Businesses need to ensure that their financial records are accurate, up-to-date, and in accordance with accepted accounting principles. They can achieve this objective by following the accounting cycle.

These are the steps that make up the accounting cycle…

1) Analysis

Analyzing all of the transactions from the past year, and locating all relevant documents and receipts, is the first step that needs to be taken.

2) General Journal

Next, it is necessary to create a central record of all of the transactions. This record is referred to as a General Journal.

3) Posting

Following the journalizing of transactions, they are then transferred and posted to the ledger. This paper / electronic trail is important to verify accuracy and to refer to if accounts are found not to be balancing up later on.

4) The Unadjusted Trial Balance

The next step is to total up debit and credit balances to ensure that they are equal. Information from the ledger should also be compiled so that financial statements can be prepared.

5) Adjustment

Now that external transactions (such as supply purchases and utility payments) have been recorded and verified, it is time to adjust the accounts for internal transactions (such as prepaid rent or unearned revenue).

6) The Adjusted Trial Balance

The preparation of the adjusted trial balance is the next task, which encompasses all internal and external transactions for the reporting period. Again, there accuracy is verified, by ensuring the credit and debit sums are equal.

7) Business Financial Statements

At this stage, a number of important financial statements are created. The Income Statement and Statement of Owner’s Equity first, followed by the Balance Sheet.

8) Closing Of The Trial Balance

Permanent accounts now have their balances carried into the next period, while temporary accounts are closed. The last entries made in those accounts are posted to the capital account of the business, after which all balances (expense, revenue, withdrawal, etc.) should be zero.

9) Post-Closing Trial Balance

Finally, comes the post-closing trial balance, which lists the balances of the accounts that were not closed (such as liabilities, assets, and owner’s equity). This trial balance helps verify that permanent accounts balance (i.e. that they have equal debit and credit sums) and that all temporary accounts were properly closed.

It is important that business owners understand the steps involved in this accounting cycle. The reason is that they are ultimately responsible for any mistakes, whether by accident or not, in their finances.

That is not so say that they should do all of their accounting themselves, that would also be a mistake. Rather, the point is that proper accounting is so important to a business that it pays to be fully aware of what needs to be done, but to seek professional assistance in the doing of those things.

Therefore, it is highly recommended that business owners enlist the help of a reputable accounting firm. Not only will they ensure that the accounting cycle is appropriately followed, and that all legal obligations are met, they will also offer advice and feedback on how to better organize finances in the future.

Hi Mick/Team

Just a question if I may, I\’m on the three day program and it feels good so far but why are squats so good for overall growth, not just for legs but for other areas as well, I want to get bigger overall. Do squats really help you grow all over?

Charlie

Hi Charles,

Let me put it this way. If there was just the one exercise that I would have to choose to try and keep in overall shape then squats would be the one that I would pick – I would have to because of the overall fitness levels that the exercise would give me.

That said and to be honest I have had my fair share of squat sessions during my lifetime thus far that I am more than qualified to say that with the up most authority. That also does not mean that the exercise in my personal opinion is a pure bastard but you cannot get away from the facts of what overall fitness, strength and stamina the exercise can give you,

This is easily explained in the study of the movement of squats. The balance alone calls for muscles from the calves, thighs, lower and upper back, shoulders and arms alone just to stay upright even before a squat is done. Couple this with the braking power needed from all of these muscles just in the downward movement alone and we have not even begun the upward push. See my point?

Squatting asks for so much from a person and if continued in a training routine along with other main muscle groups such as chest and back for example, then you are basically covering the whole body in these three exercises alone – stamina and strength being the main benefits just to name a couple.

So the answer is a definite yes to squats. Love em or hate em if you want to advance that little further then some form of squats should really be added to your training routine for maximum results.

God Bless!

Mick.

Hi there Mick,

I am starting dianabol for the first it i have bin told to start of on 4 tablets a day can I take them all at once all do I have to spread them out throughout the day. The tablets I have are 5mg,

Gareth

Hi Gareth,

I would start on 2-3 tabs a day to be honest and yes spread them throughout the day, well in two halves would be sufficient and with food also.

A dosage of 4 a day is not bad but it is always best to start a little lower than to high simply because there are those that even 2-3 a day can be more than enough. Remember the number 1 rule, \”Once its in you cannot take it out!\”

The exact dosages and times of this particular steroid are featured in my Layman\’s Guides series of books including many other starting cycles to be aware of.

