Bookkeeping

The usage of these basic utilities is completely dependent on the size of your business as well as the sector it works. For example, a school’s energy usage will be much higher than a large-scale warehouse. There are likely services in your area to support low-income community members and help them pay their bills.

Transmission charges

• Gas bills are another common type of utility bill and most homes and businesses use gas on a daily basis.
• TV Licence bills or cable TV bills are only classed as utility bills if showing live TV is essential for your business.
• A utility bill is a recurring monthly document detailing the charges incurred by a household for essential services that contribute to the overall functionality and comfort of a residence.
• Bills detail the amount of service consumed, applicable rates, and total amount due, serving as a regular financial obligation.
• You will usually receive your broadband bill every month but similarly to your phone bill, this depends on the type of contract that you have selected.

Planning your finances well ahead of time will help you keep track of where your money is going and how much you can or need to cut back. Paying utility bills on time ensures that your providers don’t shut off services! Try experimenting with different budget systems until you find one that works for you. This will help you avoid late fees and getting a bad credit score. With ongoing technological advancements, we may soon add even more essential services to the list of household utilities. The average utility bill for a business can fluctuate based on a number of things.

Typically, a utility bill used for address verification should be dated within the last three months. This ensures that the address information is current and accurate. We notarise and legalise utility bills for use in countries all over the world. Get in touch with your requirements and we’ll ensure your document is accepted. Always check that the utility bill contains your full name and address and is dated in the past three months.

An electricity bill can have a variety of charges, many of which may look different depending on where you live. Utility companies typically send a monthly bill via email or mail. Depending on the type of utility, you may be charged by usage or with a flat rate fee. In some cases, services may be bundled so that you receive one combined bill, such as water and sewer, where you see each service itemized. If you’re an international student living abroad, you may find utility bills a bit daunting. But don’t worry, this blog post will guide you through understanding your utility bills, how much they cost, and how you can save money on them.

How is a Gas Bill Calculated?

There’s a certain challenge from the customer’s perspective when it comes to residents who have recently moved and might not yet have utilities set up in their names. However, companies can solve this limitation by accepting other proof of address documents rather than solely relying on utility bills. For example, some older French driver’s licenses have addresses on them.

Every time you take a shower, flush a toilet, run the dishwasher, do laundry, or water your lawn, you’re using your water service. The same system carries waste water away from your home when you’re finished using it, keeping your household sanitary and comfortable. Communication is key, and your phone and cellular bill ensures that you stay connected. It covers both traditional landline phones and mobile phone services.

Wholesale energy and supply costs are the charges your utility provider must pay when buying the gas and electricity they are supplying. Electricity powers lighting, appliances, heating, and cooling systems. Bills typically include charges for energy consumed (kilowatt-hours), transmission and distribution fees, and a fixed customer charge. The average residential electric bill in the U.S. was approximately $137 per month in 2023.

• Gas and electricity bills are considered to be utility bills under the legal definition of the term.
• Gain clarity on the diverse recurring services that typically make up a household or business utility bill.
• These services encompass fundamental necessities such as electricity, water, and gas.
• The cost of utilities varies significantly based on service type, provider, location, and individual usage patterns.
• While this offers flexibility, it also comes with the risk of higher bills if energy prices rise.

Working out how much the average utility bill costs depends on many factors such as the size of your business, your local area, how much energy you use and much more. Every month you will be billed for the water used within your home or business. If you are looking to reduce the amount you spend on the water, make sure there are no leaks at your property and that taps are turned off fully. By making these simple changes, you should see a difference in your business water bills.

A solar hot water heater is another great way to minimize your monthly utility costs. Learn more about the different types of solar hot water heaters that are available with this overview. Discover the different types of utility bills you might encounter—water, electricity, gas, sewer, cable, internet, and phone services. Learn what what is considered a utility bill truly counts as a utility expense in this comprehensive guide. According to Ofgem (the UK’s energy regulator), the average household energy bill for gas and electricity in 2022 is £2,500.

Everything you should know about the different types of business budgets and what you need to create one today. This version allows you to perform a detailed analysis of your business expenses and cost of goods sold (COGS) if you are selling multiple products. Columns are also included for calculating the Percentage of Total Sales for each product and the various expenses. If you have an eye for imagery and can throw together a sentence or two for a caption, you can manage your social media accounts on your own when you’re first starting out. You can always take a quick crash course online if the idea of running social media business pages intimidates you.

