Small Business Accounting Simplified
“Maintaining a set of clear and understandable financial records is perhaps the single most important factor that separates successful businesses from those that fail,” says Daniel Sitarz in the 5th Edition of Small Business Accounting Simplified. His comprehensive book is a kind of safety net for small business owners, designed to ensure that they have the ability to produce those records.
Sitarz offers the small business owner, in one compact volume, everything needed for understanding basic accounting. He begins with a helpful overview of recordkeeping terminology and then dives right into the nitty-gritty: How to maintain a simplified accounting system; how to set up a business chart of accounts; how to manage business bank accounts and petty cash; how to track business assets, debts, expenses, income, and payroll; how to prepare a profit and loss statement and balance sheet; how to analyze financial statements; and how to set up a recordkeeping system.
Sitarz presents all of the information in the book in simple, easy-to-understand language, making extensive use of forms and checklists to supplement the text. For example, the chapter concerning tracking business expenses includes an “Annual Recordkeeping Tasks Checklist,” along with numerous useful forms: Weekly Expense Record, Monthly and Annual Expense Summaries, Weekly and Monthly Travel Expense Records, Weekly and Monthly Auto Expense Records, Weekly and Monthly Meals & Entertainment Expense Records, Sample Purchase Order, and Purchase Order Record.
The book also includes IRS business tax forms that are appropriate for small business. As an attorney, Sitarz makes certain that all of the accounting methods covered are applicable to all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Small Business Accounting Simplified contains an added bonus—a CD with all of the forms in the book in text and PDF formats. This is particularly useful, since business owners will be able to simply print out and use the forms for their businesses, saving the hours of time required to create their own forms.
Daniel Sitarz has authored numerous books for small business owners, including The Business Start-Up Toolkit, Limited Liability Company: Small Business Start-Up Kit, and Small Business Legal Forms Simplified. This book takes advantage of that experience—it is comprehensive, objective, and very easy to comprehend. While it is not intended to replace the services of a qualified accountant, Small Business Accounting Simplified pays off the promise of the title and simplifies what might otherwise be a daunting subject.
Reviewed by
Barry Silverstein
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
