How to Read Financial Statements

The financial statements your business generates provide the basis of future projections, insight into potential tax liabilities and your business’s progress over the years. It’s important to read them and to comprehend what they indicate, after all, they are the pulse of your business.

If you are serious about growing your business, then your accounting should be on a computerized software program that can produce a profit and loss, balance sheet and a general ledger. I’m talking about something more advanced than a spreadsheet program. The size of your business doesn’t matter, whether you have 10 transactions a month or 10,000, you should have systems in place to record your income and expenses, and provide you with important financial information.

Every transaction you make, whether it’s a sales invoice, a contribution of capital, or a payment for your office rent should be recorded in the general ledger and will end up on your financial statements.

Essentially, the profit and loss statement will show only your sales and deductible business expenses. The balance sheet shows the value of your assets: everything from how much you have in the bank, petty cash envelope or cash register to inventory, furniture, fixtures, and equipment among other things. It also shows the liabilities of the business that can include vendor bills payable, loans and credit cards payable. The difference between these two equals your equity position, which is the third element of the balance sheet.

Here is an overview of the profit and loss statement:

The Profit and Loss Statement

If you use QuickBooks for your accounting needs, then go to the top ruler bar and select Reports – Company and Financial – Profit and Loss.  Change the dates at the top of the report to correspond to last calendar year. If you can’t stand the idea of looking at a bunch of numbers, then select the graph option to bring up either a bar chart or a pie chart representation.

The first line item on the profit and loss statement is operating revenue, which reflects sales.  You may wish to break out sales by product or service type, this allows you to know how much is coming in from each source,  and what products or services need more promotion or possibly abandonment.  Be advised, just because a product represents a small percentage of sales, does not necessarily mean it should be abandoned.

Listed directly below sales are “returns and allowances.”  You or your bookkeeper may have this broken out to titles such as discounts, customer refunds, etc.  Keep an eye on this number:  If returns are high, then you should take a good look at your product or service to see what is wrong and correct the problem. Your reputation is reflected in this number. Reputations are hard to build and maintain, even harder to reestablish. 

Cost of goods sold is comprised of the expenses that directly pertain to the sale of your product or service and allocated overhead. In a retail business, this includes the cost of the inventory [...] Continue Reading…

Article source: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/legal-hr/2012/01/27/how-to-read-financial-statements/

How to Read Financial Statements

The financial statements your business generates provide the basis of future projections, insight into potential tax liabilities and your business’s progress over the years. It’s important to read them and to comprehend what they indicate, after all, they are the pulse of your business.

If you are serious about growing your business, then your accounting should be on a computerized software program that can produce a profit and loss, balance sheet and a general ledger. I’m talking about something more advanced than a spreadsheet program. The size of your business doesn’t matter, whether you have 10 transactions a month or 10,000, you should have systems in place to record your income and expenses, and provide you with important financial information.

Every transaction you make, whether it’s a sales invoice, a contribution of capital, or a payment for your office rent should be recorded in the general ledger and will end up on your financial statements.

Essentially, the profit and loss statement will show only your sales and deductible business expenses. The balance sheet shows the value of your assets: everything from how much you have in the bank, petty cash envelope or cash register to inventory, furniture, fixtures, and equipment among other things. It also shows the liabilities of the business that can include vendor bills payable, loans and credit cards payable. The difference between these two equals your equity position, which is the third element of the balance sheet.

Here is an overview of the profit and loss statement:

The Profit and Loss Statement

If you use QuickBooks for your accounting needs, then go to the top ruler bar and select Reports – Company and Financial – Profit and Loss.  Change the dates at the top of the report to correspond to last calendar year. If you can’t stand the idea of looking at a bunch of numbers, then select the graph option to bring up either a bar chart or a pie chart representation.

The first line item on the profit and loss statement is operating revenue, which reflects sales.  You may wish to break out sales by product or service type, this allows you to know how much is coming in from each source,  and what products or services need more promotion or possibly abandonment.  Be advised, just because a product represents a small percentage of sales, does not necessarily mean it should be abandoned.

Listed directly below sales are “returns and allowances.”  You or your bookkeeper may have this broken out to titles such as discounts, customer refunds, etc.  Keep an eye on this number:  If returns are high, then you should take a good look at your product or service to see what is wrong and correct the problem. Your reputation is reflected in this number. Reputations are hard to build and maintain, even harder to reestablish. 

Cost of goods sold is comprised of the expenses that directly pertain to the sale of your product or service and allocated overhead. In a retail business, this includes the cost of the inventory [...] Continue Reading…

Article source: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/legal-hr/2012/01/27/how-to-read-financial-statements/

Telephones Down At Some El Paso County Offices

Telephone lines were down for most El Paso County offices Thursday, but many were restored by the late afternoon. Everything should be back to normal by the start of business Friday.

The unplanned service outage affected county administrative offices in Centennial Hall as well as offices in the Citizens Service Center at 1675 West Garden of the Gods Road. Those are the Clerk and Recorder, the County Assessor, the County Treasurer, the Pikes Peak Workforce Center and El Paso County Public Health.

