Intuit offers Time-Saving Tips for Entrepreneurial Success

MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 3 /CNW/ - In an Intuit study conducted late last year, 65 per cent of Canadians believed coming up with a successful business idea was simple, however as current small business owners know, the idea is just the beginning. There are numerous time-consuming responsibilities that come with owning a business, however managing finances does not have to be one of them.

"The big challenge is making sure that businesses spend their time wisely and track the money coming in and going out in an efficient manner," said Esther Friedberg Karp, owner of CompuBooks Business Services in Toronto and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. "In my experience, businesses fail because owners don't properly understand their finances. They get buried under the hundreds of other demands on their time, or they put off tracking their company's financial health until it's too late to save the enterprise.  Thankfully, there are tools and simple tips that can ease the accounting process while freeing up hours, which ultimately helps keep the business dream alive and well."

Time-saving tips
To help budding or current entrepreneurs succeed, Chris Davey, accounting professional liaison at Intuit Canada, offers these tips that show how using accounting software can help keep the books in the black and the clock off their back:

1. Say goodbye pen and paper, hello software
• In a single screen, get a complete and detailed view of business finances 
• Eliminate hours spent poring over ledgers or reams of receipts with software such as QuickBooks, which offers entrepreneurs a snapshot of where money is coming in and where it needs to go
• Make better decisions by having quick access to business-critical information; this helps improve the bottom line and gets entrepreneurs back on the front lines
2. Show me the money: Get paid on time
• Delivering a great product or service is half the battle. Receiving revenue ultimately keeps the business afloat
• Track the status of invoices, reduce the time spent on bill collection and learn which customers pay quickly, and which do not
• Spend less time creating invoices and chasing payments and more time on customer service by using accounting software to track payments
3. Use your accountant's knowledge - not their time
• Pay an accountant for strategic advice rather than time to sort through a shoe box of receipts
• Prepare year-round for the year-end. Avoid the last-minute frenzy, a costly time killer, by managing matters on a daily basis
• Send electronic files created with QuickBooks, to your accountant. This saves countless hours for both the small business owner and the financial professional

"It's no surprise that entrepreneurs would want to minimize the time they spend on managing finances and concentrate on doing what they love - being a successful business owner," said Davey. "Saving time on the back-end means more time for other important tasks like marketing, customer service and following competitors. With the right tools, resources and know-how, taming the 'back-office beast' can be done more efficiently than one may think."

For more information about the benefits of QuickBooks accounting software, please visit quickbooks.ca.

About Intuit Canada
Intuit Canada ULC is a leading provider of business, financial and tax management solutions for small- and mid-sized businesses, consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including Quicken®, QuickBooks®, QuickBooks® Enterprise Solutions, SuccèsPME, TurboTax, and ImpôtRapideMC, simplify personal finance, accounting software, and tax preparation and filing.

Additional offerings include ProFile®, a professional tax preparation software suite, the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program and the Intuit Developer Network for professional users and developers. All are provided by Intuit Canada or through its partners.

Intuit Canada has employees across Canada and offices in Edmonton, AB, and Mississauga, ON. Intuit Canada is an affiliate of Intuit Inc., which is listed on the Nasdaq stock market under the symbol INTU. More information can be found at www.intuit.ca.

About the survey
Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey from Sept. 16 to 17, among 1,045 randomly selected Canadian adults. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region census data to ensure a representative sample. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.