on my way to prime

Discussion in 'Prime' started by booman, Jul 18, 2011.

  1. OpenRoadDreamer

    OpenRoadDreamer Road Train Member

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    So that's what reefer pays.... lol
     
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  3. DragonTamerBrat

    DragonTamerBrat Road Train Member

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    You can have Prime Email them to you in pdf form. Email 'em at me, I'll look over them. Of course, you better have an explanation for everything I see. I'm not an accountant, but I can spot things like "oops, they lost a hand delivered receipt."
     
  4. da1

    da1 Road Train Member

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    haha I'm getting them emailed to me know and ill keep that in mind when I go solo next month
     
  5. OpenRoadDreamer

    OpenRoadDreamer Road Train Member

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    Less than one month to go for ya!!!!
     
  6. sweetdaddy915

    sweetdaddy915 Medium Load Member

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    Tht all sounds ok I jus dnt wanna be an accountant an have 2 mess with all tht stuff I thnk it wood be eazy urr 2 hire atbs 2 when I get outta the truk I value my time an 4 me my cba cost benefit analysis says hire it out u can write it off when u file the cost 2 hire 4 me wood definitely bee worth the benefit of havin them do it plus they have alotta of experince plus they will be with ya if the political pitbull of the gubb mint comes after ya
     
  7. DragonTamerBrat

    DragonTamerBrat Road Train Member

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    Well *sits on hands about grammar and stuff*. Frankly, I've run a business before (one of my family's 2 grooming shops). I've run the financial side of this marriage for a little over 12 years now. I can make a penny squeal like a baby you stole candy from. If YOU don't check your settlements, how do YOU know if the company missed something. Your accountant won't. He doesn't see your trip paks. And especially since it will be a month or more since you wrote that lumper comcheck, and THAT reciept goes to PRIME, not the account, all he sees is a payroll deduction. I trust ME. I match up the records w/ the trip paks. (By the way, we are holding on to these for reference, we want to see a few things before we decide on the next step for US.)

    *Now before anyone says something about why I'm not still running said business. Back before the economy started tanking hard, people could see the way of things, and started cutting out the extras. Unfortunately, Fido's trip to the salon is not a necessity. It means you can go off and have a Starbuck's supermochachocawhatever while someone gives your dog a bath, trims its nails, and cuts its hair. It isn't rocket science. Also, I had to major bite injuries, one to each hand that made working difficult, especially with the nerve damage involved. Then add carpal tunnel. You don't really want to try cutting dog hair when your hands are numb. I promise, it IS do-able, but it isn't easy. So, both groomers (myself and my mother), ended up w/ carpal tunnel, and hiring another groomer wasn't really in the cards, with the extra expenses of having employees. So, we shut down my shop first. Why? Because my injuries were worse (as was my carpal tunnel and arthritis), and mom did manage to find a groomer that was actually good to do most of the work there. I still came in at the holidays to help out, but mostly, I became the stay-at home mom that EVERYONE (my mom, my husband, and me) agreed was the best thing for our children. After a while, mom even had to stop grooming completely. That shop was open for about another year, but we made the hard decision to shut down. Growth was negative, not because of poor performance, but because by then the economy really tanked.

    And frankly, I don't care that I can write off the $780 for ATBS to do what *I* can do on my own. That $780? buys a LOT of animal feed. Like almost 4 months worth. I like my beef, lamb and chevon enough to feed them and not the accountant. I'd rather give that $780 to the LOCAL feed mill, and eat my homegrown than pay that to any accountant and have to buy in anything from the grocery store.

    My suggestion to you? Do what you want.
     
  8. OpenRoadDreamer

    OpenRoadDreamer Road Train Member

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  9. DragonTamerBrat

    DragonTamerBrat Road Train Member

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    Kind of my point. Do you really wanna see me up on my soap box? Because, posts like that really, really, REALLY make me angry. They tell me a lot about the person making them. And what they tell me isn't good.
     
  10. sweetdaddy915

    sweetdaddy915 Medium Load Member

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    Ok that is good. I was jus saying that taxes an ifta is something that I would over see butt I think the benefit for "ME" is too let someone else do it.

    Its not that I don't want 2 learn an undrstand the whole aspects of it.

    If u have a good account they break every PENNY DOWN 2 SHOW ME WHERE IT GOES

    I Myself drive 4 one of the mega carriers an researching too learn as much as possible before

    I make the switch I want too be as informed as I can an have a module too work from an

    Towards a defined goal / business plan My objective is too learn not too offend .

    The idea of not knowing how too read a settlement is not in my plan I will be able too do that

    As for tracking ifta an doing p&l's I think it would be best for me too hire it out.

