Know Your Worth

If you currently feel overwhelmed with your money and business finances, it’s important to remember that money is just a skill. 

We didn’t all wake up one day knowing all this information about how to manage our money and business finances.

That’s why, in this episode, we’re sharing the top five financial tips shared by our listeners that have helped them the most in their financial journeys as they grew their businesses. 

01:22 — Why you always want to have a financial professional you can consult with 

03:01 — The importance of recognizing where you need more financial education rather than being money-avoidant 

06:12 — How Accounting Software and Tools can help fill in gaps in your knowledge and skill 

12:27 — Why you may want to consider diversifying your revenue streams 

14:14 — The connection between money and a positive mindset and resiliency

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/

When we start working with clients, about 25% of the time, we see errors with how they’ve set up and managed the chart of accounts in QuickBooks. 

The chart of accounts is the listing of accounts that you use to categorize transactions, which then turn into your financial statements. 

When you don’t have this set up correctly, it could look like you have more income or cash on hand than you really do, cause you to over- or under-paying taxes, and have the wrong data to base decisions on. 

01:17 — What is the Chart of Accounts? 

02:15 — Why choosing the wrong account types is so common in QuickBooks 

07:59 — How the wrong accounts gives you the wrong data and can cause you to over- or under-pay in taxes

09:54  — Understanding how to correct this error and how the severity of it can add up by over-paying taxes and having someone fix it for you

11:19 — What to expect during a QuickBooks Clean-Up

15:43 — Utilizing AI for Chart of Accounts for your industry

If, after listening to this episode, you realize you haven’t set up your accounts in QuickBooks properly, now is the time for a cleanup so you can keep your books and numbers accurate for 2024. 

This cleanup is very personalized depending on your business needs and will be discussed during our discovery call. 

You may be new to Quickbooks OR you're looking to re-categorize existing transactions, reconcile accounts, examine journal entries, etc. 

First, we’ll understand your goals for a QuickBooks clean-up, such as re-categorizing existing transactions, reconciling accounts, examining journal entries, etc. 

Then, you’ll give us access to your QuickBooks so we can see what your current setup looks like, how long you’ve been in there, and see if any mistakes need to be amended. 

We’ll provide you with a custom quote based on what your project needs along with an estimated timeline, and walk you through our recommendations. 

Clean-ups can range in price but start as low as $400 for a simple cleanup and $1,200 a month for more complex fixes. 

If you’re not in QuickBooks yet, but realize you’re at the point where you need to be (but want to ensure it’s set up correctly), we also offer a QuickBooks Set Up service starting at just $250. That way, even if you’re not quite ready to outsource your monthly bookkeeping, you can feel much more confident that it’s set up properly. 

Book your call with us here! 

Wondering what it’s like to be in the room of some of the most badass female founders like Elizabeth Elting, Suneera Madani, Rebecca Minkoff and Alison Wyat?

The Female Founders Collective hosted a Build Your Empire Conference in New York City on Female Founder’s Day and gathered the most successful founders. 

Sydney attended this conference and is sharing her 7 biggest takeaways from it with you! 

Tune in to hear: 

06:50 — Key Takeaway #1: Plan for Different Types of Exit Strategies in Your Business

07:46— Key Takeaway #2: How Contracts with EVERYONE Can Protect You from Things Going Wrong

09:02 — Key Takeaway #3: Unicorn Suneera Madani's #1 Skill for Women CEOs to Master 

12:05 — Key Takeaway #4: The importance of fun and experimentation in business

14:50 — Key Takeaway #5: How women entrepreneurs can invest in other women entrepreneurs 

22:43 — Key Takeaway #6: How to Develop a Great Team

26:21 — Key Takeaway #7: Why you need a clearly defined purpose for your business

Female Founders Collective: Tenth House

You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero 

Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself by Mike Michalowicz

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/

Knowing your numbers and understanding your financial statements is crucial to running a profitable and growing business.

There are three financial statements that every business owner should be creating and using, or having a team member or bookkeeper create and review with them to get the full financial picture of your business. 

In this episode, Sydney breaks down the 3 financial statements you need to be using in your business — plus what they look like on the personal side.

You’ll learn: 

• The top 3 financial statements you need to use in your business
• The common problems business owners run into with managing each of these financial statements
• What situations you would want to use each of these statements for

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/

We know — reconciling bank and credit card accounts is probably the unsexiest topic we could have an episode on. 

But, account reconciliation is crucial if you want to scale your business, and so many business owners we see are getting it wrong. Truth be told: it’s preventing them from growing. 

Accurate numbers are essential for understanding your financial picture, and reconciling your bank and credit card accounts every month helps you do just that.

Without proper reconciliation, you could be double-counting your expenses or excluding income — both of which can affect your profit margins and cause you to make decisions without the right information. 

Tune into this episode to discover why monthly reconciliations are a must for financial accuracy and how they impact your business beyond tax season.

We’re covering: 

03:29 — Why your QuickBooks and bank balance need to match and how it can affect you if they don't

06:47 — How to reconcile your credit cards and what to look out for when you have more than one card 

08:03 — The biggest red flags we see with clients who have tried to reconcile accounts themselves

12:08 — What larger or more complex companies need to reconcile regularly in addition to their bank and credit cards

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/

Do you use Paypal or Venmo for business? 

