urBook$ Utilizes Secure Smart Vault

Easy to Store, Secure to Share — Online Storage & Secure File Sharing in One

urBook$ utilizes client vault software for ease of secure information sharing.  SmartVault makes secure file sharing easy. Whether you’re sharing tax returns, legal documents, or even your secret family recipe, SmartVault gives you a single solution for storing and securely sharing your files in the cloud. Uploading files is easy — you can scan with one click, or drag and drop your files in and share them from any web browser or smartphone.

In just minutes, you can build a custom client portal for secure file sharing, branded with your company logo, color scheme, and URL. You decide who has access to what file, and each user only sees the files they’re granted access to. Automated email alerts notify your clients when new files are available, and secure links are a secure and convenient alternative to emailing documents.

More than just a cloud drive…

Enjoy all the ease and convenience of a cloud drive, but with the best-in-class security and advanced file sharing features that you need to run your business. Securely share files and stay in compliance with:

• Power tools for secure file sharing made easy, including Inbox, Drive, and Client Portal
• Online document storage built-in, so you can store and share files with a single solution
• Mobile apps for secure file sharing on-the-go
• Bank-level security with industry standard encryption of documents in transit and at rest
• Activity reports tell you who accessed or modified a file and when – important for staying in compliance
• You control access to every file and folder with granular user permissions

Become a urBook$ client today and experience the simple secure client vault.  You will find the convenience of up to date information that is accessible anytime between urBook$, your small business bookkeeper, and you our valued client - YOU!

Spring Cleaning Tips to For Your Business

According to www.sba.gov it is wise to set a date each year, perhaps even more frequently, to re-evaluate your business plan and update or “clean-up” any struggling areas.  Below are 4 tips to guide you through “spring cleaning.” 

1. Staying up to date with technology to improve your business.  Sometimes improved technological services within your industry can drastically improve your business efficiency and accessibility for your clients.  For example, is there a POS software update that allows for your business to spend less time on merchandise and more time focused on customer service?
2. Update your website content monthly & incorporate a blog to keep your online presence “relevant” to Google. Algorithms are updated and changed constantly regarding how search engines index businesses for online listings.  One way to keep your business as high on search engine lists as possible is to keep content on your website updated on a regular basis.  One way to achieve this is a blog that streams current information regarding your business 
3. Update your listing and memberships within the community; i.e.: BBB; Local Chamber of Commerce; any civic and philanthropic organizations you can be a part of make sure you have business info very visible for maximum exposure. 
4. Know your demographic well and position your business to that demographic.  Every business owner would like detailed information regarding their target demographic.  If you have a specific audience you can target them directly through online marketing.  

urBook$ continually strives to ease the financial burden of bookkeeping, bill paying and payroll for your business.  Together you can access and update your information online daily along with our team of experienced accounting professionals. To inquire about becoming a urBook$ client today contact us at 469.304.0036 or www.urbooksplano.com and get started today. 

How well do you know your business?

Your employees may be able to tell you a lot about your business you may not know. What do customers really think about your product or service? Are there more complaints (or less) than usual? What could be done to improve sales, marketing and customer service?

It seems simple enough just to ask the people who work for you, “What’s going on and how can we improve?” and expect an honest answer. But, due to the nature of the boss-employee relationship, things don’t always work that way.

Employees rely upon you for their livelihood, so they are less likely to speak truthfully.  Non-candid feedback is meaningless, and will not help you run your company more effectively.

So how do you get people to open up? Here are four tips to nudge them toward sharing creative suggestions for growing the business:

1. Share the big picture. 

If employees don’t understand the financial state of your business — and what you’ve 

got planned for the future — it’s difficult for them to offer useful feedback. Take every 

opportunity to share information about the business, both successes and setbacks, so 

they have a better sense of how their knowledge and creativity might help spur growth.

2. Actively encourage participation. 

There are plenty of ways to encourage employees to share their ideas for improving the company: 

 • Have an “open door policy” (at least during part of the work week).

