227: Why Are You Neglecting Your Bookkeeping Tasks Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant
227: Why Are You Neglecting Your Bookkeeping Tasks Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant, Business Owner, Or Self-Employed
Do you dread working on your bookkeeping for your business? Have you neglected it, and now it seems like a project you’ll never be able to tackle? We all know how essential it is to have accurate and timely financial statements so that you can make sound business decisions, but your bookkeeping doesn’t have to be dreadful. If you take some pretty simple steps, you can change your bookkeeping to be a much easier task that you can handle and have the knowledge and understanding of your business that you need to be successful. In today’s podcast episode, I’ll help you create a process for doing your own bookkeeping that will help you feel less stress and anxiety while eliminating the dread that many business owners feel when they think about bookkeeping for their business. When you decided to start your own business, bookkeeping may not have been the first thing that excited you, and you are not alone. Most business owners are busy running their businesses and don’t take the time to keep up to date with their bookkeeping. Whether you are a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, you may be thinking that bookkeeping takes up a lot of time. It’s easy to put off, but if you take some time to implement the steps I mention in this episode, you’ll stop dreading your bookkeeping and find that it is possible to simply make your bookkeeping easy. These tips are essential whether you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, or FreshBooks for your business finances; or doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document…
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Show Notes:
Do you dread working on your bookkeeping for your business? Have you neglected it, and now it seems like a project you’ll never be able to tackle? We all know how essential it is to have accurate and timely financial statements so that you can make sound business decisions, but your bookkeeping doesn’t have to be dreadful. If you take some pretty simple steps, you can change your bookkeeping to be a much easier task that you can handle and have the knowledge and understanding of your business that you need to be successful. In today’s podcast episode, I’ll help you create a process for doing your own bookkeeping that will help you feel less stress and anxiety while eliminating the dread that many business owners feel when they think about bookkeeping for their business. When you decided to start your own business, bookkeeping may not have been the first thing that excited you, and you are not alone. Most business owners are busy running their businesses and don’t take the time to keep up to date with their bookkeeping. Whether you are a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, you may be thinking that bookkeeping takes up a lot of time. It’s easy to put off, but if you take some time to implement the steps I mention in this episode, you’ll stop dreading your bookkeeping and find that it is possible to simply make your bookkeeping easy. These tips are essential whether you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, or FreshBooks for your business finances; or doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document…
Welcome Back… Do you feel stressed or anxious when you think about doing your bookkeeping? Do you think that doing the bookkeeping for your business is annoying or frustrating? If so, you are not alone. After all, unless your business is doing bookkeeping for others, and you love working with numbers like I do, you probably have a business providing a product or service other than bookkeeping that lights you up. Your business should get you excited. As the saying goes, if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. But that doesn’t excuse you from having control and understanding your business finances. This is a crucial part of owning a business. It is an essential part of your business that needs to be done, even if you think it is a waste of time. Did you know that cash flow is one of the major reasons businesses fail? As a business owner, you need to understand and manage your business finances. This means keeping accurate accounting records and having your bookkeeping up to date. When you have your bookkeeping under control, and you are able to utilize your financial statements to make sound business decisions, you are setting your business up for success.
I want to dive a little deeper into why it is so essential for you to be making good business decisions based on your financial statements. Making decisions in your business is hard, even if you don’t have accurate financial information helping you make these decisions. How would you know if you could afford to make a large purchase, spend money on an expense, or if you needed that money for the cash flow to carry on the business? Would you know when and how much additional inventory you need? How would you know how much money you could allocate to an expense such as advertising? Should you hire an employee, and do you have enough cash flow to pay all your bills? What if you would make expensive mistakes like not paying bills or taxes on time which would result in late fees, penalties, and interest? What if you didn’t know who owes you money or customers who are not paying on time? You wouldn’t know who to follow up with or charge late fees. What if you forgot to invoice your customers, and you were giving your work away for free? You could also be paying for expenses that you no longer need or that you’ve stopped using. All of these poor decisions add up and can impact your cash flow. If you don’t have the proper financial information, you are making decisions for your business blindly. As time passes and you don’t keep up with your bookkeeping, it gets harder to find the time to work on this now more significant bookkeeping project or task. The bigger you feel this bookkeeping project gets, the more you will find the feelings of dread building up, and you’ll want to tackle it even less. Just like any other chore, like doing laundry or cleaning the house or garage, if you do it a little at a time, it doesn’t pile up, and it is much easier to keep up with.
