This combination of speed and accuracy has created demand for smarter financial document processing solutions. Educational resources that explain these technologies have become increasingly important for lending professionals looking to improve workflows while maintaining strong underwriting standards.

What Is the MoneyThumb Learning Center?

The MoneyThumb Learning Center is an educational resource designed to help professionals better understand financial document processing technologies and lending workflows.

Instead of focusing solely on software features, the Learning Center explores real-world challenges that lenders, underwriters, ISOs, accountants, and financial institutions face every day.

Topics commonly include:

• Bank statement analysis
• PDF conversion technologies
• Cash flow analysis
• Fraud detection methods
• Financial document automation
• Underwriting workflow improvements
• Merchant cash advance processing
• Lending technology trends
• Data extraction techniques
• Financial reporting solutions

For professionals working with financial documents daily, these educational materials provide practical insights into improving efficiency and reducing manual work.

Why Financial Document Processing Has Become More Important

Small business lending continues to grow more complex. Underwriters often receive financial documents from multiple institutions, formats, and reporting systems.

A single borrower may submit:

• PDF bank statements
• Scanned documents
• Image files
• Accounting reports
• Financial summaries
• Merchant processing statements
• Tax records

Reviewing these documents manually takes considerable time.

More importantly, manual review introduces several operational challenges:

As lending volume increases, these issues become more difficult to manage using traditional methods alone.

How Financial Data Extraction Supports Lending Operations

One of the most discussed topics in modern underwriting is financial data extraction.

Financial data extraction refers to the process of converting information from statements, PDFs, and financial documents into structured data that can be analyzed more efficiently.

Traditionally, underwriters manually entered:

• Deposits
• Withdrawals
• Daily balances
• Revenue figures
• NSF occurrences
• Cash flow trends

This approach works for small volumes but becomes difficult to scale.

Modern extraction tools automate much of this process, helping underwriters focus on risk evaluation instead of repetitive administrative tasks.

The result is often:

• Faster reviews
• Better consistency
• Reduced human error
• Improved productivity
• More reliable financial analysis

Understanding Cash Flow Analysis in Lending

Cash flow remains one of the most important factors in small business underwriting.

Lenders want to understand whether a business generates enough income to support future repayment obligations.

While credit scores and collateral matter, cash flow frequently provides the clearest picture of financial health.

Underwriters typically examine:

Revenue Stability

Stable deposits indicate predictable business operations.

Large fluctuations may require additional review.

Average Daily Balances

Daily balances help reveal liquidity strength.

Low balances can indicate financial stress even when monthly deposits appear strong.

Deposit Frequency

Consistent deposits often suggest ongoing business activity.

Irregular deposits may require closer examination.

Negative Balance Activity

• Frequent negative balances can signal cash flow management problems.
• This information often influences approval decisions.
• The challenge is collecting and organizing all this data efficiently.
• That is why many lenders increasingly rely on document automation technologies.

How Different Bank Statement Formats Create Challenges

One overlooked issue in underwriting is statement format inconsistency.

Every financial institution generates statements differently.

Some use:

• Complex PDF layouts
• Multi-column formats
• Scanned images
• Custom transaction structures
• Unique date formats

This creates challenges for both manual reviewers and automated systems.

A document processing platform must accurately interpret information regardless of formatting differences.

One reason many lenders use specialized financial document software is the ability to standardize data across multiple bank statement layouts.

This standardization helps underwriters compare businesses more efficiently and reduces review inconsistencies.

Fraud Detection Is Becoming a Critical Priority

Financial fraud remains a major concern throughout the lending industry.

As editing software becomes more sophisticated, altered financial documents can appear authentic at first glance.

Traditional visual review methods are no longer sufficient in many situations.

Modern fraud detection focuses on identifying hidden inconsistencies that may not be visible to human reviewers.

Potential warning signs include:

• Metadata anomalies
• Transaction inconsistencies
• Formatting irregularities
• Artificial editing traces
• OCR regeneration artifacts
• Unusual document structures
• Inconsistent statement patterns

Detecting these issues early can help lenders reduce risk exposure significantly.

Understanding Thumbprint Fraud Analysis

One technology often discussed within lending operations is Thumbprint, a fraud analysis solution designed to evaluate financial documents for signs of manipulation.

