Monday, March 18, 2013

How to Approach Sino Financials Markets in the Current Year

No company can run without the proper staff and that includes the management team and the director, as well as all the other staff that are needed, right through to the canteen lady and the janitor. Each person has their duties and responsibilities that if done well will all become part of the fabric of the company or organization. Directors duties are probably one of the most important as without a director, the ship is virtually rudderless.

So what does a director do? They don't just walk around ensuring that everyone does what they are supposed to. In fact, that is the managers' job. The director has many other things to attend to and one of the most important is to know what the financial position of the company is at all times, not just at the end of the financial year.

When the director knows what the cash flow is and what the financial position of the company is, it will aid him in making certain decisions that are going to cost the company money. If he - or she - does not know they may well agree to something that costs more than the company can afford. This is highly likely to cause insolvency.

While the director does not need to do the actual record keeping, it is certainly his duty to avail himself of the facts and details about it all. This can be as simple as talking to the company's accountant. Such knowledge must be used to the best effect to bring into the company all that is needed to make it a going concern and keep it powering on into the future.

In addition, with such governance comes great responsibly to act in the best interests of the company, but also to not use such a position to gain benefits for yourself or anyone else, or to cause anything detrimental to happen to the company. The director's position is one of trust and responsibility. They are the recipient of a great deal of confidential information and so must be people who can be trusted to keep that information away from the eyes of others.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Tips to Consider When Opening an Online Banking Account

Opening an online bank account in a time when we turn to the Internet for just about everything is very tempting. There are a lot of reasons why people want to leave the concept of the brick and mortar bank behind for a bank that does business strictly online. These modern bank accounts offer consumers a simple and convenient way to manage their money from the comfort of their own home. If you plan to open an online bank account in the near future, these tips will help you do it easily and safely.

Choosing Your Bank

The banks compete on the return on your money (APY) that they can offer, and it makes sense to compare this number as you make your selection. You should also consider the services that are being offered to ensure that you can do everything you need with your new bank. Online bill pay, offering CD's and a number of other options are services that you may need immediately or sometime down the road. Since you are not going to be seeing these people face-to-face, review their track record and length of time in business. These needs to be a comfort factor when choosing a bank. For example, Capitol One 360, formerly ING Direct, is one of the more popular online banks. Knowing that a great number of people bank with your prospective bank can give you a sense of security.

Opening the Account

The banks have made it very easy to open accounts online, and you should be prepared for the whole thing to last about 15 minutes from start to finish. Navigate to the bank's website and select the link to open a new account. As with any other bank account, you will need to supply personal information like your social security number and your contact information. Entering this information is safe and secure as long as you follow standard computer security practices. Online banks are required by law to verify your identity. Make sure that you have a driver's license or another valid form of government identification ready. Make sure to keep a check from your old bank with you as you fill out the information. You may need to enter check data in order to transfer funds from the old bank to the new bank.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Save Time and Improve Cash Flow

There's no reason to add 20 minutes to your day for you.

Check? What's a check? You've probably heard people say that. The popularity of online bill-pay and credit or debit cards has led to the demise of many paper checkbooks.

But a lot of your customers (especially commercial/corporate) may still be using them, and that can mean multiple trips to the bank every week to deposit them. If you wait until you have several, your deposits will be delayed and your cash flow slowed down.

Intuit's Check Solution for QuickBooks may be just the solution for your business. You can accept check payments over the phone or scan the checks when they arrive in your office. Payments are deposited into your account anywhere from 1 to 4 days, depending on time of day, day of week and holidays. Most times my checks are in my account by the next day. Here are some benefits:

Faster payments. Since you can accept check payments over the phone, you don' t need to wait for the check to come via snail mail.

Save time (yours or staff): You don't have to fill out a deposit slip and go to the bank. If you scan the checks, both sides of the check are copied and stored in your QuickBooks data file no more standing by the copier to make copies of checks! This could also save you money - labor is a significant expense for most businesses, and if you're the owner, your time is valuable and better spent strategizing and making sales.

Improved accuracy. With check scanning, the numbers are entered for you. It's so easy to type a lengthy number incorrectly, especially if you're processing a number of transactions.

