If you're anything like me, you struggle with keeping track of your kms for business expenses. 

My husband kindly downloaded a handy-dandy app on to my phone, which would do a great job tracking mileage... if I could only remember to either turn it on or off when heading out for business.  Inevitably I forget one or the other.

So when it comes to tax time I often have to resort to other methods to figure out my business kms. 

One trick, is that anytime I have a business receipt for a store or a bank deposit, I know that I can claim the kms traveled to and from that location.  For example, Staples is approximately 3 kms from my office.  I can claim 6 kms for every Staples receipt I have, and the expenses for the office supplies I purchased, while I was at it.  My receipts are now pulling double duty! :)

Happy bookkeeping!

Recently a friend mentioned that whenever she did a social media post on Facebook, the wrong picture was being selected when she included a link to her website.  Curious, I tested the same thing myself and was surprised to see that my posts were also defaulting to incorrect photos and not allowing me to select different ones.  As I have managed several different websites and different FB pages I know that I’ve seen better photo options for posts.  So why was it working on some but not others?

A quick google search later and I found out that the size of the photos included on your website must be a minimum of 200 pixels by 200 pixels to qualify for display by Facebook.  Huh!  Who knew?!  When I took a second look at the photos on my website they were indeed too small.  A simple resizing to make them bigger was all it took to fix the problem.  Voila!

Here's how:

First you may need to determine how big the picture is in the first place.  Hovering over a picture thumbnail can reveal the pixel size of a photo.  In this case, 013.jpg is 1600 pixels X 1280 pixels as stated in the "Dimensions".

*Remember that you can always make a photo smaller but sometimes if it's too small to begin with it will become very blurry if you try to make it bigger.

Next you will also need to check the size of your photos directly in your web builder.  In this case my services photo is 285 pixels by 191 pixels.  Facebook is unable to recognize this in my posts because the 191 pixels does not meet their 200 pixel minimum standard.

As an additional note, Facebook also has a “Debugger” site that will evaluate your website and can run a diagnostic to see if there are any problems with it.  The debugger also caches information about your website.  So if your photos need to be refreshed, you can clear the cache and tell Facebook to find new pics from your website.  You can then even choose a default one.

Here’s the link to the debugger.  I encourage to put your website URL in and see what it comes up with.

https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/

One thing I am always conscious of when designing reports for my clients (and for myself as a small business owner) is Toner & Paper.  Toner is expensive and as a personal rule, I try to kill as few trees as possible when printing.  So my tip today is to have a second look at any graphics, logos, shading, redundant space, etc. that are on your documents and receipts.
 
Here’s what I recommend.  Avoid blocks of space with solid colours.  If you need to have them, try using the lighter if not lightest shades available in those colours.  If it’s a simple receipt, try having everything fit on one page (Yes I’m talking to you PayPal).  If you have a presentation or proposal that has tons of pictures in it, try having a “printable” version of just text available.  Watermarks are also a great alternative to having giant logos on the page.  Whatever the case may be, just try to remember that if someone needs to print it, it should be toner and paper friendly.

Example of a "Square" receipt which has a large, solid block of colour at the top.  By the time this prints my paper is warped from so much toner being applied in one spot.  A better idea would be to have a softer tone, or pattern that uses far less ink and perhaps darken the symbol in the middle.

PayPal receipts always take up 2 pages unnecessarily.  Yes they are trying to convey a lot of information but I'm sure if they tried they could find a way to minimize all the redundant text on the 2nd page.

This is just 1 page of a beautiful presentation I received.  However, printing wise - this a toner nightmare.  On screen or during an actual proposal the giant pictures with minimal text is perfect, but for general distribution and printing purposes it should be the other way around.

I would just like to say a big thank you to the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce for allowing me to present on Records Management this afternoon at Woodside Golf Course.  We covered a LOT of stuff but hopefully people were able to take away one or two techniques that they can use going forward into 2016.

