It’s time for you to establish a bookkeeping system in your small business! By establishing a simple routine of daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly tasks, you will have the confidence to keep growing your business and be able to sleep at night, knowing that you haven’t forgotten to invoice a client or pay a bill. Not only will a simple bookkeeping routine allow you to focus your energies on what you love, but will also help you avoid some of the pitfalls of neglecting your bookkeeping and catch problems before they grow into disasters.
Accurate bookkeeping records are the foundation of your business finances and they will benefit your business in so many ways. Sticking to a routine of simple daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly tasks will:
Keep you more organized. Organized records mean you are less likely to lose receipts for deductible business expenses and more likely to keep important financial records safe. You will also be able to stay on top of your invoicing and due dates for payments to be made.
Help you prepare for year-end. By keeping your bookkeeping up-to-date, you are less likely to put your tax return on extension. In fact, you will probably find tax time to be a much more simple and painless process overall! Also, filing on time will prevent late filing penalties and interest as well as reduce the risk of being audited.
Keep money coming in. By following a routine and having a system, you will be getting your invoices out on a more consistent basis and will be less likely to hit a cash flow crunch right when you least expect it.
Save money. Keeping on top of your payment due dates will help you avoid late fees and missed payments to your vendors. Nobody likes to waste money on late fees!
Help you monitor the success of your business. With up-to-date financial information, you can use that information to better run your business and make better business decisions.
Ready to learn how to implement a successful bookkeeping routine for your small business? Check out my Skillshare class, A Bookkeeping System for Freelancers: What to Track & When. Use my link to get 3 months of Skillshare Premium for only $0.99, including unlimited access to thousands of online courses!
By sticking to a bookkeeping routine and monitoring the health of your small business, you will have the peace of mind to know that the bookkeeping is up-to-date and correct. Tax time will be a piece of cake and you may … possibly … decide that bookkeeping isn’t the worst chore in your business after all!
Do you have any questions I haven’t’ covered? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think!
Deb Howard Greenleaf, EA, CEO and Principal, of Greenleaf Accounting Services provides virtual accounting and bookkeeping services and specializes in financial management to consultants, coaches, solo professionals, and other small business owners across the US. Deb is an Enrolled Agent (EA)—an IRS-licensed tax professional—and specializes in small businesses and entrepreneurs filing Schedule C or as an LLC. As an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Deb spends her day in QuickBooks Online and specializes in providing QBO support.
Good tips. Yes, should definitely be just a routine without thinking about it, just getting on with it. Hopefully Ill be there soon too 🙂 X
Thanks, Nadine! Yes, the sooner you get bookkeeping down to a routine, the sooner you can focus on growing your business instead!
Thank you for reminding us how important it is to create this kind of routine.
Thanks for the article. This is really quite important to have a routine for every business.