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The bad news: scam emails are becoming more common. The good news: you can be more aware with a few helpful tips! When receiving messages that may look official, but you're unsure about, check to see if they include the following red flags that are often used: • urgent payment demands • unexpected invoices • requests to “confirm” account information • links that don’t match the sender’s name • misspellings • unfamiliar email addresses • attachments you weren’t expecting To verify the sender, check the full email address (not just the display name) and contact the company directly using a phone number or website you already trust—not the information in the email.  When in doubt, avoid clicking links or downloading anything, and take a moment to verify before responding to help protect your financial and personal information.

Using QuickBooks Online can simplify your business finances—but only if you use it correctly. Let’s go over 5 common mistakes small business owners make (and how to avoid them). 1. Not Categorizing Transactions Regularly If you let transactions pile up, things get messy fast. Fix: Set aside 10–15 minutes each week to review and categorize. 2. Mixing Personal and Business Expenses This is one of the biggest headaches during tax time! Fix: Use a separate business bank account and make sure only business expenses go through it. 3. Ignoring Bank Reconciliation Reconciliation ensures your records match your bank. Fix: Reconcile monthly. It helps catch: • Missing transactions • Duplicate entries • Errors 4. Not Using Automation Features QuickBooks Online is powerful, but only if you use its tools. Fix: Take advantage of: • Bank rules • Recurring invoices • Auto-categorization 5. Skipping Reports Many business owners never look at their reports and miss key insights. Fix: Check these monthly: • Profit & Loss • Cash Flow • Expenses by category Avoiding these mistakes will save you time, stress, and possibly money. A little consistency goes a long way! Contact our office for QBO help.

One of the advantages of operating your own business is hiring family members, however, employment tax requirements for family employees vary from those that apply to other employees. Take a look at the chart to decipher who's exampt from what! Also, if your business is located in Lancaster County, PA, ANY employee under the age of 16 is EXEMPT from local withholding taxes. If you have a family member employed by you and would like to know more about these exemptions, please contact us!

If you don’t know, it may be a good idea to check. There are many different options for backing up your QB files: You can consult your IT person to have your back up done online and automatically QB has a feature to back up your file every time you close your company file or schedule a backup the same time each day, week, month, etc. You can save it to a USB stick, to a Dropbox file, or anywhere that is convenient for you No matter when, where or how, please be sure your data is being backed up . In your QB desktop: Go to File> Back Up Company > Create Local back up Choose local back up and Options at the bottom This will allow you to choose where to save and how often as well as naming the file. Take a moment and make sure your information is backed up one way or another! Call us with any questions!

You’re spending too much time on bookkeeping: If you are spending hours on invoicing, data entry, and categorizing expenses instead of focusing on revenue- generating activities, it is time to delegate. Your books are behind or inaccurate: Falling behind on reconciliations, struggling to keep track of receipts, or suspecting errors in your financial records can lead to poor decision making. Tax Time is a nightmare: If you are frantically trying to organize a year’s worth of data for your accountant, or if you are missing tax deadlines, a bookkeeper will ensure you are tax ready year-round. You don’t understand your Cash Flow: When you don’t know exactly how much money is coming in or going out, or you struggle to pay vendors and employees on time, a bookkeeper provides the necessary financial clarity. Your business is growing rapidly: As revenue increases, so does complexity. Hiring a professional help prevents financial disasters and allows you to focus on strategy and growth! Contact one of our bookkeepers by emailing office@accountablebooks.org

Having a signature at the bottom of your emails that matches your brand sends the message that your business is professional, intentional, and knowledgeable. While this is a common addition to emails, it’s not always straight forward on how to add one. In this example I will be using Outlook as the email provider. Open Outlook Click on “Settings” icon Find and click the “Signatures” option Click the “Add signature” button Give that signature a name (your name) In the text box, type in the info you want to include (name, job title, email address, phone number, office hours etc.). This is what will show as your email signature. You can also insert a photo (image, your logo, or a combo of both) or a link (to your website). Use any of the tools to make your signature match your brand colors, fonts, etc. Select the check boxes about how to use this email signature Save your new signature! Before you use it, you might want to send a test email with your new signature to yourself or a co-worker. This way you can make any edits and/or improvements. An important thing to check is that all images are clear and to the correct scale when you send an email. Now you’re ready to send a professional, branded email to your clients and customers! If you have any questions or want someone to set an email signature up for you, please reach out to our Marketing & Office Coordinator!

Misclassifying Employees: Incorrectly labeling employees as independent contractors to avoid payroll taxes and benefits. This can lead to legal penalties. Miscalculating Overtime: Failing to properly calculate overtime pay (time and a half) for non-exempt employees who work over 40 hours in a work week. This violates the Fair Labor Standards Act. Missing Tax Deadlines & Filing Errors: Submitting your payroll taxes late or incorrectly filling out tax forms can lead to heavy penalties, interest, and possible audits. Improperly Calculating Deductions: It is important to not make errors in withholding taxes, health insurance premiums, or retirement contributions. This can lead to incorrect net pay for an employee. Improper Record Keeping: Failing to maintain required payroll records – such as tax filings and timecards – for the required minimum of three years. Our payroll department can help answer any questions regarding these issues as well as processing your payroll for you!

As we head into March, W2 forms should be completed 1099 forms should be completed QB file should be sent or made available to your tax accountant for 2025 tax preparation. Next step: After the tax accountant has your QB file, then set a closing date in your QB file. This prevents transactions from mistakenly being entered into a prior year. Why is this important? Your QB file should match your tax return for 2025. Since the file has gone to the tax accountant, the numbers cannot change now. To set a closing date in QuickBooks Desktop, navigate to the Company menu , select Set Closing Date, then click Set Date/Password to choose a date and create a password (set the date as 12/31/25). Call us with any questions!

Do you have concerns about using AI in the office place? Here are a few things to keep in mind. Pro: Efficiency | Con: Dependency on Technology  While there is truth about the efficiency of AI doing repetitive, simple tasks for you in the office (taking notes, writing a simple email, etc.) there is also the inconvenience of relying on technology to take care of these simple tasks. And we all know how it feels when technology fails us. There is also the concern that AI will cause employees to rely too heavily on it for decision-making and ideas causing them to lose their own creative and unique solutions and ideas. One thing AI is not, is unique- but your business is! So, when you are using AI for simple office tasks, take into consideration what you might lose in the long run and weigh if that is worth it to your business.