Get Excellent Job Candidates

An independent recruiter, recruiting agency or executive search firm is charged with tracking down excellent potential candidates for available job positions. Despite the fact that there are innumerable people seeking positions of employment in the 21st century, it often seems to a typical recruiting agency that qualified men and women are few and far between.

Here are six easy tips that recruiting services, staffing firms, or executive search firms should keep in mind when on the hunt for outstanding potential job candidates in the 21st century.

These tips are equally applicable to companies undertaking their own search without the help of recruiting agency services. Indeed, the headaches associated with finding qualified personnel is magnified for a company undertaking its own recruitment efforts.

1. Post an Ad on an Industry-specific Job Board. Oftentimes, a recruiter will take a scattershot approach to finding candidates that are worthy of consideration for an available position. They broadcast far and wide the fact that a certain position is open and available, in big city newspapers and on major Internet job boards.

If a recruiting agency were more thoughtful about its recruitment efforts, it would realize the benefits of positing an announcement of an available position on an industry-specific Internet job board. By posting in a selective and admittedly limited manner, recruiters and staffing firms would be reaching out precisely to the pool of people most likely to be qualified for an open position.

One excellent tool for finding industry-specific job boards can be accessed at:
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/jobboard.php


2. Use Recruiters that Specialize in a Given Field As with advertising, choosing an effective recruiter might be just a matter of targeting, particularly for a managerial or executive position. These positions can be very hard for in-house personnel directors and human resource managers. While these people do have responsibility for hiring, the search for a new employee with skills beyond the norm for their company can best be targeted by a professional executive head hunter.

The same can be said for specialized fields, such as accounting or information systems. In-house human resources staff might know all about pharmaceutical skill-sets required for a multitude of research and administration positions, but they might rarely have to deal with hiring staff to track money or to keep the computers functioning. That's when recruiting agency services specializing in IT or in accounting can come in handy.


3. Develop an In-House Referral Program. In many instances, exiting staff members can help speed up the search for quality job candidates. Employees often have contacts elsewhere within the industry, some of which may be looking for a change of employment.

By cultivating this internal resource, a personnel director can develop a wealth of ready information about prospective employees who might well serve the organization as valued employees.

4. Search Resumes Posted on Job Boards In addition to advertising on an industry specific job board, a diligent personnel director or recruiting agency will want to take the time to search and consider resumes that have been posted on job boards.

Often, a person pounding the pavement looking for employment may not have the time to take in and review all of the various available positions that have been posted on a every job board. This is even more true if a given prospect is a highly sought-after candidate, who might be still busy in a current position of responsibility.


5 .Use a Directory of Recruiters. Because there are so many different type of recruiters in business in the 21st century it can often be difficult for in-house human resources staff to pinpoint the recruiter that will be best able to meet the needs of a given employee recruitment campaign. But there are resources available, such as directories of recruiters.

One such directory is:http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com

By using a professional directory, in-house human resources staff will be able to identify the most appropriate resources for their company and for the recruiting task at hand. Even staffing firms can benefit from such a recruiters directory to seek help in a specialized field they don't often work with.

6. Don’t Rush the Process. Finally, while it is an overused saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” In the same vein, 99 times out of 100 there is no need to rush the process of seeking, identifying and hiring a new employee, particularly an executive level employee.

A personnel director should take his or her time to identify, screen, interview and hire the best candidate. Throughout this process, a human resources manager or specialist will rely on the services and support tools identified in this article.

By using these tips, in the long run the best possible candidate for a given position will end up being hired, and the company will benefit from the best possible employees.


About the author:
David Leonhardt is a freelance writer:
http://www.seo-writer.net/
He wrote this article for the Online Recruiters Directory:
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/about.php

Searching For Executive Heads - A Mammoth Task For Recruiters

Once upon a time, head hunters were no more than common cannibals. Some people still view them that way, but executive recruiters are a vital link in a chain that keeps major enterprises functioning well.

The top positions at any organization dictate the fortunes of the company, the shareholders and the employees ... and often the communities in which they are located. A good executive head hunter can ensure that new company executives have the skills required for the position and the challenges ahead. He can also ensure that the right executive is chosen, one whose style will flourish in the specific environment of that company.

