Bookkeeping Made Easy for Business Owners

Bookkeeping is one of those duties that a business owner must see to on a regular basis. The changing landscape and new developments in this area have re-defined the bookkeeping needs of today’s businesses.

If bookkeeping is given the attention it deserves, it can be a seamless non-event for the astute business leader. For many this level of business diligence is developed from plenty of good ‘business habits’, solid procedures, and excellent business protocols.

It can also be derived from and learned from mistakes along the way, training for new skills or hiring a professional. Bookkeeping in today’s business arena should not only be considered a paper trail but should also include other aspects of compliance encompassing Human Resources, work-place safety and documented policy and procedures.

Bookkeeping can be made easy for businesses at all levels. Here are a few good business habits to set in place:

Have a good knowledge of all the procedures undertaken by each role in the business and follow the paper trail from the first customer order through your system to the end payment and quality assurance. Look at the environment where the tasks are performed, and the tools used.
Regularly ‘check in’ to ensure that the invoices are being entered; payments are being made to suppliers, employees, and statutory authorities; and your customers are being surveyed for the quality of your output. An unhappy customer can be the result of paperwork not being treated correctly or a fall in the policies and procedures.
Ensure you have the correct Accounting Systems for your business and that it’s being used correctly. If your accounting systems is being pushed into the background and under utilised in favour of linked spreadsheets, this will not deliver the most efficient solutions in cost and time.

Stay in contact with the professionals and get help when needed before it’s too late! Make that call to your accountant or bookkeeper to seek on time assistance before the year end and before a deadline to resolve any issues that have arisen during the reporting period. New developments and changing requirements can be discussed and new procedures put into place to achieve the task before the deadline due date.
Be organised! Have calendar reminders, regular meetings, and intervals of ‘checking in’ to the bookkeeping function of the business to ensure your business is ready for surprises and can easily overcome them.
Consider the work environment. Be sure that you are evaluating Bookkeeping tasks without interruptions. Take this time also to assess the tools being used such as system requirements and if updating the office equipment can improve the process. This may also include workplace safety assessments of the office area. A great desk fit out and updated stationery can solve anything!
Seek suggestions from those working with your systems and performing bookkeeping tasks. The smallest changes can deliver the best results!

Once you have your bookkeeping activity and function in sync and under control, be prepared to re-evaluate it!