If you are a small business owner or a bookkeeper for a small business, you have undoubtedly been impacted by the COVID-19 slowdown. Perhaps your company has even been affected by the recent unrest, and you are left with more time than income. You can make the most out of the time you have by getting your books in order. Organization means that you will be able to hit the ground running when the economy picks up again. With that in mind, here are some tips that can help you to organize your bookkeeping better.
Investigate Bookkeeping Software That Can Help You
There is no end to the amount of bookkeeping programs available on the internet. Some like QuickBooks has become a must-have, but it is hardly the only program out there. Some programs are free but have limited capabilities. The key is to look for a program that can interface with your other software and makes your job less daunting. The faster you get billing out to your customers, the faster you get paid. A comprehensive bookkeeping program online that backs up your data and lets you access it from multiple points is ideal, especially in a time when many of us are forced to work from home.
Get Your Bank Statements and Credit Card Statements in Line
If your credit card statement and bank statements are not synchronized, you know how to delay your end of month accounting duties. This problem has a simple solution. Contact your bank and credit card company and ask them to send your statements on the same date. Most banks and lenders will accommodate you. If the bank and credit card companies are the same, it is even easier to get both statements at once.
Make a Record of It
If you are not backing up your digital records, you are headed for disaster; maybe not today, but it is inventible in this day and age. More and more companies are falling prey to hackers who install ransomware on a server and hold the digital records hostage. In those circumstances, many companies are left with no other option but to pay to recover their data. You can avoid this by backing up your digital records in multiple locations. Backing up in the cloud is an excellent way to keep your data safe, but there is a chance that a hacker could uncover your password for the cloud. The best way to keep your digital records safe is by backing them up in the cloud on a portable hard drive.
Also, keep receipts, checks, invoices, and other items that you may need in case of an audit. It’s counter-intuitive in the digital age to keep paper records, but they may save you from reconstructing transactions to satisfy the IRS. Be sure that you organize your paper records so that you can easily find them. A filing system based on the type of transactions alphabetically-organized can be a great help at tax time.
Keep Them Separated
If you are a small business owner, it is tempting to use your business debit or credit card to pay for lunch or that big screen TV you have been eyeing, but it is a bad idea. A month or two from now, when you or your bookkeeper is going over your business expenses, it can get very confusing and end up monopolizing your time. Hours will be spent on trying to recall why you spent $35 at Dairy Queen three months earlier.
To Sum Up
So, in these hectic times, you can bring order to your bookkeeping practices and get organized. When business picks back up, you will be glad you did.
Keep up with the day to day activities of your business.
A & J Accounting is here to help you take the pain out of record keeping so you can devote more of your time to the building of your business.
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