News & Updates

Learning Business the Hard Way When I was young, I watched my dad run different businesses. Even before I was born, he was always starting something new. He was a real entrepreneur like his father who owned a fuel oil delivery company. The story goes that when he was under sixteen, his father who had a great year in business, gave his older brothers cars. But my dad got a down payment on a duplex. He rented it out and made money from it. After that, he tried an ice cream business and later owned Midas Muffler shops in the […]

You’ve probably heard the famous quote “Measure a thousand times and cut once.” Accuracy is crucial, and there are merciless consequences when it’s neglected. When we acquire new customers, we often find technical errors and inaccuracies. Our first step when working with new customers is to conduct a diagnostic review to assess the state of the books, identifying what’s correct and incorrect. While some are worse than others, they are rarely in perfect shape. This highlights the alarming ambiguity among those who claim to be accounting professionals. Reports and data are being produced by these so-called professionals, yet the numbers […]

It may not be obvious to most, but being organized and running an organized business saves you money. Much can be gained by added efficiencies and productivity to your business. In 2003 I started a professional organizing business in Chicago. I served customers for twenty years and most of the focus was on their residential spaces and finances. When Amber’s Bookkeeping was launched in 2016, I started to draw the parallels between running an organized household and running an organized business. Much waste takes place when we are not watching the details and following tried and true organizing principles. Efficiency […]

I’m sure you’ve heard of the wildly popular sites such as Fiver and Upwork. On these sites, you can find just about any contract talent work that you need. People showcasing how they can help your small business on a project basis. Most of us also hire out web designers and a tax attorney or CPA to do our yearly tax returns. Grant it, some of us might have wicked skills in many areas but most small business owners aren’t good at everything. I’d like to argue just because you can doesn’t mean you should. You should be doing what […]

4 Things That Affect Your Business’s Cash Flow   1.Accounts receivable Consider your accounts receivable process. Look at it from all angles. Let’s define accounts receivable to start. These numbers or total numbers are what is owed to you by all your customers or clients. This is money that you need to collect. They are open invoices. In terms of cash flow, consider these questions about accounts receivable. When do you invoice your customers? Right away? Before the job? Or do you take a lot of time to send the invoice for your services? All this timing matters. Do you […]