In this time of unprecedented uncertainty and confusion, small businesses have been under immense pressure. From managing new regulations to trying to keep staff on board, a lot of small business owners have been left out to dry which makes it imperative that you are keeping track of all your finances. Not to mention, tax season has just passed, and IRS attention would cause even more problems for your business. This blog will offer some small business development tips from a trusted Reno bookkeeper on how to properly organize your books.
Keep Your Personal and Business Finances Separate
This is the first step to complete a financial organization, and if you start off unorganized it is extremely difficult to try to clean up the mess. At first, incorporating the two can seem unharmful, but can quickly spiral out of control. Set up a business account strictly for your business needs so you can maintain a budget, organize accounting records, and keep your business finances in order.
Bookkeeping Software
Bookkeeping software is now the easiest and most efficient way to keep track of your books. These types of software have been around for a while, but they are now incredibly user-friendly and personalized. It may take some trial and error to fully understand the software, but it will save you loads of money, time, and stress in the future.
With this type of software, you can easily keep track of your accounts payable, receivable, payroll, bank accounts, and inventory. If you’re still crunching and entering numbers manually, we highly recommend you start trying out some new software. This way you can still keep the paper documents while learning the software.
Choose a Good Small Business Credit Card
Having a good credit card can be your secret weapon as a small business owner. Small business credit cards offer an abundance of perks like higher credit limits, discounts on business supplies, reward programs, and reporting tools. With all these perks you can easily build up your credit and eventually lower your interest rates.
Leave an Audit Trail/Backup Your Files
Leaving an audit trail means printing records of everything at the end of each month—or quarterly—and hanging on to all invoices and checks. This can help you retrace your bookkeeping, improve accuracy, prevent fraud, and find missing transactions. When running a small business, everything counts.
You should also be prepared for a computer crash and loss of data. Make sure you are constantly backing up and checking your bookkeeping software in case your computer decides to quit on you. If you do happen to be all-digital, it could be a good idea to start printing and saving paper documents as well.
Prepare Financial Statements
As with backing up your files monthly, you should also prepare―and thoroughly analyze— your statements monthly. This includes balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. If you do this personally, you will be able to see your business through a different lens and be able to identify and correct problems in a timely fashion.
Reno Bookkeeping Services
Prosperity Concierge was founded—and owned by—Reno bookkeeper Christine Matlock. As a small business owner herself, she understands the range of issues a small business owner with no corporate protection must face on a daily basis, and one of the most time consuming is bookkeeping.
Christine is a local Reno bookkeeper and financial coach who’s proficient in handling business expenses, creating budgets, using QuickBooks, and developing financial confidence. Christine is eager to improve the financial stability of your small business through Reno bookkeeping, financial coaching, and consulting. Connect with us today to schedule a meeting with Christine!