Business Record Keeping
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Who Is Best To Do Your Small Business Accounts?
If you are inexperienced or pushed for time you have the following choices.
- Hire a bookkeeper to set up and manage your accounts system for you.
Then on a regular basis, say fortnightly, have them visit you to process all of your business transactions that occured during the previous fortnight.- Hire a bookkeeper to do the initial set-up for you. You could contract someone to set up a business record keeping system for you. Once your accounts system is set up you can then process the transactions yourself on a regular basis.
A qualified bookkeeper will make sure that you begin with an accurate chart of accounts relevant to your particular business. They can also format a simple spreadsheet for recording all financial transactions or they can install any small business accounts package or employee record keeping software. The choice is yours.
A competent bookkeeper will be able to set up your account (data) file, process income and receipts, set up employee records, process wages, prepare your BAS and compile a profit and loss report.
Ask friends, business accquantances or your accountant if they can recommend anyone for you. Failing that you can search the phone book or the internet or contact your local small business group. Small business groups are big on networking so they are bound to be able to recommend someone for you.
Learn The Basics
As a business owner it is advisable to have at least some understanding of income, expenses, assets, liabilities, equity and profit and loss. If you are not familiar with these terms consider taking a short course to learn the basics. Alternatively buy a few business books or borrow some from the library.The more you educate yourself about business the more successful your business venture will be.
A good bookkeeper does not need to be expensive. Many new businesses would find that 2 - 3 hours a fortnight is ample time for a skilled bookkeeper to process your transactions. And you will save you money in the long run. Especially at tax time when you present your accountant with all the reports and information needed to prepare your tax return.
Note!
It is important that your business accounts are set up accurately from the beginning. Income and expenses need to be 'posted' to the correct accounts. If you're not experienced in this area it is strongly recommended that you get some training before you attempt to handle this yourself.Don't try to cut costs here. It will only cost you money later on. One small error could have a huge impact on the financial picture of your business.
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