What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is a United States federal law passed in response to the recent major corporate and accounting scandals including those at Enron, Tyco International, and WorldCom (now MCI). These scandals resulted in a decline of public trust in accounting and reporting practices. Named after sponsors Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Representative Michael G. Oxley (R-Oh.), the Act was approved by the House by a vote of 423-3 and by the Senate 99-0. The legislation is wide-ranging and establishes new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company Boards, Management, and public accounting firms. The first and most important part of the Act establishes a new quasi-public agency, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which is charged with overseeing and disciplining accounting firms in their roles as auditors of public companies. Some of the major provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act's include:

• Certification of financial reports by chief executive officers and chief financial officers
• Auditor independence, including outright bans on certain types of work for audit clients and pre-certification by the company's Audit Committee of all other non-audit work
• A requirement that companies listed on stock exchanges have fully independent audit committees that oversee the relationship between the company and its auditor
• Significantly longer maximum jail sentences and larger fines for corporate executives who knowingly and willfully misstate financial statements, although maximum sentences are largely irrelevant because judges generally follow the Federal Sentencing Guidelines in setting actual sentences
• Employee protections allowing those corporate fraud whistleblowers who file complaints with OSHA within 90 days, to win reinstatement, back pay and benefits, compensatory damages, abatement orders, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.

Profit vs. Cashflow

It might seem obvious, but in managing a business, it's important to understand how the business makes a profit. A company needs a good business model and a good profit model.  A business sells products or services and earns a certain amount of margin on each unit sold. The number of units sold is the sales volume during the reporting period. The business subtracts the amount of fixed expenses for the period, which gives them the operating profit before interest and income tax.

It's important not to confuse profit with cash flow. Profit equals sales revenue minus expenses. A business manager shouldn't assume that sales revenue equals cash inflow and that expenses equal cash outflows. In recording sales revenue, cash or another asset is increased. The asset accounts receivable is increased in recording revenue for sales made on credit. Many expenses are recorded by decreasing an asset other than cash. For example, cost of goods sold is recorded with a decrease to the inventory asset and depreciation expense is recorded with a decrease to the book value of fixed assets. Also, some expenses are recorded with an increase in the accounts payable liability or an increase in the accrued expenses payable liability.

Remember that some budgeting is better than none. Budgeting provides important advantages, like understanding the profit dynamics and the financial structure of the business. It also helps for planning for changes in the upcoming reporting period. Budgeting forces a business manager to focus on the factors that need to be improved to increase profit.  A well-designed management profit and loss report provides the essential framework for budgeting profit. It's always a good idea to look ahead to the coming year. If nothing else, at least plug the numbers in your profit report for sales volume, sales prices, product costs and other expense and see how your projected profit looks for the coming year.

Accounting Software

If you think that starting your own business is cakewalk, you’re very wrong. Aside from developing good products and services, you still need to sell them to the market. One of the essential factors in running a business is effectively managing finances. The language of any business, whether big or small, is accounting.

The business scene is always loaded with work pressure. Therefore, there is an unerring need for handling accounts and finances effectively. Even small businesses need to be organized to achieve success and to do this the business owner should get the appropriate accounting software. Business units usually set long-term goals and to reach the goals, accounting management is required. If you want to be your business’ boss, you will need accounting software. Manually doing all the accounting works can lead to a lot of errors which can terribly affect any business.

As owner of a small business, you have to know where funds come from and where it goes. If you decide to do accounting tasks manually, it can consume a great portion of your time and it will be cumbersome on your part.

Here are some of the benefits that you will get by using an accounting software program:

• You can finish all the accounting tasks promptly and you will be able to run your small business without too much problems.

• You can be provided with correct reports as well as special tools to make accounting tasks a lot simpler. That way, you can manage all the financial data of the business effectively.

• In minutes, you can already manage the cash flow of the business.

• With the accounting software, it will now be possible to predict revenues, bills, and generating reports.

These are some of the benefits of using an accounting software. However, don’t purchase the first accounting software that you come across. You see, there are things to consider when selecting the proper accounting software for the business. You have to determine the software’s functionalities. It should be user-friendly and most especially, it should resemble the paper counterparts so that you can run the software smoothly. Once you’re familiar with the software’s layout, you can already explore its functionalities.

If you can find software which combines the internet and e-commerce, the better; you see, there are a great number of accounting software sold in the market. If you want to enjoy all the benefits, you must be able to choose the finest accounting software that is suited to your small business.

In choosing an accounting software, you need to consider the number of your employees. You can find accounting software that is suited for small business with less than 25 employees. Other software is suited for large businesses with bigger numbers of employees.

A software that is suited for small businesses helps the business owner analyze financial data, customize reports like transaction history, profit & loss, check details, reconciliation details, and many more. By simply looking at the various reports, you can already determine your business status. Some software also offers built-in features like forecasting tools. These tools can be used to manage business risks and control cost of operation.

If you’re running a small business, it is now time to purchase accounting software. By doing so, you can secure your business’ future and you can be certain that all your financial tasks are handled effectively.