Accounting & Business Finance Media Gallery

Small Business Tax Return Checklist

Jean Scheid — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:46:09 GMT

Make business tax time flow easily throughout the year by knowing what your tax professional will request when preparing you return. This hand tax return checklist is for business owners old and new and is in a MS Word format and is free and easy to download, print and even modify to meet your needs.

Data for Horizontal Analysis and Trend Percentages

Bruce Tintelnot — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:15:03 GMT

This is an example of data arranged for a horizontal analysis. The first two two rows show sales and income data arranged by year in dollar amounts and the next two rows show the data arranged as trend percentages.

Excel Depreciation Worksheet Template

Jean Scheid — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:48:58 GMT

Use this handy Excel depreciation worksheet template to aid you in determing depreciation expense on business assets.

How to Make a Loan Amortization Table Using Excel

ciel s cantoria — Mon, 16 May 2011 04:25:33 GMT

Make your accounting tasks a lot easier to perform by learning how to make a loan amortization table using an Excel spreadsheet. Find a complete tutorial by referring to a related article entitled " Creating a Loan Amortization Table Using Excel"; from there, comprehend the rational behind the formulas. That way, you will learn how to use or modify the rules for other accounting tasks that can make use of the different Excel functions.

A Sample Master Budget for a Manufacturing Firm

N Nayab — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:14:18 GMT

Download a sample master budget for a fictitious manufacturing firm. This budget is prepared in MS-Excel and serves to gain an insight into the various components of a master budget, and the linkage between the various items in the budget.

A master budget provides a summary of the company's financial information, and helps in gaining an comprehensive overview of the company's financial health easily.

Accounts Payable Assessment

Peter Hann — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:57:32 GMT

This is a sample of the questionnaire that could be given to staff in accounts payable to obtain their views on how the procedures are operating.

Accounts Payable Flowchart

Peter Hann — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:46:34 GMT

This is a simple example of an accounts payable flowchart showing the procedure for invoice checking, accounting entries and payment authorization for payments to creditors.

Capital Budget Template

Christina Pomoni — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 05:39:17 GMT

Download this capital budget template to assist management with the process of evaluating a firm’s investment opportunities. This template allows the cash flows of independent or mutually exclusive projects to be compared in order to decide which project is worth pursuing.

For more details on how to use this form, please see the accompanying article Sample Template for a Capital Budget.

Horizontal & Vertical Financial Statement Analysis Templates

ciel s cantoria — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:01:11 GMT

Download this set of various horizontal and vertical financial statement analysis examples, presented in Excel worksheets. These were the same samples used to illustrate our explanations in the article entitled How to Perform a Financial Statement Analysis.

Interested users may modify the values in each cell while the variables and percentages will be automatically computed in the analysis cells. This then will make the process of performing a financial statement analysis easier to perform.

Noncash Contribution Receipt Template

Margi Williams — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:50:27 GMT

This template may be used by nonprofit professionals to acknowledge noncash contributions received by an eligible not-for-profit organization pursuant to IRS regulations.

Free Downloadable Payroll Deductions Worksheet.xls

ciel s cantoria — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:57:08 GMT

This payroll deductions worksheet is recommended for small business entrepreneurs whose payroll system is presented in the non-accountable format prescribed by the IRS. The employees' supplemental benefits are added to the gross salary pay without the need to indicate their breakdowns.

In addition, employees' withholding taxes are based on the Wage Bracket Table, which allows for a quick determination of the withholding tax deductions.

Find the related explanation and guidelines on how this payroll Excel template is used, by referring to a separate article entitled Free Downloadable Payroll Deductions Worksheet.

Free Template for Corporate Capitalization Policies for Fixed Assets

ciel s cantoria — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 06:28:29 GMT

This template for corporate capitalization policy for fixed assets was patterned after the IRS Administrative Accounting Manual for Property and Equipment Accounting, in order to present an example of a fixed asset capitalization policy in accordance with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code on Uniform Capitalization of Costs, embodied under Sec. 1.263A-1

This example may serve as template in terms of form and outline. The contents may be revised, replaced or deleted according to what is applicable to the user’s company but due care should be observed in maintaining the policies within the prescribed IRS regulations. To get more insights about fixed asset capitalization policy,readers can find additional information in a separate article entitled Example of Corporate Capitalization Policy for Fixed Assets. The example only serves as a template and should not be misconstrued as a legal, prescribed or official form but should be modified according to the users’ purpose.

Excel Pro Forma Income Statement for Small Businesses (xls)

ciel s cantoria — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:47:28 GMT

This simple Excel pro forma income statement for small businesses will allow start-up entrepreneurs to start their business ventures on the right track. Understand the importance of using Excel when making business projections since the user will only replace the values in each cell while the total or differences are automatically calculated. A guide for creating a pro forma income statement is provided in a related article entitled: Creating a Pro Forma Income Statement in Excel for a Small Business.

Excel Pro Forma Income Statement for Small Businesses

ciel s cantoria — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:11:56 GMT

A guide for creating a pro forma income statement is provided in a related article entitled: Creating a Pro Forma Income Statement in Excel for a Small Business.

