3 Ways to Ease Your Small Business' Bookkeeping
Owners of small businesses sometimes find it hard to maintain proper books of accounts efficiently. This may be partly because they lack the resources to hire experienced professionals. This article discusses three ways by which such small businesses can ease their accounting functions.
Get Corporate Credit Cards
It is very difficult and time consuming to collect a multitude of expense receipts from all employees in order to compile the accounts payable at the end of the month. The easier thing to do is to apply for a corporate credit card for each individual working in your company. Accounting will be eased because the bookkeeper will just base on the bank statement of each employee in order to make entries in the appropriate books of accounts.
The cards will also serve the added benefit of preventing employees from using company funds for some personal expenses. This is because they will fear being put to task to explain how a certain expense (such as a bill for drinks at an upscale bar) is connected to the business.
Open Different Bank Accounts
Your accounting processes can be made more optimal if you open different bank accounts for different aspects of your business. For instance, you can have a separate account for the payroll and another for mortgage payments. This will help you to track how money is spent and it will limit the diversion of resources to purposes other than those budgeted for. This is because money will be placed on the account for a specific purpose so using it for something else will not be easy.
Use Cloud Accounting
Cloud accounting refers to the use of accounting software that can be accessed via an internet browser. Cloud accounting makes it easy to remotely access accounting information when you or your employees are not at the office. This enables relevant entries to be made in the books of accounts without waiting to get back to the office or forgetting to make those entries. Remember to have back up files of all online financial records so that in case someone accidentally wipes out your files then the damage from that loss is minimal.
Proper accounting is very important for any business because it enables you to know the health of your business and meet your tax or statutory obligations. You should therefore invest some time in designing accounting systems that will be easy to implement or speak with an accountant to get a better idea of where you're lacking. The suggestions above can be a good starting point.