6 bookkeeping tips for business owners

Ask any business owner, and they’ll tell you that they’ve experienced bookkeeping pains at one point or another. From mismanaged accounts caused by a lack of expertise to a missed invoice or BAS, bookkeeping is a complicated task – yet it’s essential in sustaining a business. 

One financial mistake and you’re on the path of acquiring debts, disorganised accounts, and other financial woes.

Worse, bookkeeping is an area where a lot of business owners struggle!

Luckily, it doesn’t have to be if you follow these bookkeeping tips. Whether you’re about to open your very own business or are an existing business owner who wants to simplify and improve their bookkeeping, we suggest reading on…

5 tips to help business owners improve their bookkeeping

1) Separate your personal from your business finances

That means separate:

• Record-keeping
• Bank accounts
• Loans and borrowing

One common mistake that business owners make is combining their personal and business finances. Mixing up the two can cause a whole world of trouble, especially when tracking sales, expenses and other financial obligations.

One of the biggest issues is that it becomes incredibly difficult to differentiate where money is saved and spent – not only that, but you run the risk of entangling personal and business finances.

And that can lead to issues such as needing to pay for business debts out of your personal finances.

The first thing any business can do is to open a separate account for business finances separate from their private one.

2) Keep records of your business finances

It sounds like a no-brainer – however, you’d be surprised by how many business owners seemingly either forget or plain don’t!

Keeping records of your business finances is essential in tracking your cash flow, cash payments made by your clients and keeping on top of your business’ financial health. 

Make a habit of keeping records of your business finances – receipts, BAS forms, invoices, you name it. It can cause a little bit of extra clutter, but you’ll be able to make better financial decisions when it comes to your expenses and investments. It’s well worth it!

Keeping records of your business finances will also help you become track of any expenses and tell you where you might need to cut back to make savings or payments for other business priorities.

3) Set aside time in reviewing your finances

That means a dedicated time slot where all you do is look over your bookkeeping information!

After all, in order to understand your financial position, you need to take time to look at the books.

However, a surprising number of business owners simply don’t, whether it’s because of time constraints, a lack of energy after everything else or simply letting it fall between the cracks.

If you want to manage your finances well, the best tip that our bookkeeper in Melbourne can give you is to set aside a time to review your business’ finances and bookkeeping information.

4) Use cloud bookkeeping

Want to make your bookkeeping faster, easier and save yourself from having to dip into the office just to check up on the day’s sales?

We’ve got the solution: cloud bookkeeping.

By taking your bookkeeping and moving it online, you’ll won’t just be able to easily check and update your bookkeeping on-the-fly – you’ll also be able to:

• Choose plugins and addons to tailor your bookkeeping system
• Sync it with your bank accounts, POS and invoicing programs
• Enjoy accurate, automatic invoicing and reporting

Essentially, cloud bookkeeping doesn’t just allow you to access your bookkeeping remotely – it also makes the process of doing your bookkeeping so much easier and quicker. We’re sure that small business owners like yourself will be pleased to hear this!

Curious about taking your bookkeeping to the cloud? Ask your bookkeeper in Melbourne about making the transition to cloud bookkeeping.

5) Keep a close eye on dates

Deadlines and due dates – whether it’s money someone owes you or a debt you need to pay back, losing track of dates is one of the biggest bookkeeping errors that any business owner can make.

The best way to avoid missing a payment and ensure that all invoices are received on time, it’s crucial that you keep a close eye on dates and set alerts and reminders for yourself.

Pro tip: this is an area where cloud bookkeeping can be a big help, with automated reminders and follow-ups to ensure that nothing comes in late or overdue.

6) Hire a bookkeeper in Melbourne

Handling your business finances over to a professional can be one of the best things you can do as a small business owner.

As we all know, bookkeeping can get a bit complicated, and it can leave you feeling lost and sidetracked – especially if you aren’t exactly a maths whoz to begin with.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with not having a head for numbers – except when you let this affect your business’ financial performance.

A bookkeeper in Melbourne has years of experience in managing all the financial aspects of different businesses – or alternatively, just looking after a handful of critical areas you don’t feel comfortable doing on your own!.

Be in control of your business accounts with our bookkeepers in Melbourne

Whether it’s your entire bookkeeping system or simply a single area where you’re struggling, there’s never any shame in asking for a little bit of help.

And that’s what our bookkeepers in Melbourne are here to provide.

Our speciality is in helping small business owners overcome bookkeeping hurdles by providing a huge assortment of different services.

Whether you need cloud bookkeeping, a complete account clean up or a combination of different services, our team can help:

• Payroll solutions
• Invoicing
• Debt collection
• Balance sheets
• Cloud software implementation
• Consultation
• Audit preparation
• Business Activity Statements (BAS)/Income Activity Statement (IAS)

All you need to do is get in touch to begin – call our bookkeepers in Melbourne on (03) 9589 0128 or fill in the form to see how we can help you.