(Part Three of a Three-Part Series)

Minding Your Cell Phone Manners

Last week we discussed the importance of answering your business phone properly. In this last article of this series on phone etiquette we will discuss proper etiquette when using your cell phone. Cell phones enable us to keep in touch despite location. They’ve become a great convenience and have advanced our ability to remain in contact with our businesses and all the contacts that make those businesses thrive. Unfortunately, cell phone users can take it a bit too far, making their business everyone’s business by talking about private issues in very public places, taking calls regardless of the company they’re in, and disregarding many cell-free zones like libraries and hospitals. If you have a cell phone it’s important that you mind your wireless manners, because when you don’t you endanger your professional image and irritate those around you.

Consider the following 7 rules of cell phone etiquette:

1. Respect cell-free zones.
Libraries, museums, theaters, hospitals, dentist offices, churches, and all other cell-free zones should be respected. Otherwise you appear unprofessional and disrespectful which may be discouraging to potential clients.

2. Don’t take personal calls when doing business.
Unless an emergency, it is rude to take personal calls when meeting with other professionals. In fact, it’s a good idea to turn your cell phone off before you enter meetings, presentations, or lunch appointments with associates.

3. Maintain a safe parameter when carrying on a conversation in public.
While at the library a few weeks ago a man began carrying on a very private conversation with his mother where he talked about his drug addiction, the halfway house where he was currently residing, and the twelve-step program he was having trouble following. Not only was it a cell-free zone, but he was surrounded by about 5 people in a very quiet area; at the end of his call we all knew more about him than we wanted to know. Whether a personal or business call, no one wants a conversation thrust upon them, especially when it is one of which they did not agree to participate.

4. Wear an earpiece to better hear your caller and gauge your voice level.
If you know you’ll be in a noisy area it’s good to wear an earpiece which helps you better engage with your caller.

5. Demand that employees follow your rules of proper cell phone etiquette.
If you have employees it is important that you enforce your own version of cell etiquette when they are in your office. One unprofessional misstep could send the wrong message to your clients.

6. Inform callers that you are speaking on a cell phone.
It is good to let listeners know when you are on a mobile because they will be better prepared for the common interferences associated with cell usage.

7. Avoid loud and annoying ring tones.
While it may be fun to find unusual and distinct ring tones, they can sound annoying to listeners. And because you use your cell phone for business, everything about your wireless conversations should be professional, including your ring tones and its volume level.

With every great technological advance come some disadvantages. While accessing business associates may be more convenient with your cell phone, you must recognize that sometimes that comes with a price. If you don’t want to disturb those around you and come across as rude and inconsiderate then you must follow simple rules of cell phone etiquette. The seven listed above will help you get started.

(Part Two of a Three-Part Series)

Minding Your Landline Manners

With one thoughtless flick of the wrist you can answer the phone and compromise your career. We can’t stress enough the importance of practicing good etiquette in all your correspondence. Because regardless of your intentions, each time you communicate you’re speaking for your business.

Last week we discussed the importance of practicing phone etiquette when placing a call. This week we’ll examine the significance of answering a phone properly.

Answering a Call

Whether you or your secretary manages this task, you should never underestimate the importance of taking calls. The way in which your business phone is answered speaks volumes of your professionalism. Consider the following when tackling this important responsibility:

1. Identify yourself and your business. Each time you or your secretary answers the phone your business must be identified. This orients the caller and assures them they’ve reached their intended party. And imagine how disconcerting it is for a caller to place a business call only to have someone answer with a simple, “hello?” They may wonder if they have dialed the wrong number.

2. Watch your tone. It’s important that whoever answers your phone speaks with a friendly and approachable tone. The more personable your answering service, the more approachable your business.

3. Ask for permission to put someone on hold. If you must put someone on hold, ask for their permission first and estimate the length of their wait. This demonstrates respect for the caller and his/her time.

Voicemail

Yes, there is a certain amount of etiquette required when recording your voicemail message. Like any other correspondence, your outgoing message contributes to your professional image. A lackluster or incomplete voicemail recording may not inspire your callers to leave their message, thus loosing potential business. Remember to include the following when creating your recording:

A few moments pause. This time enables callers to prepare for your recording and process everything that will be relayed. Also remember how important it is to speak slowly and clearly.