 • Hold occasional brainstorming sessions outside of the workplace.

 • Put up a suggestion box.

 • Create a “shopping list” of topics you’d like to see addressed and invite employees to offer comments and suggestions.

Encourage employee participation by communicating the benefits of their ideas to your organization, your customers, as well as employees themselves. Make it clear there’s no such thing as a bad idea. Employees (like just about everyone else) are generally risk-averse. An idea could mean they will have to explain it, give a presentation, or risk difficult questions on unfamiliar topics.

Some employee ideas may be game-changers. Some will result in only marginal improvement. Others will simply fall flat. You must make it clear that, regardless of the outcome, there’s no penalty for sincerely offered ideas that fail to move the needle.

3. Reward your employees’ creativity. 

Whether an idea results in explosive growth or simply helps overcome a minor operational 

hurdle, people are more forthcoming when some type of reward is involved. Always start

with a publicly delivered “thank you” to everyone who offers suggestions. Other low-cost

rewards might include an extra day off, special notice at a staff meeting, a coffee shop or

movie gift card, a free car wash, or a company-hosted lunch at a local restaurant.

The trick to giving your people rewards that make a real difference is to personalize them.

4. Get to know your team. 

Encouraging open communication and rewarding ideas for improvement to your business cannot be a one-size-fits-all type of reward.  Take a few minutes each week to connect with your employees.  Personal interaction and knowing what motivates your employees will make your rewards effective.  

Hopefully you stay in tune with your business and employees as much as possible.  urBook$ strives to communicate pro-actively when it comes to your bookkeeping. bill pay and payroll services.  Contact urBook$ today to become a client and experience the urBook$ difference! 

urBook$ offers SmartVault for Secure Information Sharing

Many business owners and managers prefer to keep their files and accounts up to date on a daily basis. Bookkeepers and businesses have struggles in the past finding a secure way to continuously share and update information related to their business.  E-mail is a great form of communication but unfortunately it is not very secure.  Who wants the personal financial information of their business accessible to anyone with access to e-mail?

With SmartVault urBook$ client's can access their data anytime of day or night and know it is up to date and secure.

SmartVault offers the ability for clients to:

1. Access files at any time and from any device.  Enjoy the ability to access your data without having to be in front of a computer.  SmartVault is mobile friendly and can easily be utilized from any device you are using.

2 Securely share files with clients, employees and partners at your discretion.  You can customize your vault to have select groups that can access certain files without having to share your entire vault of sensitive information.

3. You can attach and view files utilizing apps such as Quickbooks from any device.  SmartVault allows you to have the ability to update your information or attach new data directly from software to your vault.

These 3 key features of SmartVault allows urBook$ to maintain accurate and up to date data for your business, and allows you access to your data any time and any place.  This feature can allow urBook$ to serve it's clients anywhere in the world.  No more trips to your bookkeepers office - it can all be done securely online with urBook$.  Contact urBook$ today and get started as a urBook$ client.  You will find our secure vault and data sharing allows you to easily pass off the day to day bookkeeping, bill paying and payroll tasks - saving you time to focus on what you do best...YOUR BUSINESS!

3 Tips to Grow Your Business

Have you ever heard of a business that is NOT interested with increasing their revenue?  Any business can benefit from increasing their bottom line and decreasing costs.  At urBook$ we are constantly researching ideas for ways to improve our clients revenue while decreasing operating costs.

Below are a few different tips that have proven to be beneficial to a majority of our clients.

1. Never be afraid to ask for help.  Often times business owners carry the weight of decision making entirely on their shoulders.  It's not that you should give up the decision making; however, you should gather insight and advice from any and every expert you can.  Humility will get you far in life....pride will only hold you back. Maybe your strong quality as a business owner is not in logistics of the business but marketing your product.  Seek advice from someone who has their strength in logistics and always be willing to give sought advice in your strong suits.

