Business First Family Business, Accounting, Finance, Investing, Marketing And Management
Efficiency is key if you want to run a successful business. After all, you have so many tasks to be getting on with that working on them quickly and efficiently is the only way to succeed, especially in the early days. Bookkeeping is a necessary evil of running a small business. It’s something that not many entrepreneurs enjoy, yet it is something that is vital and has to be done. If you’ve been struggling with the boredom of doing your books, keep reading for some advice that will hopefully help.
Establish A System
It may sound obvious, but it’s important to have a system in place for your bookkeeping if you want to do the task efficiently. Lots of businesses pile all their post on the desk and then deal with it weeks or months later. This is never a good idea and could mean that invoices, legal documents and deliverables slip through the cracks. Instead, establish a protocol for dealing with your finances on a periodic basis. It will make your life much easier!
Don’t Fall Behind
It’s easy to fall behind on your bookkeeping, but the second you do, the harder it is to catch up. Even just letting your books slip for a week can lead to the snowball effect, leaving you trying to catch up for weeks. If you are unable to keep up with the books on your own, it’s best to hire someone to help you. This could be a member of staff or an accountant. If you delegate, you will always have someone on hand to help out due to sickness or other absences.
Hire An Accountant
We briefly mentioned above the benefits of hiring an accountant, but if you really want to make your bookkeeping efficient, this is the best thing you can do. You probably don’t need to hire someone full time, unless you run a large business, so look into hiring someone on an as-needed basis. A professional accountant will be able to help you file your tax return, deal with your payroll, and advise you on your business’ finances.
Keep Your Receipts
Nothing slows bookkeeping down like having to search through old drawers and emails for receipts. Rather than forgetting about your purchases and dealing with them later, file them away appropriately. You should be able to do bank reconciliations easily. Match up your purchase order format with the invoices. Additionally, track an business expenses that seem out of the norm. This way, when it comes to doing your books, you’ll be much more efficient and won’t need to waste time digging!
Automate Everything
Finally, the last thing you can do to improve efficiency is to automate everything. There are a lot of easy-to-use software products out there today, and they can do everything from sending out invoice reminders, to recording expenses. You can always share access to the small business accounting software with your accountant as well, making their job a breeze. This is one of the easiest ways to improve your efficiency where your finances are concerned.
While running a business, bookkeeping can be an annoying task. However, it is necessary to the success of your business. In order to make your bookkeeping more efficient, establish a system and stick with it. Additionally, you can hire an accountant to help you stay on top of receipts and automate various processes. Follow these tips to make bookkeeping less time consuming.