A greeting. All work and no greeting can leave callers feeling short-handed. While it may be a business call, it doesn’t have to be sterile. Consider a greeting that will set the tone of your recording.

Your name. Before leaving a message your caller wants the assurance that they’ve reached their intended party.

The name of your business. Whether they were calling you specifically or your business, stating the name of your business will again reassure callers that they’ve called the right number.

The date. How frustrating is it to call a number that can no longer take calls because the voicemail is full. When your outgoing message includes a current date your callers realize that you manage you voicemail regularly and don’t allow messages to pile up. This assures them that you will return their call in a timely manner.

Estimated wait for a return call. Whether it is 24 or 48 hours, providing callers with an estimated wait for a return call is respectful and professional.

An emergency number. You don’t want callers to take advantage of an emergency number, but you do want them to have the help they need when they need it. When you provide callers with your home phone, the number of a business associate, or a call service, you enable panicked callers to talk with a person who can put them at ease.

You’d be surprised at how much impact your phone etiquette can have on callers. Not only can it help promote your professional reputation, but it’s the perfect start to a good track record with customer service. You’re promoting retention when callers feel as if their needs are being met.

Come back next week when we will discuss cell phone etiquette.

Painless Accounting: Increase Your Services and Your Bottom Line

Here’s a quick quiz for you.

1. Would you like to grow your business?
2. Would you like to work smarter and beat the competition?
3. Would you like to make more money?
4. Would you like to make a difference?
5. And would you like to do it all in less time?

If you answered “yes” to one or more of the above questions, than you would probably be interested in becoming a certified Professional Bookkeeper.

If you’re not quite sure yet, here’s another quiz.

1. Would you like the training to be convenient?
2. Would you like to learn at your own pace?
3. Would you like to avoid complicated math and confusing lingo?
4. Would you like to work with the small business, which provides over 85% of accounting opportunities?
5. And would you like to do it all without spending 4 years at a university?

Again, if you answered “yes” to those questions, than don’t wait another day to change your career and your life!

Small Businesses Are Looking for a Few Good Accountants
Over 85% of the opportunities in the accounting field are within small businesses. Universities prepare their students for corporate accounting which doesn’t address small business needs. More than 50% of small businesses fail, and much of that failure can be attributed to lack of accounting expertise. Imagine contributing to the success of small business, which will build your own community while providing you with job satisfaction and security. Why can’t that be you and how would you go about it?

UAC’s Professional Bookkeeper Program Has the Answer
At Universal Accounting, we understand the needs of the small business like nobody else. We’ve helped people like you advance their career in small business accounting for over 25 years. With a curriculum designed specifically to address the needs of small businesses, Universal Accounting offers the most complete small business accounting course anywhere. And depending on your schedule and situation, it could only take you 60 hours to complete. That’s about 4 weeks. Just think of it, you working for your financial stability and the lifestyle you have set for yourself in as little as 4 weeks!

Endless Opportunities
The Professional Bookkeeper Program will enable you to advance in your current job. Even non-accounting positions can be enhanced with accounting knowledge; this designation alone could impress your boss and earn a promotion. Or maybe you’d like to expand your tax practice by adding accounting services to your menu. This one program can open doors you might not have known existed.

In an informal poll taken by the success coaches here at Universal Accounting, we contacted 100 graduates of our Professional Bookkeeper Program 12 months after their graduation. 74% are now working in the accounting field, have been promoted to a management position or own their own accounting business.

Success Stories
But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what our students have to say about the program.

When I started this class I knew nothing about accounting. Wow, what a difference 4 weeks can make! My advice, Just Do It. You never know what you can do until you do it. I know you’ve heard it before, but in 10 years do you want to be where you are now? I don’t. That’s why I’m here doing this.
-Dennis Keener

I have the videos and will watch them over and over. This support sets Universal Accounting Center apart from the other institutions. The material presented by Universal Accounting Center is what I have searched for all my life. I know from years of educational experience that no finer information exists and no one puts this material together better than Universal Accounting!
-Benjamin York

I have been very impressed by how much we have learned in such a short time. I had no experience in any accounting but I was still able to complete this course. I would recommend this class to anyone that is interested in accounting.
-Marianne Johansen

Hundreds have found success in the Professional Bookkeeper Program. Won’t you join them?

