5 Time Saving Accounting Tips

 

"Don’t ever let your business get ahead of the financial side of your business.
Accounting, accounting, accounting. Know your numbers."

~ Tilman J. Fertitta

When you started your business you knew you would wear a lot of different hats. Perhaps you didn't realize how many! Every part of your business requires sets of specialized skills, and never more so than in the bookkeeping and financial accounting required to keep your business solvent. And let’s face it, most people don’t like to spend large amounts of time on their accounting - tracking receipts, reconciling invoices, accounts receivables, accounts payables...it can be frustrating, time consuming, and yes, even boring at times. Below are five time-saving areas to focus on if you want to free up some time in the long term, and improve your financial reporting.

1. Clean up the books.

     Don't let your books be the messiest part of your office. Remember, this is for the livelihood of your business.

     – Tie the books to the last tax return.
     – Put current year information in contemporaneously.
     – Correct any negative assets in liabilities.
     – Apply or delete out an credit balances on payables and receivables if not valuable.
     – Clear up or removed old checks that were never cashed if not valuable.
     – Identify any inaccurate deposits and create journal entries to remove.
     – Identify any prepaid or accruals that should be booked.
     – Review fixed asset entries for adherence to capitalization policy and ensure current year depreciation expense is being scheduled monthly.

2. Automate Invoicing

    Promote healthy cash flow. Move to the process of invoicing on schedules or as soon as possible to paid sooner.

     – With any recurring invoicing utilize memorized transactions.
     – Sign clients up for an auto-payment program.
     – Utilize payment software, such as Bill & Pay to automate payments and allow clients to login and pay their invoices online.

3. Automate Expense Reporting

     This action will save time and money. No more chasing down receipts from employees. Provides accurate financials and job costing.

     – Adopt expense software such as Concur or Expensify. 
     – Encourage timely reporting by having deadlines for team members.
     – Process, process, process! This helps keep the books accurate and reimburses employees in a timely way.

4. Reduce time spent entering transaction data

     Banks, credit cards, payroll providers, invoicing applications, inventory tracking systems may have import files you can use.

     – Download an import file whenever possible; use import files to dump transactions into your books.
     – Software, such as Transaction Pro Importer, can also save time by entering transactions when an import file is not be available.

5. Evaluate past due invoices and credit policies

     Evaluating A/R and credit policies can be most beneficial to small business owners if struggling with cash is an issue.

     – Determine if all your receivables are collectible.
     – Invoice as quickly as possible to get invoices in front of customers.
     – Follow up with past due balances in regular intervals (weekly).
     – Evaluate credit policies; are updated needed, is there a credit policy in place?

At All In One Accounting, we take businesses from financial chaos to business clarity and beyond. Our elite team of Accountants, Controllers, and CFOs are ready to help you in these uncertain times. Interested in a free consultation with one of our accounting professionals? We're here to help.