As promised here is the presentation for anyone that may have missed something.  Have fun organizing!

I think the bane of any Access Designer is the dreaded question, “Can I do that on my iPad?”  The answer is of course “No!”  Macs have many software programs that are compatible with standard PC programs, like Word and Excel but in the Database realm it’s far more complicated.  Mac’s use a program called Filemaker Pro for Database Design, but sadly Access and Filemaker shall never see eye to eye.  Don’t get me wrong you can resort to buying a program called Parallels, and then buy a Microsoft Operating System plus the Access Program to get it to work on a Mac, but after all that effort wouldn’t it just be easier to get a PC?  It’s not worth the effort, trust me. 

Fear not though intrepid problem solver for I have a solution!  This applies for anyone really, not just database designers.  There is a way to create simple, easy to use online forms that can be used by both Mac & PC users and can even be filled out using Smart Phones.  It is a fantastic way for any small business to collect data even if it’s not being put into a database.  It’s called Google Drive!!!

To sign up for a Google Account is FREE and easy to do.  Once you have an account you have access to all kinds of apps, one of which is called Google Drive.  It is meant to be an online file sharing method, which of course you can certainly use it for, however I prefer Drop Box for that.  What I love about Google Drive is the Online Forms you can create that collect responses from recipients and puts them into a handy dandy spreadsheet that I can export to excel if I need to.

The forms come in a variety of professional looking design templates to choose from.  You are able to customize any type of question within the form using formats like Multiple Choice, Text, Paragraphs, Dates/Times and more.  Once the form is complete you can then either e-mail it to select recipients, share via Facebook, or imbed a Link to the form on a Website.  You can even set the option for the respondents to be able to edit their responses after they’ve been sent.  All this info collected in a spreadsheet that time stamps their responses and can notify you through e-mail that they’ve been sent.  Oh did I mention that it was FREE?!!!

So if you’re stuck for a way to do an Online Survey, collect Timesheets, or get RSVP’s for an Event I would highly suggest looking into Google Drive.  There are tons of great online tutorials available on You Tube that show you how to create them and once you start I guarantee you’ll be addicted.

I think one of the first and easiest hurdles to overcome when running a small business is what happens when your business transactions are handled through your personal accounts. 

Say you’re at Walmart buying shampoo and you notice that they have a sale on file folders.  You purchase both items using your debit card and then you have to remember to keep the receipt so you can expense the file folders as part of your office supplies.  Annoying right?  Tax time paperwork anxiety attack waiting to happen?

I can’t stress this next point enough.  The best way to avoid this type of situation is to set up a dedicated Business Bank Account.  It’s inexpensive, simple to set up and will make your business transactions so much easier to manage. 

Same scenario at Walmart but in this case I simply pay for my shampoo on my personal debit card and then pay for the file folders on my business debit card.  Easy peasy!  Even if I lose the receipt I can still track expenses for my business through my monthly statement.  (You may not be able to claim them without the receipt but at least you’ll know where the money went.)

My advice when setting up an account is to definitely shop around for the available services and monthly fees charged.  Business accounts are handled differently than personal accounts so don’t be surprised if your personal bank does not offer the best options for your business requirements. 

Debit Cards, Cheques, and even Credit Cards all dedicated to your business account really elevate managing your business to the next level.  Trust me your bookkeeper will thank you.  Good luck!

                                                                                ...

*Please Note:  Beware of a Paper Fee charged for “mailed” monthly statements!  My bank recently started charging me $2/mailed statement and let’s just say I am not impressed.  I can still get statements for free via e-mail but then I print them off anyway having to use my own paper and toner to do so.  For tax reporting purposes I believe that businesses should automatically get their statements for free.  (In my opinion if they wanted to save some trees they should have started charging that on the mailed personal statements instead.)

As a small business owner I have to wear many hats requiring me to become an expert in many subjects that I have had no prior experience in.  Sometimes it can be difficult to learn the necessary skills.  One way I've found to achieve this is online learning.

