You could be the savviest shopkeeper in town or the master of all things entrepreneurial. Regardless of whether you’re an absolute expert on your customers, your market, and your industry, there’s always the possibility of an unforeseeable accident. From natural disasters to security breaches to bio hazards, not all threats are immediately preventable. Your best bet? Business insurance. Ann Irons, a CPA in Bellingham, MA, shares five considerations for choosing business insurance.

Step 1: Evaluating Your Risks

Underwriting is the process by which an insurance company sets its acceptable threshold for risks, which they use to determine which policies are issued. An underwriter evaluates your insurance application, then makes a decision to cover all or some of the requested amount of coverage. As with any type of insurance, business insurance is comprised of a deductible and premium. Several factors influence the premium amount: the type of building used by your business, its physical location, and how much insurance you’ve purchased.

$30,000 – that’s the average cost of setting up shop and starting your own business these days. It may not seem like much at first until you consider the competition for loans and the difficulty securing a hefty investment up front. When you’re unable or unwilling to seek loans from private lenders and banking institutions, your natural inclination may be to approach friends and families. Here are a few things to keep in mind, compliments of Ann Irons, a small business CPA in Bellingham, MA.

Weighing Your Options

Before you approach a prospective financier, consider the advantages and disadvantages you may encounter over the course of business:

Pros

• You’ve already established trust
• Fewer requirements must be met
• Subjectivity, or the “We know him; he’s a good guy” advantage
• Cash is usually received sooner
• Less paperwork

Cons

• Lender may expect to gain control over decision-making in exchange for funding
• Failure or delays in repayment can harm relationships
• Other perceived entitlements, such as free or discounted merchandise or services

As local universities gear up for the start of the fall semester, college students and their parents are making preparations, too. College isn't just an adjustment to your way of life; it's also the start of a major financial obligation -- one that, if poorly managed, could find you paying student loan debt for decades to come. Ann Irons, a CPA who prepares tax returns for students in Bellingham, MA, shares tax tips for the coming school year.

These days, the most successful lawyers are those who are comfortable in the role of businessperson. It's easy to focus on an impending meeting or dispute--not that that's necessarily a bad thing, unless you do so to the exclusion of important business matters.

The key is striking the perfect balance between serving your real estate clients and creating a solid business foundation for your practice; otherwise you risk alienating your clients and your ledgers.

You're an expert in your products, services, clients, and market. A multitasking pro, you're never afraid to roll up your sleeves and tackle a challenge.

Unless it involves accounting, that is.

Even the savviest entrepreneurs admit that accounting is among the most intimidating and confounding aspects of running a business. Unwilling to admit defeat, many have turned to Accounting for Dummies and similarly self-deprecating resources. What not everyone realizes from the outset is that this approach is time-consuming and easily misinterpreted. Bellingham, MA certified public accountant Ann Irons explains why there's no shame in seeking professional help for your business.

Cut your expenses. It sounds obvious enough, so why do so many real estate law offices fall short of their profit potential? The self-defeating practice of ignoring expenses isn't limited to firms that are in deep financial distress. We also see it in firms that are profitable but complacent. Ann Irons, a CPA who provides accounting services for real estate lawyers in Bellingham, MA, explains how small and solo practices benefit from cutting fixed expenses wherever possible.

In a large real estate law firm, matters of finances, operations, and staffing are generally managed with minimal input from attorneys. For an attorney who's made the decision to practice alone, or for attorneys in a smaller practice, a solid grasp of business administration is needed. Accounting, pricing, and other financial matters are areas in which every member of the team can make a positive contribution. Bellingham, MA CPA  Ann Irons, who works alongside several real estate law practitioners, shares her insights.

We’ve seen it happen many times, real estate attorneys whose excellent track record in a court of law isn’t enough to offset financial woes caused by poor practice management.

“There’s a tendency to focus only on the outcome of each legal transaction,” says Ann Irons, a CPA who offers financial services to real estate lawyers in Bellingham, MA.

“Simple metrics like the number of cases won may be gratifying, but they don’t offer any useful insight,” she adds. When used correctly, metrics can improve all aspects of your practice, including its profitability, attorneys’ performance, and use of resources. 

Real estate law is complex. Running a business is complex. Managing both, simultaneously? “Complex” doesn’t quite do it justice.

The importance of accuracy and transparency in your firm’s accounting practices cannot be overstated. At the office of Bellingham, MA CPA Ann Irons, we recently read about a prominent real estate lawyer whose shoddy internal bookkeeping brought down his high-volume practice and led him to surrender his law license.

No Room for Error: Two Cautionary Tales

As cloud-based services become more popular among corporations and large law firms, smaller agencies and solo attorneys can’t help but take notice.

Document management is critical to any practice, especially those that specialize in real estate, where a single real estate transaction generates a high volume of documents.  

Ann Irons, CPA, who provides bookkeeping, payroll, and consolidation for real estate law firms, works closely with lawyers and practice managers. Most practices utilize some combination of cloud-based, server-based, and outsourced functions to capture and store important data, including case files, client information, contacts, calendars, and notes.

Choose Wisely, Choose Sparingly

If you opt for a combination of cloud- and server-based servers, understand that there are challenges involved in creating a system piecemeal.

Suppose you use a cloud-based program to track client contact information and real estate agents’ files, a server-based software program for tracking and identifying leads, and another server-based program for and budgeting--that still leaves accounts payable and receivable, website maintenance, social media clients, and other functions.