Martin LeFevre - An Introduction to Managerial Accounting

Martin LeFevre is an accountant who has worked with many large organizations, including the largest produce growing operation in the state of Florida.

Accounting that helps decision-makers in organizations make better choices, be in control, and plan more effectively is called managerial accounting. Managerial accountants primarily deal with two kinds of business units. These two kinds are profit centers and cost centers.

Profit centers are separate units that generate sales revenue and have their own expenses. A profit center can be a store, territory, line of products, or distribution channel. Managerial accountants usually follow the organizational structure in creating statements and providing relevant information to the managers. It is up to a business to decide how it looks at its activities.

Cost centers are departments or units within the organizations that have costs and expenses but do not generate any revenue. Examples of cost centers include the human resources department, the legal department, and the security department. The managers in charge of these departments need accounting information to stay informed about the costs of running their units.

The reports for cost centers are usually very straightforward. They have a lot of detailed information, details of all the costs and expenses, budgeted targets, and comparisons with previous report periods. This does not necessarily mean that template creation for such reports is simple or easy.

However, things usually get much more complicated with reports for profit centers because even a small business can have a variety of sources of profit. There are no definitive rules for classification of costs or sales revenues with the objective of profit identification in business or accounting. Every business has to make its own decisions in regards to this matter. This is something experienced accountants like Martin LeFevre can often help them with by sharing their thoughts and best practices. 

Martin LeFevre - Accounting and Organizational Management

Martin LeFevre is an accounting professional who feels comfortable doing all-around accounting for businesses.

Business managers and C-level executives usually are responsible for making profits happen on the organizational levels. That’s what separates them from employees who work in operations, production, and customer service. They need to be innovators, lobbyists, creatives, and motivators. Competition in most markets in developed countries such as the United States is absolutely fierce. Changes take place all the time and businesses need to anticipate them and be ready for them.

A business can increase profits in one of two ways. It can either bring more revenues in or it can reduce its expenses. One of the most important roles of accounting in organizations is to provide management with critical financial information about profits and expenses. Income statements that are provided to investors and the public usually don’t include all the information that managers need to make decisions on a regular basis.

Small businesses would often have one person in charge of profits. As companies grow, they usually start adding more people who share this important responsibility. The first rule of accounting that helps managers make decisions is to follow the structure of the organization and report relevant information to parties that need it. This principle is also known as responsibility accounting. For example, if a manager is in charge of a department, an accountant like Martin LeFevre needs to prepare sales and expenses reports about the department for the person in charge.

Martin LeFevre - What You Need to Know about Business Financial Statements

Martin LeFevre is an accounting professional with over ten years of experience. He has prepared and audited multiple statements for business and individuals during his career.

There are three primary business financial statements.

The income statement shows the revenues from sales and other income. The statement of cash flows indicates cash inflows and outflows during a certain period. The balance sheet is a statement of financial condition that shows assets and sources of assets for a business at the end of a certain period.

To understand any of these statements for a business, you need to have an understanding of how the business functions. You first need to know whether the business sells products or services. For example, financial statements for a dry cleaning service are going to be different from the ones from a bank.

The form of a financial statement usually follows the function of the business and the way the business makes a profit.

Dollar amounts in financial statements are usually rounded off. They either do not present the last three digits or the last six digits. Many smaller companies choose to include amounts out to the last dollar or even the last penny. The more digits there are in a dollar amount, the harder it is to comprehend the amount. Financial statements are formal documents. They do not use professional slang or street language. They also rarely include any graphics or artwork in the statements themselves, even though many big public companies include a lot of visual information in their financial reports. This is done by graphic designers and experts once accounting professionals like Martin LeFevre finish preparing the actual reports.

Martin LeFevre - A Brief Overview of the Responsibilities of Accounting Departments

Martin LeFevre is a gifted accountant who has worked at a number of accounting firms during his career.
Accounting extends into many areas of life for both individuals and organizations. You may not realize that when you make entries in a checkbook or go over your online bank statements, you are doing accounting. When you get a personal loan or a mortgage on your home, you are dealing with methods that lenders use to calculate interest rates and fees, which is also accounting.

Accountants that work for organizations do not just prepare financial reports and statements. They also create internal control systems for the bookkeeping processes. The goal of such systems is to decrease the number of errors in the records of the organization’s activities. Internal control systems also detect theft, embezzlement, fraud, and other potential issues and problems.