Just like a personal budget, budgeting in construction is meant to help ensure the project owner understands each expense that goes into a build. Using this knowledge, the project manager can ensure that every single project expense is attributed to the correct job and invoiced accordingly. While this would certainly increase your expenses, it may be justified if the new person could free up time for your best salesperson, allowing them to close more deals. By punching the projected expenses and additional revenue into your budget, you can see how decisions like these could affect your bottom line. Once your revenue sources are visible, you may be able to spot opportunities as well. For example, you may notice a highly profitable product or service, but you aren’t marketing it as heavily as your less-profitable offerings.

Schedule time each month to compare your estimates and projections to your real figures, update your numbers, and make changes based on new projects or costs. Estimating profit and loss helps you move beyond gut feelings to facts and figures. It shows whether building business budget your business model is sustainable, whether you’re hitting financial goals, and whether you can afford to spend, save, or invest.

Whether expanding to new markets, launching new products, or upgrading technology, businesses need to allocate funds to drive development. Budgeting is not a one-time task but an ongoing process that requires regular reviews. By continuously reviewing your budget throughout the process, you can identify deviations early and make necessary adjustments to avoid delays and cost overruns. Thorough documentation is essential to maintaining transparency and avoiding discrepancies in your budget. Regularly checking your finances ensures that your business stays on track. It’s best to update the template regularly – after any cost has been incurred – to ensure your budget reflects the latest project developments.

Having a clear-cut vision for how you want to allocate your resources prevents impulsive decisions and helps prioritize your spend. The right budget template makes it easier to keep your finances straight and your business on track. The budding field of machine learning offers particular promise for budgeting. Today, a few forward-thinking companies have introduced machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) into the accounting and budgeting world. This AI-driven accounting automates much of the manual data entry, which means you have more reliable data more quickly. If your business is growing, it might be time to move beyond the budget template spreadsheet.

There are various types of business budgets, such as operating budgets, cash flow budgets, and capital expenditure budgets, each serving different purposes. Budgeting is important to a business as it helps allocate resources efficiently, maintain financial control, and evaluate performance. Use your P&L statements to go back in time and look at financial performance year over year.

How to create a budget for your small business

Bookkeeping isn’t for everyone, especially when you’re also trying to stay on top of a growing business—but at Bench, bookkeeping is what we do best. The only way to get accurate financial data is through consistent bookkeeping. For example, if you order more stock, your cost per unit will be lower, but your overall spend will be higher. Make sure this is factored into your budget and pricing, and that the volume ordered isn’t greater than actual product demand.

While creating a business budget can be straightforward, the process may be more complex for larger companies with multiple revenue streams and expenses. To create a labor budget, consider how much work needs to be done, how many folks you’ll need to get it done, and how much it’ll all cost. This can help your business forecast and control labor-related expenses and ensure adequate staffing levels. When creating a departmental budget, you may look at revenue sources like departmental sales, grants, and other sources of income. On the expense side, you consider costs, such as salaries, supplies, equipment, and any other expenses unique to that department. If you make your budget a regular resource, you’ll be rewarded for your budgeting efforts.

Our intuitive software automates the busywork with powerful tools and features designed to help you simplify your financial management and make informed business decisions. Because of this, it’s wise to factor in some slack and make sure that you have more than enough money socked away (or coming in) before expanding the business or taking on new employees. With a business that is already up and running, you can make assumptions about future revenue based on recent trends in the business. If the business is a startup, you’ll have to make assumptions based on your geographic area, hours of operation, and by researching other local businesses. Small business owners can often get a sense of what to expect by visiting other businesses that are for sale and asking questions about weekly revenue and traffic patterns.

• Pick a template that matches your business needs, add your numbers, and you’re on your way to better financial decisions.
• Trying to run a start-up without an adequate budget is like trying to hike without a map, trailheads, or a compass.
• Start by conducting a thorough analysis of your fixed and variable costs, identifying potential areas for cost reduction if you encounter a deficit.
• You can always take a quick crash course online if the idea of running social media business pages intimidates you.

This categorization simplifies the tracking and allocation of expenses later. Profit is what you take home after deducting your expenses from your revenue. Here you’ll plan out how much profit you plan to make based on your projected revenue, expenses, and cost of goods sold. If the difference between revenue and expenses (aka “profit margins”) aren’t where you’d like them to be, you need to rethink your cost of goods sold and consider raising prices.

How does this template integrate with Planyard’s software?

Legal approvals like building permits and inspection fees ensure compliance with local regulations. These costs can vary significantly based on the project’s location and scope. The industry standard is typically 10–15% of the total estimated budget. Create your budget yearly—a 12-month budget is standard fare—with quarterly or monthly updates and check-ins to ensure you’re on track.