Universal’s Distance Learning PB Program
An explanation of Universal Accounting Center’s Professional Bookkeeper Program is available on VHS or DVD to provide you with the flexibility and convenience necessary in today’s hectic world. While some students breeze through the program in a matter of weeks, others take their time in order to work the training around their busy lives.

Maybe you have been thinking about this for a while, to getting your PB Certification, take advantage of the opportunity right now. Learn how if you order your copy today, you can get all the modules for only $1485 paid in full! Consider how much a university education might cost. Here is a quick breakdown of typical expenses.

There is no comparison on cost - $33,000 verses $1485 of the Professional Bookkeeper Program! The PB Program wins hands-down. And because our course will take about 4 weeks, rather than 4 years, you can also cut out the cost of lost career opportunities, since you can get working right away. Even a conservative estimate of $2,000/month of wage x 47 months (4 years minus the month that our training takes) comes to $94,000 in lost wages. Add that to the $33,000 in costs associated with a college accounting program and we come to a grand total of $127,000 - the REAL COST of university training!

$1485 is only a mere fraction of the cost of a university education and the Professional Bookkeeper Program will help you take advantage of 85% of accounting opportunities. And if you can’t afford the $1485 right now, click here to learn about our financing. Don’t let anything hold you back from the success you both want and deserve.

Visit Universal Accounting Center today to begin increasing your services and your bottom line!

Are You Where You Want to Be?

Another tax season has come and again you are not where you want to be. For awhile you’ve been thinking you could really “clean up” if you just had the right training and marketing know-how to get your tax preparation business off the ground. You know you have the aptitude; you’ve been doing your friends and family’s taxes for years. Every time you get a chance you read up on the latest tax code changes. Perhaps you even subscribe to IRS Alerts from the latest edition on MSN Money. Doing taxes professionally would be easy for you.

So how can you make this happen? How can you get yourself into the position where you can make your current yearly salary in the first 4 months of the year? How can you become a Professional Tax Preparer?

Perhaps you’ve looked into signing up with the biggest tax prep chains. A couple even looked good, that is, if you like signing your life away for the next two years. And you know that something wouldn’t sit right knowing you’re making them hundreds of dollars with you only seeing $8.50 an hour. The training they provide seems ok, but when you look into it more deeply, you realize their training isn’t complete and would not enable you to work independently later. There has to be something better!

Maybe you’ve even considered opening your own tax preparation franchise. However, the cost of buying into the franchise, with the initial fees, monthly payments and royalties required, makes it difficult to become profitable. It isn’t worth the expense for the mere HOPE that you could recoup the tens of thousands you would have to shell out for name recognition alone. And all that while paying some steep monthly overhead for office space and furniture. There has to be a better way, right?

Complete and Affordable Tax Certification

Universal Accounting has thought the same thing. Since 1979 Universal Accounting Center has been showing businesses how to become more profitable. In his book, In the Black, Allen Bostrom, President and CEO of Universal, details the formula one would use to see their business succeed. And it’s upon those sound and solid principles that Universal has built the Professional Tax Preparation Certification.

There is a better way to do business, and it’s having a business of your own! Universal Accounting has helped over 30,000 other accounting, bookkeeping and tax professionals get the training they need to be successful with their own practices. You could be the next. Don’t let another year pass without you being in the driver’s seat of your career! You can get the hands-on training and marketing know-how while keeping costs low as you work from your home office. Universal knows a better way to making your career change profitable and successful.

Are you ready to take that next step? You have gotten this far in your search to do what you want in your chosen career, take the next step. The time is now to be able to get the training and the change you desire in your professional life. Enroll today!

Why Would My Clients Want Me to Charge Them More?

Business Owners Want to Reduce their Expenses… That’s Why

Save your clients money. They’ll gladly pay you for doing so. When most successful business owners look at their income statement every month, they are searching for ways to reduce their expenses and increase their profitability. As a tax preparer you are in a unique position to not only help your clients with decisions that reduce their tax burden every year, but you provide services that will be of value to them all year long.

