I find it amazing………… but not everyone’s idea of fun is keeping their accounts up to date.

If you are one of these strange creatures, then what do you need to do each month to keep on top of your bookkeeping?

Using Apps and cloud based packages is the way forward (and may soon become compulsory under Making Tax Digital) but even if you currently use a spreadsheet; each month you should do a few simple tasks:

  1. Raise sales invoices for work done in the month and send them out
  2. Make sure you have been paid for previous sales invoices.  Mark them off as paid on your spreadsheet, or chase any slow payers
  3. Collate all your expenses for the month – these may have been paid from your business account, cash or on a credit card, but if they relate to the business make sure they are recorded.  List them on a spreadsheet and file the paper receipts in a file by month.  (A cross- referenced numbering system too would make your accountant very happy at the end of the year!)
  4. Ideally you should “reconcile” the bank.  If you have a bank account that you just use for business, go down it and make sure you have recorded all the transactions on there on your spreadsheets.  You will need to add to your spreadsheet things like direct debits and bank charges as you won’t have paper receipts for those.  Your spreadsheet will then include everything that is on the bank statement for the month, plus expenses you have paid for in cash or on a credit card.
  5. Update your mileage log.  If you use your car for work you need to keep a record of the miles you have done.  Leave this task til the end of the year and you’ll have no idea where you have been!
  6. If you are putting money aside for your tax bill, transfer this over to a different account (and forget about it!)

 

And that’s it!

Doing this once a month will help you keep you on top of your accounts.  Using an App such as “Receiptbank” or “1tap” means you can scan your receipt when you get it and then throw it away.  The App will record the data for you and store the photo of the receipt – giving you your Sunday afternoons back to do something more exciting!

For more information or help with setting up a bookkeeping system, please contact Rosie Forsyth.