Focus CPA

We are in the midst of summer; the days are warm and humid in Wisconsin. We just had a streak of 3 weeks where I stayed in the house and enjoyed the air conditioning. It was too hot for me to enjoy outdoors. I don’t want to waste a day. It is time for me to adapt and make the most of it – for every day counts.

Often I hear the statement work smarter not harder. An easy statement to make much harder to apply. The Pareto principle states that 20% of what we do achieves 80% of the results. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we knew actually, what the 20% of activity was. Each of us are only given 24 hours a day. So why can some people achieve great results and others are just getting by? Here are four things to consider when focusing on working smarter.

Are we free? Free to live our life how we choose. Maybe.

As we zoom through life we live for today, without much thought for tomorrow. We take care of what is in front of us. Yes, we know there is no guarantee that you will be alive tomorrow. Yes, accidents, cancer and heart attacks happen, but to others not us. In reality, we do not know when our time is up.

Some business owners hunt for their next sale while others grow from within. Deep down I am a farmer. I love to nurture relationships, to grow the business organically. Just look at my garden. I love perennials, plants that come back year after year. I love color; my garden is full of deep reds, purples and yellow. Once the snow melts and the weather starts to warm my backyard comes to life. My backyard has a rhythm that synchronizes with nature.

Are you starting a new business? Or struggling financially with an existing one? Small business owners wear many hats. One hat they wear is the Accounting green shade. Here are 10 best accounting practices that will remove the clutter, save time and get financial results.

Late last year President Trump signed a new tax law. This law creates the biggest overhaul of U.S. tax code since the 1980s. Here are the changes that will have the greatest impact for business owners with less than $10 million in sales.

No this isn’t about sex. It’s about facing the unknown and doing something new. I just read Richard Branson’s book “Losing my virginity, how I survived, had fun and made a fortune doing business my way“. For those who don’t know of Sir Richard Branson, he is a flamboyant philanthropic British businessman that has created and promoted the virgin brand for more than 50 years.

When it comes to sales “the top line is vanity, the bottom line is sanity”. Sales do not always lead to profit. In some cases, not making the sale is the best choice. For a business to stay afloat, each sale needs to cost less than the amount charged.

My husband, Steve, made Mac n Cheese recently. Not an everyday meal in our house. When he checked the expiration date, he was shocked. The date was 2015! It had been in our pantry for 3 years. That discovery sent me to the medicine cabinet to check the over the counter medicines. Another shock – I threw out all but one bottle of cough syrup. I found one bottle dated 2005.