The impact of disasters like last year's Gulf Coast hurricanes is often long-term. As victims try to put their lives back in order, they frequently face the challenge of locating important documents that might have been lost or destroyed.

For many people, it takes a disaster to remind them of the importance of having copies of vital documents safely stored somewhere other than their homes.

A recent study commissioned by The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. franchise network disclosed that 58 percent of those surveyed said that natural disasters have made them more aware of this need.

Yet only 21 percent of respondents have started preparing for a natural disaster. Of those who have started preparations, just over half indicated that they have taken steps to copy important documents.

The UPS Store franchisee Steve Spicer recommends that people make copying important documents a yearly ritual.

"Tax time is the perfect time to inventory and copy necessary papers," he says. "We encourage customers to bring in important documents along with their tax returns. It just takes a few minutes and a few cents to duplicate each document."

The survey indicated that a vast majority of respondents - 71 percent - consider their birth certificate to be among the most important documents to copy. Other documents cited include financial records, such as wills, bank records and credit card information (34 percent); insurance information (31 percent); social security card and related information (29 percent); and the deed for their house (20 percent).

What is a role of a bookkeeper in your organisation :

BOOKKEEPERS keep complete, up-to-date, and accurate records of accounts and financial arrangements.  Bookkeepers verify and enter information into journals and ledgers or into a computer.  They periodically balance the books and compile reports and financial statements.  Bookkeepers also receive, record, bank and pay out cash.  They balance checkbooks with monthly bank statements.  They may calculate employee wages from plant records or time cards and issue payroll checks. Some of the other work they may do includes posting accounts receivable and payable, prepare and make bank deposits, record payrolls, maintain inventory records, purchase supplies, prepare purchase orders and do expense reports. Bookkeepers may also make schedules, sort documents, and file bills. These type of jobs are found in every industry and may have various job titles, such as accounts payable clerk, accounts receivable clerk or assistant bookkeeper.

Cost of a Bookkeeper :

The pay for these jobs depends upon experience, clerical skills, the level of responsibility and the job location.  Beginning salaries go from minimum wage to $ 15 per hour.  Experienced Bookkeeper can make   $ 20 an hour.  After having worked for three years with the same firm, a Bookkeeper can earn at $ 25 per hour. A Bookkeepers usually work 40 hours a week; sometimes it may be necessary to work overtime. Some employers have fringe benefits such as paid vacations and sick leave, life and health insurance, and bonuses.  Other benefits that the employer may include are participation in a credit union, or retirement and profit sharing plans.

Advantage of outsourcing Bookkeeping work to a professional bookkeeper :

There are several distinct advantages to outsourcing your bookkeeping functions. First and foremost is saving money. You get what you pay for and if you don't pay for quality than you won't have quality service. However, you can save money by outsourcing because you won't be paying for employer payroll tax expense, workman's compensation and general liability insurances, vacation time, sick time, health insurance and other benefits a good full time bookkeeper will expect from his/her employer. Just remember, however, that these costs will be built into the consultant's hourly rate and their fee will reflect these costs. Any bookkeeping consultant who has not taken these costs into consideration is not a bookkeeper you want - if they don't know enough to include these costs into their fees, then they don't know enough to be a help to your business. You should expect to pay at least three times what you would pay an experienced full charge bookkeeper.

And just how do you save money by paying three times the amount you would pay an employee? Well, let's see. There will be no recruiting, interviewing and training costs for start. And if you should find yourself unhappy with the services there will be no additional recruiting, interviewing and training to replace your bookkeeper. Also, you will not have to be concerned about law suits such as sexual harassment, unlawful firing, age discrimination, sexist, etc. Or an increase in your unemployment rates because you laid off an employee that you really wanted to fire but had no lawful cause to do so. So right away we have less time and money spent and potentially less hassle if things don't go well.

And of course you will not be paying workman's compensation and general liability insurance premiums. Also any worthy bookkeeper will expect at least two weeks vacation, coverage for sick time, health and dental insurance and even perhaps more benefits.