    Trucking is very unique in the fact that I never had a job where I went somewhere or did all

    kinds of job related duties an never gett paid or look @ the bills an it says help u/l trlr pays

    $1.00 a bag for every bag you tailgate an then only gett paid $0.27 a bag an that's not whining

    I'am just saying its a 24 hr. 7 day a week job an when I do have time I want I like too be away

    From the job. Also I value your comments an experience I can't. Learn if nobody is willing help

    Well I suppose I can but it would be the school of hard knocks. I'am no stranger too working

    I started helpn my father do whatever construction he had as a side business he did for extra

    I started when I was 10 yrs. Old an by my senoir yr. In high school I had a paid off 1966 3/4 ton

    Truk with a rebuilt 390 dual glass packs an 1985 cadillac eldorado which was repainted had a

    Replaced aluminium block an go see how much those are I had spent over 5 grand on a stereo

    System for it I had all kinds of electronics gadgets. 3 tv's 1 big screen for everyone to enjoy

    home theater system. I had bought bird dogs an coonhounds all kinds of hunting gear clothes

    A few shotgun a few rifles an a few pistols an tht was all done by hard work long hrs not going

    Out an hangn out like all the rest of kids did in the summer an on weekends. Me an my family

    worked. So u know I can work very hard when there is things too do an money too make but

    Since then I value my free time alot now then ever an if the money is no better on the o/o side

    Than it is on the drone side well I don't what I do for sure than ya I herd people say oh

    everybody thinks their gonna be an o/o an make a million dollars more a yr I think I can be

    more realistic than that butt if there isn't an defenite financial increase then what is the

    Point of putting in so much more work an labor for than I really have 2 see benefit besides

    Being able too pick my own freight an all them goodies which is a huge benefit butt I think

    For me its greed an if u say it isn't for you that's fine you are lying thought nobody goes too a

    job an says yeah ah I work for fun an exercise an too see the slums of newark an the 5

    Boroughs of n.y.c an run up. An down I-95 cuz that is a scenic route no its about the money

    An the hole deal is too get the most u possibly can for the least amount of work. If I am wrong

    I sure prime would be glad too not pay you or me too drive butt they have too or nobody

    Wood drive these fiberglass deathtraps around otherwise
     
  11. DragonTamerBrat

    DragonTamerBrat Road Train Member

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    The biggest problem with an accountant is you find out where the money goes a month after it went....

    QuickBooksPro is a VERY good accounting program. Might not even need to go all the way to Pro. I can see my P&L statement at any time. I can make projections. It takes LITERALLY MINUTES to enter a day's data. You aren't "trucking 24/7" There is that pesky 10 hour break. Yes, you gotta sleep. But guess what...you gotta eat, too. Or, if you want to log it as technically on-duty not driving. One day's stuff should take less than 15 minutes. As for stuff that has to be done for them pesky IRS types? QuickBooks helps you there, too. As does a program like TurboTax (I think that's the one most people around here recommend).

    Let me tell you something about owning a business. You need to know where things stand on a daily basis. Not 2 weeks after the previous month closed. You can't wait weeks to make a decision you needed to make a month ago. So, after reading both of those posts, let me make some observations. 1. Everything an account does for you once a month, you REALLY need to be doing for yourself at least once a week. This is called investing in your business, NOT wasting your valuable time. If your playtime is more important than making your business successful, then stay company. 2. As a groomer, it took me a LOT longer to get my end of day done that it does for a O/O. Especially during the holidays, as I had to enter each and every service. Sometimes I could do this during downtime during the day, but during the holidays there isn't any downtime. So, after I just spent 10 hours grooming dogs (ever ate your lunch while giving a Shih Tzu a hair cut? I don't recommend it, unless you LIKE eating dog hair), I had to spend 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how many of those 30 dogs that I rolled through were new clients getting it all done. On Christmas Eve. With a baby waiting for me to get home. 3. When you wait till the end of the month to throw everything at the accountant, and he has a questions...what is this here receipt for $767.00 dated the 1st of NoRemember. (OOPS, apologies to Piers Anthony, but it really does describe November very well) Are you going to remember? Was that the gasoline fill up in Las Vegas, or the one in Seattle? Receipts get smudged, and the ones that are printed by thermal printers fade if they get warm. And remember he has all your original receipts.

    You can scan all your receipts to your computer. There are ways to do that. You can enter all your expenses into a spreadsheet. If you need to know how much you spent on fuel last week, and the accountant has all the information and you have none, you are pretty much up a creek. Because you probably won't have 16 bank accounts that you are putting money into for various reasons, the number the bank shows you as your balance isn't actually what you may have to work with. You should be saving money for your quarterly taxes, for your road taxes, for your maintenance fund (I highly recommend this one is separate, but that's just me), all of these can make your bank balance look healthier than it really is, until it's time to send Uncle Sam his cut, and oops, now you don't have money for fuel. If you are doing all your own accounting, you can see exactly where you stand on any given day.

    Priorities. This is what it comes down to. Do I want to spend every minute I am not actually driving the truck playing computer games, fishing, messing around? Or can I take 30 minutes a day and figure out my financial standing. After I take that 30 minutes, then I can log into World of Warcrack, or whatever and kill some pixels.

    In MY situation, I'm the financial supervisor. He just earns the dough. He keeps the wheels rolling. I keep the house lights on, the water flowing, and the children and stock fed. Hopefully, soon, I'll be able to start making the improvements that we want to make. This is the division of labor that works for the partnership that is our marriage. (Sorry da1 and ORD, JCW done got the goods, and ya'll just have to settle for advice.).

    By all means, please consult an accountant, tax professional, and/or lawyer at the beginning of your business venture. This can be a very useful and eye opening hour. They can help you choose certain avenues that will work best for you at the beginning of your business venture. I'm just saying that you don't have to utilize an accountant on a monthly basis to do something you should be doing on a daily basis anyway. If you feel more comfortable w/ an accountant doing your year end, I endorse that, too. IF you use someone that knows trucking. And in either case, I highly recommend being familiar with the information the IRS puts out for small businesses. Only if you are well informed can you make informed and educated decisions. And only then will you see that your accountant may or may not be doing something not quite right.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2011
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