Decreased risk of fraud. The more people that handle a paper check, the more likely financial fraud is, so this cuts down on the number of handlers.

Lower fees. While there are fees associated with accepting e-checks, the fee per check is a very low flat rate, instead of a percent of the amount as with credit cards.

How it works

There are two methods with Intuit's check solutions.

    Electronic Check - When you accept payment over the phone or are not using a scanner, go to receive payments in QuickBooks and enter the customer and amount as usual.
        Payment method is E-Check
        Check the box at the bottom of the screen next to Process E-Check payment when saving, and save the payment record.
        You will be prompted to enter the routing and account information from the check; QuickBooks will lead you through the necessary steps.

    Check Scanning
        Click on Customers>Check Processing Activities>Scan Checks
        Scan the check (you can scan multiple checks at one time)
        Verify the information scanned correctly.
        Record the payment now or later. If you choose to do it now, Intuit will look for an appropriate open invoice. If unable to find and match, a button will appear for Receive Payments and then you can match the payment with appropriate invoice. All the payment information will be entered for you already.
        If you scanned multiple checks, you'll be asked to review each one.
        Send checks for processing - this will send the entire batch of checks you scanned.
    You'll then be asked if you want to make a deposit now or record later. If you do it now, all the checks will be on one deposit for you.

You'll need a merchant account with Intuit if you don't already have one.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

The Importance Of Directors Duties For Any Company

No company can run without the proper staff and that includes the management team and the director, as well as all the other staff that are needed, right through to the canteen lady and the janitor. Each person has their duties and responsibilities that if done well will all become part of the fabric of the company or organization. Directors duties are probably one of the most important as without a director, the ship is virtually rudderless.

So what does a director do? They don't just walk around ensuring that everyone does what they are supposed to. In fact, that is the managers' job. The director has many other things to attend to and one of the most important is to know what the financial position of the company is at all times, not just at the end of the financial year.

When the director knows what the cash flow is and what the financial position of the company is, it will aid him in making certain decisions that are going to cost the company money. If he - or she - does not know they may well agree to something that costs more than the company can afford. This is highly likely to cause insolvency.

While the director does not need to do the actual record keeping, it is certainly his duty to avail himself of the facts and details about it all. This can be as simple as talking to the company's accountant. Such knowledge must be used to the best effect to bring into the company all that is needed to make it a going concern and keep it powering on into the future.

In addition, with such governance comes great responsibly to act in the best interests of the company, but also to not use such a position to gain benefits for yourself or anyone else, or to cause anything detrimental to happen to the company. The director's position is one of trust and responsibility. They are the recipient of a great deal of confidential information and so must be people who can be trusted to keep that information away from the eyes of others.

Friday, February 1, 2013

How to Approach Sino Financials Markets in the Current Year



The Solactive China Financials index tracks a total of thirty six of the top Sino Bank Equity, evaluates the sector and its growth quite effectively and even offers participation in the form of an Index attuned China Financials ETF. The Solactive benchmark [Bloomberg ticker - CHIF] has delivered returns of 16.29% for the Year 2012 and the annualized returns since its inception in December 2009 are a little less than 2%.

Banks of China enjoy a definite edge over their counterparts because of the sheer numbers of consumers available to them and these numbers are still rising. The heavy economic growth of the last twenty years has changed the demographics in these parts of Asia, two decades of good business meant better payouts for the Chinese workers, businesses have grown drastically due to the aggressive and global demand for local products, the households have seen a major appreciation of their immovable assets amid this massive wave of globalization in China which exists even today has led to massive swell in the numbers of the middle classes, who now want to upgrade their life styles with the increased disposable incomes and wealth.

Credit card giant Master Card carried out a survey in 2010 to derive forecasts on the credit card users in China. As per the report net credit cards in circulation were to reach 230 million by 2011, which it already did and by 2020 the figure for these plastic units in use will be a whooping 900 million.

This is real growth of more than 400% in just nine years.

Another plus is a supportive state in the nation and the past year's growth wouldn't have been possible without a little help from the government. The top four banks of China boasted a balance sheet in black largely owing to the central bank directives. Their loan rates were bloated as much as 30%, where as interests charged were 10% higher than the central bank's deposit rate, although these top institutions did consume a major chunk of bad debts from the LGFVs segment, but largely enjoyed profits in the wake of the new norms.