However, modern executive recruiters face challenges to be effective. I caught up with Esther Barzel, co-owner of the Online Recruiter Directory ( http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com ).

Q: What are the main challenges of executive head hunters in today's business climate?

A: To start with, the geographic net has become much wider. A head hunter in , say, New York City or Toronto, can no longer rely on finding the right candidate right in town. In fact, the ideal candidate might be just minutes away by Internet, but he might be located in another country or even on another continent. We are looking at a new breed of executive recruiter.

Q: The Internet should make his job easier, right?

A: Yes...and no. He has to post requirements in more places and sift through more potential candidates to find the jewel he seeks. So his workload has actually increased.

Q: Plus, I presume, he still faces the challenges of yesteryear?

A: That's right. He still has to make contact with potential candidates, conduct preliminary interviews, set up meetings with the company, attend to minute details, brief the interviewer, etc.

Q: What about follow-up?

A: Yes, there is, of course, follow-up required after every interview, both with the client and with the prospect. It's a busy job.

Q: So how does the Internet make life easier for an executive recruiter?

A: Now you have online communities and bulletin boards, such as Monster.com, where you can place ads for positions. This makes it somewhat easier to cast one's net. Directories like ours help head hunters attract clients, so they can spend more recruiting and less time on business development.

Q: Don't online bulletin boards and directories just mean the head hunter has to spend more time in more places?

A: Yes and no. Online resources are more easily searched than, say, paper. Our recruiter directory gives employers the chance to search by geography or by vocation, or by the type of position. This means they can find a recruiter that specializes in pharmaceutical sales, or who specializes in accounting, or whatever field. The head hunter spends less time answering questions from people who will never be their clients.

Q: And I assume it works both ways?

A: Yes, the recruiter gets resumes from only those people who are likely candidates for the types of positions he works on. The pharmaceutical recruiter, for example will not get a resume from someone whose background is in aeronautical engineering.

Q: Wow, that's a mouthful. I don't know if I could even repeat that.

A: Many executive recruiters could not repeat it, either. So the Internet is making it easier for them to receive resumes targeted to their field of expertise, saving them time...not to mention overexertion of their tongues.

On that humorous note, we thank Esther for taking the time to explain how the Internet is making life both more complex and easier for executive recruiters and head hunters.

About the author:
David Leonhardt is a freelance writer:
http://www.seo-writer/freelance/writer.html
More about head hunter challenges:
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/head-hunters.html
More about executive recruiter challenges:
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/executive-recruiters.html
More about Esther Barzel's recruiting services
http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com/about.php

Use Policies & Procedures As A Management Key

Managers know the difficulty of getting people to do the right things the right way. And employees need their expertise and understanding of the way things should be done. But how do you get it across so it actually sticks? The answer is well-defined policies and procedures.

Quickly Convey What’s Right

Managers can convey the exact way things should be done with policies and procedures, and they can do it faster than ever with pre-written documents. This speeds an organization’s standard operating procedures project effectiveness to get results.

Create Strong Operating Procedures

Departmentally-focused manuals provide an excellent opportunity to create strong, consistent Standard Operating Procedures across multiple functions. This includes added savings of time and resources. Departments that benefit with improved results include:

• CEO Management - Build an effective management procedures system based on best practices for the entire organization
• CFO Controller - Simplify the job as a CFO or Controller, and speed the development of comprehensive Accounting and HR manuals
• ISO 9001 Quality Manager - Create ISO 9001 quality policies and procedures manual with prewritten policies, procedures and forms
• Human Resources Manager - Create HR policies and procedures manual with prewritten policies, procedures and forms
• Security Manager - Create complete facility security procedures and disaster recovery plans

Customize to any Business

When researching effective solutions, the content should be well-researched and follow industry-standard formats. Moreover, the applications such as MS Word-based standard operating procedures documents should be easy to edit and simple to customize for any business or organization.

Utilize Essential Procedures

Management should have a solution to implement their entire policy system with essential procedures in one concise, consistent format. And they can do it effectively and efficiently because pre-written documents:

• Saves research time
• Improves procedure writing
• Speeds policy development
• Eases document editing
• Enhances policy knowledge
• Simplifies implementation

The Right Documents

Business owners and executives should select a pre-written policies and procedures package specifically created for a particular management scope. And choose the one that identifies their role and needs.