The goal is not simply to identify obvious fraud.

Instead, the system looks for hidden indicators that may suggest a document has been altered or modified.

This additional layer of analysis helps underwriters:

• Review documents more efficiently
• Reduce fraud exposure
• Improve confidence in submitted files
• Identify inconsistencies earlier
• Support stronger lending decisions

As financial fraud techniques continue evolving, automated analysis tools are becoming increasingly valuable.

How Automated Analysis Helps Underwriting Teams

Underwriters face constant pressure to balance speed with accuracy.

Reviewing hundreds of pages of financial records manually can create bottlenecks throughout the lending process.

Automated analysis helps by organizing information into structured formats that are easier to evaluate.

Benefits often include:

This allows underwriting teams to focus more on decision-making rather than document preparation.

Improving ISO-Funder Relationships Through Better Data

Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) play a major role in merchant cash advance and alternative lending markets.

One challenge within these relationships involves file quality.

When submissions contain incomplete documents, inconsistent data, or unclear financial information, underwriting delays increase.

These delays affect:

• Funders
• ISOs
• Underwriters
• Merchants

Stronger document preparation creates smoother workflows for everyone involved.

Many successful funding organizations focus on improving file quality before submissions reach underwriting teams.

This reduces unnecessary back-and-forth communication and improves approval efficiency.

The Importance of Standardized Financial Data

Standardization is one of the most overlooked benefits of document automation.

Without standardization, lenders may review the same financial information differently depending on:

• Reviewer experience
• Statement format
• Institution source
• Reporting structure

Standardized data helps create consistency across underwriting teams.

Benefits include:

• More reliable analysis
• Better quality control
• Faster training
• Improved reporting
• Consistent approval standards

For organizations handling large application volumes, standardization becomes increasingly important.

Watermarking and Document Security

Financial documents contain highly sensitive information.

Protecting these records is critical for compliance, security, and operational integrity.

Watermarking features help organizations maintain control over documents during processing and review.

Common benefits include:

• Enhanced Security

Watermarks help identify document ownership and usage.

• Better Audit Trails

Teams can track document distribution more effectively.

• Reduced Unauthorized Sharing

Visible identifiers discourage improper document use.

• Improved Internal Controls

Organizations gain additional visibility over document handling procedures. While watermarking may seem like a simple feature, it can play an important role in document security strategies.

Why PDF Processing Remains a Major Challenge

PDF files continue to dominate financial document workflows.

Unfortunately, PDFs are not always easy to analyze.

Common problems include:

• Scanned images
• Locked files
• Non-searchable content
• Complex formatting
• Multiple page layouts

These issues make manual review time-consuming.

Document processing solutions address this challenge by converting PDFs into structured financial data that can be reviewed more efficiently.

This is particularly valuable in lending environments where large numbers of statements must be analyzed quickly.

How Lenders Use Document Automation to Compete

Fintech lenders have changed borrower expectations dramatically.

Businesses now expect:

• Faster decisions
• Simplified applications
• Rapid funding
• Digital workflows

Traditional lenders cannot always match fintech speed through staffing alone.

Instead, many organizations focus on workflow improvements.

Document automation supports these goals by reducing repetitive tasks throughout underwriting operations.

Common areas of improvement include:

• Data collection
• Statement analysis
• Fraud screening
• Financial reporting
• Application review

This allows institutions to improve turnaround times without compromising credit quality.

What Makes MoneyThumb Different in Financial Document Processing

One reason lenders frequently explore MoneyThumb solutions is the company's focus on financial document workflows.

Rather than providing generic document conversion tools, the platform focuses specifically on financial data extraction and analysis.

This specialized approach helps address challenges unique to lending, underwriting, accounting, and merchant funding environments.

Key focus areas include:

• Bank statement conversion
• Cash flow analysis
• Fraud detection
• PDF processing
• Financial data extraction
• Statement standardization

These capabilities support organizations that depend on accurate financial information for operational decisions.

How Modern Lending Teams Can Benefit From Learning Resources

Technology alone does not improve lending operations.

Teams must also understand how to use new tools effectively.