Please bear in mind that you could help an old bodybuilder here by buying about 50,000 copies of each then I can reply to any of your questions from a villa in the Bahamas in a much better mood.

Cheers,

Mick

Hey Mick,

I have read your Layman\’s guide and found it very helpful i have done two bulking cycles from your guide i have got a bit of a fat gut with all the protein shakes and eat like a horse. i would like your opinion on what is the best cycle for burning the fat or is ephedrine a better option.

cheers mate,

Gordon… \”Good info in your book no bull cheers!!!\”

Hi Gordon,

OK you may have put on some fat but that is always going to happen to some extent but without it you really cannot gain as much as people would think they can, Without some stored fat (especially during the mass building phase) you would start to deplete protein as an alternative energy source which leads to actual muscle loss in the long run so be wary of that.

But… the option that I would go for in this case would be to use a \”staged trimming\” of your diet – a little bit at a time in stages so that you don\’t lose too much muscle.

For example you could start simply by not taking in any Carbs after 7 o\’clock which will reduce the fat considerably once your body gets used to it. If you feel that this is not fast enough then reduce the time down to say a 5 o\’clock limit with the Carbs which will drastically reduce the over intake of energy foods (so long as you are not training later on in the evening that is – here you have to be careful because you need a good Carb load for a good workout – well I do and that\’s a fact.

Ephedrine? Well this is something that will indeed kill your appetite and from a personal point of view it killed mine big time when I used it. It all depends on how much you feel you need to lose and what you have to sacrifice in order to lose the fat. With Ephedrine it really is down to the timing and that you have to get right because if you take it too late then it upset your sleep later on if taken to late so the timing and choices are up to you in these cases. If taken a half hour before training then the benefit of a boosted workout will be felt if the product suits, again entirely up to you.

Be wary of the products that offer mind boggling weight loss stats for even more mind boggling weight loss money because you are paying for the packaging when all you need to do is use a little more common sense and save your money.

Ease back on the fats, time the Carbs right and hit the gym as hard as you can WHEN you can.

A major reason why lenders periodically experience significant credit problems on commercial real estate loans is the property cycle, which is closely related to developers’ misforecasts. For example, the Asian recession started the same way as it did in the United States and Europe, beginning with extensive lending and the resulting overbuilding of commercial space.

A unique characteristic of real estate property is its longevity, and a feature of property development is a long delay between orders and completions. There also exist lags created by the need to acquire and development sites, area planning and land use changes, evaluate the load/bearing and other capacities of the site, obtain access to financing, draw up plans, and obtain building permissions. A typical project might take two to three years from the beginning to end.

The combination of a long time lag from initiation of a development project to completion, optimistic expectations about future demand for space, the macroeconomic situation, and a short-run supply which is irreversible and specific to both location and use, creates the conditions for a classic “hog-cycle” whereby the market alternates between bust and boom.

There is a long delay before increased user-demands for commercial property can be translated into additional property stock sustains space shortage. This can lead to rising rental or real estate values. Therefore, rising prices induce developers to initiate new construction. But in the short run, the effect on demand and supply can be even perverse. Potential tenants may sign contracts and acquire properties ahead of time in anticipation of rising rents, while the increase in real estate prices enables property trades to increase their borrowings and purchase more real estate.

Eventually, the supply of new space adjusts to changing user and investment demands, but under perhaps very different economic conditions, producing an excess supply of space and decreasing rents and real estate prices. Most of the adjustments in commercial real estate markets depend upon developers (suppliers). As the market alternates between a phase of over- and under supply to cyclical fluctuations in development activity is thus generated.

Putting these elements together, we might draw the profile of a typical property cycle:

1. Rents begin to rise and real estate values increase

2. It pays to renovate buildings and the volume of new construction expands

3. Increased lending and new sources of equity investment

4. Development lots and vacant land are absorbed

5. Optimistic forecasts of market growth and trends and “the boom that will never end” thinking sets in

6. Available supply begins to come to the market

7. At the peak of cycle all real estate factors now at full stretch, there is an equilibrium between supply and demand

8. Reduced take up and unstoppable supply of space

9. Rent decreases and falling property values

10. Tightened lending and foreclosures

11. Depressed property values and minimal construction activities

12. Banks reverse their boom policies and start to withdraw loans

13. The “wreckage” is cleared away and the real estate market stagnates

14. Increased absorption and stabilizing rents and values

15. Recovery and the readiness for another take up