Most professional bookkeepers will have their own offices saving you space within your office. So you will not be buying that extra desk, calculator, computer and computer software. Your bookkeeper will be providing all of that as part of his/her fee. No software updates, computer maintenance, training costs, etc. Of course should you prefer to have your computerized bookkeeping records available to you at your office, a small investment in software installed on your computer makes this possible. Also no office supplies to be paid for. You will be amazed at just how much pens, pencils, and paper can be used by a bookkeeper. Your consultant bookkeeper will either ask you to drop off the work at their office, will pick it up at your office or some may even offer remote bookkeeping service. And by having your bookkeeping done off site, your bookkeeper will be able to work more efficiently and accurately because her/his office will most likely offer less distractions than your busy office. All of this is saving you money.

And the best reason for outsourcing is that you control the amount of money spent on bookkeeping. What I mean by this is that the person you hire to do your bookkeeping will be doing just that - not answering the phone, dealing with drop-bys, chatting to other employees, etc. Also you can start with just a few hours a month and add on when you need to and then adjust downward again should it be necessary. Can you imagine finding an employee to start with only four hours a month, then asking them to put in 20 hours a week for awhile and then back down to four hours a month again. I don't think you would keep them for very long, but a free lance bookkeeper is able to work around these variables and even more importantly expects to work with flexible schedules.

So have I convinced you yet? If so, then just remember "you will get what you pay for". Go for top quality because your financial records are the core of your business and without great bookkeeping you cannot expect to succeed no matter what type of business you have. After all don't you think you are worth it ?(http://www.submitsuite.com/products/article-submitter.htm-This article was published using Article Submitter)

You have all heard and seen of the scams when it comes to work from home money making methods such as paid surveys. You can avoid them if you look carefully as they all follow a certain pattern so once you know what to look out for you won't fall victim to these scams.

After careful studies of these known scammers I can tell you the certain features to watch out so you don't give them the satisfaction of thinking they have fooled another gullible person. The first and most important thing to look out for is do you need to pay for this service? If you do have to, why? When you get a normal offline job do you pay your boss to have the privilege to work for him? I didn't think so. However there are the few exceptions when it comes to paying upfront but these are rare occasions. Some companies charge a fee so you don't have to search the internet for the best resources to get the surveys but I cannot stress enough that many of these are scams so be sure to do your research before and try to contact people who have used them before.

A lot of these scammer sites have a great sales pitch and excellent testimonials but you can't trust everything you see on a website as you will all know it's very easily to build a very promising website with loads of feedback but you never know if it's true. Even if you get in contact with these people you don't know if there friends of the website owners willing to participate in the scam. The best thing you can do before you start up with a company (especially a paid one) is to do some research on them and look around for the ones with the best reviews by a range of people.

If you do get scammed by a company don't loose faith as this is a proven method to generate a nice side income, try to learn from your mistakes and try another and you will get the successful one that will give you that extra source of income. I know many people doing this in their spare time so there are legit companies out there which will send you the surveys and don't even require any money up front.

There are many blogs where people have given their success stories stating which companies they used and which they think they got the best results from. They also provide a list of any companies they found to be a waste of time so having a quick read can save you loads of time and money.

Selling a business, especially a restaurant is not as easy as it seems and most people find it difficult not knowing how to go about it.  The end result is targeting unprofessional people who just waste time and the ‘real buyers’ are nowhere to be seen.

The crucial aspect of selling a restaurant is effective advertising.

Many sellers think that the ‘tease strategy’ of providing less information gets people to call or show interest, whereas buyers are more apt to call if more information is given about the restaurant for sale.

Here are some quick tips that will stand the seller in good stead:

Pricing – The price point is important and pricing the restaurant reasonably is important.  Underpricing is as dangerous as overpricing. High pricing will keep the restaurant longer in the market and this is not good as there would be speculation among people as to the reason why the restaurant is not selling.