Educational resources help organizations:

• Train underwriters
• Improve workflows
• Understand fraud risks
• Evaluate automation opportunities
• Standardize procedures
• Increase operational efficiency

This is one reason learning centers and industry knowledge hubs continue gaining importance across financial services.

Organizations that combine technology with education often achieve better long-term results.

The Future of Financial Document Processing

Financial document processing will likely continue evolving rapidly during the coming years.

Several trends are already shaping the future:

• AI-assisted underwriting
• Advanced fraud detection
• Automated cash flow analysis
• Real-time financial verification
• Enhanced document authentication
• Faster lending workflows

As competition increases, lenders will continue looking for ways to improve speed while maintaining strong risk controls.

Document automation and financial data analysis technologies will likely play an increasingly important role in achieving that balance.

Final Thoughts

The MoneyThumb Learning Center provides valuable educational content for lenders, underwriters, ISOs, accountants, and financial professionals seeking to improve document processing and lending workflows. As financial institutions face growing pressure to accelerate approvals while managing risk, understanding modern technologies becomes increasingly important.

Topics such as bank statement analysis, PDF processing, fraud detection, cash flow evaluation, data standardization, and document security are no longer optional considerations. They are becoming core components of efficient lending operations.

Organizations that invest in both technology and education are often better positioned to reduce manual workloads, improve underwriting consistency, strengthen fraud detection, and create faster experiences for borrowers without sacrificing credit quality.

FAQs

What is the MoneyThumb Learning Center?

The MoneyThumb Learning Center is an educational resource that provides information about financial document processing, bank statement analysis, fraud detection, lending workflows, and document automation technologies.

How does MoneyThumb help with bank statement analysis?

MoneyThumb helps convert financial documents into structured data formats, making it easier for lenders, underwriters, and analysts to review deposits, balances, cash flow, and transaction activity.

What is Thumbprint fraud analysis?

Thumbprint is a fraud analysis tool designed to identify potential document inconsistencies and signs of manipulation within financial documents, helping lenders evaluate submissions more confidently.

Can document automation improve underwriting speed?

Yes. Document automation reduces manual data entry, organizes financial information more efficiently, and allows underwriters to focus on risk assessment rather than repetitive administrative tasks.

References

https://www.moneythumb.com/blog/moneythumb-learning-center/

https://www.moneythumb.com

https://www.moneythumb.com/products/

https://www.moneythumb.com/thumbprint/

https://www.moneythumb.com/pdf-converter/

https://www.moneythumb.com/blog/

https://www.sba.gov

https://www.fdic.gov

https://www.consumerfinance.gov

https://www.fedsmallbusiness.org

The post MoneyThumb Learning Center: A Valuable Resource for Modern Lending and Financial Document Processing appeared first on MoneyThumb.

Americans are Missing Out on Billions in Retirement Contributions--Researchers examined the retirement funds of 4.4 million participants from more than 500 companies. Twenty-five percent of those participants were not contributing enough of their own money to their 401(k) to take advantage of the company’s full match. $24 billion averaged out to about $1,336 in uncollected employer match funds each year. Over 20 years, the missed funds could add up to over $42,000 per employee.

Bill Gates Says Robots Should Pay Taxes--Robert W. Wood, the tax and litigation expert and writer for Forbes.com has written this great article concerning how Bill Gates thinks that robots should be taxes. Since it’s tax time, we thought it would be the perfect time for a review of this article, and a little tongue-in-cheek fun for our tax professionals and accountants. Goodness knows if there is anything lacking during this season, it is a more humor.

The Ten Best Website to Help With Personal Finance--A great list to choose the right website to help with your personal finance and get 2018 off to a fine start.

A Small Business Accounting Checklist from MoneyThumb--Nice list for those of you who plan on starting a new small business in 2018.

Addressing the Challenges of Accounting for e-Commerce Clients--E-commerce has eliminated so many barriers and connected consumers and companies worldwide. But as traditional boundaries between towns, states and countries have disappeared, e-businesses have created new revenue models that involve service-by-subscription and other unique challenges for accountants.

For Lenders; Speeding Up the Loan Application Process with Data Aggregation--In this article from American Banker, Data Aggregation’s New Frontier: Lending Decisions, Finicity Co-Founder and Executive Vice President Nick Thomas says, “Aggregation is similar to what borrowers “have been doing for decades-just quicker.” Kabbage CEO Rob Frohwein says, “I don’t even know if we’d be in business had the online lender not insisted on aggregation.”

