Our top tips for getting all of your financial records in order this year.
Every diligent business owner needs to keep a clean set of books. You’ll want to ensure your accounts are in order, and keep a clear record of all expenditure and invoicing. Ideally, every financial aspect of your business should be accessible and easy to read and understand.
And even if you streamlined your small business’ bookkeeping procedures a number of years ago, there may now be new technologies and advice on best practice that you are yet to take advantage of. The best small business owners make sure that they are consistently on top of the latest news and service offerings to ensure that their accounts are kept to the highest standards.
If you are looking to perfect your bookkeeping practice within your business in 2021, there are a few key points that are worth considering.
A personal matter of personnel
Let’s begin with the bookkeeping basics - either within your own business, or through an external provider, you must have access to accounting expertise.
There is no substitute for people who are well qualified to keep all of your accounts in order and up to date. Too many issues can emerge when business owners decide to cut corners and save costs with regards to their accounts. This is especially true if a business owner lacks the knowledge themselves.
You don’t necessarily have to employ someone full-time in-house, although this may be an ideal situation for some businesses. There are reputable third-party accountancy and bookkeeping providers all over the country that can provide you with their expertise.
Having the right team to support your business is essential. Laws can change quickly and you need people that can offer you the best advice for any given financial situation, find the solution that’s priced appropriately for you, and give you peace of mind.
Everything is made easier with the right personnel working within, or on behalf of, your business. However, unfortunately the right people alone don’t make for perfect bookkeeping in this day and age. You must then pair them with the right tools to get the best job done. Which brings us to…
Technologically speaking
Let’s be clear; not every business needs the most comprehensive and technologically futuristic accountancy software at all times. What business owners should endeavour to do is to be aware of what the latest bookkeeping system tech and services are. That way you can engage with the products that are most applicable to you, and prevent yourself from falling behind the competition.
An example of this would be the integration of cloud-based accountancy products. These solutions typically store and organise your accounts online, externally of any one particular device. This allows access from multiple different locations and devices, and ensures that accounts are backed up and up-to-date.
Different cloud-based accounting software providers and packages will be more or less appropriate for your business, depending on various factors such as the number of employees you have, whether or not you have in-house accounting personnel, and the most applicable cost model.
Essentially, you’ll want to do thorough research to find a provider that works best for your unique business model - and if you don’t have time to, then try to employ someone who does. Ideally, it should be someone with all of the appropriate qualifications, as mentioned in the previous point.
Learning from your mistakes
As you’re sorting through your books, try to remember that mistakes are common. Therefore, it's important to learn from the lessons from mistakes made in the previous years of the operation of your business. You can also learn lessons from your competitors and contemporaries and the mistakes they may have made.
Every business owner makes mistakes with regards to their bookkeeping, however the best business owners make fewer mistakes because they seek out the best advice, and make efforts to only make the same mistake once.
If you failed to complete your tax returns on time, or missed your tax deadlines for the previous financial year, then this is the year to make absolutely sure that you are ready for them. If you lost some of your paperwork because it’s not secured and backed up online, then perhaps now’s the time to get the appropriate software into your business to ensure that this doesn’t reoccur.
If you don’t have the appropriate accounts people in your employ to identify and correct some of these problems, then you might need to educate yourself in the matter. There are a number of learning resources and accountancy courses that can skill you up to be better equipped to manage your books. This may be especially appropriate for sole-traders who might be working on tighter budgets than some other businesses.
Perfecting your bookkeeping practices in 2021 requires getting each of these components into place. Ensure that you have access to the right level of expertise, and make sure that you listen to what these experts say. Tool up your business with the appropriate software and tech in order to have it running optimally. Learn from any previous mistakes and correct them as soon as you can.
With each of these pieces in place you’ll be placing your books and your business in good stead to thrive into the future.
For more information on Earlypay’s business finance products and services and how they can integrate seamlessly with your bookkeeping software, contact our friendly team on 1300 760 205 or visit our sign-up form.
If you'd like to learn how Earlypay's Invoice Finance & Equipment Finance can help you boost your working capital to fund growth or keep on top of day-to-day operations of your business, contact Earlypay's helpful team today on 1300 760 205, visit our sign-up form or contact [email protected].