As a small business owner, it can be tempting to ignore the bookkeeping and accounts in favour of more exciting aspects of the business. Unless of course you are and accountancy firm. While most tasks thankfully for you can be completed by other parties with minimal input, there are some task that are required. To make the most of out your bookkeeping and make the process smooth there are some basics to know.
These areas are:-
Knowing this information will save you money as your books will take less time and will get you more value for money. This is because the more you understand about your businesses books the more you can utilise them to make informed business decisions.
WHAT YOU NEED TO PROVIDE
What you put in is what you get out!
ALL PURCHASE INVOICES & ALL SALES INVOICES.
This ensures that all expenses are accounted for money that goes in or out of the business is tracked. This is vital for accurate books which is important for both compliance and in order to make those informed business decisions. There are software’s that can make this a lot easier than it used be having to drop a box of receipts with your bookkeeper. Receipt Bank can connect straight to your accountancy software or use Hubdoc directly within Xero.
ENSURE THE BANK FEED IS CONNECTED TO YOUR ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE. ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN SEND BANK STATEMENTS (PAPER OR CSV).
A bank feed or statements helps to ensure the information processed and is accurate and complete through reconciliation.
GIVE EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT PURCHASES AND SALES TO ENSURE ACCURATE CODING.
Accurate coding can only be done with a good understanding of the typical running’s of the business.
DEAL WITH QUERIES
Rectifying queries can only be done by people who made the sale or purchase and we can only work as fast as we can communicate.
THE ROLE OF A BOOKKEEPER
HOW THE OUTPUT OF THEIR WORK IS IMPORTANT AND ITS RELEVANCE TO YOUR BUSINESS
BANK RECONCILES TO ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE
Books and records are a team effort between the bookkeeper and business operators. The bank reconciling means that what is in the bank fits with the data in your accounting software. Accurate data means you can clearly see how much money your business is making and spending and on what.
ENSURE YOUR DEBTORS AND CREDITORS ARE UP TO DATE
This allows you to do accurate credit control and keeps your creditors happy as you are both getting paid on time and can save you time from having to do this. Ensuring your creditors are paid helps to preserve your own credit rating.
ENSURE CORRECT AMOUNT OF VAT IS PAID AND RECLAIMED.
“A VAT return is calculating how much VAT a company should pay or expect to recover, by HMRC. In most cases Vat Returns, and the accompanying payments must be made quarterly to HMRC.”
This keeps your compliant avoiding investigations and fines. In addition, it ensures all possible VAT is reclaimed and therefore in the business.
UNDERSTAND YOUR BOOKKEEPING REPORTS.
Ensure you can read all the relevant reports for example Profit and Loss, Cash Flow Statement, Expense and Sales report.