Building A Culture of Continuous Improvement--Change is never easy, and the accounting profession has often shown a particular resistance to relinquishing traditional patterns. But for those firms that embrace change at all levels through process improvement initiatives, the results have been both visible and rewarding.

This concludes our list of our best blog posts from 2017. All of the team at MoneyThumb wish you and yours a very Happy New Year and continued success!

The post Yearly Roundup: Our Best Blog Posts For 2017 appeared first on MoneyThumb.

The MoneyThumb community firmly believes that you shouldn’t have to battle to manage your personal finances. There are no dragons to slay in the financial kingdom – only personal quests to complete for your own profit and peace of mind. Read on for our best suggestions for avoiding battles and reaching monetary goals without hassle.

The Financial Advisor/Money Manager Relationship

A financial advisor or money manager can provide the expertise needed to reach your goals and plan well for the future. It is important, though, to select the right person, and maintain a good relationship with them.

Peer Recommendations

Personal recommendations are a great starting point for selecting the right Financial Advisor. Seek out people with similar financial needs and goals to ensure you find someone that can help with your particular situation. If you’re a parent creating a college fund, for example, speak with other parents. Their recommendations will likely be more helpful to you than those provided by a retiree, or someone with a complex stock portfolio.

Learn Their Philosophy

Every financial planner has their own philosophy regarding saving, investing, and reaching specific financial goals. Make sure to select someone with a philosophy that resonates with you and feels right. A clear, agreed upon strategy and philosophy will help you and your financial planner to stay on the same page regarding money management. Ask to see a sample financial plan so you can know in advance what type of steps they would like to take moving forward.

Monitor Your Finances

Once you’ve selected a trustworthy money manager, and agreed upon a plan, the next step is to monitor your finances. Stay informed about your daily transactions and progress towards goals by checking your accounts regularly. This will allow you to quickly spot any discrepancies – accidental or intentional – that may have occurred under your financial advisor’s watch. Use tools from MoneyThumb, like our 2qbo Convert Pro, to get all of your transactions into one unified, easy to track picture.

The Struggle to See All of Your Finances in One Place

Disorganization can derail your pursuit of financial success. Avoid this common misstep by sorting, categorizing, and prioritizing your financial data. MoneyThumb offers software to help you do exactly that, quickly and easily.

Collect Statements

It’s usually easy to collect and keep track of your current financial statements, but data from six months and older is also very valuable. See a complete picture of your finances by downloading historical statements in PDF format from your banks, credit card companies, and brokerage firms. Many find this step to be difficult, because they aren’t sure what to do with the PDFs once they’ve got them. This is where MoneyThumb can help! Use our converter software to change your downloaded PDF into QuickBooks, Quicken, spreadsheet, or other financial file formats.

Integrate Accounts

Once you have all of your statements and balances, you can combine the information into one program for a comprehensive view of your financial situation. Some struggle because they use multiple programs for different accounts – QuickBooks for their small business, Quicken for their personal banking, and an Excel spreadsheet for family budgeting, for example. Use MoneyThumb’s exclusive software to combine all of that data into just one place.

How It Works

A person with the aforementioned accounts might decide to put everything into Quicken, so they can see every element of their finances at a glance. Software converters from MoneyThumb give you the ability to convert QuickBooks files into Quicken files, and convert CSV spreadsheet files into .QIF Quicken format. Those that prefer using QuickBooks can opt for our 2qbo Convert PRO, which allows for conversion of Quicken (QIF or QFX), Excel (.XLS), .PDF, and .CSV files into .QBO QuickBooks online format.

Categorize Transactions

One advantage of using Quicken and QuickBooks is the ability to categorize transactions. This can also be done via simple spreadsheet tools, money management programs like Mint, or tax preparation software like Turbo Tax. Once you have all of the data into any one place, categorization changes from a battle to an easy feat accomplished. This is enormously helpful for personal budgeting, accurate income tax reporting, and a better understanding of your overall financial situation.

