Growing Tree Financial Solutions

What was your first job? 🤔

Mine was dog walker at Molly's Country Kennels.

I was 13 at the time, I only made about $5 an hour, and wanted spending money.

Being an animal lover, I LOVED the job. But I did not enjoy the people I worked with as most would lie about whether or not they actually walked the dogs or spent time with the cats.

I worked there for about a year.

Not the most glamorous of positions, of course 😂 but it worked until I got my next job at Merrymead Farm, scooping ice cream, working in the farm store & produce stand/seasonal stands and eventually managing the stores. I LOVED that job and the people!

Now - what about you?

How old were you when you started your first job? And what was the job?

Is your small business’ bookkeeping ready for the federal tax deadline on April 18th?

If you’re not sure, here’s 5 quick questions to help you spot “red flags”:

🚩 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀? 😬

Mixing personal with business expenses is a BIG no-no! Keep them separate – and categorize all personal expenses as “owner’s draw”

🚩 𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀? 📉

For loans and liabilities, this is ok. But in your assets, this is a red flag that usually indicates mistakes!

🚩 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 - 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 + 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀? ⏰

Run two reports, “Customer Balance” and “Vendor Balance”. If you’ve got a lot of invoices +90 days past due, double-check to see if they’re 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 unpaid, or just need updated!

🚩 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁? 🔁

Pick a regularly recurring vendor, like Uber. Are all your Uber charges in the same expense category?

🚩 𝗟𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 “𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱” 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀? 🤔

On your Chart of Accounts, check these accounts:

(1) “Uncategorized Income”
(2) “Uncategorized Expenses”
(3) “Miscellaneous”
(4) “Ask my Accountant”

If you have a lot of transactions in there, your records are probably out of date – and you’ll need to get them in the right expense categories.

All pretty easy to check, right? (BTW I’ve also attached an article with more helpful info about this!)

What about you? After reading this, do you feel like your business is tax-ready? … Or not? 😬

But I get it – maybe fumbling with financial reports just doesn’t sound like your idea of a good time. 😉 (Especially if your records are extra-chaotic!)

No problem! If you need an expert pair of eyes to help out, just reach out! ♥️ I handle this stuff all the time for my clients. And I’d love to help you, too!

Growing Tree Financial Solutions
[email protected]

Hey – do you guys have any quick and tasty weeknight recipes you can recommend? 😋

I need to refresh my recipe routine a little, so hit me with what ya got!

Here’s what I’m lookin’ for:

⏱️ Must be cooked in 30 minutes or less...

🚫 Needs to be low carb...

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Needs to be a hit with the whole family (picky kids included)!

Also, I really want to try to add more seafood into the mix, so I’d LOVE to hear more in that category!

If you’ve got something amazing and easy that fits that description, please share the link below!

(P.S. – I’ve also added links to some of my favorite weeknight recipes in the comments below, too! Not only are they quick & easy, they're also a hit with the kids)