By Chris Pracy One of the great things about the internet is freedom of expression, but this can have a downside for your business when disgruntled customers or ex-employees decide to publish their grievances online. Online reputation management has become an important issue for many businesses since the rise of social media websites. There are a number of steps you can take to manage your company's online reputation and ensure that any information about you online is accurate and fair.


Tracking mentions of your company name online
When you want to keep up-to-date on what people are say...


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postedPosted : January 03, 2010 | More commentsComments : 0 | Bookmark and Share

Most businesses start out as a small company, owned by one person or by a partnership. The most common type of business when there are multiple owners is a corporation. The law sees a corporation as real, live person. Like an adult, a corporation is treated as a distinct and independent individual who has rights and responsibilities.

A corporation's "birth certificate" is the legal form that is filed with the Secretary of State of the state in which the corporation is created, or incorporated. It must have a legal name, just like a person.

A corporat...


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postedPosted : April 28, 2009 | More commentsComments : 0 | Bookmark and Share

Inventory is usually the largest current asset of a business that sells products. If the inventory account is greater at the end of the period than at the start of the reporting period, the amount the business actually paid in cash for that inventory is more than what the business recorded as its cost of good sold expense.

When that occurs, the accountant deducts the inventory increase from net income for determining cash flow from profit.

the prepaid expenses asset account works in much the same way as the change in inventory and accounts receivable accounts. However, changes in prepaid expenses are usually much smaller than changes in those other two asset accounts.

The beginning balance of prepaid expenses is charged to expense i...


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postedPosted : April 28, 2009 | More commentsComments : 0 | Bookmark and Share

Another portion of the statement of cash flows reports the investment that the company took during the reporting year. New investments are signs of growing or upgrading the production and distribution facilities and capacity of the business.

Disposing of long-term assets or divesting itself of a major part of its business can be good or bad news, depending on what's driving those activities.

A business generally disposes of some of its fixed assets every year because they reached the end of their useful lives and will not be used any longer. These fixed assets are disposed of or sold or traded in on new fixed assets.



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postedPosted : December 13, 2008 | More commentsComments : 0 | Bookmark and Share

It would probably be ideal if business and life were as simple as producing goods, selling them and recording the profits. But there are often circumstances that disrupt the cycle, and it's part of the accountants job to report these as well.

Changes in the business climate, or cost of goods or any number of things can lead to exceptional or extraordinary gains and losses in a business.

Some things that can alter the income statement can include downsizing or restructuring the business. This used to be a rare thing in the business environment, but is now fairly commonplace.



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postedPosted : December 13, 2008 | More commentsComments : 0 | Bookmark and Share

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