Maybe you’re at a trade show or working with a contractor on a one-off project, so the easiest thing that comes to mind is to pull out your phone, scan the QR code and you have an easy way to give or receive payment. 

But using Paypal or Venmo can create a few challenges when it comes to your bookkeeping, like not accurately reporting your income.

If you’re like Kristen, you might be thinking, “jail time!”

And although you won’t necessarily go to jail or get hit with a large fine, there can be implications and you do want to make sure you know how to best report this income. 

Tune in to hear some of the common Venmo and Paypal mistakes you might be making and what you need to do to fix it so you don’t end up in trouble with the IRS. 

• Understand why using PayPal and Venmo have their benefits
• Uncover the potential pitfalls that can turn your record-keeping into a mess, from undeposited funds to handling invoices
• Discover the 1 simple action you can take to never miss recording a Paypal or Venmo transaction

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/

Reinvesting all of the money you earn back into your business isn’t a retirement strategy. 

While it can feel a lot sexier to bet on yourself and your ability to grow, it puts you at a huge risk if anything happens in your business and it’s not able to provide you the retirement fund you wanted. 

But saving for retirement feels daunting for a lot of business owners. When we were at 9-5 jobs, our employers would just take some money and put it into a 401K. We barely thought about it. 

If this is you, tune into this episode to hear the different types of retirement accounts you can consider (some of which even help lower your taxable income to save on that tax bill!) 

You’ll understand the different account types to know what to ask your CPA and you can work with your bookkeeper (or us here at Know Your Worth) to help know how much you can sustainably pull from your business to contribute to your retirement.  

03:27 — Re-investing into your business isn't a retirement strategy 

05:16 — The easiest (and best) place to start contributing to your retirement fund as a business owner

10:49 — Understanding the penalties for taking money out early

14:53 — When should you work with a professional or set these up yourself? 

16:41 — Why you don’t want to wait to start investing

📚 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

https://gusto.com/r/sydney0959 (affiliate link)

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/

If you’re DIYing your books, you likely don’t know when to use accrual vs. cash basis accounting. 

This is one of the red flags we see when new clients start working with us. 

Most sole proprietorships, single-member LLCs, and S-corps are using cash basis accounting because it’s simple — it’s the cash you’ve collected. 

But if you are ready to scale your business, you need to understand and use accrual accounting, which is going to allow you to know when (and how much) you can invest in additional expenses and how to maintain a cash-healthy business so you never find yourself unable to pay yourself or your bills. 

Tune into this episode to learn the differences between accrual vs. cash basis accounting, when to use each one, and how understanding accrual accounting is going to make it more sustainable for you to scale. 

01:31 — What is Accrual vs. Cash Basis Accounting?  

03:45 — When to use Accrual vs. Cash Basis Accounting

05:43 — How Looking at Accrual Accounting Can Help You Make Better Financial Decisions to Scale Your Business

12:22 — Mistakes to Lookout for When Using Accrual vs. Cash Basis Accounting

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/

Even though we know we *should*, we don’t always remember to (or aren’t able to) put every business expense on our business card. 

You might be out running an errand and pick up some office supplies and realize you only have your personal card with you. Or maybe you get more points for buying your business travel flights on your personal travel card rather than your business card. 

When we get new clients that have been doing their own books, we see they are forgetting or they don't know they can add transactions that they paid on personal cards and missing out on deductions. 

In this episode, we get into how you’re missing out on deductions and a couple of sneaky places deductions might be hiding that you need to check. 

02:54 — Why you need to maintain as much separation between personal and business as you can to protect yourself

07:24 — How you can reimburse yourself for business expenses when you put them on a personal card

10:29 — 3 additional places business expenses might be hiding that you forgot to track

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/

While you may be used to tracking your expenses, the home office deduction is a little more complicated (thanks IRS) than simply adding a line item to your books. 

There are several rules and limitations for a home office, how much you can write off, and how to properly claim that deduction with the IRS. 

If you’re self-employed or an independent contractor working from home most often and you're not leveraging the home office deduction or you’ve been adding it to your expenses but aren’t aware of the limitations, rules, and forms you need to claim it properly, this episode is for you! 

01:36 — How to know if you qualify for the home office deduction, especially if you don't always work from home or in the same room

08:33 — Limitations to know about a home office deduction so you don’t create a red flag with the IRS

10:44 — The forms you need to use the home office deduction 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

💵 Home Office Deduction Calculator: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aPSH1No79YxYGaDtTsE_zlXfZ2AEOv2QKkcTIPDeBdQ/copy

📈 UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROFIT AND LOSS GUIDE

Get the Profit and Loss Guide

❓TAX PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT

Get the Tax Planning Questions Guide

🛍 75+ TAX WRITE OFFS

Get the Tax Write Offs

✅ BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST

Get the Book Keeping Checklist

💵 BOOKKEEPING AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Apply for Bookkeeping or Financial Analysis Services

👋 CONNECT WITH SYDNEY & KRISTEN 

Website: https://knowyourworthpgh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowyourworth_pgh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wzOVSDSC-xsmLg8JJ8MJg/