A successful business starts with successful books. You can’t get a clear picture on the “health” of your business if your books aren’t current or correct; your monthly reconciliation, accounts payable, accounts receivable and cash flow reports will all be off.

Consider these 5 “extremely important” bookkeeping tips:

#1: Pay Attention to Payroll

Happy employees are employees that get paid on a regular basis, so keeping up with payroll is vital to your business. Not paying staff on a regular basis says quite a bit about the financial future of your company. You also have to keep up with payroll taxes and file monthly and quarterly forms with the IRS. At Sound Business Services, we take great pride in providing exceptional payroll services; ask us more about our services so you avoid getting behind.

#2: Regular Reporting

As a decision maker, you want to know where your business stands financially at all times. Beyond that, one harmless misstep or uninformed decision can cost you and your business significant amounts of time and money.

We stress regular reporting to get the latest information and results when you need it. Here are a handful of specifics that we focus on with regard to reporting and the budgeting function that goes with it:

  • Understand where/why your business is making or losing money
  • Identify and control your overhead costs
  • Project where your business will be in 6-12 months
  • Help you budget and save for the future

#3: Clean Your Books and Reconcile Monthly

Keeping your books accurate and up to date, as well as reconciling monthly, are key to avoiding potential nightmares, such as lost checks, embezzlement of funds and excess costs. Beyond that, a clean set of books allows you to see everything going into and out of your business. This financial scope allows you to see exactly how your business functions.

#4: Go Green 

We are big proponents of QuickBooks Online (QBO), so if you’re still on QuickBooks Desktop, let’s talk about switching.

QBO provides you the answers you need, whenever and wherever you need them. By working from anywhere, you are able to easily and efficiently send invoices, reconcile payments, and run payroll from any device. QBO also automatically downloads and categorizes your bank and credit card transactions, so you have less data entry and headache, allowing you to focus more time on your business.

In addition, there are hundreds and hundreds of aps that integrate with QBO that make life a whole lot easier, including Receipt Bank and Bill.com. If you’re not plugged into QBO and its benefits, give us a call today to talk about how we can help you make the switch!

#5: Keep Emergency Savings

When it comes to your financial strategy, creating and maintaining an emergency savings is very important.

We hope that it never comes to this point, but if you’re ever faced with a disaster, such as a client or customer pulling out, or you getting sick and not being able to work, you need to have the funds set aside for personal and business expenses. Whether you think of this account as financial insurance or simply your mad money, a good rule of thumb is to keep at least 3 to 5 months’ worth of savings.

We’ve got more ideas for you, too; Contact us today to learn more about our other services to keep your business running 110%!