Business Books: Up to date?
Fall is quickly approaching with the last quarter of the year around the corner. Fall is my favorite time of the year for many different reasons that range from the weather to the smell of apple pies baking. It is also a time to make sure that your business books are in order.
Many times I have spoken with small business owners in regards to their books and the one problem they always bring up is keeping up with the transactions on their books. As we all know time goes by rather quickly and before you know it, tax season will be here.
In an effort to best prepare yourself not only for the tax season, but to also position yourself in such a way that you’ll be able to move forward in growing your business in 2018. Here are tips for bringing your books current and staying on top of it for the rest of 2017.
1. Have a system in place to record these transactions, even if it is an excel spreadsheet. If you are just starting out or feel that you are too small to have a system such as Quickbooks or Xero, then use a spreadsheet. The important thing is you need to keep track of the income and expenses of your business.
2. Take the time to enter the transactions that take place. One day a week dedicate some time to input the transactions that have taken place the prior week. This is also a good time to go over any collections outstanding and payments that need to be made.
3. Have a separate account for all of your business transactions. This not only helps immensely with staying on top of your business financials. It also makes it easier come tax time for your tax account to be able to do your business taxes.
4. Understand that when an excel spreadsheet is not enough, you need to start looking into a financial system to better serve the needs of your business.
5. If you are at the point where you just can’t keep up, outsource the accounting work to a professional that will make sure your business finances are in the best shape for a smooth tax time.