About the author:
Chris Anderson has over 18 years of sales, marketing and business management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. He is currently the Managing Director of Bizmanualz, Inc.
Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com?src=ART66

Hiring Your Children is Good Business

Save on Taxes by Hiring Your Children

You've heard that you can't have your cake and eat it, too. But hiring your own family is one case when you can. Pay your minor or adult children to work for your business, then write it off as an expense.

Many people are confused about whether it's legal to hire their children and grandchildren. Follow my advice to satisfy both the IRS and employment laws - while saving on your own taxes. Assuming it's a true payment for services performed (and the paperwork is handled properly) it's totally legal and acceptable to pay family members.

Minor Children Save the Most Taxes

Child labor restrictions don't apply to a parent (unless it's in manufacturing, mining, or any hazardous occupation defined by the Department of Labor) - even under 16. I hired my own daughters from the ages of 7 and 9 without a hitch.

You need not pay withholding income taxes, payroll taxes (including Social Security) and Workmen's Compensation (in most states) until the child turns 18. Just remember to complete quarterly payroll tax returns, as you must for any employee. Forget about paying federal unemployment taxes until the child turns 21.

However, if your business is an S or C Corporation, you must pay Social Security and Medicare taxes regardless of their ages.

To Survive IRS Scrutiny

1. The children actually have to work
2. Pay them consistently
3. Pay them according to what you'd pay someone else
4. Keep detailed records
5. Issue a W-2 at year end and file a tax return for the child, even if no tax is owed


Example:
Wages paid to 13 year old child $6200
Less: Standard deduction for 2005 (5000)
Taxable income $1200
Tax Due (10% x $1200) $ 120

While for the parents:
Wages paid to the child $6200
Tax Savings (40% x $6200) $2480

For a net savings to the family of $2360


The income tax standard deduction is $5000 for every person in the country, including each of your minor children. So unless you pay them more than that, they won't have any tax obligation at all. And since they really earned it, the "kiddie tax rules" do not apply.

When hiring adult family members you can justify larger salaries. And they can participate in benefits like qualified retirement benefit programs and fringe benefits (like medical insurance and childcare).

Working for You Teaches Children about Managing Money and Saving

The income has to be earned by the child, so the amount needs to reflect the value of what's done. And the money does belong to them, even if it's being saved for college.

Many of the benefits of involving your children in your operation aren't tax-related at all. They're gaining practical experience, learning the value of work, and maybe how to carry on the family business down the road.

If you're wondering whether to trust my advice, I've sat on both sides of the desk. I worked for the IRS, and since leaving there have conducted almost a thousand seminars on financial planning and taxes. I speak to real estate and banking professionals all over the country, and have found that everyone wants to learn smart strategies that bring reliable financial returns - without getting them into tax trouble. In my opinion, hiring your family is one of them.

Don't hesitate to put the troops to work. When you hire your children you're teaching them skills they'll be able to use for the long haul. They're learning the value of a dollar - and how hard you have to work to earn them. And bottom line, it makes good financial sense as well.
© 2005, Chris Bird


About the author:
Chris Bird Conducts 150 seminars a year for Real Estate and Financial professionals Wealth building, financial planning, residential rentals, tax strategies, accounting Certified Financial Planner (CFP) IRS Enrolled Agent Chris@ChrisBirdSeminars.com

Coloring outside the lines

Thinking "outside the box" or as it is sometimes called, "coloring outside the lines" is a popular idea in the business world today. People and organizations are told to think outside the box or color outside the lines as a way to stimulate creativity when they need to solve problems like streamlining production, establishing a new product, or developing a new process. And it's true that creativity and innovation often arise from unexpected and unconventional thinking.

But there is a serious problem with trying to apply such thinking too broadly.

For instance, creativity is valued in art and advertising, but not in banking and accounting. An accounting firm recently ran an ad suggesting that it could think "outside the box." Do you really want your business to be associated with creative accounting? Aren't accountants supposed to put the numbers in the right box? Wasn't creative accounting a serious problem for Enron?

