Running your business is hard enough without getting bogged down in your finances. If you’ve just started a business, you might have time to spend on the figures and general bookkeeping, but as time goes by, and as the business grows, this time will be harder to find. However, because you’ve always done the bookkeeping, you’ll keep trying to do it but because you’re so busy you can easily make mistakes or oversights. Plus, as a business grows the finances often become more complex. Here’s how you can get control.
Practice Proper Bookkeeping
First, you need to fall into good habits. Good habits mean you retain the right information and have the right facts and figures at hand when you need them. If you don’t retain, and you don’t have the right data, you could either make a mistake or end up making the process ten times harder. Make sure you start recording proper sales figures, expenditure including wages, etc, somewhere logical like an excel document, not just on paper. You’ll make it far easier for yourself, and your accountant.
Utilize A Hire Or Software
This can come in the form of software, or by employing someone to keep track of the books. This is a big step, especially if you haven’t hired anyone yet. However, by hiring someone to look after the figures in the background you can spend more time on your business, dealing with clients and growing it even further. On the other hand, there are some great software accounting packages out there like QuickBooks, but also smaller ones like GNU, Open Systems, etc. The point is, if you’re struggling, the best thing you can do is take the load off and get some help.
Focus On The More Technical Points Of Accounting
If you’re going ahead and doing it all yourself, you need to make sure you know the technical points inside and out. Some elements of accountancy are far harder than others, and it means you need to learn them if you’re going to use them. Take deferred rent, for example, if you’re accounting for deferred rent you need to ensure that you’re following ASC 840 to the letter and that you’re recognizing your rent expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. There are so many nuances to accounting, you need to know how they work and relate to each other over time.
Consult An Accountant
Everyone knows accountants can be quite expensive sometimes. It’s why simply consulting with one can be better than hiring one long-term. They can help pull your systems and controls into order, provide you with proper bookkeeping methodologies and even take a look at some of the more complicated stuff for you. It’s not always affordable, and when it is, to get the most benefit, you need to sit down with them and try to absorb all that they’re telling you so that you can use the know-how to better your business going forward. You can probably find a local one on Google, just make sure they’ve got decent reviews and also the right qualifications.