On the flip side, owners may realize that in order to have three employees instead of two, the business will have to generate more in revenue each week. One effective strategy to build a contingency fund is to save a fixed percentage of profits each month. For instance, a business specializing in supply chain management might seek to increase revenue by 5% next quarter via a specific SaaS product they’ve only recently introduced. On the other hand, if you don’t provide timely checks or specific criteria to watch, the goal would be difficult to measure, much less achieve. As project managers regularly communicate with homebuyers, they can give accurate summaries of the physical progress of construction alongside the financial status of the project.

• Start by calculating your average monthly revenue by reviewing financial data from the past year.
• Construction supplies, for example, increase in cost as you increase quantities ordered.
• For example, you may notice that materials costs are going up unnecessarily.
• You can add, remove, or rename categories, and modify formulas as needed to fit your unique budgeting requirements.

The Best Time to Apply for Business Financing is Before You Need It

New equipment, hiring expenses, and unplanned events can add up, so it’s wise to plan ahead as much as you can. Start by conducting a thorough analysis of your fixed and variable costs, identifying potential areas for cost reduction if you encounter a deficit. Regularly revisit and adjust your budget assumptions based on actual performance trends to align with financial reality. Comprehending how to create a business budget can improve your financial control, as it helps you monitor expenses and identify variances. Using a small-business budget template helps you plug in the numbers you need to operate with more confidence and fewer wrong turns.

Smart budget management separates thriving businesses from struggling ones. The most successful companies follow three key strategies to stay financially healthy. The budget also looks at different ways to finance these investments, whether through loans, leases, or other options. It’s all about making smart decisions for the future, evaluating cash flow, and choosing investments that will help the company grow and succeed.

For the most part, it involves keeping your thumb to the pulse of important financial functions like tax, wages, and cash flow. That means maintaining a neat record of documents – and a wide range of documents, at that. Each line item in this Excel accounting template allows for capturing essential details. If your business buys or sells products or services on credit, then the Accounting Template by ClickUp is for you. This two-in-one template is made up of Accounts Payable, which lets you track the payments owed to your vendors and suppliers, and Accounts Receivable for tracking balances owed to you. Please note that while these templates provide valuable assistance in bookkeeping, it’s essential to ensure accuracy and seek professional bookkeeping services advice if needed.

Simple Cash Flow Template

The template automatically populates the accounts receivable aging sheet after you fill in the payment ledger. Add invoice terms, amounts, and payments received to view current and overdue balances. Shipping or posting goods is a process which will always requires documentation of some form. In addition, it helps you to ensure that the correct items are being properly provided to your customers.

• Your first step towards a career in bookkeeping is earning a high school diploma or equivalent.
• You can list the bills due for payment in the days or weeks ahead and monitor the bank expected bank balance.
• Here is our list of the top 10 templates for bookkeeping—they will help you stay on top of your financial position all year round.
• See our free small business bookkeeping resources for additional bookkeeping tools.
• List balances due, payments made, and supplier names, invoice numbers, and amounts.
• ClickUp automatically generates a table of contents, which makes it easy to navigate to different sections of the document.

Plus, there’s a helpful Getting Started Doc to help you navigate the template so you can start making edits. Not using accounting software means you have to be particularly organized in keeping track of both your profits and losses so that your bookkeeping is accurate. Your entire business is built upon money that flows out and money which comes in. Keeping track of the finances for this is not only important in a legal sense but from a healthy business operation maintenance standpoint as well.

• Enter each of these in a separate cell in the first row of your spreadsheet.
• As you continue to enter new transactions, the spreadsheet will automatically update your balance.
• Save this accounting general ledger template as a one-off file, or share it as a template with your accounting team to standardize financial reporting practices.
• An income statement basically totals the income, totals the expenses, and subtracts the expenses from the income to arrive at a profit or loss figure.

This accounts payable template helps you track the money your business owes to vendors. List balances due, payments made, and supplier names, invoice numbers, and amounts. The template subtracts payments to show a running balance for each line item and displays the total amount due to all vendors at the top of the spreadsheet.

Joining professional organizations like AIPB or NACPB can provide networking opportunities, access to continuing education programs, and other professional resources. These memberships can aid in your professional growth and expand your career prospects. Stay updated with the latest industry trends, software updates, and regulatory changes. Regularly attending workshops, webinars, or courses can help you keep your skills sharp. When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.

