your anticipated goals with the
realities of your business is the only way to make timely and appropriate decisions. Don’t fall into
the mindset that says ―We are busy, so we must be making money.‖
The Truth is...
When your reporting is reviewed and analyzed on a regular basis you will know the
answers to these questions. Knowing your bookkeeper is providing you with useful and
timely reporting supports your efforts at reaching all your financial goals.

15. CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction
•Taking Control
•Managerial Accounting – What is it?
Chapter 2 The Truths About Intelligent Bookkeeping
•TRUTH #1 – It Takes Nectar to Make Honey
•TRUTH #2 – Turning a Swarm into a Hive
•TRUTH #3 – Harvesting Your Honey into Money
Chapter 3 Know How to Put This Information to Work for You
• Evaluate the Effectiveness of your Financial Reports
• Look for Upside Down Balance on Your Balance Sheet
• Look at your Bank Reconciliation Report
• Review Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Reporting
• Checking Payroll Activity
Chapter 4 About Us
• Our Unique Approach to Bookkeeping
• Small Business Financial Officer – SBFO
• Senior Accountant
• BizKeeper
• About Us

16. -----------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
Know How to Put This
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------- Work for You
Information to
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You don’t have the time or the inclination to micro-manage your
bookkeeper’s work. Reviewing the financial reporting provided
-------------------------------- what to look for are the first
by your bookkeeper and knowing
steps in ensuring you are working with a qualified professional. On the next few pages
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Below you will find specific steps you can take to monitor your review not only the
bookkeeper’s effectiveness in their position. questions you should ask

-------------------------------- whoever is doing your
accounting and
bookkeeping; but
-----------------------------------------------------------------
also the answers you should
--------------------  expect.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Learn what you need to
 know to manage this
-------------------------------- position.
-------------------------
-

17. Know How to Put This Information to Work for You
 Do the numbers seem reasonable? ANSWERS
 Does your bookkeeper understand your business?
 Review your Chart of Accounts to determine if it is tracking activity specific to your
1 business model or industry.
Within QuickBooks it is very easy for your bookkeeper to ―drill down‖ in a report and show
you the detail for a given number.
How do you know the  Watch out for accounts called ―need to fix‖ or ―miscellaneous‖. This indicates that
reports are accurate? your bookkeeper did not know how to classify an event and needs your clarification.
 In an account name doesn’t seem right to you, ask for an explanation and the detail
of activity recorded to that account.
 Customize your Chart of Accounts so you track activity that is important to your
bottom line.
2  Within QuickBooks it is very easy for your bookkeeper to ―drill down‖ in a report and
show you the details for a given number. This type of reporting lets you quickly
Have you asked your determine if the total number is made up of the correct financial activity.
bookkeeper to verify  Review all reports with your bookkeeper from time to time to make sure you are both
on the same track.
the numbers?
If you find a negative value designed by a minus sign or brackets around your accounts
receivable number there is something wrong! This indicates one of two things:
 You owe your customers money, or...
 The bookkeeper has received money into your books, but has not created an invoice
3 to record the sales side of the transaction.
This inaccurate bookkeeping practice understates your revenue to you and creates a
Look for upside down tax reporting problem with IRS.
balances on your If your accounts payable liability account is showing a debit balance something is
WRONG!
Balance Sheet  You have either overpaid a vendor or...
 You have not recorded a tax deductible expense.
Either situation is NOT to your advantage.
These are only a couple of irregularities that could show up.

18. Ask Yourself and Your Bookkeeper the Following Questions
4 ANSWERS
Look at your bank
statement. It can tell Look at the un-cleared or outstanding activity sections of the reconciliation
you several things. report.
If you have outstanding activity that is more than a few months old this is an
Did you know that indicator that your accounts are not really reconciled.
your bank statement
Scenario A:
can be reconciled
every month and still Your checking account is showing an un-cleared deposit in the amount of $10,000 from six
be wrong? months ago. How can this happen?
You lost the check from a client and it was never deposited. They haven’t told you
because it is to their advantage or perhaps their bookkeeper isn’t tracking cleared checks
in their system.
Scenario B:
Your checking account is showing un-cleared checks dating back several months. How
can this happen?
These outstanding activities are an indication that perhaps a vendor of yours has lost your
check.
Even more troubling, maybe you or your bookkeeper has inadvertently double booked an
activity. Entering the same check twice in your check register can throw off your expense
reporting, your accounts payable balances and the ending bank balance.
These occurrences could cause you to negotiate payment arrangements with a supplier
because you don’t know that you have enough money in your account to pay their bill.
Or perhaps you are putting off paying yourself.

19. -----------------------------------------------------------------
When your bookkeeper is correctly reconciling your bank
account you can rely on the information in your accounting
software to manage your cash flow.
------------------------------------------------------
DO NOT rely on checking your balance online – Reconcile Your
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bank Accounts.
-------------------------------- manage your cash flow.
This is a very dangerous way to
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It may seem effective when you have the time to manually
calculate in your head what checks you know you have written
-------------------------------- ones are still in the drawer
and mailed to vendors and which
waiting to be sent until you make the deposit you are going to
-----------------------------------------------------------------
pick up from your client. But we all know this methodology
doesn’t always work when we are busy and besides it takes
-------------------------------- can be better spent.
valuable time out of your day that
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--------------------------------
-