 
Most people do not realize how important an accounting department is for any organization. Everyone understands that a business can’t exist without sales, but the necessity of accounting is often not obvious. Accountants create and control many of the back-end systems in an organization.
Here are some of the responsibilities of a typical accounting department:

Payroll. Accountants calculate or monitor systems that calculate total wages and salaries for all employees during all pay periods.

Cash processing. Accountants identify and record all cash from all business activities, including sales and other sources. They also make sure that cash is deposited into proper accounts and that sales people have enough cash to give change to customers.

Inventory. Accountants usually keep track of all purchase orders and inventory for an organization. They also track other products and services that the organization buys, from paper clips to warehouse trucks.

Many accountants, including Martin LeFevre, perform other functions as well.
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Martin LeFevre - The IRS Warns Tax Preparers

As an accountant who follows the IRS’s rules and regulations, as well as a reader of the IRS journals, Martin LeFevre understands how dangerous some of the new phishing scams are.

Phishing Scams Are Old
Most people who have Internet access and an email account know about the mysterious Nigerian prince who left most of his fortune to what seems to be the whole population. This email has been around for decades now. The latest bogus emails are similar in nature, promising great benefits in return for sensitive personal information.

The Reason Why the IRS Warns Against Scams
The reason why the IRS is concerned about phishing scams is simple: some of these emails are asking taxpayers to update their IRS e-services information and Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFIN). Now the IRS of course would never ask the taxpayers to do that, and certainly not through e-mail.

If tax preparers ever see an email that was seemingly sent by the IRS, and that asks for the update of any personal information within the message, or on a separate site, there is an extremely high probability that the email is part of an elaborate scam that tries to obtain valuable personal data. To help the IRS fight such phishing scams, you can send suspicious emails directly to the IRS, to the department that deals with scams.

Martin LeFevre is an accountant who likes to stay up to date with the latest accounting news, including the everyday activities of the IRS.

Sources:
https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/irs-warns-tax-preparers-to-watch-out-for-new-phishing-scam

Martin LeFevre - The History of the US Tax System

As an accountant, Martin LeFevre is very interested in the American Tax System. He often reads about it and studies it. American tax laws have changed significantly in the last 100 years, but it’s important to understand the origins of the tax system.

Colonial Era

During the vast majority of American history, taxpayers did not really have much contact with the governmental tax authorities. The taxes came from tolls and customs duties. As ridiculous as this may sound today, the government did not really need to develop a way of obtaining financial resources.

The War

As usually is the case, war — the American War of Independence — has changed everything. England needed the money to fund their war against France, which led to the implementation of certain taxes that were imposed on American colonies.

After the War

After the adoption of the Articles of Constitution in 1781, the government realized that if they ever wanted to become a strong state, they could not rely on the help of foreign governments. They needed to create their own resources, which is why the Government came up with the very first version of an extensive tax system.

Another War, 16th Amendment

After the Civil War started, the Congress came up with the Revenue Act, which was basically the reintroduction of certain taxes to create additional revenue. Later, with the 16th Amendment, the government created the flat rate Federal income taxes. Many different tax rates were introduced since, as Martin LeFevre knows, and many more will likely be introduced in the future.

Sources: http://www.policyalmanac.org/economic/archive/tax_history.shtml

Martin LeFevre - Small Business Accounting

As Martin LeFevre so often experienced while working as an accountant for small businesses, the owners of these ventures make daily decisions that often influence the economics of their companies to a high degree. This is one of several reasons why, as a small business owner, it is important to know what you are doing, or else hire expert help in the form of an accountant who possesses the necessary expertise to clarify your financial situation.

Before You Start Your Small Business

Let’s presume you haven’t opened your business yet. This is the time when you can set your venture up for a straightforward and transparent financial future. For that to happen, you need to invest in certain areas of the business.

Open a Bank Account

This should be fairly obvious, but people often use their own, personal bank account to handle the finances of their business. This shouldn’t happen.

Help the Accountant Track Your Expenses

It is important to work together with your accountant, letting them know about your expenses. For best results, develop a system right at the start. You can go old school, using a notebook, or invest in a computer. The latter will happen sooner or later anyway, so you might as well start with a computer.

Determine Your Payment

When your business takes off the ground, you have to determine the way or ways in which you’ll accept payments. There are services today (like Shopify) that do not require you to set up a merchant account just for this purpose.

As an accounting expert who worked with several small businesses throughout the years, Martin LeFevre hopes that future business owners won’t ignore the tips above before starting a venture.

Sources: https://www.shopify.com/blog/15334373-small-business-accounting-101-ten-steps-to-get-your-startup-on-track