Maintenance – Buyers usually look at the reason the seller is selling the restaurant and it does not help any to see that the restaurant has not been maintained properly.  Taking care that every corner of the restaurant is in perfect shape helps in making a quick sale by making the buyer comfortable.

Information – Keeping all the information regarding the restaurant ready for the buyer is the way to go.  All the papers related to the restaurant, right from the time the restaurant was started, including the leases if any, profit and loss statements, and any other documentation should be filed neatly for the buyer to see.  The more convenient things are for the buyer, the easier it gets to sell a restaurant. Make sure to get a Non-disclosure agreement from the buyer before revealing confidential information.

Purchase agreement - A draft of the purchase agreement should be kept ready in case of an immediate sale, to avoid last minute confusion.  This can be modified once the sale is confirmed.

Advertising - Advertising a restaurant for sale needs serious planning and getting it to the right people. Having a wide range of buyers will increase the prospect of making a deserving sale. Along with the newspaper advertisement, it may be advertised online too.  Advertising should continue until the final check comes in hand.

Understanding the buyer - There may be many unqualified people showing interest in buying the restaurant, but most of them may not be serious about buying it.  To keep such people from getting their hands on all the information, it is important to study the buyer and assess his financial background and business interests.  These seemingly small but important steps help you find the right buyer.

Transfer – If the restaurant is a leased premises, the first thing to do even before advertising is to check with the lessor if the restaurant lease can be transferred to the new buyer.  It may be required to sign a new lease before selling the restaurant.

Agreements - Everything related to the restaurant sale and terms should be in writing.  When selling a restaurant, it is advisable to consult experts in the area and draft an agreement that states all the conditions for the sale, which is then signed by both the parties, to avoid any problems in the future, such as lawsuits.

Initial deposit – Upon reaching an agreement with the buyer, it is a good practice to take an initial deposit of some kind or use an escrow service to hold the deposit until everything is finalized.

Armed with this information and proper advertising, the success rate of selling the restaurant faster is very high. Before deciding on selling a restaurant, consulting with professionals is extremely important to get a fair idea on all the security agreements and notes that need to be prepared.

If you are considering staying in beautiful Lake Cowichan in British Columbia avoid Accomodations on Lake Cowichan Riverfront. Myself and a travel companion just returned from a 3 day stay and were basically mortified at our experience. Firstly, let me explain that we chose Accomodations on Lake Cowichan Riverfront primarily because they are pet friendly and we have one medium sized dog we travel with. Although the pictures on the website look fantastic the accomodations are anything but.

At first blush our room was extremely tiny and terribly filthy. There was a large iron burn on the rug and sheetrock dust everywhere, and oh, did I mention the overbearing smell of fresh latex paint! It was very apparent that the workers who had just renovated this unit were anything but qualified craftsmen.

Accomodations on Lake Cowichan Riverfront is located right in the heart of downtown Lake Cowichan and run by a baby toting hippie woman and her creepy boyfriend that is evidently stoned on something through out the entire waking hours.

When we first arrived to check in we were greeted by a poorly dressed hippy woman breast feeding a 3 year old child at the front desk, not that there is anything wrong with a woman breast feeding her child in public. But have some class! The grounds are poorly kept and there is no way you are going to relax on the 'wharf' as they call it. The river is very cold and the current is amazingly fast, swimming is definately a huge risk. The caretaker and her boyfriend can be located amidst wofting marijuana smoke clouds in a tent out back if you should require any assistance, but beware of their rotwiler / pitbull cross companion as he is very mean and running freely on the property. In fact he attacked our dog and others on more than one ocassion.

We also had the displeasure of meeting 'Cathy' the owner of the complex during our stay. All I can say is that the accomodations reflect her compulsive, extremely odd behavior. Avoid talking with her unless you want to spend an hour listening to someone tell you how great they are and how they know everything about anything.