The bigger positive lies in the understanding of an investor who are seeking to indulge in the Sino Financial funds and equity, it is a simple realization that the buck does not stop here; the growth that has been seen in case of credit card will apply to all or at least most consumer products and the biggest purchasing and loaning activity will come from the first time owners of varied items like smart phone, cars, laptops and most primarily the new end users of the realty. A surge in the housing markets of China will not only justify the state's aggressive approach towards infrastructure, it will also account for most of the extended loans from the banks domiciled in the nation.

China, most analysts say will eventually outperform the rest of the BRIC and will surpass USA in terms of net GDP by 2027.

A good basis to this asset is a long positive outlook relying on bona fide business sense rather than the market frenzy, which is a common sight in the emerging capital markets. The projected growth is impossible without a good banking structure and that's what makes Invest China Financials Sector an interesting space to watch throughout 2013 and beyond.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Banking and Financial Bodies Marching Towards Economic Restructuring



Banking and financial bodies are evolving with rapid industrial advancement and business benchmarks. The newer technological facets and banking trends are increasingly empowering its service features and all around availability. Banking bodies are also experiencing the huge opportunities waiting for them to harness. This is the reason they are continuously evolving to emerge as the competitive back support to foster economic anchors. They have observed that collective initiatives are necessary for Industrial, economic and community growth in every stratum. Today, banks and financial institutions are vulnerable to new opportunities as well as challenges, but they have successfully enabled their infrastructure to put their products and services for the societal well-being.

Due to the extensive and overly exposed competitive market, financial bodies are looking forward to overcome traditional banking methods and practicing better approaches to innovate their products and strategies. They are making good use of emerging technologies such as banking technology trends, online security, virtualization, web productivity, financial services technologies, collaborations, insurance technology solutions, and disaster recovery. In fact, they are looking to expose their services and core abilities so that more and more number of people can access their services. They are introducing formal banking system to a variety of community to support economic fundamentals.

Banks are also utilizing existing outlets to include more regions into their financial network. This will enable them to fetch new customers and satisfy their growing demands. This will also help them in innovating IT-Telecom platform and generating more ideas to serve more people. Today, banks are looking to broaden their network, for this they need to use social networking sites. These websites are better enough to target audiences in a particular region. These websites are helpful in teaching and making their customers' aware, and motivate them to use their services. It helps them to interact with their customers and know their expectations. In essence, it certainly helps to enhance their profit margins and make sure reducing the cost per transaction also.

Today, banks are also thinking to improve their relations with micro-financing companies to target small groups of people, agriculture businesses or people having small-scale enterprises. This action helps business owners in kick starting their businesses with strong banking support. It helps them in fast growing and managing cash flow at the same time. It will eventually generate employment, support economic growth and allow community.

No doubt, banking and financial institutions are penetrating the societal roots to play a vital role in economic restructuring and re-surfacing their identities in the growing economic eon. They also discuss their future endeavors in renowned banking conferences.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Reasons Why Risk Control And Cutting Losses Are Important To Market Trend Investors



It is truly surprising how stocks can move so fast. Before a person has time to think, a stock can change substantially. This is in large part a factor as to why complaints surrounding the viability of stock investing is usually related to the heavy losses that can be suffered in the span of a singe day. For this reason, one of the most important things a trader can learn early is risk management and the science of learning how to cut losses. This should be a part of all investing strategies, but these are a few specific reasons why risk control and cutting losses are important to a market trend investor.

Market Trends Investors Trade According to Market Trends

As straightforward as that can appear, really consider that. Because the philosophy of this investing plan is based around using indicators to show the direction of stocks, a market investor should avoid trading against the market trend at all costs. However staying in a bad trade despite all the signs is doing exactly that. Sometimes information is missed, sometimes indicators can give false signs. Depending on your position the rise or fall of a stock can result in losses initially. There are times where this is okay but if the gap gets to be too much, just cut losses before it becomes impossible to make up the difference.