The Importance of a Community

Your personal finances are just that – personal – but that doesn’t mean you have to manage it all by yourself. Don’t limit yourself to just your expertise or that of your financial advisor. Participating in a group of like-minded, do-it-yourself finance people can benefit your bottom line and peace of mind. Share your knowledge with others online, and learn from their successes and mishaps. Not sure where to start? Not a problem! If you’re reading this, you are already a member of the MoneyThumb community. Join other MoneyThumbers in discussions and support on the website, forums, and Facebook page. You can begin by commenting on this article with your own advice or concerns about avoiding personal finance battles…we look forward to your feedback.

The post Personal Finance Shouldn't Be A Battle appeared first on MoneyThumb.

It is the Friday before Christmas and it's a good bet that today employees around the US are getting their much-anticipated Christmas bonuses and/or attending a company Christmas party. Not to be a Grinch, but MoneyThumb wants to make sure accountants, business owners and employees realize that Christmas bonuses and Christmas gifts to employees are taxable. Read below for Rule of Thumb guidelines on taxable bonuses, gifts and information about Christmas parties when it comes to taxes.

What You Need to Know About Taxes on Christmas Bonuses and Gifts

Christmas bonus and holiday gifts are taxable

First of all, Christmas bonus and holiday gifts, though the amount varies from one company to another and may increase or decrease each year, are considered as part of an employee’s earnings. That being said, bonuses are also taxable and must be indicated in the employee’s W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) form and will also be subjected to federal, state, and local government taxes. As an employer, the Christmas bonuses and holiday gifts that you are about to give to your employees must be indicated in your accounting records as wages. These are then fully deductible and are considered as valid tax deduction. Failure to report bonuses or logging them as another type of expenses in the company’s books and records will result into corresponding penalties from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Types of Christmas bonus

Depending on the financial status of the company, business owners may consider any of the following options to give to their employees as a bonus:

• Cash – included in the employee’s paychecks
• Gift cards – a pre-loaded card that may be used to buy goods, dine at selected restaurant or avail of services at designated retailers or a group of accredited merchandisers.
• Gift certificates – good-as-cash and may be used to redeem a merchandise

Keep in mind that the bonuses specified above are subjected to applicable taxes because they are considered as additional compensation to the employee.

Christmas bonus under the 401(k) plan

There is an option for business owners to give out bonuses without incurring employer payroll taxes and still qualify for tax deduction on their business tax return. With the help of a certified public accountant, employers may release the bonus as part of the 401(k) profit sharing plan. The disadvantages of this non-taxable option is that the employees will not be able to receive the bonus as cash or check right away unless they withdraw funds from their plan and when they do, it will then be subjected to tax.

Holiday gifts and parties

Not all companies may afford to give bonuses to their employees but they need not fret for there are other means to spread good cheer. Small businesses and those that are just starting out in their respective industries may go for hosting a Christmas party at their office and/or distribute pre-made holiday baskets to its employees which they may take home to their loved ones.  The monetary value of the party and the holiday baskets will no longer be subjected to payroll taxes as they are considered as de minimis or fringe benefits. Also, the total cost of the party is considered as deductible expenses for employers.

The post What You Need to Know About Taxes on Christmas Gifts and Bonuses appeared first on MoneyThumb.

As an accountant, you have the power to select which clients you serve. Of course, in a perfect world all of your clients would possess the following 12 qualities, making your life and accounting business a breeze. We understand that not all clients can possess all of these qualities, but you get to choose which clients you will work with, so the following qualities should be those you look for in your clients:

What Qualities Does Your Ideal Accounting Client Possess?

1. Decent fees. Experience shows that a client who has previously made a decent investment with you is more likely to increase his or her investment with you in the future.

2. Affordability – strong revenue with good profit margins. Business advisory work done properly doesn’t come cheap. As such, you should prioritize clients with the ability to pay you for the value they will receive from your services.

3. Interest in Advancement. Once you help a client identify the key drivers of revenue and profit in his or her business, and then engineer systems to extract that data so that it can be monitored and acted upon in a timely manner, the numbers will start to improve. Having a client who is willing to let you help improve their business and the way they operate is always a win-win situation.

4. Desire to improve. It’s all very well you identify how you might help a client, but he or she needs to want it as well. Clients who are enthusiastic and open to collaboration to improve their business trump those who are apathetic and happy with their lot. There will come a time when that improvement will dwindle and you need to step in and take action to drive them to the next level, but scope for improvement in management reporting systems is a big opportunity waiting for your expertise to unlock it.

