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13th July 2011

Intuit Survey Offers Three Work Life Balance Tips

intuitSmall business owners walk the work-life balance tightrope differently than the rest of us. Because their working lives are spent on their own business, they’re more likely to put in extra hours and still feel they’ve got more balance than a typical employee. Intuit Canada, makers of QuickBooks accounting software have released the findings of a national poll on work-life balance among small business owners and is offering expert tips to help them make the most of the time they spend on their business.

The recent national survey commissioned by Intuit found 88 per cent of the small business owners said they were satisfied with the balance between their personal and professional pursuits. The majority (84%) also feel they have a better balance than if they worked for someone else.

“Small business owners have told us before, work-life balance is as important to them as finding and keeping customers,” said Barb Anderson, QuickBooks product marketing leader. “Through QuickBooks, we help them carve out time for balance by providing tools that help organize and manage their business finances easily and more efficiently.”

Work-life balance is often measured by comparing the amount of time spent on the job against time spent on personal pursuits. However, 97 per cent of small business owners said their view differs from the norm.

“Even though nearly half of respondents (46%) said they work beyond 40 hours a week it’s the sense of ownership over the work they do, the ability to set their own schedule and do what they want when they want that contributes to their sense of balance,” said Anderson.

“Working smarter, not harder is the key to making the most of the time small business owners choose to devote their work and personal lives,” said Anderson. “We talk to entrepreneurs every day and invariably, those who embraced the right tools and strategies are better able to balance their schedules.”

To help small business owners improve their work-life balance, Anderson offered the following tips to help save time when managing finances:

  • Get organized: Having your financial records scattered among a host of file folders or different programs on your laptop is inefficient. Financial management software provides a one-stop snapshot of money coming in and going out of your business so you always know where you stand
  • Stop stuffing envelopes: Send invoices through email and eliminate the time it takes to print, prepare and post them. In addition to cutting out the trip to the mail box, it gets invoices in the hands of your customers immediately
  • Save time with your accountant: Don’t pay your accountant to spend time sorting through your shoe box of receipts. You’ll make the most of your meetings by getting organized ahead of time, and getting the strategic advice you need to move your business forward.

Ultimately the secrets to achieving balance are as varied and personal as the more than 2.4 million small businesses in Canada. Intuit is inviting business owners to share their stories and tips on how they find balance on QuickBooksCanada on Facebook and on Twitter, reference hashtag #qbwlb.  Submissions will be collected from now until July 31 and made available for sharing on the QuickBooks, Facebook page in early August.

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 at 7:49 am and is filed under National News, Research Studies, Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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