Alright, so how can you make your bookkeeping easy and avoid that awful dread feeling? What if bookkeeping was just easy? What if I told you it could be easy? Your mindset will change as you develop processes to make your bookkeeping easy, and you can do this in just four simple steps. The first step is to make sure you have a bookkeeping system that you are comfortable with, are able to use efficiently, and it doesn’t cause you to feel overwhelmed from the start. You could be using a pen and paper method, keeping track of everything manually using an Excel or Google spreadsheet, or a computerized software system like QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online. Think about the system you are currently using. Are you happy with it? If not, what would you like to utilize instead? Do you understand the system you are using or are you ready to make a switch? You need to make sure that the bookkeeping system you are using is working for you and that you are able to stay current and maintain it. The most highly recommended solution I have for the business owners I work with is QuickBooks Online. If you are interested in learning more about getting QuickBooks Online for your business, you can go to www.FinancialAdventure.com/quickbooks, and you can also receive 30% off your first six months.
The second step is to automate as much of your bookkeeping process as possible. I know this can be harder if you are utilizing a manual bookkeeping system, which is one of the reasons I recommend a software system like QuickBooks Online. With this option, you are able to import bank transactions and easily categorize and enter them into your books with one simple click. This also provides real-time records so that you can see exactly where your business stands financially. Once each transaction is entered, you can view it in many different areas and reports, such as your profit and loss report. You can track your invoices and accounts receivable to ensure you are getting paid from customers on time, and you’ll know exactly which bill payments you need to pay and when they are due. You can easily view your financial statements, which include your balance sheet and profit and loss, with a click of a button and have everything ready to go for tax preparation at the end of the year. This gives you a complete picture of your finances and tells the story of how your business is doing. You can also set up multiple users, including your accountant and/or tax preparer, and each user can access your file anywhere they have an internet connection, making it easy to work on.
The third step is to create processes that save you time as well as a routine that you can stick to. Set aside a regular time to do your bookkeeping. You could choose daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or even on a monthly basis. I do not recommend you wait more than one month to do your bookkeeping, but you need to find a solution that will work best for you. Schedule this time on your calendar to do your bookkeeping, and include other important deadlines as well. Don’t let anything take priority over this time, and don’t put it off. When you procrastinate, it only makes doing your bookkeeping worse, so make it easy on yourself by sticking to your schedule. You may find that by doing a little bookkeeping at a time works best for your schedule. If this is the case and you are utilizing a system like QuickBooks Online, maybe you could go into your bank feeds every day for a few minutes and add each transaction. If you need to schedule a more significant amount of time once a week, you could take care of the same transactions weekly rather than doing them daily. Preparation and organization are going to be key to simplifying your bookkeeping. When you do your bookkeeping on a more frequent basis, it will help you to remember what each transaction is for. Don’t let your bookkeeping pile up. Not only is it harder to get caught up, but you’ll also have a more challenging time remembering what each transaction was for. You want to save yourself time whenever you can by eliminating any unnecessary tasks. One way to do this is to make sure you are keeping your personal and business finances separate. When you do this, you won’t have any additional personal transactions that take you additional time to record. Also, make sure that you don’t complicate things. Keep everything simple, including your chart of accounts. When you keep the categories you need to choose from when you are recording your transactions simple and straightforward, it will make it easier to select which account to use when recording transactions.
Lastly, step four is to reconcile and review your bookkeeping on a monthly basis. You will need to make sure you are reconciling your accounts every month. To do this, have your statements handy, and don’t file them away until you’ve reconciled them. By reconciling and reviewing your financial statements every month, you will be able to find errors sooner, ensure you have all your transactions recorded, and ask questions when you are not familiar with how to record something or if you are having a hard time understanding how you’re your business is doing. You’ll soon have information like which months are your higher sales months or when you need to plan or save your money for slower months. It will help you understand your cash flow and ensure you have consistent and accurate data for making sound business decisions.