YouTube can be ever so handy in many situations but there are times when I need something a little more precise and that’s where Lynda.com comes to the rescue.  They have a ton of subjects and the tutorials are often broken down in small easy to learn segments or modules.  They even have course previews you can try for free. 

Now there is a cost for signing up but there are various pricing options depending on your needs.  The last time I signed up with Lynda.com it was about $25/month (US).  In comparison I took one Quickbooks course with Mount Royal as part of their Continuing Ed program and it was about $280.  For the same price (factoring in the conversion rate) I would have had a little over a 9 month membership with Lynda.com wherein I could have taken as many courses as I wanted.  When you think about it in those terms it is much more cost effective to learn/train online.

I have also taken a course with VTC Online which I liked and the prices are very similar.  However I preferred the layout and structure of Lynda.com and their basic package was about $10 cheaper per month.  So if you can’t get it for free off YouTube I would recommend Lynda.com.  Happy Learning!

LOVE IT!  LOVE IT!  LOVE IT!  This is a fantastic tool for file sharing whether it’s just with yourself or with others.  Essentially it’s an online/virtual storage site where you can save your files to.  It’s FREE, it’s easy to set up and it automatically downloads the necessary short cut icons onto your desktop screen.   The website has a great little instructional video that explains how it works and it only takes a few moments to set up an account. 

Once you have an account you can set up various folders to store whatever files you would like.  You can invite people to share a folder with you giving them access to files saved in that folder; which is incredibly convenient if you have a large file that takes forever to send back and forth via e-mail.

Are you waiting for the catch?  Tons of spam e-mails, pop ups, endless advertising...?  To date I haven’t had any of that.  The catch is that you are only given 2GB worth of storage memory to start.  For anything larger you need to pay a small fee or you can earn more space by referring others.  As I do not store large amounts of music or media files in there, the 2GB has been more than adequate for the past couple of years. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post you get 25GB of free online storage space with any Hotmail or Windows Live account.  However the draw back with that one is that it’s private and doesn’t download the handy dandy icons on your desktop.   So I use the Drop Box as a quick fix for anything I need to get to right away and I use my Hotmail storage space for long term important things that I need to archive.

For practical uses for business I use it to share files between my laptop and the computer in my office.  I also use it to get to files when I am away from both computers.  As an example I was attempting to transfer a file to a client that I had saved to a USB Key, but it wasn’t working so I just logged into my web account and downloaded it from there.  I also know of a small business with several employees but no central office.  They all worked from their homes and used Drop Box as “Shared Drive” to communicate with one another. 

So for small businesses or even for personal use I think Drop Box is definitely worth a try.

Like many, I usually find that I go into Costco for one or two things and I always end up spending WAY too much.  Sort of like trying to eat just one of those 2 bite brownies, then before you know you’ve eaten the entire bag and you hate yourself for it.  However there are 2 things that I look forward to as a result of being a Costco member. 

First and probably most importantly...their GAS RATES!  If you haven’t been to a Costco location that sells gas you are missing out.  I am not just talking about a couple of cents.  They are consistently 5 to 8 cents cheaper than the lowest rate in town.  Even if I am on empty I will put $5 in somewhere else just to make it to Costco to fill up.  As I usually have to drive to client locations saving on gas is a high priority.

Then there is their Costco Magazine that they issue bi-monthly.  As a member I automatically receive a subscription and I have to say they have a surprising number of helpful hints that I have been able to apply to my small business.  Techie tips, financial planning, business trends and a number of services that you may not realize they offer. 

As an example I have had a Hotmail account since 1997 and it wasn’t until I read an article in their magazine that I found out I have 25 Gigabytes of free online storage space with my account.  Great if you need to back up some files.

Just to reiterate from my previous post.  I am not affiliated with or receiving compensation from Costco for posting this.  I just happen to use their services and I find them helpful so I am posting this in case anyone else would like to check them out.