In reality, clear thinking and the creativity that it produces are rarely a matter of thinking outside the box. And coloring outside the lines is for the most part just sloppy workmanship. The art of clear thinking is a matter of putting thoughts in to the right boxes or categories. Clear thinking is a matter of mental organization. Conversely, sloppy thinking involves the confusion of categories, of putting ideas into the wrong boxes or not putting them in order at all. Is a child who will not straighten his or her room creative or just sloppy? There is a significant difference. While creativity sometimes looks sloppy to an outside observer, it does not issue from sloppiness.

Picasso was a creative artist.

But his creativity was not a matter of the art he produced. In reality his abstract work is technically sloppy. It looks like the work of a child. Picasso could sell his abstract art only because he had previously established himself as an artist who could color inside the lines very well. Had he not first proven his artistic talent in the traditional way, his abstract art would have been worth much less. He used his reputation as a traditional artist to establish a new direction in art. He didn't so much color outside the box, as he expanded the boundaries and definition of the box. But the point is that his abstract creations were valuable only because of his proven abilities in the traditional arts.

Contrast my own efforts to establish myself as an abstract artist. My art has gone unnoticed because I have not been able to prove myself as a traditional artist. Not that I actually tried to do so, but I am using myself as an example to make the point. The creativity of a novel idea requires the discipline of order and structure to be valuable. Picasso's art is valuable because he was an accomplished painter who intentionally colored outside the lines. My art is not valuable because I am not an accomplished painter and I accidentally color outside the lines. While the two products may look similar, the difference is critical.

Creativity is more than breaking the rules.

Similarly, Joseph Heller was able to break the rules of English grammar in his book, Something Happened (Scribner, 1974), only because he was intimately familiar with them. Having taught English at the University of South Carolina, he was a master of grammar. And only out of his expertise could he creatively exploit, expand and redefine the boundaries of grammar. And so it is with regard to thinking outside the box.

Thinking outside the box apart from being able to think inside the box is worthless.

Such thought is just plain sloppy. Thus, the suggestion that creativity lies in the ability to think outside the box is mostly nonsense. Creativity issues from talent, ability and discipline. Talent must be forged and shaped on the anvil of discipline in order to develop ability. Great ability is always the result of study, discipline and practice.

Creativity is more a matter of seeing that the boxes themselves are inadequate and suggesting a better arrangement or a better definition. Creativity doesn't simply discard the boxes, it redefines and/or rearranges them after becoming intimately familiar with them. Real creativity is always the fruit of discipline and order. Creativity, in order to be genuinely creative and not simply sloppy disorganization, must emerge out of discipline and order as an intentional effort.

While a creative idea often comes unbidden out of unexpected places, it requires discipline, study and order to make something of it. Apart from discipline and order, what passes for creativity is nonsense, and to suggest otherwise actually undermines and/or weakens the creative process.

What does this mean for our industry? Distributors and suppliers should apply themselves to mastering the basics before attempting to break the rules in the name of creativity. Don't start outside the box. First, establish your ability to think within the box. Master the rules before you suggest breaking them. For example, before a distributorship presents a wild, innovative concept to a client for a campaign, it should first establish its expertise with campaigns and/or ideas that have a track record of yielding good ROI. Designers, artists, and copy writers should establish their mastery of basics before experimenting outside the box. For the most part the important stuff is inside the box.

Guide To Think Whether Your Business Profitable?

What’s your job profitability? Do you know?

Many business owners are unsure of their profitability at a company or job level. They “think” they are making money because they have a few dollars in their checking account. Having money in your checking account doesn’t mean you are profitable. It might simply mean you haven’t paid all the bills yet, so you have a little cash. Cash and profit are two different concepts. If you don’t know your exact income and expenses for each job and your overall business, then how can you know whether you are making a profit? And, if you aren’t profitable, your business won’t last long.

Analyze Each Job

Regardless of the size of your business or your industry, profitability is something you should be monitoring on a monthly basis. To determine your profit, you must know how much you make and spend on each job. Expenditures should be tracked for direct labor and material costs on each job. In addition, you should also be tracking overhead costs and allocating them to your various jobs as applicable. There is always going to be some general overhead, but too often dollars are thrown into general overhead, when those dollars could easily be attached to specific jobs.


Intuit’s QuickBooks software program has easy-to-use features that allow you to do job-costing for time and materials, so you don’t have to worry about having to track it all manually. Rely on tools to help you run your business more efficiently and effectively.

