Easy Tips and Tricks to Get Small Business Accounting Right

Making mistakes in your accounting can have serious implications for any business, such as significant fines for suspected tax evasion. For a large corporation, this can damage both the finances and the reputation of the company. For a small business however, it can have a huge impact and possibly even cause the company to go under, if there is not enough money to pay the fines.

Good accounting is therefore essential right from the very start. Many small business owners believe that they do not need to do any kind of accounting, or do only basic bookkeeping, but this is wrong. It is critical for every business, no matter its size, to start accounting from the moment it starts trading. Simply keeping hold of customer receipts and invoices is not enough, the business must set up a simple but thorough system to record all transactions made and to produce reports as and when needed. Getting off to a good start with accounting will set your business up for long-term success.

When you launch your small business, open a separate bank account for it. It is not uncommon for sole traders for example to simply use their personal checking account for their business but this then makes it impossible, or at least extremely difficult and time-consuming, to carry out a reconciliation, which is a check to ensure that the figure your bookkeeping tells you should be in the account is indeed the amount in the account.

Chinese Business and Styles of Negotiation Tips

Not every country is the same, which is something you would understand from a passing glance. China is one country that many have yet to fully grasp and understand, but it is sometimes necessary to try. When in the business world, a person will visit a long list of countries in their career. One that is usually high on the list is China, which does have a different way of going about business. From the appearance to etiquette and manners, professionals should know how to present and hold themselves while in the country. This can make or break a meeting because, just like every other country, their first thoughts of you will stick with them for a long time to come. All professionals must know what it is Chinese businesspersons look for when in a meeting, the styles of negotiation used, and what they look for when it comes to first impressions. You can ask around, look online, or even use a business Chinese book to get at least a little info on what it is they want. When negotiating with Chinese a cultural perspective is needed, it is what their country is about, after all.

Of course, one of the most important aspects to any business meeting is your appearance. While it is alright to wear jeans and casual clothes around town, that is not something to do in the meeting itself, which most people are used to and already know. China is more conservative than some other countries, though, so it is important to know the type of dress clothes to wear. Men and women both need to stick with subtle colors. Nothing too fancy or out there, just something comfortable and quiet. Women must remember that, in China, the men may find a businesswoman wearing revealing clothing offensive. This is a more conservative country and culture. Every businessperson must remember that when negotiation with Chinese a cultural perspective is very important, in both how you act and dress.

If you are already dressed for success, then it is all up to manners and how you act during the meeting. Stay formal, of course, and remain cautious of what you do. Some items and actions that are average in other countries might come as offensive in China. A business Chinese book would usually list the items, actions, colors, and several other "need to knows" to keep your meeting going and well. You must know the styles of negotiation used, by both the single business and the culture as a whole, if you want to make it. While there are some things that stick with business in every culture, like arriving on time and being polite, China is still very different in several ways.

Most business Chinese books would be able to tell a person the basics of what they should know. When negotiation with Chinese a cultural perspective is what will win you the meeting. Negotiating with them in a way that they appreciate, enjoy, and understand can be the deciding factor on whether or not there is future business. From appearance to styles of negotiation, everything does matter.