Stop-losses were invented specifically to safeguard against traders losing too much money. What type of stop-loss to use depends entirely on the trade you're taking part in. But the basics are that the guaranteed stop-loss will place an absolute hold on the losses you are able to sustain. The trailing stop-loss will assure you of your profits while protecting from loss as it moves up or down according to your profits. Some brokers charge extra for the use of certain stop-losses so make sure that you read up on what your broker does before trying to use one.

Market Trend Investors Cannot Trade Without Limits

When success and trading are discussed, it is often about the trades that make overnight millionaires. What many do not talk about is the discipline that traders need in order to be successful every year. Letting profitable transactions serve their purpose takes as much discipline as does cutting losses when investments are going bad. The amount of losses that you can afford will depend on how much you have to start. Set your absolute limit there or at whatever amount you can't afford to lose. Being aware of where your limit is can make it easier to quit a trade when it gets out of hand. You will have to resist the temptation to hold on. Trading is about doing transactions that profit you.

Market Trend Investor Cannot Linger

When a transaction is not going anywhere good and every sign and indicator is telling you that there is no change coming, don't wait until you're facing ruin to get out. In heeding to the natural human desire to believe in one's own abilities, a trader can lose a lot of money fighting losing battles. A market trend investor needs to be flexible and to not take individual trades personally. Market trends move with too much speed for traders to stick to one trade at the expense of all others. Should the stock begin showing itself alive, it is possible to get back into trades.

People can and sometimes do make incredible sums on the stock market. Because of this it is easy to get lured into the trap of trying to complete the most profitable trades. The reality for most successful traders is that several profitable trades in a day are more valuable than one massive victory. Trend investors do not have the resources or time to stay fixated on a stock that is costing the more money. A home run trade means nothing when the deficits are too much to make the difference.

Nobody wants to be seen as someone who lost everything on the stock market. For this reason very few people are willing to talk about why risk control and cutting losses are important to a market trend investor. The thing is, regardless of what people want to think they do need to trade with trends, abide by self-imposed guidelines, and never linger over a stock to their own detriment. Those who want to trade successfully will need to know how to cut losses quickly in order to make more money on the stock market.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

What Is A Trend Following Investment Strategy? What It Does And 3 Things It Won't Be



What is a trend following investment strategy? Well, a trend following investment strategy is essentially the systemic practice of investing in the market on the basis of trends. It uses developments in the market to the best interests of the investor regardless of what is going on. It does not matter if the market belongs to sellers or buyers, successful trend followers are able to take advantage of each of these circumstances and while placing limits on the amount of money investors lose. Before heading off to rush into the world of investing however, think about the things that trend following is not in order to get an idea of how it works.

Trend Following is Not Able to Give Fortunes

Trend following investors use elements of technical analysis to spot trends, no real trader will be able to provide you with a share's forecast. Trend following actually helps traders profit by aiding them as they find and identify trends. This enables a trader to make money by looking at what the market is doing. Once signals make it clear that the trend is going to change, the trend following investor is the able to leave the transaction and profit elsewhere. It is a system designed to take advantage of market conditions not give precise judgments on any stock you want.

Trend Following Will Not Result in Getting Rich Quick

Trend following has used the market to bring people very impressive amounts of money. However the daily reality is that most traders have to acquire the money through solid moves and discipline over time. The appeal of a get rich fast plan revolves around the idea of making lots of money in small amounts of time with very little work involved. Effort is needed in order to make the most out of trend following. It takes a lot to ignore feelings of greed and stubbornness in order to preserve the larger concept. While there is lots of money to be had on the market, it takes time and hard work to get there.

Trend Following is Not Purely Theoretical

Many hear from more conservative friends that stock investing is an excellent idea in theory but not something to be used as a serious form of income. It is not practical to expect steady money from stock trading. It is a hobby that should be taken up people with money. The reality is that plenty of money can and has been lost on the market. This is the result of trading without rules or ignoring your rules in search of more profits. Anything can happen and that is why systems exist for trading. With the speed and unpredictability of the market today, trend following is there in order for traders to remain calm and relatively protected even in the worst of situations.

