As a business owner, chances are your to-do list seems endless and ever-growing–and that somewhere on that long to-do list is your bookkeeping. For many business owners, that task just keeps getting pushed further and further down the list.
If you’re not savvy with numbers, bookkeeping can often feel like it’s eating up more of your precious time than it should, especially with so many other things on your plate. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
In this blog, we’ll break down the art of bookkeeping into practical, down-to-earth steps that won’t make your head spin. We’ll show you how to streamline your bookkeeping process so it becomes a breeze rather than a burden.
And here’s the best part: When you get your bookkeeping right, it’s not just about ticking off a task. It’s about saving you money, reducing stress, and giving you more time to focus on what you do best–running your business.
Let’s dive in.
Set Clear Bookkeeping Objectives
First things first: Setting clear bookkeeping objectives provides you with direction, purpose, and a roadmap to streamline your bookkeeping process. Without well-defined objectives, your bookkeeping can easily become a chaotic chore, lacking focus and clarity.
Clear objectives help you identify what you want to achieve with your bookkeeping, whether it’s accurate financial reporting, better expense tracking, or improved tax preparation. They also help you prioritize tasks, making it easier to identify and eliminate redundant or non-essential processes, ultimately saving you time and effort.
Not sure how to lay the groundwork for these goals? Here’s how you can get started:
- Identify your financial goals. Are you aiming to boost profitability, reduce expenses, or improve cash flow? Understanding your broader financial objectives will inform your bookkeeping objectives.
- Break down these goals into specific objectives. For example, if your goal is to reduce expenses, a specific bookkeeping objective might be to identify and eliminate unnecessary or redundant expenses, or find a way to gain more clients so your monthly revenue increases.
- Make your objectives measurable! That way, you’ll be able to track your progress. You’ll also want to make sure your goals are actually attainable. Setting overly ambitious goals can lead to frustration and burnout.
- Establish a timeline and assign deadlines to your objectives. Having a timeframe creates a sense of urgency and accountability, helping you stay on track. If you’re not sure you can hold yourself to these deadlines, share your goals with a friend or colleague who can help keep you accountable.
- Review and adjust your goals. Since your business is constantly evolving, you’ll need some room for flexibility. Every month or so, set aside time to review your financial goals and see how the numbers are working for you.
By setting clear and specific bookkeeping objectives, you provide your bookkeeping process with purpose and direction. These objectives serve as a foundation for streamlining your bookkeeping efforts, helping you stay organized, efficient, and focused on what truly matters for your business’s financial success.
Choose the Right Bookkeeping Software
The right software can significantly boost efficiency, accuracy, and organization in your financial record-keeping. It allows you to automate many manual tasks like data entry, which saves you precious time and reduces the risk of errors. It also keeps all your data right in one place and makes it easy to share your finances with your accountant when tax season comes around.
When it comes to choosing bookkeeping software, QuickBooks consistently stands out as the top choice. We use it for all of our clients, and we’ll never recommend any other software!
Personally, we love QuickBooks’s user-friendly interface, features, and functionality. It makes it easy to simplify tasks like expense tracking, invoicing, and bank reconciliation. You’ll also get robust reporting capabilities to help you analyze your financial data and gain insight into your budget.
If you’re new to bookkeeping and want to get set up in QuickBooks without the hassle, you’ll want to check out my QuickBooks set-up course!
Develop A Consistent Bookkeeping System
Once you’ve gotten set up with QuickBooks, it’s time to create a consistent bookkeeping system that you can actually keep up with and follow. By keeping your processes and procedures in place every single time you complete a task, you’ll minimize the chance of errors and make it much quicker to check items off your to-do list. It’s the best way to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
To stay consistent, you’ll need to start writing down SOPs. Start by creating a standardized chart of accounts that categorizes your income, expenses, assets, and liabilities–with consistent naming conventions so you’re less likely to forget what they are! Then work on writing down step-by-step procedures for entering financial data, whether manually or electronically. Train your team if necessary to ensure everyone follows the same process.
Another tip for staying consistent is to set aside time each week or each month to reconcile your bank statements, credit cards, and any other financial accounts. Block off this time on your calendar and don’t let anything get in the way. These tasks are important to keep your business functioning smoothly, so treat them like you would any other business meeting!
Automate Repetitive Tasks
If you’re worried about bookkeeping taking time away from your other responsibilities, automating where you can will leave you free to focus your time on other tasks. Technology is here to help you expedite time-consuming tasks like generating invoices, reconciling accounts, and sending payment reminders. It’s the key to freeing up valuable time and resources that can be invested in growing your business.
QuickBooks has tons of tools and resources to help you out, so take advantage! Connect your bank to QuickBooks to automatically import data and categorize transactions. This eliminates the need for manual data entry (although you will need to spend some time verifying that everything is correct.) Set up recurring transactions for any consistent bills you’re paying, and set up invoice automation so you don’t have to spend time creating and logging invoices. QuickBooks also offers automated payment reminders, which is a useful functionality.
Don’t forget about time-saving apps, too–we use the QuickBooks app to scan and categorize receipts automatically. It makes it easy to stay on top of expenses right when they occur instead of having to manually enter them all at once later on.
Consider Outsourcing Your Bookkeeping
Another way to streamline your bookkeeping is to take it off your plate altogether. When you delegate bookkeeping to professionals, you free up your time and energy to focus on core business activities while experts handle record-keeping and financial reporting. It’s an efficient way to let you take on more of the work you’re good at, while letting an experienced bookkeeper handle what they’re good at.
Not sure whether or not you should outsource your bookkeeping? Read this blog on how you’ll know you’re ready for professional bookkeeping support.
If you want full-service bookkeeping support or one-time bookkeeping help, we offer different services to suit your needs. Get in touch to learn how we can work together to support your business and streamline your bookkeeping!
