Keeping the Books: Basic Record Keeping and Accounting for the Successful Small Business [Paperback]

Linda Pinson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0793179297 | ISBN-13: 978-0793179299 | Publication Date: February 1, 2004 | Edition: 6th

Most entrepreneurs enter new ventures because they know something about products or retail or sales and marketing. Despite a burning passion for their new businesses, entrepreneurs will not succeed unless they learn to keep their financial records in order. While even the largest corporations can suffer from financial myopia, new business owners are especially challenged.

Fortunately there are some simple principles that set the stage for success to help business owners get their arms around bookkeeping basics. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of business owners have benefited from the practical and easy-to-use concepts in Keeping the Books.

In this new and updated sixth edition, financial expert and entrepreneur Linda Pinson shares a time-tested recipe for mastering record-keeping essentials. Generously illustrated with sample forms and worksheets, including up-to-date IRS forms for small businesses, this new edition provides comprehensive hands-on tools to:

* Set up effective record-keeping systems and keep the right records.

* Prepare financial statements that show where the business stands.

* Analyze cash flow and important financial benchmarks with ease.

* Keep adequate records to prevent tax time disasters and maximize profits.

* Learn to distinguish an employee from an independent contractor.

Including a business resource section and glossary of accounting terms, along with proven processes for smart financial record keeping, this one-stop guide lets even the financially challenged grasp the basics.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda Pinson is a nationally recognized speaker, award-winning author, educator, consultant and expert in the areas of small business planning and financial management.  Author of numerous bestselling titles for entrepreneurs, she has also developed the popular ""Automate Your Business Plan"" software to accompany the bestselling Anatomy of a Business Plan.  A member of the U.S. Small Business Advisory Council for the past five years, she is an active speaker at the Association of Small Business Development Centers annual conferences and has served as delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing; 6th edition (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793179297
• ISBN-13: 978-0793179299
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #577,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

LINDA PINSON is the author of nine business books and the developer/publisher of the business plan software program, AUTOMATE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN. Her book, Anatomy of a Business Plan (winner of the Ben Franklin Award for "Best Business Book of the Year") has been used by over one million business owners. Anatomia de un Plan de Negocio, the Spanish language edition, has been serving the Latino community for since 1998. Linda's publishing company, Out of Your Mind...and Into the MarketplaceTM, was named Small Press Publisher of the Year. Linda was also selected by the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington D.C. to write its government business plan publication MP-32, How to Write a Business Plan. Her books are in libraries and bookstores throughout the U.S. and have been translated into Italian, Chinese, Spanish and other languages for foreign use. The books and software are used as course material in universities, SBDCs, and technical colleges. Customized versions of the Automate Your Business Plan software have been utilized by Dale Carnegie(R) Training Centers Worldwide and The American Bar Association. Linda is a nationally recognized speaker, educator and business consultant, specializing in business planning and financial management.

Linda's dedication to the small business community led to her being honored as Education Advocate of the Year and SBA Regional Women in Business Advocate of the Year. She was the founding California State President of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO California). Linda currently serves as an Advisory Board member for the Tri-County Lead SBDC and is Board Secretary for the Small Business Financial Development Corporation OC.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written for Non-Accountants/Bookkeepers, August 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Keeping the Books (Paperback)

This book is excellent and well written for people who are NEW to bookkeeping/accounting for small business. I especially found the checklists provided (when to pay various Federal and State Taxes, to whom to pay various Federal and State Taxes, when to produce certain financial reports, what to have ready for your Tax Accountant at year end and in what format) to be VERY useful. EXCELLENT reference book for the do-it-yourself bookkeeper.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, July 6, 2001

By 

Ruslan Moskalenko - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping the Books: Basic Recordkeeping and Accounting for the Successful Small Business (Paperback)

This is a really great book for beginners. I'm not a proffesional accountant (my primary area is computer systems administrations) but I have been working in banks for 5 years and I read a lot of books about accounting basics because it was part of my job. And usually those books were either too practical or too academic. But this one is perfectly balanced. It explains you not only what to do but it also gives you a pretty solid background why you should do this and what for. It shows you a complete picture of a small company accounting including major forms, reports shedule, books etc and that's all in just 200 pages. It's amazing how the author can explain in a couple words some concepts which usually takes a whole chapter in some other tutorials. You can read it to just to get some idea about accounting wording and concepts, or you can keep it on the table and use as a Howto giude in your everyday work, it works both ways. And it's pretty fairly priced. Very, very nice book!

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not that much information, April 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Keeping the Books: Basic Record Keeping and Accounting for the Successful Small Business (Paperback)

Based on some of the glaring reviews, I was really expecting a superior book here. What I got wasn't even good for the green as green novice.

I was anxious to read the tax information since some reviewers had noted how great that was, but alas, I found it to be note much different from what I get from the IRS or even by reading basic tax forms...FOR FREE!

I'd pass on this one.