5. Takes advice. We suggest you work with a client who has a track record of implementing your advice. Think back to previous meetings with the client. When you offered advice, what happened as a result of it?

6. Positive mindset. Having a client who is not negative and looks on the bright side of things makes your job so much easier. Try to find clients who are at least upbeat about life and especially about business.

7. Referrer or potential to refer in the future. So much new work for accountants comes from client referrals that it makes sense to prioritize those with a track record of sending new clients your way. Do not exclude a client who has not yet referred; however, it may be your fault if you have never asked.

8. Good payer. The last thing you want is to find your mental energy absorbed with debt recovery when you should be 100 percent focused on helping the client achieve his or her goals.

9. Case study/testimonial. Utilize video testimonials from clients on your website. Call your top 10 clients and ask them if they would mind you writing a case study about the work you have done together or providing you with a written testimonial for use in your marketing. Your favorite clients will not refuse.

10. Well-known in the community. This is important especially if you are in a remote or regional location. Clients who are well-connected can be heavily influential in you winning quality new work.

11. You like them. This may sound simplified, but it really is important that you at least have basic respect for your clients, and hopefully even like them.

12. Your team likes them. Not to be overlooked, having clients that your team members at your accounting firm like has half the battle won when having your team handle that clients books.

Hopefully use can use the list of qualities above as a litmus test for having a cache of clients who are easier and more pleasant to work with.

The post What Qualities Does Your Ideal Accounting Client Possess? appeared first on MoneyThumb.

On August 26, 2016, the FASB issued an update to their guidelines and standards for handling cash flow issues in accounting. You can view the actual PDF of this update in the link below.

Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, includes specific guidance on eight cash-flow classification issues.

The issues addressed in this standards update include the following:

1. Debt prepayment or extinguishing of debt costs. Cash payments for debt prepayment or the extinguishing of debt costs should be classified as cash outflows for financing activities.

2. Settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing. At settlement, the issuer should classify the portion of the cash payment attributable to the interest related to the debt discount as cash outflows for operating activities, and the portion of the cash payment attributable to the principal as cash outflows for financing activities.

3. Contingent consideration payments made after a business combination. Cash payments not made soon after the acquisition date of a business combination by an acquirer to settle a contingent consideration liability should be separated and classified as cash outflows for financing activities and operating activities. Cash payments up to the amount of the contingent consideration liability recognized at the acquisition date should be classified as financing activities. Any excess should be classified as operating activities. Cash payments made soon after the acquisition date of a business combination by an acquirer to settle a contingent consideration liability should be classified as cash outflows for investing activities.

4. Proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims. Cash proceeds received from the settlement should be classified on the basis of the related insurance coverage (the nature of the loss). For insurance proceeds that are received in a lump-sum settlement, an entity should determine the classification on the basis of the nature of each loss included in the settlement.

5. Proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, including bank-owned life insurance policies. Cash proceeds received from the settlement should be classified as cash inflows from investing activities. The cash payments for premiums on corporate-owned policies may be classified as cash outflows for investing activities, operating activities, or a combination of investing and operating activities.

6. Distributions received from equity-method investees. When a reporting entity applies the equity method, it should make an accounting policy election to classify distributions received from equity-method investees using either the cumulative earnings approach or the nature-of-the-distribution approach.

7. Beneficial interests in securitization transactions. A transferor’s beneficial interest obtained in a securitization of financial assets should be disclosed as a noncash activity, and cash receipts from payments on a transferor’s beneficial interests in securitized trade receivables should be classified as cash inflows from investing activities.

8. Separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The classification of cash receipts and payments that have aspects of more than one class of cash flows should be determined first by applying specific guidance in US GAAP. In the absence of specific guidance, an entity should determine each separately identifiable source or use within the cash receipts and cash payments on the basis of the nature of the underlying cash flows. An entity should then classify each separately identifiable source or use within the cash receipts and payments on the basis of their nature in financing, investing, or operating activities.

In situations in which cash receipts and payments have aspects of more than one class of cash flows and cannot be separated by source or use, the appropriate classification should depend on the activity that is likely to be the predominant source or use of cash flows for the item.

