By: Michelle Sierra, Accountant
Whether you’re in your first year of business or celebrating 10 years, it’s time to take a fresh look at your bookkeeping practices. Here are some tips to help evaluate your company’s books.
- Do you have the right person in the driver’s seat? Whether it’s a family member or yourself, take a step back to see if this bookkeeper is benefiting your company. It may be cost effective in the short-term for a family member to prepare your books, but is their experience at the level of satisfaction for your growing company? On the other hand, if you are doing the books yourself, would it be best to outsource your bookkeeping so your time is utilized on higher value tasks?
- How do you maintain your books? If you maintain your books in a handwritten ledger, or even in Excel, you may be costing your company more than you are actually saving it. The time needed to convert your ledger from antiquated formats to formats acceptable for banking or for tax purposes may be extensive. If you are already using a bookkeeping software, are you using the right one for your business? QuickBooks is currently the most popular and user friendly software on the market. If you are already utilizing QuickBooks, getting tips from a knowledgeable QuickBooks user could help make your processes more efficient. In addition, you may want to evaluate the type of access you need when it comes to bookkeeping. When using an online version of QuickBooks, you have access to your books while you are traveling or anywhere Wi-Fi is available.
- Finally, how often are you updating your books? Making sure your books are up to date and reconciled will prevent delays on providing information to lenders as well as to your tax advisors for tax planning and annual income tax preparation. Remember, time management will help relieve the stress that follows owning your own company.
When it comes to maintaining your Company’s books, understanding the who, what, and when can help save you time and money. Still not sure on what your company needs? Reaching out to an established local CPA firm might give you the answers you deserve.
If you are ready to get started, Osborne Rincon CPAs can help you. For more information please give us a call at 760-777-9805.