I could go on and on but I am sure by now you get the point. There are many very nice bed and breakfasts within walking distance that we discovered through another family staying at the hotel that are pet friendly also. Accomodations on Lake Cowichan Riverfront doesn't even deserve a star rating and certainly isn't worth your time or money. If you are planning a stay in Lake Cowichan avoid Accomodations on Lake Cowichan Riverfront like the plauge.

There are many benefits of joining a turn key, automated business opportunity. First, you'll be able to avoid the hassles and many start-up costs of a new business. Turn key businesses usually provide a website for you, which will eliminate high web design costs. You may be required to pay a fee to receive the website and services, but much time will be saved because your website will be ready to sell. The website presentation has already been tested to bring results. Also, customer service can be a huge benefit. The company will take care of sales for you. Trained professionals will take the phone calls and answer questions. They will close the sale for you so you won't have to worry about working one-on-one with customers.

Having a turn key website also eliminates many office expenses. You may still want to get business cards and promotional items, but you can eliminate phone expenses and other supplies because you won't need them for online promotions. Your main function will be network marketing through online promotion, so you can earn a healthy residual income based on your promotional efforts. The company does the selling for you once you introduce new people to your website.

As with many MLM opportunities, the turn key, automated home based business uses an automated system that works around the clock selling the ideas or products available, even while you sleep. Your focus can be on promotion, not everyday tasks such as answering phones, mailing correspondence, and updating your website.

So if you're worried about the hassles of starting a business, then a turn key, automated home based business may be just the right choice for you to realize wealth from home.

Whether you own a sole proprietorship or are the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, sending business Christmas cards can serve to boost your customer relations and ultimately improve your bottom line. About half of all businesses send holiday cards - sometimes with unintended negative consequences. Here are some guidelines to ensure that your thoughtful gesture will be interpreted in the best possible light.

Selecting the Right Card

Every business has an image it portrays, whether through its logo, its branding efforts, or its marketing plan. The design of business holiday cards you select should reinforce that image. If, for example, you are a stockbroker, a Wall Street winter scene might be appropriate. On the other hand, if you are a pediatric dentist, more whimsical greeting cards are in order. For most businesses, and elegant and tasteful card is always appropriate.

When it comes to choosing a greeting card company, there are many online sources for business Christmas cards. Make sure to choose one that is well established and has a track record of satisfying customers. The best online greeting card companies will send you sample cards upon request, and offer personalization, free coordinating foil-lined envelopes, and printed envelopes.

When ordering business holiday cards, keep in mind that not everyone celebrates Christmas. A card expressing "season's greetings" or "warm holiday wishes" will prevent you from unintentionally offending those who aren't of the Christian faith.

Sending Your Cards

In business, timing is everything. Although you have some leeway in sending business holiday cards, the rule of thumb is to send them between December 1 and December 15. If you're a business-to-business company, keep in mind that many businesses close or have reduced hours during the holiday season, so make sure that your card arrives in advance of the holidays.

In order to send your holiday cards out in a timely fashion, make sure to order them early. Personalized business Christmas cards can take a few weeks to produce, so try and place your order by mid-October.

The Personalized Touch

The purpose of sending business greeting cards is to engender warm feelings in the recipient. That won't happen if your Christmas cards have address labels and are run through a postage meter. Expend the extra effort and have someone on your staff (who has nice handwriting) address the envelopes by hand. In addition, use a postage stamp instead of a meter when applying postage.

In the same vein, although you should have your cards printed with the company's name, the cards should also be signed by hand. The best approach is to have those who most closely work with the recipient sign the card by hand. If yours is a small enterprise, have a card signing party one afternoon, and have each person on your staff sign each card. This will go a long way towards making a positive impression on the recipient.

Be a Gracious Recipient

There's little doubt that your company will also receive business holiday cards from your vendors and associates. Be a gracious recipient and display the cards in your workplace. It will not only bring a bit of holiday cheer to your office, but it will also please those who have a sent a card to you and see it displayed.