Are you curious how you are doing with job costing measurements? Here are some quick and easy questions to gauge your job costing performance:

1. Do I track each customer’s revenue information through a detailed invoice?
2. Do I have a way of breaking down my direct job materials cost by customer?
3. Do I associate all time spent to each job accurately with actual dollar amounts?
4. Do I have access to reports to monitor profitability on each job in a timely manner?
5. Do I have a way to trend the fluctuations in job profitability from job to job, month to month, etc?

If you answered “no” to any of these, then it’s time for you to take an objective look at your financial goals. It’s time for you to implement a job costing mechanism to help you answer “yes” to all these questions. How can you track your profitability and long-term growth plans if you don’t have detail at a job level?

QuickBooks Can Help

Here are some easy ways to utilize QuickBooks effectively to help you with your job-costing process:

1. Set up the QuickBooks Item list so that you’ll have both an expense and an income aspect to each of the items. This will allow you to track your costs and your income, and will provide you profit by item.
2. Record your sales through the invoicing or sales receipt process. This will record the income aspects of the items.
3. As you purchase the product or service items, make sure that you utilize the Items tab so that it will record the cost to the appropriate item. In addition, make sure to assign your customer/job information to each line item so that you’ll have the costs associated to the appropriate customer/job for job-costing.
4. Utilize the time-tracking mechanism in QuickBooks so that you and your employees can track time by item and customer/job. No dollar value is associated with this time until you actually pay the employees within QuickBooks.
5. QuickBooks has preformatted reports that you can access to have job-costing information right at your fingertips. These are found under the Reporting menu and the Jobs/Time/Mileage option.
6. QuickBooks has the ability to provide reports for any time period you select. This will allow you to have a variety of detail over the growth of your business and to produce trending reports. You can modify the report as needed to meet your needs.

A good accounting professional can help you understand what these reports are telling you, in terms that you can use. Reports alone don’t provide value if you don’t understand them. So it is key that you understand the reporting information and how you can use that information to assist you in decision-making as you grow your business profitably.

Job-costing is easier when you set-up your accounting/bookkeeping software package and know how to use it. So, challenge yourself today to become more adept at running a financially savvy business through job-costing. Then, you’ll know, without a doubt, whether your company is profitable.


About the author:
Pam helps business owners keep money from slipping through their fingers. She is a Certified Management Accountant, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and Author of Out of the Red and Unlocking the Secrets of QuickBooks. For more information, you can visit our website at http://www.quickbooksinformation.com

Understanding Non-Profit Organizations

Definition of Fund; Assets; and Fund Balance

According to the “Financial and Accounting Guide for Not-For-Profit Organizations” written by CPAs Gross, Larkin, Bruttomesso, and McNalley, (fifth edition, pg 25) the definition of a these three terms is as follows:

- A fund is any part of an organization for which separate account records are kept.

- Assets are valuable things owned or controlled by the organization. Types of assets include cash, investments, property, and amounts owed to the organization.

- Fund balance is the mathematical number obtained by subtracting total liabilities from total assets; it is a numerical representation of the net worth of the organization, but has no other significance. Fund balances do not exist except on paper; unlike assets, they have no intrinsic value and cannot be spent. Both assets and fund balances (as well as liabilities, revenues, and expenses) are part of the accounting records of a fund.

What are non-profit organizations?

A few years ago, a dentist client of mine, who did a lot of work for low-income patients under the California medical assistance program called “MediCal”, asked me a bizarre question. He wanted to know if he could be considered a “non-profit organization” since he did so much MediCal work. At first, I thought he was joking, but he was serious. I told him that just because he charged less for his services did not qualify him to become exempt from paying taxes. In fact, he made a very nice profit. However, this is a good example of how non-profit organizations (NPO’s) are misunderstood by a large segment of the general public.

Most countries around the world have NPO’s, but outside the U.S. they are called non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or civil society organizations. These organizations are exempt from paying taxes because they provide some sort of public benefit. They are said to enhance the fabric of society. They differ from a business organization in that there are no owners. A Board of Directors oversees operations of the organization. An Executive Director, who reports to the Board, functions like a CEO of a business. Usually there is a lengthy application process to establish the mission or purpose of the organization before exempt status is granted.

