As an entrepreneur or small business owner knows, keeping a company operational is stressful. In most cases, they become masters of multi-tasking to reduce costs and do their own bookkeeping instead of outsourcing. However, handling business books is an important process that tracks a firm’s financial performance. Without it, owners can understand their company’s current standing and, unfortunately, cannot come up with solid future plans or strategies with confidence.
For startups and small-medium-sized businesses, keeping transactional records plays a critical role in building a strong financial foundation. 40% of small-medium-sized business owners believe bookkeeping operations are the most challenging part of running a business. Nearly 47% of them are against the financial cost, while the remaining hate paperwork. Despite the pain of managing a company's finances, setting up a bookkeeping solution is considered a necessity for businesses to make record-keeping, tax filing, and cash-handling procedures seamless.
Bookkeeping Systems - A Basic Overview
Keeping it simple, bookkeeping systems are used to automate the manual procedure of maintaining and managing business books. It particularly involves keeping the company’s general ledger up to date, handling bank reconciliations, and staying on top of account payables and receivables. However, these procedures can be done manually or digitally. Still, as the world is getting modernized and technological advancements are transforming business models, many entrepreneurs and other firm owners opt for automated bookkeeping, which often reduces the cost and tedious aspects of managing business books.
While the concept of tracing transactions is quite simple, things can get complicated in a matter of seconds. Details like business models, the number of transactions, and the company size determine which type of bookkeeping system businesses need to choose.
However, in the case of a startup, they are usually in the learning phase, which makes it hard for them to know where to begin or what kind of system they need. A simple bookkeeping system designed for beginners is a good place to start, as it lays a rigid foundation that can be scaled at any level depending on the increasing complexity of the business's financial operations.
1) Proper Bookkeeping System Setup
Many business owners mostly make mistakes of showing careless behavior when the bookkeeping system is set up. However, people manage to link up their bank accounts and credit cards but are unaware of what to do afterwards. A good system always begins with a proper design. Just like any other product, to build a perfect system crafted for a particular business, people need to understand and identify the business goals. This will help to get the desired information. In addition to this, most business owners get frustrated with their bookkeeping systems as they are not properly set up, which makes them incapable of delivering essential information. However, there are many critical aspects to consider when designing the right system, but it comes down to software processes and choices.
2) Chart of Accounts
Setting up account charts is one of the significant aspects of designing the perfect bookkeeping system. In order to do this, owners need to have in mind what they are trying to accomplish or what information is essential for business success. This will help to tailor account charts to retrieve desired data or records. Additionally, people need to ensure that their business account charts are simple as possible while still being meaningful. Another advantage of keeping it simple is as the business scales, there is always a need to add or modify the charts. If they are already too complex from the initial stage, it will be challenging to get them altered. This will surely give detailed information regarding the cash in and out flow, allowing owners to make appropriate decisions.
3) POS System or CRM
Another critical aspect of a bookkeeping system is that it must be capable of automating the cash flow at a higher level. This is usually accomplished using Point of Sale (POS) or CRM systems. However, businesses need to go for bookkeeping systems that allow third-party software integration to increase the level of automation. Furthermore, the bookkeeping system should be capable of generating automated invoices along with making electronic payments. This will fully automate the sales along with account receivables as all the transactions will be done automatedly, and the record will be maintained in the back office of the bookkeeping system.
4) Payroll Integration
It's another viable area that can really have a significant impact on business bookkeeping systems. Payroll Management Solution manages everything from paying employees to filing employment taxes. It also allows businesses to track employees' working hours, calculate their wages, withhold taxes, and other dedication. Bookkeeping systems integrated with payroll software are suggested to use as it requires minimal input from the designated employees. This further automates the critical operational area of a business as well as helps owners remain compliant with tax regulations.
5) Performance Indicators Data
For every business, key performance indicators are considered vital as they incorporate overall revenues, GPM( net income), finance costs, and more. Every company has various indicators that the proprietor or supervisor turns upwards to maintain the equilibrium. A well-structured bookkeeping system can provide detailed information on KPIs. It gets simpler to determine the market position.
6) Update Books Intermittently
For any business, keeping company books updated is the most challenging part. Generally, employees make blunders, and with such tiny errors, business financial reports get demolished. However, with bookkeeping systems, businesses can overcome these uncertainties. Financial information is crucial for firms, and regularly updating them will ensure that records get organized with the highest accuracy. In addition, automated systems always have a scope of mistakes, so it's suggested to run manual checks to avoid bike mistakes.
Final Thoughts
Starting a business or putting a startup onto the road to success can be a difficult, challenging, and tedious process. But if company owners choose a good bookkeeping system, they will get their finances streamlined. As the business scales and generates revenue, the bookkeeping system will need to become robust and precise simultaneously. This will eventually reduce the risk of errors and ensure that the business remains on track. The more records are organized, the easier for owners to run companies.