Traditionally, a company’s bookkeeper was responsible for providing all of the accounting functions in a small business. Unfortunately for the small business owner, the monthly bookkeeping, tax filing and even payroll accounting services have one-by-one been handed over to specialists.

Why Do You Say Unfortunate… It Sounds Like a Good Idea to Me?

In the past, a small business bookkeeper provided a complete picture of a businesses financial health. Because he/she worked on the books each month, did the payroll and filed all the taxes, the advice he gave the business owner was based upon the day-to-day financial picture and the yearly tax consequences. It was a complete picture.

Small business is not corporate America. Specialists providing services like payroll accounting, bookkeeping and tax services make sense for large corporations. In fact, the bookkeeping services in larger corporations are often specialized. The Accounts Payable clerk doesn’t know what the Accounts Receivable clerk is doing and the Payroll clerk or service has nothing to do with the other accounting functions.

Is Small Business Accounting Really that Different?

In many ways… yes. Picture a large battleship. Once you get going, it’s not stopping or turning without a lot of effort. It might take a mile or more for it to turn around. On the other hand, a small speedboat can stop and start on a dime. It can turn around in a few feet and can accelerate quickly and react to hazards by going around them rather than plowing through them.

Large corporations are a lot like the battleship and the speedboat is like the small business. Small businesses can react to changes in the market quicker but aren’t big enough to plow through the bumps (or hazards) of the market. A qualified tax professional/bookkeeper is one of the most important people in every small business. His or her experience allows the small business owner to safely navigate the complicated waters that his little speedboat is in.

Okay… I Understand, But You Said it Would Make My Tax Practice More Profitable

Tax preparation is the first part of your complete business service. During tax season, you are the person they trust with one of the biggest concerns every small business owner faces every year. Their taxes.

Why Do You Want to Provide a Year-Round Service to Your Clients? That’s Easy…

As you might expect, for most tax professionals, the busiest time of the year is during tax season. They spend the entire year either building up to, or winding down from the tax filing deadline. By adding bookkeeping services to your business you can make your monthly income statement much more predictable and consistent.

Tax Accounting and Bookkeeping… the Perfect Combination

Bookkeeping and accounting provide one of the most predictable and consistent income sources there is. Every business must account for income, expenses and losses for tax purposes. This is mandated by law.

As you consider what we’re discussing, consider how working with the financial records every month will make year-end tax preparation even easier for you.

By combining bookkeeping serves with your tax preparation business, you’ll become a “one-stop-shop” for financial services. By becoming a “one-stop-shop” you just increased your earning potential while offering a greater level of service to your clients.

While your income as a tax preparer may be cyclical in nature, the earnings potential for an accountant/bookkeeper is very different. As you add clients to your tax preparation business, with a profitable bookkeeping service, you can expect your income to grow similar to the graph below.

You will bill a typical small business accounting client around $300 per month. As you can see, it doesn’t take many clients before your bookkeeping clients have added a substantial boost to your year-end income statement.

There is beauty to this windfall. By providing a better and more complete financial service to your clients, you are saving them money and making them more profitable too.

Besides, they don’t want to give a detailed explaination of their business each year to their tax preparer. You, on the other hand, know their books inside-and-out, because you prepared them yourself.

Additional Education Will Put More Money Into Your Bank Account

Universal Accounting has taught Accounting and Bookkeeping since 1979. With the most complete program for small business accounting found anywhere, you purchase with confidence, knowing you will get the very same quality education in bookkeeping and accounting that you have come to appreciate in tax preparation.

A Wonderful Opportunity at a Great Price

Providing a complete small business financial service to your clients makes your tax practice stronger. I’d like to offer you a special bundled price on the Professional Tax Preparer Certification and the Professional Bookkeeper Program. If you purchase today, you can save $1550.

Purchase with No Risk!

Universal Accounting’s promise to you:

Universal Accounting’s Ironclad
100% Money Back Guarantee

Why Not Order Now… While it’s on Your Mind?

There’s never been a better time than now to start your business as a professional tax preparer. And by combining tax preparation and bookkeeping into your business, there’s never been a potentially more profitable way to begin your practice. Follow the link below and begin your exciting career as a tax preparation professional.

