Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/142672
financial record keeping and management No matter how skilled a practitioner you are, if you aren't skilled at managing financial assets, you might find your business spinning out of your grasp and into the hands of creditors. You don't need to be a certified public accountant to get a grip on your business's financial health, but you will need to familiarize yourself with some basic terms and concepts. Not only will a solid understanding of accounting and finance help you make better business decisions, but it also will help you avoid being fleeced by unscrupulous advisers or running afoul of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Sound financial record keeping is essential to being able to avoid paying more taxes than you truly owe. "A lot of people out there in the cold, cruel financial world may take advantage of you, not necessarily by illegal means, but by withholding key information and by diverting your attention away from unfavorable aspects of certain financial decisions," writes John Tracy in Accounting for Dummies. "The best defense against such tactics is to learn some accounting basics, which can help you ask the right questions and understand the financial points that tricksters don't want you to know." Don't over-read this warning. You do have an option of hiring a bookkeeper or an accountant to prepare periodic financial statements for you and/or to prepare and file your taxes. Costs for a simple professional service business like yours should be modest, and sometimes an accountant can save you enough in taxes to cover his or her fees just because of the knowledge about what expenses are legally deductible. Even if you do decide to hire an accountant, you can't afford to have that person sitting in your office every day handling and recording transactions. You need to accept responsibility for performing basic financial record keeping. Whether you elect to handle all the bookkeeping or just basic