According to Independent Sector, an organization that serves as an information resource for non-profit boards, there are 1.5 million non-profits that, when combined, have general annual revenues totaling more than $670 billion dollars. They report that six percent of all organizations in the U.S. are non-profits and one in twelve Americans work for a non-profit. That’s big business and has caused profit-making businesses to become alarmed that some of these NPOs are competing unfairly. Think about a private hospital as compared to a non-profit hospital. The profits of the private hospital are taxed, but the NPO hospital can apply all their profits to higher salaries, more equipment, etc. Hence, there is high scrutiny of NPOs by the Internal Revenue Service, state Attorney General offices, private watchdog organizations, and the press.

There are all types of non-profit organizations. Public charities are exempt under the Internal Revenue Service code 501(c)(3). These organizations, such as hospitals, museums, orchestras, private schools, churches, scientific research organizations, soup kitchens, etc., obviously do much more than provide free care and services to the needy. To qualify for exempt status, these organizations must show broad public support, rather than funding from an individual source. In addition, there are private foundations, colleges, universities, social welfare organizations, professional and trade organizations, and many more. Governmental organizations such as communities and agencies are also non-profit organizations, however, their accounting and record keeping is handled quite differently from 501(c)(3) organizations.

How are non-profit books organized?

Briefly, the books of an NPO are organized in the same way as a profit-making business except for a few differences. It’s okay for a non-profit to make a profit because there may be many uses the board has planned for the extra money. But, NPOs traditionally refer to profit as “Excess Revenues over Expenses” to avoid being mischaracterized as a profit-making organization. A net loss is called “Excess Expenses over Revenues”. Recall the fundamental equation that makes double-entry accounting work:

ASSETS = LIABILITIES EQUITY

Instead of the term EQUITY, a non-profit will substitute the words FUND BALANCE or more recently NET ASSETS. The concept is still the same. After subtracting liabilities from assets the difference is what is owned by the organization. Where NPOs differ in their financial statement presentation from profit-making businesses is what is called Fund Accounting. Obviously, the presentation varies depending on the purpose and size of the organization. For instance, a Little League baseball organization may only have one fund for which they have to account. They also may not have any restrictions placed on the usage of contributions they receive. Everything is straightforward.

Or, a scientific research organization may be working on various projects at the same time with funding sources made up of private and governmental grants or contracts, private donations, sales of research documents, some of it restricted to specific expenditures and the rest unrestricted. The accounting challenge is to report the revenue and expenses accurately for each fund or project and be able to combine all the funds into one cohesive financial statement.

The problem in the past for the contributors was that they could not easily tell from the financial documents what funds were restricted and unrestricted and whether their contributions were being spent properly. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) decided that all external accounting should be done using the “Net Assets” approach as opposed to the “Fund Balance” approach. Essentially, the net assets approach requires that the equity of the organization be presented with three classes of assets, i.e., Restricted Assets; Temporarily Restricted Assets; Unrestricted Assets. You can still use Fund Accounting for internal bookkeeping purposes, but for external reporting purposes you are required to disclose your restricted and unrestricted funds. If you have no restricted funds, then it is not much of a challenge.

One of the key factors in setting up non-profit books is a well thought out Chart of Accounts. In other words, this is choosing which general ledger accounts are the most appropriate for recording revenue and expenses, etc., and organizing them in such a way as to provide meaning. Some U.S. organizations simply follow the same format found on the 990 IRS form for non-profits. They do this so that their financial statements are in conformity with the way that return is organized. This makes it easy to transfer information from their financial statement to the 990 form.

Nevertheless, the main thing is to design your accounts so that they tell you exactly where your revenue came from and what expenses are related to that revenue. I have worked with NPOs that have not done a very good job of this in the beginning, and I can testify that it is no fun trying to straighten the accounts out later. It may be well worth the money to hire a competent accountant to guide you through the set up phase. Better yet, let your accountant review your books a couple of times a year just to make sure you are on track and save yourself some year-end grief.

About the author:
John W. Day, MBA is the author of two courses in accounting basics for non-accountants. Visit his website at http://www.reallifeaccounting.comto download for FREE his 3 e-books pertaining to small business accounting and his monthly newsletter on accounting issues. Ask John questions directly on his Accounting for Non-Accountants blog.