Click Here for More Information About the Professional Tax Preparer Certification

Serving You with Our Free Newsletters

We enjoy sending you information that we hope improves your work as a tax preparer. Our three newsletters, AB Tips, Tax Tips, and Career Tips, are intended to help professionals like you advance in whatever their current position in the financial field. The AB Tips Newsletter is designed to share accounting and bookkeeping tips with subscribers. Intended for individuals with their own accounting practice or for those who would like to start their own practice, we specifically include tips on how to market your services, how to streamline tasks, how to organize your office space, etc. Our Tax Tips Newsletter is for tax preparers or those interested in tax preparation. We provide tax news, information on starting your own business, tips on building your clientele, etc. And finally, we have our Career Tips newsletter, for those who work or would like to work in the accounting field. In this newsletter we include information on getting the right job, advancing in your field, moving into management positions, etc.

As we learn more about your needs, we alter our approach in order to better serve you. We’re adding a few things to the newsletter that we hope you enjoy. Here’s a breakdown of what’s included and how we hope it helps you.

Two articles

Since we began running our free ezines over two years ago, we have included two articles every issue that offer accounting and tax information, tips on running and marketing a small business, career guidelines and promotional pieces. The newsletters provide us with the opportunity to share our products and services with those we believe they best serve. Universal’s programs are top of the line and life-changing; we promote them because we know they help people like you achieve career goals and realize your business dreams.

We also use the newsletter as an opportunity to expose you to our many free resources, including personalized information from our President and CEO, Allen Bostrom in Allen’s Blog, UAC’s accounting and tax forums, the newsletters, and the Universal video tour.

Recently we’ve responded to requests for purely informational pieces as well. Last summer we asked newsletter subscribers to tell us what you wanted to read about. For the past six months we’ve tried to include articles on all suggested topics. Each newsletter contains one, if not two, informational pieces. We continue to welcome your feedback as we write articles intended to help you improve your financial services. Please visit our forums for a chance to give us feedback on past articles and suggestions for future articles.

Press Releases and New Products

We want you to be in the know about everything Universal, so we include all press releases, enrollment offers, and information about new products in our newsletters. From our new interactive testing center to our customized Professional Bookkeeper Program for Canadian residents, we want you to be the first to know what’s happening at Universal Accounting Center.

Quotable Quote

Everyone could use a little inspiration now and then, so we like to include a quotable quote in each issue of our newsletters. Funny quotes, somber quotes, quotes that make you want to get up and accomplish something, we try to include a variety that inspire and uplift.

“The Bottom Line”

And last but certainly not least is an upcoming addition to our newsletters: a video clip we call “The Bottom Line.” In the serious world of financial statements, taxes, and projected profits, the bottom line is that we like what we do and can enjoy a good laugh about our profession. The humorous clip is intended to help lighten your load and improve your day. We hope you look forward to this new feature and share it frequently with coworkers, family, and friends.

We want our newsletter to help you move forward in your goals as a financial professional. So stay tuned as we continue to improve our newsletters so that they can better serve your needs. We appreciate your support.

How to Maximize Business Relationships

Ray Sclafani, founder and president of a coaching firm called ClientWISE, wrote an article for womenentrepreneur.com called “Reaching the Next Level of Your Business” in which he discusses the importance of using professional relationships to boost your small business to the next level. In that article he presents three steps in accomplishing this, which we have condensed and modified in consideration of your unique business concerns. If you’ve been thinking about advancing your business, consider the following:

Define your vision.

I was walking down the hallway of my children’s elementary school yesterday and saw a poster that read, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” If you haven’t given any thought to what you’d like your business to ultimately become, than you’re on track to getting what you’ve always gotten.

All successful business owners have a vision and the vision helps them determine what action they must take in order to move their business to the next level. Are you interested in evolving your business into something more profitable? Would you like to see it become a full-time venture? Are you interested in expanding your business so that you can function as a full-service financial provider? Do you expect to grow your business and add staff employees? All these questions can help you determine where you’d like your business to go. Once that vision is defined you can take the necessary steps to accomplish it.

Turn associates into advocates.