20. Ask Yourself and Your Bookkeeper the Following Questions
ANSWERS
5
If you use QuickBooks, review the Open Invoice and Vendor Open Balance Detail
Look at Your Accounts reports. These reports are a very quick way for you to see if the bookkeeper has
correctly recorded activity into your software. A bookkeeper can record receipt of a
Payable and payment to an account in your accounts receivable module without recording an
Accounts Receivable invoice for this activity. This creates a situation where you can properly record a deposit
Reporting to the bank, but not record your income.
Scenario C:
If you see an open payment entry on the Open Invoice Report then your revenue is
not being properly recorded. Simply recording receipt of a payment creates a
recordkeeping situation that appears to show you owe a client money for undelivered
services or products.
Scenario D:
Similarly for accounts payable, if there is an open payment you have made and no
bill to attach it to you are perhaps properly stating your bank balance, but have not
recorded the expenditure.
 This causes problems at tax time because you are missing deductions.
 You might overpay a vendor because you have no receipt of a bill going through
your system or you might not charge a client for a reimbursable expense because
you have no indicator that the charge was ever incurred. Your vendor is happy
because they got paid, but you have not and you don’t even know it.
 An open bill payment is a message to you that a bill had been entered into the
system but was then deleted. Again, this is your sign that something is amiss

21. Make Sure Your Payroll is Properly Processed and Recorded
ANSWERS
6
It is not necessary for you to become a payroll expert, but there are ways to
Is Your Payroll Activity make sure you are in compliance and that your records accurately reflect
Being Processed and this activity.
Recorded?
Ask your payroll professional, whether that be your bookkeeper or an
outsourced service provider for a schedule of all payroll taxes due including
the tax name and corresponding tax authority, whether it is a company
expense or an employee withholding, what forms are necessary and the filing
requirements, and how you will see the activity reported on your books. The
buck stops with you when it comes to payroll responsibilities.
We suggest you do not use a catch-all payroll expense account. Break out
the different payroll expenses within your Chart of Accounts so you may easily
identify all expenditures and its related costs. Employee costs may include
salaries, wages, overtime, sick, vacation, and holiday
pay, bonuses, commission, state and federal unemployment, matching Social
Security and Medicare taxes, city tax in some cases, workers compensation
insurance, benefits, uniforms, bus passes or parking, cell phone
reimbursement, payroll administrative fees, and hiring expenses. Can you see
how if this is all thrown in to one pot a business owner may not be able to
effectively monitor these individual costs?

22. CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction
•Taking Control
•Managerial Accounting – What is it?
Chapter 2 The Truths About Intelligent Bookkeeping
•TRUTH #1 – It Takes Nectar to Make Honey
•TRUTH #2 – Turning a Swarm into a Hive
•TRUTH #3 – Harvesting Your Honey into Money
Chapter 3 Know How to Put This Information to Work for You
• Evaluate the Effectiveness of your Financial Reports
• Look for Upside Down Balance on Your Balance Sheet
• Look at your Bank Reconciliation Report
• Review Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Reporting
• Checking Payroll Activity
Chapter 4 About Us
• Our Unique Approach to Bookkeeping
• Small Business Financial Officer – SBFO
• Senior Accountant
• BizKeeper
• About Us

23. The Apis Story...
We Take the Sting Out of
Accounting and
Bookkeeping
Take Control –
Know and Use
Your Numbers
1 2 3
The Beginning The Commitment The Results
• Apis Business Solutions, LLC was started • At Apis we believe good business • In June 2009, we were honored to
in August 2008. We developed a begins and ends with the be named one of the 10 winners
system of financial management relationship. Because we work with nationwide in Intuit/QuickBooks®
specifically designed to help small the financial core of the small ―Power to Get More Done‖
business owners run their business ―by business, trust is essential. We also Stimulus Grant Competition. Apis
the numbers‖. When business owners
know that trust is earned, it is not a Business Solutions was chosen from
understand the numbers of their
business, they make strategic given. We are prepared to work more than 700 applicants from
decisions based on ―fact‖ not ―hope.‖ hard to earn and keep your trust. across the country because of our
• We believe in the following business model, professionalism
• Most business owners do not start
their own business because the ―love‖ formula: and our willingness to give back to
accounting and bookkeeping, yet the community.
effectively managing their financials is Integrity + Reliability + • In May 2011 we were honored as
essential to their initial and continued
Where? Who?
success. Organized and complete
Competence + one of three finalists for the
―Emerging Business of the Year‖
financials mean access to Transparency = TRUST award sponsored by the Denver
funding, better cash
management, and better opportunity
When?
Metro Chamber. As an advocate
What?
for success. for small business success and
growth in the Denver Metro
How? Community, we are honored to be
recognized as a ―Small Business
Making a Difference.‖

24. Our Comprehensive Approach
Focuses on:
Advocacy for the Results
We Stand Behind You, So You Can Stand Out!
Business Owner
Long-Term
Professionalism Client
Relationships
Managerial Building trust
Accounting takes time.
As
advocates
 Unleashing the for our clients
Advocacy Role power of a business’ it is our
Quality of Service financials allows
owners to make
responsibility
to always
 We take a strategic decisions
look for the
Transparency participatory role based on ―fact‖ not
―hope‖. We
most efficient
with our clients so and cost-
transform the way in
that we are best effective way
which you view your
Clear  Through our website able to help financial reports so to approach
Communication our clients have achieve and you can use the each task.
access to a maintain financial very same financial
protected portal success. We also transactions your
 Through service where they can share utilize the vast tax preparer uses
Quality of agreements , and access resources of all but with a focus on
Service letters of important documents effectively running
members of our
engagement, and information your business, not
punch lists and concerning their hive in order to
 Project Director to just how much tax
oversee every timelines our account allowing for find the best
you owe on the
account. The focus is clients know total transparency in solutions to any bottom line.
on personal, what they can the work we given situation.
individual service. expect from us. produce.
24

25. For More Information about Apis Business Solutions, LLC
Call us at 303.945.2104
Website: https://www.apisbusinesssolutions.com
Email: nbarnett@apisbusinesssolutions