The amendments apply to all entities, including both business entities and not-for-profit entities that are required to present a statement of cash flows under Topic 230, Statement of Cash Flows.

The standard goes into effect for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. For all other entities, the standard takes effect for fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2018, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2019.

Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. If an entity early adopts the standard in an interim period, any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes the interim period. An entity that elects early adoption is required to adopt all of the amendments in the same period.

Another great way to help your company handle cash flow is to obtain our PDF converter software, which helps streamline your accounting by converting bank statements in the click of a button.

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For accountants, multi-tasking may seem like second nature, especially during the busy tax season. But a study from Stanford University has proven that multi-tasking is not good for your brain, nor ultimately for your business.

Stanford put 100 students through a series of three tests and the researchers realized those heavy media multi-taskers are paying a big mental price. “They’re suckers for irrelevancy,” said communication Professor Clifford Nass, one of the researchers whose findings are published in  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Everything distracts them.”

Social scientists have long assumed that it’s impossible to process more than one string of information at a time. The brain just can’t do it. But many researchers have guessed that people who appear to multitask must have superb control over what they think about and what they pay attention to.

“We kept looking for what they’re better at, and we didn’t find it,” said Ophir, the study’s lead author and a researcher in Stanford’s Communication Between Humans and Interactive Media Lab.

In each of their tests, the researchers split their subjects into two groups: those who regularly do a lot of media multitasking and those who don’t. In one experiment, the groups were shown sets of two red rectangles alone or surrounded by two, four or six blue rectangles. Each configuration was flashed twice, and the participants had to determine whether the two red rectangles in the second frame were in a different position than in the first frame.

They were told to ignore the blue rectangles, and the low multi-taskers had no problem doing that. But the high multi-taskers were constantly distracted by the irrelevant blue images. Their performance was horrible.

Because the high multi-taskers showed they couldn’t ignore things, the researchers figured they were better at storing and organizing information. Maybe they had better memories.

The second test proved that theory wrong. After being shown sequences of alphabetical letters, the high multitaskers did a lousy job at remembering when a letter was making a repeat appearance. “The low multi-taskers did great,” Ophir said. “The high multi-taskers were doing worse and worse the further they went along because they kept seeing more letters and had difficulty keeping them sorted in their brains.” There were even more test by Stanford researchers and every time, the low multi-taskers performed much better than those who felt they had a gift for multi-tasking.

As an accountant, have you ever considered that the practice of multi-tasking was actually hurting more than helping? We would love for you to chime in and tell us what you think and what your experience is with multi-tasking.

Source: Adam Gorlick, Stanford News Service

The post Our Brains Suffer When We Multi-Task: Per Stanford University Study appeared first on MoneyThumb.

A job as an accountant is highly dependent on accuracy. An inaccurate accountant is a liability to businesses and to customers who must file their taxes based on the figures and estimates created by accountants. The numbers tallied by accountants are used by tax collectors and sometimes find their way into legal disputes. Quality matters in the science of numbers.

Long-time accountants have usually created their own reputation over many years of performance and a long list of satisfied customers. An accountant straight out of college will be evaluated based on the grades received at college. While many businesses are hungry for low cost accountants, they are also leery of the risk of hiring new graduates. This means that businesses want evidence that new hires can get their numbers straight. Enter accreditation.

Specific Credentials for a Specific Purpose

Grades are as good as the college they come from. An “A” means a high percentage of accuracy but not perfect accuracy. This is why accreditation is so important to employers. It is one way they can gauge the skill of people with no experience. A school might be recommendable overall, but might not have any particular reputation for training accountants.

Some schools specialize in accountants or have a well recognized program. The credentials of this school might be specifically geared towards mathematics, which is what businesses are looking for in an accountant. Refinement in fringe areas might be helpful but might not be the crux of the job

More to It Than Grades

A person who excels in mathematics will not find it impossible to land a job in accounting. There is enough demand for tax preparation alone to guarantee plenty of business. Large corporations hire armies of accountants in order to find tax loopholes and to squeeze as much out of government hands as possible. All this means big demand for accountants, and any established school will mostly likely be adequately accredited.