As for trend investing, it is really just making trades from a very specific point of view. This system will not give the 'fortune' of a stock. It will not bring in millions without any effort. What it can do for you however is give an applicable method for making money on the stock market. What is a trend following investment strategy? It is basically a set of rules that will play a role in your success as an investor.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

The Differences Between Wills And Trusts



The differences between wills and trusts are dramatic in terms of probate avoidance. Probate is where a California court supervises the distribution of your estate once you pass away. Unfortunately, due to budget cutbacks related to California's recent economic woes, the probate process can easily take two years on average and can cost between 6-8% of your estate's value. For these reasons, many Californians seek to avoid it.

A majority of people come to me without any idea of how a will actually works. They think that in California, having a will will prevent your estate from going into probate, when actually, the opposite is true! By definition, having a will guarantees that your estate will enter probate. The purpose of a will is to to allow a California judge to supervise the administration of your estate and make sure that your will's executor distributes your estate according to the wishes that you put on paper. It tells the probate judge, "upon passing you are to make sure that my executor, X, distributes my estate to my beneficiary, Y." X must now distribute your estate to Y with judicial oversight.

Now compare this to a living trust. A trust is a legal creation that will avoid probate. People die, but legal entities can live forever- just look at the US Constitution! You create a trust during your lifetime and assign all of your valuable assets through its various legal documentation capabilities. The idea is that because Trusts continue indefinitely, if your assets are held in a trust, they will continue being owned by it even after you pass away, and hence avoid probate. During your life you are the manager of the trust (the initial trustee), meaning that if this is a revocable trust, you can go about adding, subtracting, and changing the trust and its property however you wish. Once you pass away, your named successor trustee takes control, and must distribute the trust property according to your trust's terms, and this bypasses probate. The state of California will only involve itself if the beneficiary sues the successor trustee for failing to properly administer the trust.

While it is generally best to utilize a trust to avoid the costly and time-consuming process of probate, there are some situations where it might be better to create and implement a last will and testament that goes through probate court. Everybody is unique and an attorney should review your particular family situation so to help you decide what is best for you. The bottomline is that there are significant and meaningful differences between wills and trusts, these are differences you should consult with a skilled estate planning attorney to determine whether you should seek probate or avoid it based on your specific needs.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Standardization of Financial Institutions and Banking Bodies



Banking institutions, capital markets and financial bodies are facing a tough time and are looking for holistic strategies to bridge the rapid widening economic gaps. Along with their critical services and operations like cash management, wealth management, loans, online transaction, trading, payments, lending, asset management and compliance, they also need to focus on customer beneficiary products and fresh set of services that can fulfill rising demands. They need to interconnect their applications flexibly to help achieve business objectives. They even need to evolve their infrastructure to eliminate intermediaries from their process delivery models.

However, banks and financial institutions have implemented impeccable connectivity across various systems as well as operating units. They are extending their technological knowledge and implementing techniques to reconfigure technological solutions in a flexible way. This helps them to answer business queries and meet the transforming demands of customers. They are emphasizing on industry-specific or you say business-centric applications to improve their services such as payment processing, lending, distribution management, business intelligence, and many more. In fact, it is a great way to retain and please customers. Even, customers can rely on the consistent banking commitment to industry standards.

Unquestionably, banking institutions are looking comprehensively to support its customers through. They have understood that the end-to-end processes delivery is a deft way to cross expectations. This will help them to set up unique operating units and business application systems. It not only assists in their internal operations like accounting and reporting, but also in establishing delivery branches and terminals. They are also developing a good combination of intelligent software solutions through their expertise.

Banks are focusing more on cloud technology, big data, Customer relationship management, collaboration, Supply chain management and cyber crime, data security, high-speed data transmission, video communication, e-commerce, portfolio management, social media websites, retail banking technology and IT investment.

In this context, they are simultaneously gearing up their process orientation that helps them to unleash their service delivery power. This will enable them to strengthen their service-oriented architecture. Moreover, they are focusing on their building blocks i.e. customers. They are increasingly using social media websites to educate, inform and connect with the customers and refining banking technology trends. This certainly helps them to build their brands and gain popularity among users.

They are continuously encouraging business users to interact, suggest, recommend and discuss their matters and concerns with them. In fact, it is the master key to lay successful banking foundation. In essence, banking and financial institutions are evolving integrally to better manage their resources, please customers and establish an untarnished brand name in the market.