Bookkeeping is a fundamental business activity that not only presents an accurate picture of day-to-day financial health, but also provides information and generates reports that can inform future expansion. That is why businesses such as https://www.geekbooks.com.au/ are utilized to aid in keeping on top of financial needs within a business. For many small business owners, however, it’s a chore, so here are four ideas to help streamline the process.
Little and Often
Letting bookkeeping tasks build up is a sure way of making a mountain over what should be a molehill. Overworked business owners and entrepreneurs often have a hard time keeping up with their bookkeeping and can end up in a vicious circle of putting off a big job, which only makes it even bigger.
The best way to get round this is to make a daily date with the books. You could schedule a session first thing in the morning to catch up with the previous day’s transactions, but by far the best way is to schedule a half-hour or so at the end of every working day so you can update the accounts while everything is fresh in your mind.
If confusion over what needs to be done is part of what’s spoiling your relationship with your financial records, a short course in bookkeeping or a chat with a friendly accountant can help clear your mind and show you the way forward.
Cloud Accounting
With bookkeeping software being relatively expensive, a cheaper alternative is to run an accounting system in the cloud via a subscription-based service. These have many advantages over manual or locally stored bookkeeping software, Spreadsheets, or databases:
- Multiple licenses that allow entire teams to use the same software and access the same information
- Ability to enter information anywhere and anytime, including from mobile devices
- Synchronisation with your bank account so transactions appear automatically in your accounting system, cutting down much of the necessary manual data entry
- Easier completion and submission of tax returns
- Faster invoice generation, and permanent online storage
There are many online accounting providers to choose from. Some use their own accounting systems while others provide familiar platforms such as QuickBooks or Sage.
Reduce the Paper Trail
We’re still waiting for the promised paperless office and even though that seems some distance in the future, modern technology provides plenty of ways to help us cut down on the physical paper we handle and store.
Receipts provide a good example, since in many cases there is no need to hang on to the paper version that needs to be filed for the current year then stored in previous year’s records. The alternative is to keep a digital copy in place of the original, and this is easily achieved by taking a quick photograph with a smart phone, copying, or scanning. The good news is that in many cases HMRC will accept digital copies of receipts, excluding some documents such as anything to do with tax other than VAT.
Keeping digital records doesn’t, however, relieve you of the need for organisation. Just like paper records, digital records need a logical and systematic file and folder hierarchy so record retrieval is quick and painless.
Simplify Where Possible
Many small businesses make the mistake of having an accounting system that is too complicated for their needs. This only adds to the bookkeeping burden, as it puts up an accessibility barrier that destroys any existing motivation to keep up with accounting tasks.
If you’re struggling with complicated software that demands information that’s irrelevant to your business, or if you’re battling with old-fashioned manual accounting systems, a professional accountant’s advice could prove invaluable. They can not only explain what kind of records you need to keep for your business model, they can also show you the method they prefer should you later wish them to handle your end of year tax accounts and returns. In the end, this will save both time and money.
Modern accounting methods can be dynamic and easy, as well as quick and informative. Bring on board all that today’s technology offers, and bookkeeping becomes an everyday part of running a successful business.