The real question is which graduates move on to the best paying jobs and who lands the side gigs. People with more attractive credentials will stand out on paper, and going to specific schools can be important to employers. Seasoned business people might be familiar with specific schools and their reputation for excellence in mathematics, accounting, and business leadership.

If you are considering a career in accounting, first be sure the college you choose to get your degree from provides accreditation.

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Account reconciliation is an important task for accountants. These six best practices make it easier to do reconciliations correctly:

1. Set a definite standard of operation--A single best practice--including policies, processes and templates--should be set for your firm when it comes to account reconciliation and the process should be the same for all parties involved.
2. Prioritize accounts by risk ranking--Clients' accountants should be prioritized according to risk, (or need). For instance, you can rank your accounts by how often they must be reconciled, or maybe it is easier to rank them by the due date of the reconciliation. This is simply all about organization to keep things running smoothly.
3. Avoid Perfectionism--Not every account can be reconciled to the penny. A common "quick win" improvement is to set tolerances and thresholds across the organization. Rather than wasting time attempting to reconcile low dollar values, team members should work on other accounts or activities.
4. Monitor the process. A team would be lost without its head coach keeping everybody on the same page. The same can be said about a reconciliation process without a monitoring lead. Contrary to popular belief, this person does not have to be management, and the role is often a good way to develop up-and-comers in the organization. The main duties of the monitoring lead include tracking the completion status of all reconciliations, making sure the reconciliations are finished on time, and following up on incomplete or late reconciliations.
5. Use metrics to drive improvement. Finance leadership should use metrics to measure performance and improve the reconciliation process. Common metrics that should be reviewed regularly include overdue reconciliations, material reconciling items, and completeness by person or department. Based on these metrics, leadership can adjust the process if needed (e.g., reallocate reconciliations among team members, change due dates, etc.).
6. Use software to drive the process. Technology is important in the account reconciliation space. Companies have developed software to enable a best practice account reconciliation process. The key word is "enable," as any technology implementation should be driven by related process design changes. Key features to look for in a tool include real-time dashboards, system-certification features, automated balance interfaces, and automated notifications to users.

By following these best practices, your accounting firm should be able to handle each clients' reconciliation needs with confidence, promptness and accuracy. If you are an accountant, bookkeeper or CPA and have other suggestions to add for best practices of client accountant reconciliation, by all means leave a comment below and/or share this helpful post with your fellow accountants on your social media pages.

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Defining bookkeeping

Bookkeeping is an indispensable subset of accounting. Bookkeeping refers to the process of accumulating, organizing, storing, and accessing the financial information base of an entity, which is needed for two basic purposes:

• Facilitating the day-to-day operations of the entity

• Preparing financial statements, tax returns, and internal reports to managers

Bookkeeping (also called recordkeeping) can be thought of as the financial information infrastructure of an entity. The financial information base should be complete, accurate, and timely. Every recordkeeping system needs quality controls built into it, which are called internal controls.

Defining accounting

The term accounting is much broader, going into the realm of designing the bookkeeping system, establishing controls to make sure the system is working well, and analyzing and verifying the recorded information. Accountants give orders; bookkeepers follow them.

Accounting encompasses the problems in measuring the financial effects of economic activity. Furthermore, accounting includes the function of financial reporting of values and performance measures to those that need the information. Business managers, investors, and many others depend on financial reports for information about the performance and condition of the entity.

Accountants design the internal controls for the bookkeeping system, which serve to minimize errors in recording the large number of activities that businesses engage in. The internal controls that accountants design are also relied on to detect and deter theft, embezzlement, fraud, and dishonest behavior of all kinds.

Accountants prepare reports based on the information accumulated by the bookkeeping process: financial statements, tax returns, and various confidential reports to managers. Measuring profit is a critical task that accountants perform — a task that depends on the accuracy of the information recorded by the bookkeeper. The accountant decides how to measure sales revenue and expenses to determine the profit or loss for the period.

Hopefully, this post will clear up any questions you have had about the actual difference between accounting and bookkeeping. However, if you still have questions about the differences, take a minute to read the Wikipedia post on Bookkeeping and Accounting.

So what do you consider yourself, if you are in this field, an accountant or a bookkeeper? We look forward to your answers and also to your feedback on our post.

Have a great day!

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