How to Stay On top of Your Bookkeeping as a Budding Entrepreneur by Jocelyne Nayet

Entrepreneurs and bookkeepers thrive by adopting a self-motivated mentality. They’re committed, ambitious, confident in their own abilities, and capable. Having many strings to their bow and possessing profound multi-tasking skills are terrific attributes that most entrepreneurs seem to have in abundance. However, not every entrepreneur is a bookkeeping tips whizz.

Many entrepreneurs, especially those managing start-ups are tempted to keep overheads to a minimum. From sales to marketing, account management to bookkeeping, they find a way to balance what they can do with what they need to outsource.

However, from time to time, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on the basics. When juggling so many responsibilities, bad habits can form, something that, if not addressed, can inhibit business growth. The worrying part is that you might not realize that you’ve developed such habits until it’s too late. Therefore, you need to have a system that’ll help you assess your situation from time to time. Check out our article below and learn how to stay on top of your bookkeeping.

Get Your Invoicing and Purchases Orders Down Cold

If you want to run a successful business, you need to get your invoicing and purchasing down cold. For example, you can integrate your accounting system with an invoicing solution like GetYooz and automate the process, saving time, and improving efficiency.

By using automation, entrepreneurs can ensure that they’re paid faster, that they have more control over customer accounts, gain access to account statements in real-time, and improve customer experience.

Set Up a Business Account

It may sound like a no-brainer but setting up a business account to separate your personal from your business finances is a great way to keep control of your finances. You can manage your finances with ease, even get a business loan or credit card. In fact, when you hire accounting services from any reputable company, their work will be made easier with such a financial setup.

If you’re planning to incorporate your business as a limited company, are processing a lot of transactions, or if your income and expenses are becoming a little complicated to manage from a personal account and you want to make sure that your business is tax-efficient, having a business account is essential.

Apart from getting a business loan and simplifying your transactions, having a separate account enables you to keep track of your spending. When your business and personal expenses are all reported in one bank statement, it makes it difficult to check your spending habits. In the long run, you might start messing up with your business plans, which can be costly.

Digital Receipts

As we move towards a paperless world, more and more entrepreneurs are seeing the benefits of digitising their receipts. In 2020, it has never been easier to manage expenditure. There are apps that allow users to take a picture of their paper receipts, convert the .jpg file into a .pdf, and then upload it to the cloud so that you’ll never have to worry about losing receipts ever again.

Using the latest OCR (optical character recognition) technology, entrepreneurs can save much time and energy by manually organizing paper receipts before typing expenses into an Excel spreadsheet. This makes it so much easier for businesses to stay on top of their expenses, whilst freeing up valuable time to concentrate on more important areas of the business.

Digital receipts also reduce the cases of fraudulent practices. For instance, with physical receipts, it’s a lot easier to alter them, which could mean extra unnecessary costs for the business. However, that’s a lot difficult with digital receipts since every change can be traced in one way or another.

Get the Right Software

Twenty years ago, digital accounting was in its infancy and limited to a few packages. Today, that’s all changed. Entrepreneurs can tailor the software they use to their business. From mobile bookkeeping that can be completed anytime, anywhere to the preparation of professional tax returns, getting the right bookkeeping software is no longer a simple decision.

This wealth of choice is great, but it makes decision-making that little bit more difficult. Entrepreneurs who stay on top of their bookkeeping have chosen the right software for their business. Before buying a software package, do your research, nail down what exactly you need for your business make sure that you get the right software.

Outsource Bookkeeping… To an Extent

Entrepreneurs who choose to outsource their bookkeeping can save themselves hours of time and hassle. However, should entrepreneurs take a completely hands-off approach to their own business accounts? No, they shouldn’t.

Regardless of whether entrepreneurs are a whizz with numbers of not, it’s beneficial to understand the basics. From the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant to how to work with financial professionals, how to recognize trends and calculate profit and loss, entrepreneurs who know this stuff will be able to make better decisions.

Hire the Professionals to Prepare Tax Returns

There is one aspect of bookkeeping that entrepreneurs, no matter how financially savvy they are, will need help with – preparing tax returns. Why? Preparing tax returns demands specific knowledge and experience of the Australian tax system.

As expected, setting yourself up as being self-employed and making sure that you and your business are meeting your tax commitments is not as simple as you may think. Moreover, entrepreneurs are often pulling in different directions at once and may not even have the time to devote to completing their own tax returns.

Hiring a professional bookkeeper can help entrepreneurs to calculate the tax they owe and claim the reductions that they’re entitled to, making sure that their business meets all legal tax responsibilities whilst saving them money. You can also try using H&R Block in which you can start for free, or avail of their packages and use these H&R Block coupons.