What Are Accounting Ratios? | business.com

Accounting ratios give you a better understanding of your business’s financial position.

A critical component of running a successful business is understanding where it stands financially. This helps you see where you are today and predict how you’ll fare in the future. While there are many pieces of financial data to keep on top of, some critical ones are accounting ratios. These metrics can give you a quick idea of where your business stands and how well it is positioned to handle any obstacles that pop up.

What are accounting ratios?

Accounting ratios measure your company’s current and projected financial health. They are based on data in your business’s financial reports. On the surface, accounting ratios may seem complicated, but each measures two line items that you should be able to access quickly and easily from your balance sheet. Here are the most common accounting ratios that small businesses can use.

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Why I sold my awesome gaming PC and bought a MacBook Pro | Digital Trends

I did it. I have committed the cardinal sin among PC gaming enthusiasts.

I have ditched my relatively powerful gaming PC in exchange for the breezy console life — and also threw in a new MacBook Pro while I was at it.

I know how it sounds, but give me a chance to explain. My reasons won’t work for everyone, but I’m already loving my life away from my gaming PC, even if it won’t last forever.

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5 Ways to Support Freelancers and Improve Collaboration | The Startup Magazine

Freelancing is a booming industry right now, with great talent pools available. The percentage of full-time freelancers in the U.S. workforce soared from 17 to 28 percent between 2014 and 2019 and has been continually growing since the pandemic.

Moreover, the demand for freelancers is also set to increase as the gig economy proves that they are equally productive as full-time employees, but arguably, a more cost-effective option for employers. To maximize the benefits of hiring freelance workers, it is important to learn how to support them and work with them properly.

Knowing how to work with a freelancer efficiently will ensure the relationship is successful and the collaboration is fruitful. Here are things you should do when you consider working with freelancers:

1. Be Ready for Them

Hiring talented and skilled freelancers can help cut costs for many businesses. But that is only if you employ the appropriate strategy to find, hire, and onboard them. Depending on your business or the tasks at hand, try to find the right platform where you can find the best ones in their field.

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US rolls back Trump-era tariffs on UK steel | BBC News

The US has agreed to ease Trump-era tariffs on UK steel and aluminium shipments, resolving an issue that had strained relations between the allies.

The move follows earlier deals with the European Union and Japan over the controversial taxes, which were imposed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 in the name of national security.

In exchange, the UK will suspend extra taxes it had put on US products such as bourbon and Levi’s jeans.

Business groups welcomed the decision.

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Kickstarter’s CEO stepping down in April | TechCrunch

In a blog post today titled “Moving Forward, With Gratitude,” Kickstarter CEO Aziz Hasan announced that he is stepping down from his leadership role at the crowdfunding platform. After three years, April 4 will be his final day as chief executive. In his stead, the company’s COO Sean Leow will fill the role as interim CEO as the company’s board of directors searches for a more permanent replacement.

“I am so proud of the work we’ve done together,” Hasan writes. “Leading such a passionate, skilled, and dedicated team through intense moments of change, milestone victories, and complex challenges has been a humbling and rewarding experience.”

The executive spoke with Fast Company about the decision, citing “personal reflection” as a motivator, as well as a desire to spend more time with his young family. As Hasan notes, his tenure has seen strong growth for the service, though the last several years have also had their share of controversy.

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California’s Plan to Electrify Uber and Lyft Doesn’t Add Up | WIRED

GABE ETS-HOKIN HAS been picking up Bay Area Uber and Lyft passengers in electric vehicles since 2018, and he says he is never going back to petrol. “The day-to-day reality of driving an electric vehicle is like a gasoline car, except it’s quieter, more fun to drive, more comfortable, and passengers love it,” he says.

EVs, he explains, are an especially good fit for the stop-and-start of driving in dense cities because they use regenerative braking, which captures the energy used to slow to a stop and “reinvests” it in charging the battery. Instead of tracking down public chargers, he hooks his car up to the charger he’s installed at his house.

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10 Types of People Companies are Hiring | Getentrepreneurial.com

Are you looking to hire new staff and wondering which personalities are right for your business? Here are the top 10 to focus on.

  • Companies benefit from having a diverse group of employees on each team.
  • Employers want to hire loyal and sincere workers who act with integrity.
  • Many employers rely on some form of personality test or psychological profiling technique during the hiring process.
  • This article is for business owners, recruiters and hiring managers who are looking to build a great staff.

Exactly what kinds of people do employers tend to look for when hiring? In the 2021 Traits and Qualities Employers Look For study by Zety, recruiters identified loyalty (52%), integrity (49%) and sincerity (48%) as the three most important qualities in a job applicant. The majority (83%) of those same recruiters said that their first impression of a candidate was an important factor in their hiring decisions.

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LED contact lens treatment may prevent diabetes-related blindness | New Atlas

If diabetes progresses too far, it can result in a potentially blinding condition known as retinopathy. And while existing treatments are invasive and often painful, there may be new hope in the form of an LED-equipped contact lens.

Diabetic retinopathy occurs when the disease damages tiny blood vessels in the eye, reducing blood flow to nerve cells in the retina, starving them of oxygen and causing them to die.

The body tries to compensate by growing new blood vessels in the retina, although the diabetes often causes these to be imperfectly formed, resulting in their bleeding and damaging the retina. That damage is repaired via the growth of scar tissue – not new nerve cells – so over time, the patient loses their sight.

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Google’s ‘delete last 15 minutes of search history’ feature comes to Android early | Mashable

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just click a button and just wipe, say, the last 15 minutes of your Google search history?

iPhone users have been living that dream since last summer, when Google rolled out that very option to its iOS app. Now Android users can now feel the joy of deleting your most recent search history with a single tap too.

Google is now rolling out the option to remove the last 15 minutes of a user’s search history to its official Android app, according to The Verge and confirmed by the search giant. Some Android users are already reporting that the feature is now available to them.

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These two states passed gas tax suspensions. More may follow | CNN

As inflation and Russia’s war on Ukraine force consumers to pay more at the pump, some states are temporarily suspending their gas tax — and others may follow.

Lawmakers in California, which has the highest gas tax in the country at 51-cents-per-gallon, are proposing a $400 gas tax rebate, after state Democrats previously shot down a gas tax pause. Lawmakers say the rebate will cover the cost of the current gas tax for a full year for most drivers.

Other state leaders, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have called for suspending gas taxes, which stands at 6% in Michigan.

The national average gas price was $4.25 per gallon on Sunday.

Two states have already enacted laws suspending the gas tax.

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