Emergency response numbers for the Sheriff’s Office and Public Services, as well as telephone service for the courts and district attorney’s office are not affected

The county reports that Century Link and Cisco Systems engineers worked with the County’s staff on the repairs.

Article source: http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/Telephones_Down_At_Some_El_Paso_County_Offices__138133983.html

Mar. 25th Press Review

PRESIDENT GUL SPEAKS TO GHANA’S PARLIAMENTWhen Ghana declared independence in 1957, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to do so, this made it a model for other African peoples, said President Abdullah Gul yesterday. He made the remarks in an address to Ghana’s Parliament, on Turkey’s first-ever presidential visit to the country. Saying that Turkey is determined to develop relations with Africa on the basis of friendship, equality and cooperation, Gul said for the past decade Ankara has had an outreach policy towards Africa, in the hope of diversifying and deepening political, military, economic and cultural cooperation. Gul said this policy includes health, agriculture, irrigation, energy, education and regular humanitarian aid. Before his address, Gul met with Turkish and Ghanaian businessmen over a breakfast. PM ERDOGAN: “THE WEST MUST LOOK AT HUMAN SUFFERING IN THE MIDEAST”The suffering of women and children, rather than just potential oil profits, must be considered by the West when looking at crisis-hit Middle East and North African countries, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. “I advise our Western friends to look at hungry children, suffering mothers and violated women, as well as their poverty,” he said, speaking to the International Convention on Gender Equality in Istanbul. “I hope those who see only oil, gold mines and other underground treasures while looking at this [region] would also look at this area through the eyes of their consciences.” Erdogan also reiterated Turkey’s stance regarding international operations in Libya. “We do not want the Iraq experience to be repeated there,” he said. “Planes, our soldiers, will never become planes dropping bombs or hands firing guns at our Libyan brothers.” PARLIAMENT PASSES MOTION ALLOWING TURKISH TROOPS TO ASSIST LIBYA’S STABILITYAfter a briefing by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Parliament yesterday passed a Prime Ministry motion on sending troops to Libya in a secret session with the support of both of its opposition parties, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The motion allows the government to send troops to Libya for one year “to contribute to international efforts aiming to ensure Libya’s stability.”ERDOGAN BLASTS “CRUSADE” METAPHORPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday criticized remarks by France’s Interior Minister Claude Gueant saying French President Nicolas Sarkozy was “leading a crusade” in Libya. “Very improper statements are being made,” said Erdogan. “Those who see only oil in this region should start acting with a conscience.” BAGIS: “WE NEED TO BE PATIENT ON OUR EU BID”Turkey’s European Union process is more important than the result itself, said State Minister and Chief Negotiator for Turkey’s EU Talks Egemen Bagis yesterday. Speaking at the Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO), Bagis said that Turkey’s greatest need in its EU process is to be patient and resolute and to have policies that are consistent with its principles. Unable to accept Turkey’s economic growth, certain European countries place obstacles in front of it and wonder how they can illicitly gain from Turkey during its membership process, Bagis said. Turkey’s EU process [...] Continue Reading…

Article source: http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=364983

County office telephone outage

Telephone service for most El Paso County elected and administrative offices is out Thursday morning, according to a news release sent by the county.
The unplanned outage has affected all county administrative offices in Centennial Hall as well as the offices of the Clerk and Recorder, the county assessor, treasurer, and the Pikes Peak Workforce Center.
Century Link and Cisco Systems are working to restore service to the offices, but there is no estimated time when telephone service will be restored.
The emergency response numbers for the Sheriff’s Office, as well as the phones for the court and District Attorney’s Office were not affected.

Article source: http://www.gazette.com/articles/county-132403-offices-service.html

County office telephone outage

Telephone service for most El Paso County elected and administrative offices is out Thursday morning, according to a news release sent by the county.
The unplanned outage has affected all county administrative offices in Centennial Hall as well as the offices of the Clerk and Recorder, the county assessor, treasurer, and the Pikes Peak Workforce Center.
Century Link and Cisco Systems are working to restore service to the offices, but there is no estimated time when telephone service will be restored.
The emergency response numbers for the Sheriff’s Office, as well as the phones for the court and District Attorney’s Office were not affected.

