5 important Small Business Bookkeeping Tips
Unless you are a fan of numbers, you may need some Small Business Bookkeeping Tips to help you stay ahead of things for your business.
By creating some good habits, you stay organized and can track your cash flow with ease. Doing simple things like committing a day each month (or week) to sort invoicing and expenses helps to form the habit. This allows you to get ahead of the data before it gets ahead of you.
Let’s discuss more of the top Bookkeeping Tips to improve your business and keep things organized.
Keep Business Expenses Separate from Personal
Keeping your personal expenses and business expenses separate is essential. If you are not on top of your business expenses you could be missing out on some tax write-offs that you could have benefited from.
Dedicated business credit cards are a handy tool to ensure all business expenses are kept together. Your personal expenses should always stay on your personal credit cards for simplicity’s sake.
To prepare for audit, it could happen, make sure you keep good notes about expenses like coffee with a client and mileage to and from that location.
- Stay on Top of Invoices
Unpaid invoices hurt your cash flow, don’t let them get to far past their due date. Sending a quick reminder email, late invoice notice, or a quick call can prompt an invoice to be paid.
Make a plan with your client and define a payment structure that works for both of you, be it 15 days, 30 days, 60 days etc. With that in place it is easier to stay on top of cash flow every week.
- Automate Your Bookkeeping
Investing in a good Accounting Software is worth your time and money, especially if you have recurring transactions and invoicing.
That majority of banking can now be connected to your accounting software and can automatically enter transactions from a credit card and bank account.
- Set Aside Money
Nobody likes getting a tax bill, but all business owners know that one is coming. To be prepared set up another account where you can transfer money monthly for GST returns and year end taxes.
If you are on top of your books, even a little, you have an idea of what was charged out for tax on your invoices for the last month. This will give you an idea of what the CRA will be looking for every time you file a GST return.
- Hire Bookkeepers
Hire bookkeepers to look at it for you will ease your mind! Let’s face it, most owners have better things to do with their time than worry about entering expenses, balancing books, and sorting out your quarterly reports.
There can come a time for most owners where they realize how much time they are spending entering items and attempting to balance books. Unless you have taken a detailed bookkeeping course, you may be missing out on some key items that should be entered.
At Padgett we look after all your Bookkeeping and Accounting needs so you can go back to looking after your business.
We offer:
- Pick-up & Delivery Services
- WCB Reporting
- GST &PST Filing
- Monthly & Quarterly Bookkeeping and Accounting
If you have decided that it would be better for your business to hire a professional, call us at 250-744-3854 or fill in our form on the Contact Page and one of our agents will get back to you.