It’s one that keeps the accounting terminology simple, provides an easy user interface, and an in-house customer support team that’s ready to help. Give us a try and you’ll see how FreshBooks’ accounting software can work for you. Net profit is generally only necessary to evaluate on a wider scale (agency-wide, or by department)For more on how to calculate profitability in your agency, check out our blog post on the topic. Chris Hervochon recommends that agencies must set aside between two to six months’ worth of fixed expenses to plan for slow times and fund growth.

FreshBooks is available online for both PCs and Macs, as well as through our mobile app on Google Play or iTunes. The FreshBooks’ desktop accounting software will sync automatically with the app, so you can access your small business finances from anywhere in the world. We offer a number of different accounting packages to choose from, with competitive pricing. It focuses on what you need to make the right decisions and helps you determine how profitability compares between two agency sectors, businesses, or clients.

Step #2: Choose Cash or Accrual Accounting

Categorizing transactions involves assigning each transaction to the appropriate account in your chart of accounts. This ensures that your financial records accurately reflect your business’s financial activity. There are many accounting software options available, each with their own features and benefits. When choosing a software, consider factors such as cost, ease of use, and integration with other software your business may use.

• We’ve automated part of the process to give you the streamlined functionality you deserve using the best resources in the industry.
• Integrations can simplify your agency’s accounting when the alternative is to manually import data into your accounting software.
• Your dedicated Reverse Recruiter will create a personalized strategy to manage all aspects of your job search.
• As competition and costs rise, the independent insurance agency must adapt business operations to be as efficient and effective as possible.
• If that’s the case then you can close out invoices by matching bank deposits to client invoices.
• Many agency owners either consciously or subconsciously make themselves martyrs for their own businesses.

Margaret served on several Company committees, was an active member in the Red River Users Group and a member of the AMS360 NetVU Education Committee. We will be covering everything from setting up rules for how agency commissions and producer commissions should be calculated, to reconciling when commissions have been paid to the agency or its producers. Topics will also extend to how to reset commissions for existing policies, editing reconciliation statements, and reports that will be important for tracking commissions in QQCatalyst. Judy Chandler has 26 years of experience in Insurance accounting and full charge bookkeeping. Judy worked for a California agency for 8 years after graduating college and advanced to Assistant to the CFO. Judy’s experience also includes working as the sole accounting person for 4 divisions in an Idaho Agency after relocating to NW.

Provide accurate estimates for new projects

This method of accounting gives you an idea of your overall cash flow as money is spent and earned, but not much else. More than 50 percent of agencies my company analyzes show their producers are being paid more than their contracts suggest. Agencies are not 100 percent cash, and they are not 100 percent accrual. It’s also important to establish a clear system for reimbursing yourself for any personal expenses that you may have paid for out of pocket. Keeping detailed records of all business expenses and regularly reconciling your accounts will help ensure that your financial records are accurate and up to date. Besides gauging their experience and credentials, ask questions to learn about how they like to work.

You can use social media to promote services, articles, or news updates. With paid advertising on social media, you can buy advertisements that target a specific audience (e.g., business owners). Indeed, many of Deloitte’s largest clients are experimenting with or already using GenAI tools in their products and services. Auditors need to be aware of their clients’ use of GenAI in financial reporting, accounting, and the related internal controls.

Social Media Influencer Tax Deductions

Appletree is well-versed in the most popular CRM systems like Hubspot, Zoho, Pipedrive, and others. QuickBooks is a great system for most businesses but not insurance agencies. Never use QuickBooks unless you have a high degree in accounting and possess significant insurance agency specific accounting knowledge so you can address agency bill business correctly. Connecting your financial accounts to your accounting software can save time and reduce the risk of errors in bookkeeping. Many accounting software options offer automatic syncing with financial accounts, which can streamline the bookkeeping process. Cash accounting is the simplest method and records revenue and expenses when money is physically received or paid out.

According to Chris, time tracking will help you accurately allocate salaries within your accounting data so you can track gross profitability on clients and projects. The chart of accounts is the foundation on which the insights that you get from your accounting data is built, or from which you get the insights that you want to build. This is something that a lot of people don’t think about a whole lot when they’re setting up books for the first time or accounting for marketing agencies if they’re hiring an accountant that doesn’t know a lot about service businesses. Chris states that as an agency owner, doing your own finances in a spreadsheet is a bad idea. He encourages agencies to use cloud-based accounting software like QuickBooks Online. Agencies that use the accrual method of accounting might need to make adjustments to their financial statements to reflect certain non-cash items that will impact cash flows in future months.

The benefit of posting adjustments is that the financial statements more accurately reflect the activities of the current period. By not recording WIP and accrued expenses, the following period might look particularly good even though most of the revenues were earned in the current period. Most cloud accounting software integrate with banks, allowing you to automatically import transactions without the need to manually import transactions to the accounting software. Automatic imports are a huge time saver so you should take advantage of them as much as possible. Fortunately, some payroll software, such as Gusto, integrates with accounting software and automatically syncs the payroll journal entry.

But, as an agency owner, you really must understand basic financial accounting and how it applies to your business if you want a well-rounded view of your agency’s financial health. Lastly, he recommends sitting down with your accountant regularly to review the expenses in your business. They can get out of control quickly, especially in a software-heavy society that we have now. By being vigilant about where money is being spent, you’ll often find opportunities to put money to work in more effective areas and keep your cash flow reserves where they need to be for rainy days. To be forward thinking about your agency’s finances, you’ll need to add a few additional steps to your agency’s accounting cycle.