Article source: http://www.gazette.com/articles/county-132403-offices-service.html

Roche Seen Offering Illumina More for Gene Mapping: Real M&A

January 26, 2012, 9:56 AM EST

By Naomi Kresge and Charles Mead

(Updates to add “poison pill” in eighth paragraph.)
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — Roche Holding AG may need to raise its $5.7 billion bid for Illumina Inc. by the most of any North American takeover to gain access to its gene-mapping technology, according to arbitragers who bet on mergers and acquisitions.
Illumina, the San Diego-based company in a race to develop a machine able to parse the building blocks of life in a day, jumped to $55.15 yesterday, 24 percent above Roche’s proposal of $44.50. That signals traders are more convinced Illumina will receive a higher offer than any other pending deal in North America, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Roche, which in two previous successful hostile takeovers under Chairman Franz Humer increased its initial offers by 6.7 percent and 19 percent, may be willing to boost its bid this time because Illumina’s technology for mapping genes is more advanced than its competitors, Helvea SA said. Roche, the world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs, could eventually pay $60 a share, or 35 percent more than the current proposal, according to Robert W. Baird Co. and Water Island Capital LLC.
“There’s no company quite like Illumina out there that they could buy,” Karl Heinz Koch, a Zurich-based analyst at Helvea, said in a telephone interview. “They’re unique with very advanced technology, extremely expensive machines. It complements the Roche offering perfectly, especially when you look at how the pharmaceutical market is evolving.”
Daniel Grotzky, a spokesman for Basel, Switzerland-based Roche, declined to comment and referred to statements that Chief Executive Officer Severin Schwan, 44, made in a conference call with reporters yesterday.
Fair Value
Schwan said on the call that Roche has no intention of raising its bid and that the proposal is “attractive and compelling” and offers “full and fair value.”
Roche, which also said Illumina was “unwilling to participate in substantive discussions” after approaching it last month, intends to take its offer directly to shareholders.
Illumina’s board will review the proposal and make a recommendation to shareholders in due course, it said in a statement yesterday. Cassandra Bujarski, a spokeswoman for Illumina, declined to comment beyond the statement. The company today said it adopted a shareholder rights agreement, a takeover defense known as a “poison pill” that can block a hostile bid by making it prohibitively expensive.
While Roche’s offer was 18 percent higher than Illumina’s price on Jan. 24, shares of Illumina had already rallied 45 percent from an almost three-year low in December as speculation emerged that it was a takeover target.
[...] Continue Reading…

Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-26/roche-seen-offering-illumina-more-for-gene-mapping-real-m-a.html

Telephone Outages Affect El Paso County Offices

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Toshiba's IPedge Business Telephone System Honored With a 2011 INTERNET TELEPHONY Product of the Year Award

IRVINE, CA–(Marketwire -01/26/12)- Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division (Toshiba — www.telecom.toshiba.com), today announced that its IPedge™ IP business telephone system has been named a winner of the INTERNET TELEPHONY 2011 Product of the Year Award, presented by INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. The 2011 Product of the Year winners are published in the January/February 2012 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine (www.itmag.com). “We are honored to have Toshiba’s IPedge win an INTERNET TELEPHONY 2011 Product of the Year Award from INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine,” said Brian Metherell, vice president and general manager of Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division. “IPedge empowers SMB and enterprise users to communicate more effectively, be more cost effective, and have greater access to their customers, partners and each other. “IPedge goes beyond most competitors’ IP solutions by delivering more applications on a single server, including expanded call processing and voice mail with unified messaging features, unified communications, centralized administration, and the ability for individual users to easily program their own telephones,” Metherell added. “We are happy to honor Toshiba with a Product of the Year Award. The editors of INTERNET TELEPHONY have verified that IPedge displays quality and innovation plus meets real needs in the marketplace,” stated Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. “I would like to congratulate the entire team at Toshiba for their commitment to advancing IP communication technologies.” IPedge Delivers Multiple UC Applications on a Single Linux Server IPedge accommodates multiple unified communication applications on a single Linux server, including call processing, voicemail and unified messaging, meet-me conferencing with Web collaboration, Call Manager™ unified communications, native SIP line and SIP trunk support, mobility, survivability, networking with other IPedge or Strata® CIX™ systems, centralized administration, and feature-rich telephone endpoints. Plus, add-on applications, uMobility Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) and Contact Center solutions, are available with additional servers. Benefits of the Linux server include survivability within or across the network to support business continuity and a higher level of security. A single IP address provides cost-effective deployment. SIP trunks work natively with the IPedge without requiring additional gateway equipment. With its IP technology and open standards, IPedge is designed for the long term, as future endpoint devices and applications are built on standards to help ensure compatibility with the system, thus protecting the user’s investment. Built-in features include: Toshiba’s Call Manager Unified Communications application; Enterprise Manager browser-based system administration; Centralized multi-site management through the Enterprise Manager; Personal telephone browser-based administration; Flexible and feature-rich Unified Messaging; On-site mobility via Toshiba’s wireless IP telephones; and One hundred percent networking compatibility with Toshiba’s Strata CIX IP converged systems. About INTERNET TELEPHONY magazineINTERNET TELEPHONY has been the IP Communications Authority since 1998™. Beginning with the first issue in February of 1998, INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has been providing unbiased views of the complicated converged communications space. INTERNET TELEPHONY offers rich content from solutions-focused editorial content to reviews [...] Continue Reading…

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/toshibas-ipedge-business-telephone-system-150000147.html

Company Profile for Xerox Corporation

Gold Rises to 6-Week HighBloombergGold climbed to an almost seven-week high on speculation that the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates …

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/company-profile-xerox-corporation-170000857.html