Whether you’re small, c-suite, or enterprise: bookkeeping and accounting are important for any business. Bad books can lead to overpaid taxes, out of control expenses, and in the worst-case scenario… Legal ramifications or debts.
In November 2019 on the Google My Business Problems series, we had the opportunity to learn why bookkeeping is so important for businesses from Julie Shopa of Clarity Finances in Florida. During our interview, Julie answered a slew of hard-hitting questions that illustrate the importance of keeping books CORRECTLY.
Here’s what we learned:
You Need to Hire a Quickbooks Pro Advisor
If you’re using your Quickbooks to manage your bookkeeping and accounting, you need to hire a Certified Quickbooks Pro Advisor. Quickbooks is easy to use incorrectly if you’re untrained. Pro Advisors are trained to understand the program and optimize the program to help streamline operations.
If your books are being tracked incorrectly- you’re going to end up paying taxes on the money you haven’t made. Worse yet, you’re going to pay for the help to straighten your books. According to Dave Ramsey, over 2.2 million taxpayers overpaid. Don’t be one of them! Hiring a Quickbooks Pro Advisor will save you time, money, and heartache.
You Can’t Afford Not to Have a Bookkeeper
As we mentioned in the introduction, bookkeeping is essential to functioning properly (and legally). There are many different ways to make bookkeeping affordable. More often than not, you will be able to find a professional that can what you’re trying to do in a fraction of the time.
Choose a provider than can:
- Grow with you
- Offer support
- Is a Quickbooks Pro Advisors
Consider the value of your time. How many hours do you spend trying to clean your books? How much does an hour of your time cost? If you hired a professional, you could gain precious hours back. More importantly, the cost of bad information is much higher.
Review Your Books at Least Once a Month
At a minimum, you need to be looking at your reports on a monthly basis. Do your checks and balances. Make sure that you are regularly reconciling your accounts. If you’d like to increase the cadence, limit this to bi-weekly. Compare previous months and take note of trends.
With these reports, sit down with your bookkeeper and management team. Discuss the findings. Talk about the trends. This is a good way to unify operations and secure growth within your business. You’ll figure out what is working, what’s not, and what needs to change a lot quicker when you are able to attach products, services, and labor costs to a dollar value. We call this practice ROI protection.
Don’t Hire Friends and Family to Do Your Bookkeeping
It’s tempting to hire a friend or family. After all, they’re typically willing to help us cut costs and work at lower wages. Though this may be okay for some design work, it’s not okay when it comes to your bookkeeping. Not only can this create contention between you and loved ones, but it can also pose a variety of unique problems.
Here are a few examples:
- Here’s the worst-case scenario: Julie had a client that needed their books reviewed. Their daughter had been doing their bookkeeping. We discovered that she had embezzled over ten thousand dollars.
- Here’s the best: Your aunt is doing the books alone. She has been overworked lately and hasn’t been keeping the books straight. Now your taxes are due. Worse yet, you’ve found she didn’t have the skills needed to do perform the task.
Long story short? Opt for a professional.
Your Books are the Foundation of Your Business
No matter how small bookkeeping may seem, it plays a very real role in your business. Not only does it tell you how successful your business is, but it also keeps your tax bill in check. Don’t overlook its importance. Instead, hire a certified Quickbooks pro advisor (that you aren’t related to) and set monthly finance meetings. If you need help, turn to professionals like Julie Shopa who can grow with you throughout your business journey.
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