2. ALWAYS carefully plan any changes, expansion and/or anticipated growth to your business.  Strategic planning can play a vital role in the success of launching a new product, changing locations or adding a location to your business to name a few.  However, overthinking and planning can also debilitate your ability to successfully achieve these tasks.  Finding the balance between a properly planned goal and implementing the goal can be a very difficult task.  Try to find the balance and don't over analyze the steps.

3. Implementation is key.  Once you have sought expert advice, weighed pros and cons, and strategically planned out your next business move....now you must implement.  Ideas are not expensive, implementing these ideas incorrectly can come with an extremely high price tag.  Try to always keep cost in mind when going forward with your timeline of business strategy, and GO FOR IT.  Don't let fear keep you from acting on your intuition.

If your business is not benefiting from sound bookkeeping, bill paying, and payroll services look to urBook$ to solve your small business needs.  We specialize in taking the burden of these tasks off your plate and allowing you to focus on your forte - your business! Contact urBook$ today to schedule your initial complimentary consultation and get on your way to achieving your business goals for 2015!

Setting Goals for Your Business in 2015

The dreaded New Year's Resolutions....

We have all done the usual broad personal resolutions: lose weight, save more, spend less... Have you ever analyzed how many of your personal resolutions have been successful?  According to Forbes, only 8& of people actually achieve their New Year's Resolutions! Why? Because there is no method of setting an achievable, measurable goal.

For example, if you set to resolve "to lose weight."  This term is broad.  However, if you set to lose 10 pounds in 6 months by going to the gym Mon/Wed/Fri for 60 minutes, eating out only 5 times per month, making frequent grocery store trips to ensure fresh fruits and veggies for healthy eating; Now you have an achievable measurable goal.

This same principal can be applies to your business.  Although it takes more time on the front end to strategically plan out your goals, in the long run you will increase your success rate of accomplishing your goals 10 fold.

If you have trouble goal setting as many people do, try setting your goals using the SMART method.

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

Taking our same goal of "weight loss" from above you can quickly see how breaking this down in to:

Specific: lose 10 lbs in 6 months
Measurable: 10 lbs in 6 month
Attainable: Work-out 3 x per week; eat better
Relevant: Eating out 5 times per month; frequent grocery store trips
Time-bound: 6 months

This takes a simple task with no limits of "weight loss" to very specific goals and limits.

Try starting 2015 off with setting SMART goals for your small business.  urBook$ can assist with your small business bill pay, account ledger, payroll and bookkeeping.  Taking these tasks and achieving your SMART goals for 2015!

Call urBook$ today to start your journey as a urBook$ client and experience the urBook$ difference today!

Top 10 Bookkeeping Mistakes Made by Small Businesses

Statistics from the U.S. Small Business Administration reveal that about half of all new small businesses launched in the U.S. will fail within the first five years. What is the chief cause of small business failure? Poor financial management.

Sound financial management starts with an understanding of some basic rules of business bookkeeping, so here are 10 of the most common accounting and bookkeeping errors made by small businesses -- and how you can avoid making them.

1. Using the Wrong Accounting Method

2. Combining Personal and Business Finances

3. Misclassifying Workers

4. Not Performing Basic Account Reconciliation

5. Being Too Nonchalant About Petty Cash

6. Not Knowing the Difference Between Profits and Cash Flow

7. Using the DIY Method of Bookkeeping

8. Not Saving Receipts for Small Purchases

9. Not Implementing Adequate Internal Controls

10. Relying Too Heavily on a Paperless Work Environment

The money spent to hire a trained bookkeeper or accountant, even on a part-time or contract basis, will usually come back to the owner many times over given the time savings and all the mistakes that will be avoided. urBook$ can take on these tasks to avoid these costly mistakes made by many businesses.  Our bookkeeping, bill pay and payroll services can allow you to focus on what you know best - YOUR BUSINESS! Call urBook$ today 469.304.0036 and get on your way to relief of those financial tasks that have been weighing you down.