Stock Inventory Sheet

Many of these software providers offer their own certification programs, which can boost your credentials. In summary, both systems have their pros and cons, and the selection between single-entry and double-entry bookkeeping depends largely on the complexity and scale of the business operations. This isa great template to use if you need to bookkeeping forms practice entering journals into the bookkeeping t-ledgers. A simple form for keeping track of cash put in and cash taken out of the petty cash box. Explore ClickUp’s extensive template library for a wide range of tools to streamline your business management and operations.

ClickUp Accounting Template

As you continue to enter new transactions, the spreadsheet will automatically update your balance. This timesheet template includes break time, regular and overtime hours, sick days, vacation time, and holidays. Enter the starting date for the week at the top of the template, and the dates will automatically populate the timesheet. These forms are useful as templates for self-employed people or treasurers of clubs, or small start-up businesses who are keen to maintain a complete or partial manual bookkeeping system. Some of the bookkeeping and accounting forms listed here have been pulled together for easy access from various parts of this site. By using accounting forms, accountants are able to save time on manual calculations and ensure accuracy in their work.

These documents provide valuable snapshots of a business’s financial health and are instrumental in making informed decisions. Often designed as Excel spreadsheets or Google Sheets, bookkeeping templates can range from basic to complex. Some include simple income and expense logs, while others might have multiple sections for categorizing transactions, managing invoices, tracking inventory, or preparing financial statements. Record debit and credit transactions and balances for multiple accounts in this accounting journal template. Edit the list of account descriptions and codes to match your business accounts. The template includes space to record trial balance, adjusting entries, adjusted trial balance, income statement and balance sheet for each account.

The excel cash book is the simplest and easiest way to start recording and tracking your business income and expenses and bank balance, for your day to day bank accounts. It allows business owners to focus on their core activities and reduces the risk of errors or omissions in the books. However, the decision to hire a bookkeeper depends on the size and needs of your business, as well as your budget. Small businesses or startups with straightforward financial transactions may be able to handle bookkeeping tasks internally or with the assistance of accounting software. You can start as an entry-level bookkeeping clerk or an accounting assistant and learn the practical aspects of the job. This experience can include managing accounts, entering financial data, and assisting with tax preparation.

You can run common criminal background searches on yourself and review results online in minutes. The best criminal background check sites for individuals can help you learn more about people in your life, like potential roommates or neighbors, or provide a preview of your own public records. Since these types of checks generally aren’t compliant with the FCRA, they shouldn’t be used for employment purposes. Find out about a candidate’s criminal history with a comprehensive, easy-to-read report of their publicly available and legally reportable criminal records directly from the courts. A background screening or background check is a deep dive into the history of a candidate. The background check uses third-party resources to look into public records, law background check enforcement, credit bureaus, academic records and previous work history.

This starts with salary transparency, accurate job descriptions, conducting fair interviews, committing to diversity, equity, and inclusion, conducting proper background checks, and more. Using a background screening service can simplify the hiring process for both you and your candidates. To help ensure legal compliance, you can partner with a qualified, FCRA-compliant provider like Checkr. Second, if the employer thinks it might not hire or retain you because of something in the report, it must give you a copy of the report and a “notice of rights” that tells you how to contact the company that made the report.

• It seems to fall under the listing for Intelius, which at least has an “A+” rating and accreditation.
• If the employer decides not to hire a candidate or promote an employee based on the results of a background check, you must follow the adverse action process.
• And, over the years, the cost of using BeenVerified has gone up by about 50% You’ll now pay $36.89 for a one-month membership or $71.94 for a three-month plan, and each month gives you up to 100 reports.
• They may involve a criminal history check, credit check (if the role is finance-related), driving record check (if the position involves driving), and employment or education verification.

There are many services that pull from a wide range of databases, including criminal records, court documents, and public records. The more sources they check, the more accurate and thorough the report will be, and it goes much further than what you’ll get with a basic Google search. When making personnel decisions — including hiring, retention, promotion, and reassignment — employers sometimes want to consider the backgrounds of applicants and employees.

How do background checks work?

A criminal background check is an investigation into a candidate’s criminal history. Employers often include this type of background check in their pre-employment screening process to help select candidates who are eligible and qualified for the position they want to fill. While criminal background checks can help employers make informed hiring decisions, they must be conducted in a way that complies with local, state, and federal hiring laws. Checkr is one of the best criminal background check services, offering multiple screening options, including comprehensive criminal searches and continuous monitoring within the US as well as international searches.