If you're using an older version of Excel, you can find a compatible version of this document here: XLS Version of Pro Forma Income Statement

Template for an Accounts Receivable Ledger in Excel

ciel s cantoria — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 02:05:17 GMT

To lessen the tediousness of monitoring individual account balances for customers with purchases on credit, using a template for an accounts receivable ledger in Excel format is a recommended best practice. For users who are not too familiar with the use of Excel, this simple template will eliminate the need to perform basic addition and subtraction manually. All inputs for credit purchases, collections as well as discounts and charges are automatically calculated to reflect the account balance.

Readers may refer to the article entitled Template for an Accounts Receivable Ledger in Excel for further guidelines.

Excel Accounts Receivable Aging Report Template

ciel s cantoria — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 07:00:58 GMT

This is a sample of an Excel Accounts Receivable Aging Report which you can use as template by replacing the inputs with your own accounts receivable data.

For instructions on how to modify the formula used in column D, which automatically generates the maturity dates of the receivables, refer to the article bearing the same title: Sample of an Excel Accounts Receivable Aging Report

Accounts Payable Ledger Template

Jean Scheid — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:38:01 GMT

Even if you don't have accounting software for your business, you can still keep track of your accounts payables by downloading and utilizing this 100% free accounts payable ledger template offered in a Microsoft Excel format.

Business Credit Application

Jean Scheid — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:28:51 GMT

Whether you are granting credit or applying for business credit, you will most likely need to have a business credit application. This free business credit application was provided by the file sharing website DocStoc and can be modified to meet your business needs. Using a credit application for your business is an accounts payable best practice.

Sample Profit and Loss Statement

Jean Scheid — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:43:06 GMT

This sample profit & loss statement was obtained via SCORE a division of the Small Business Association. This MS Excel profit & loss statement can be modified to fit your needs and you should follow the directions below as offered by SCORE:

Notes on Preparation

You may want to print this information to use as reference later.

You should change "category 1, category 2", etc. labels to the actual names of your sales categories. Enter sales for each category for each month. The spreadsheet will add up total annual sales. In the "%" columns, the spreadsheet will show the % of total sales contributed by each category.

COST OF GOODS SOLD (also called Cost of Sales or COGS): COGS are those expenses directly related to producing or buying your products or services. For example, purchases of inventory or raw materials, as well as the wages (and payroll taxes) of employees directly involved in producing your products/services, are included in COGS. These expenses usually go up and down along with the volume of production or sales. Study your records to determine COGS for each sales category. Control of COGS is the key to profitability for most businesses, so approach this part of your forecast with great care. For each category of product/service, analyze the elements of COGS: how much for labor, for materials, for packing, for shipping, for sales commissions, etc.? Compare the Cost of Goods Sold and Gross Profit of your various sales categories. Which are most profitable, and which are least - and why? Underestimating COGS can lead to under pricing, which can destroy your ability to earn a profit. Research carefully and be realistic. Enter the COGS for each category of sales for each month. In the "%" columns, the spreadsheet will show the COGS as a % of sales dollars for that category.

GROSS PROFIT: Gross Profit is Total Sales minus Total COGS. In the "%" columns, the spreadsheet will show Gross Profit as a % of Total Sales.

OPERATING EXPENSES (also called Overhead): These are necessary expenses which, however, are not directly related to making or buying your products/services. Rent, utilities, telephone, interest, and the salaries (and payroll taxes) of office and management employees are examples. Change the names of the Expense categories to suit your type of business and your accounting system. You may need to combine some categories, however, to stay within the 20 line limit of the spreadsheet. Most operating expenses remain reasonably fixed regardless of changes in sales volume. Some, like sales commissions, may vary with sales. Some, like utilities, may vary with the time of year. Your projections should reflect these fluctuations. The only rule is that the projections should simulate your financial reality as nearly as possible. In the "%" columns, the spreadsheet will show Operating Expenses as a % of Total Sales.

NET PROFIT: The spreadsheet will subtract Total Operating Expenses from Gross Profit to calculate Net Profit. In the "%" columns, it will show Net Profit as a % of Total Sales.

INDUSTRY AVERAGES: The first column, labeled "IND. %" is for posting average cost factors for firms of your size in your industry. Industry average data is commonly available from industry associations, major manufacturers who are suppliers to your industry, and local colleges, Chambers of Commerce, and public libraries. One common source is the book Statement Studies published annually by Robert Morris Associates. It can be found in major libraries, and your banker almost surely has a copy. It is unlikely that your expenses will be exactly in line with industry averages, but they can be helpful in areas in which expenses may be out of line.

Example of Pro Forma Income Statement

Jean Scheid — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:46:40 GMT

Use the example of pro forma income statement from the organization SCORE (a division of the Small Business Administration) to help you predict future sales, cost of sales, and expenses. This document is in an MS Excel format and can be modified to fit your business needs.

For more details on how to use this form, please see the accompanying article Examples of Pro Forma Income Statements.