Look at all your contacts (clients, potential clients, colleagues, other business associates) and determine which of those might become your advocates. Consider those you most trust, who appreciate your services. Once you’ve found 10-such associates, you can approach them for help. No, you’re not asking for money or even a lot of their time. You’re asking them to answer 3 key questions regarding your business and how it might improve:

1. What do you do well now?
2. How might your business improve?
3. How would they describe your business to a friend or associate?

The answers to three questions will provide you will insight that will enable you to move forward, taking your business with you.

Work at 90-day increments.

In order to find the best business advocates, Sclafani suggests asking yourself: “Which 10 people could have the greatest impact on my business in the next 90 days?” Once you determine who those individuals are you can work to improve your relationships in order to get that valuable feedback that will improve your business. If that relationship already exists, initiate that conversation as soon as possible so that you can be advised on where next to take your business.

Work in 90-day increments, keeping your goals in mind. Those goals can be to develop relationships with key advocates or being applying valuable advice on improving your business and services. Whichever goals you choose, watch them closely and do all you can to accomplish them within that three-month timeframe.

References
Sclafani, Ray. “Reaching the Next Level of Your Business.” 22 October 2007. WomenEntrepreneur.com

UAC Can Be a Tremendous Advocate for Your Business

One way to fast-track your business to the next level is by adding accounting to your services. You’ll be able to attract more clients and stay busy year-round, managing small business accounts. And by enrolling in Universal Accounting Center’s Professional Bookkeeper Program you can gain the knowledge and expertise much sooner than you might expect.

In less than 60 hours you could complete practical training in small business accounting that will give you the confidence and skills you need to launch your business to another, more profitable level. Not only that, but you’ll find the program inexpensive and convenient, allowing you to study at your own time and pace. Here are the four modules you’ll enjoy:

• Module One: Accounting Made Easy
• Module Two: Practical Small Business Applications
• Module Three: Advancing Your ‘Account-Ability’
• Module Four: Building a Successful Accounting Service Contents

To learn more you can order our video, “Introduction to the Professional Bookkeeper Program” for just $9.95. Imagine that. For less than $10 you can be one step closer to achieving your vision. Now that’s a prime investment! Order today!

NATP is a Fantastic Resource for Tax Preparers

Universal Accounting Center gladly recognizes the immense value of the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) membership and encourages its students and associates to join NATP’s elite association to enjoy their invaluable benefits to the tax preparing professional.

What is the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP)?

The NATP is set as non-profit organization created to assist taxpayers with vital information and knowledge. Founded in 1979, the NATP is committed to excellence in the tax profession. Their national headquarters, located in Appleton , WI employs over 40 professionals and 25 instructors to stay on top of all the issues involved in the industry. NATP’s existence is set up to serve professionals who work in all areas of tax practice and has more than 17,000 members nationwide, including tax preparers, enrolled agents, public accountants, accountants, attorneys and financial planners. Their website remains timely, with reports on current tax issues, happenings, and events. A neat feature on the NATP site is the ability to post federal and state tax questions that will be answered by their experts.

What Do You Get with Joining NATP?

Membership Benefits
Members receive a monthly newsletter and access to a quarterly journal. The newsletter and journal cover timely tax topics to help you stay current in the tax profession. NATP also provides more than 200 workshops per year on updated tax topics, and members receive a significant discount when they attend.

Timely Tax News
If you in need for all the current information on possible tax legislation and IRS policies and procedures, the NATP website and newsletter are valuable resources. For example, their website includes a permanent link providing current information on possible senate legislation that would require the licensing of paid tax preparers. Current newsletter topics include the new IRS Issue Management Resolution System (IMRS), temporary IRS procedures for certain expedited filings due to headquarters flooding, and credits for hybrid cars and alternative motor vehicles; all valuable information for the tax professional.

Workshops
The NATP hosts workshops and symposiums for the tax industry professional. Here is this year’s upcoming conference:

Annual Conference & Expo - This conference and expo will take place in Atlanta, Georgia from July 7 - 10, 2008 and will include education, fun, and networking.

NATP and UAC’s Partnership in Excellence

NATP is a UAC program affiliate. Both organizations promote excellence in tax preparation; UAC offers a 10% discount to NATP members on all our programs. Many NATP members are interested in adding bookkeeping to their services,