This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies. We can accept check, cash, money order, credit/debit card (with an additional $1.00 plus a 2.5% processing fee), or an invoice letter from an authorized agency. To do so, GoodHire reviewed FBI Crime Data – property, violent, and society crime – and ranked each place by its rate of offenses per 1,000 people for each of the three offense types. GoodHire then assigned a total rank that weighted crimes against persons and crimes against property at 40% and crimes against society at 20%. Whichever payment plan you choose, it’s going to renew automatically until you cancel, which can be done either through your dashboard or through TruthFinder’s toll-free number. Just be aware that they only have hours from Monday through Friday, 7A-4P Pacific if you’re hoping to go the phone route.

• We’ve built the most advanced background check toolset in the industry to make hiring faster, easier, more accurate, and lower risk–get started today.
• Our most recent search didn’t take as long as we’ve experienced in the past, but it was still a head-scratcher to see that “2 matches found” notification…with just one matching person.
• In October 2024, First Advantage acquired Sterling Check, another popular background check service.

Lower your compliance risk

Some employers also will try to find out about your background by hiring someone to do a “background report” on you. Since 2001, SentryLink has provided background checks and employment screening for companies and consumers around the country. More than ever, business owners must trust employees with the keys to the kingdom.

However, employers may choose to search multiple states and counties based on where the candidate has lived, or, if a nationwide search reveals potential criminal history in more than one state. If you’re an individual looking to search for information about another person, Instant Checkmate may be considered as one of the best websites for criminal background checks. Originally created in 2010 to help people engaged in online dating feel more comfortable meeting up in person, Instant Checkmate is an automated, consumer-facing service that provides access to public records data on a subscription basis. In business since 2006, Spokeo is a background check website that aggregates data from various online and offline sources, including social media, public records, and directories, to provide information about individuals. You can use Spokeo to find contact details, addresses, and background information on people.

They also offer an international criminal background check service for companies with global reach. With clients that include large gig employers and fast-growing companies in high-turnover industries, Checkr stands out as the best FCRA-compliant criminal background check service provider. Checkr offers fast, accurate background checks, with 89% of criminal checks, including county searches, completing within one hour. Available screenings include national, federal, state, and county criminal record checks, as well as continuous criminal record screening. Searches are available in 200+ countries, including GDPR-compliant international background checks.

Easy-to-read reports and automated workflows streamline the background screening process, so you can hire quickly and confidently. Our pre-bundled criminal background check packages for employers can be customized with add-ons for more comprehensive criminal history coverage or to add additional screenings, such as driving records or drug testing. A patchwork of state, county, and city laws move the criminal history inquiry until later in the hiring process. These laws may apply based on both the employers’ and candidates’ locations. Further, some local laws may also have specific requirements for the adverse action process.

In operation since 1999, the company’s database contains billions of records from the last 40+ years. Whether you want to find out who owns a number that keeps calling you, find a friend or family member, or run a background check on your latest match on Bumble, PeopleFinders has got your back. In this role, she produces educational resources for employers on a broad range of screening topics, including background check compliance and best practices. She also writes about Checkr’s company and product news to keep customers updated and informed. HireRight offers tailored features for companies in specific industries such as transportation, education, and financial services, as well as small businesses.

Employers use pre-employment background checks to help make more informed hiring decisions, mitigate risk to their business, and protect their organization against liability. A background check or background screening is the process of examining public and private sources to collect information about a person. Background checks may be used by employers, landlords, or volunteer organizations. Searches criminal records databases in a specific state to identify felony and misdemeanor convictions, along with charge type, disposition, and sentencing information.

Be informed about your public records and empowered to make decisions before working with others. If that applies here, please check the box stating that the individual has no legal middle name. Please DO NOT choose this option unless your applicant truly has no middle name. The middle name should be the one the applicant was born with, not their maiden name.

It took just a minute or two for us to be given a list of 14 possible matches on first and last name alone. We were scrolling through the possible matches when we got a pop-up offering access to all 14 reports for just $2.95, plus 7 days of unlimited search access to over 5 billion public records. An employer may ask you for all sorts of background information, especially during the hiring process. For example, some employers may ask about your employment history, your education, your criminal record, your financial history, your medical history, or your use of online social media.

Searches a foreign country’s criminal records for candidates with international backgrounds who are working in the U.S. Each of 223 countries has its own application checklist detailing required information, forms and turnaround times. Searches state level criminal records from sources including State Judicial Court System, State Police, State Department of Law Enforcement, Administrative Office of the Courts for infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies. Since some states don’t include complete county history, county-specific searches are recommended to ensure thorough results.