Record Keeping

Imagine a world where you wake up in the morning, and immediately you search frantically for your clothes which have mysteriously been moved from where you left them the night before. You finally find the missing pants and shirt and run out of the house and find that your car has disappeared. After searching for five-blocks you locate your car. You’re exhausted only to find out that you have over fifty keys on your key ring.

Which one could be the key to your car? After searching your key ring for 2 hours you finally find the magic key to start your car. After all this commotion you discover on the way to work you forgot your wallet and have no money to go out and eat breakfast.

You haven’t even made your way to work and you are hungry, frustrated, rushed, and un-organized.

What good could you be to your business or employer?

As terrible as the above story is, unfortunately all too many business owners take equally terrible care of their business records. This is a striking fact when you consider that a business’s records show the owner everything about that business.

There are some very important things that you the business owner must know in order to be effective in managing and operating your business. Too many owners look at their checkbook and judge the business health by whether the balance is positive or negative. This method will tell you on a particular day whether you have a positive cash balance but will give you no insight into why or in how you could improve the situation.

In the next couple of messages I will be laying out the steps necessary to have a solid set of records that will allow you the business owner to make vital decision.

Once you gain true control of your business the peace of mind you will have will allow you to concentrate on running and excelling at your business.

The next messages will contain:
1. Accounts Payable – I will show you how a proper system of gathering receipts, entering bills in a system, and finally paying the bills in a way that will streamline your bill paying function. The key is handling the paper one time.

2. Accounts Receivable – I will show you how a proper system of billing and collecting money to ensure that you have been paid for all your hard work.

3. Proof of cash – How to tie the accounts payable and accounts receivable systems together to effectively give you control of your cash once and for all.

4. Balance Sheet – What is this piece of paper and what does it tell me. Why accountants use this one document to judge the health of your business.

5. Income statement – What this document tells you about your business

6. Logs – The importance of your essential logs. Time-Space Percentage, Meals Served, and Auto.
7. Assets – What is depreciation and how does it affect your business.

8. Finally how do we use all of the above information to run our business and report it to the government on the annual tax return?

I hope that these messages will guide you to a basic understanding about the importance of knowing the health of your business. This knowledge will allow your business to thrive into the future. No matter where you are in the process, learning this vital information will allow your business to continue into the future.

Saving you money,


Bob Groth E.A.

P.S. Would you like to share this information with your friends? Please send us an email with their address and we will put them on our list.

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How much is one good accountant in your business? Robert Groth E.A. has created an accounting practice centering on daycare business owners. Find out what other daycare owners have to say about Robert Groth.

"It all started when I met Bob Groth at a Mecca Conference in 2004. I was sitting in on one of the sessions about tax preparation and business tips. After hearing his presentation I then realized that I needed him to be my Tax Preparer…someone that knows all there is about Family Child Care. I had just started up my in-home business in January of 2004 so he was a blessing. We have gotten a lot of great advice from him and really nice tax returns the last two year and will continue to seek advice from him and his accounting services for many years to come.

Thank you Bob!!

Elizabeth Weyker
Rainbow Club Family Daycare
Port Washington, WI



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Email me bob@grothcpa.com



record keeping