If you know that you don’t want to do your own bookkeeping, it is best to realize this sooner than later. Be honest with yourself and hire a bookkeeper to help you. They can save you valuable time so that you can put more effort into running your business. You may find that a bookkeeper could actually save you money. Take some time to figure out what your time is worth and how much time you would spend on your bookkeeping. Once you have this figure, compare it to what you would need to pay a bookkeeper to do your bookkeeping for you. If you do decide to hire a bookkeeper, make sure you are still taking the time to review your financial statements on a monthly basis. If you have questions, ask your bookkeeper or accountant so that you can learn from them as you go.
When your bookkeeping is up to date, just think about how much more satisfying your business will be, as well as the peace of mind you’ll have knowing everything is accurate and you can make sound business decisions from this data. Having your bookkeeping up to date in this last part of the year will also help you to make good tax decisions and have strategies in place so that you can save money on your taxes. You can see if your net income is higher than the last year, and it would be beneficial for you to include a larger expense you’ve been thinking about making this year. Knowing if this is the best year for you to take that expense could save you some substantial taxes, but if your bookkeeping isn’t up to date, you won’t have this availability to strategize and make good decisions before the end of the year.
Imagine having a system in place where you spend less time buried in paperwork and more time doing what you love. That’s where I help my clients. They are able to have proper processes in place, understand why they are following through with these processes, and they have more peace of mind when it comes to their business. Striking a balance between the demands of running a business and maintaining a fulfilling personal life is an art; it’s about creating an environment where you can thrive and support your lifestyle. By being proactive and setting up efficient processes, you can ensure a smoother, more enjoyable year-end, and you’ll be prepared to file any necessary filings with the IRS. By working with me, you’ll change more than just your bookkeeping processes. Like many of the clients I’ve worked with, you’ll go from not knowing how to get through all the stressful situations or being unprepared to being totally in control of exactly what you are choosing to get done at the time you want to have it accomplished by, all while knowing you are doing enough and you’re able to enjoy your business and your personal life. I help clients just like you with strategy, mentorship, and coaching. When you work with me, you’ll show up much more differently than you do today, and, after all, this is what you ultimately want in your life, right? You can be stress-free in both your professional and personal life. Come join me. When I work with clients throughout the year, they are able to reduce their stress and overwhelm, understand how to master their small business finances, develop solutions to grow their bottom line, and create a work-life balance they truly enjoy. I encourage you to take the next step by signing up for a free consultation where I’m going to teach you the first step in my process so that you can eliminate stress, overwhelm, or overworking in your professional or personal life while you continue to get done what matters so that you can live your life with joy, purpose and a more fulfilled life. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have; I’d love to help you on this journey. You can schedule your free consultation or sign up for a coaching session today at www.FinancialAdventure.com. As a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Life Coach, I can help you set goals and develop a plan that will allow you to lead a happier and more sustainable life in your business, career, or your personal life. I’m here to guide you through the financial aspects of your business as well as help you focus on the strategies you need to follow to reach the success you want to achieve in your professional or personal life and stay committed so that you can continue to keep pushing forward and relieve the stress, anxiety, or overwhelm you are currently feeling. Having an accountant and certified life coach like me can provide you with valuable insights and ideas to help you simplify your life, which enables you to go back to enjoying your professional and personal life. I work with business owners, accountants, and other financial professionals to create the actionable steps they need to take to ultimately achieve their goals while getting relief from the stress and overwhelm they feel from the pressure of owning a business, deadlines, and the workload they face every day. If you are struggling with this as well and would like some help developing a solution, help strengthen and maintain your emotional health, increase your well-being, create a more positive, happy, and joyful life, set and achieve your goals, and manage your relationships, I’d love for you to join me in my Balance Life Coaching program so that you can live a more purposeful life. Each week, we meet privately one-on-one, and you get to bring whatever is on your mind on any given week. I also have a daily coaching program where you can talk to me whenever it works best for you, 24/7, any day of the week. In either program, you get to work on your highest priority, whatever you want more of in your life, or if there is something that is weighing on you heavily that you need coaching on, and we’ll work through it together. Having a certified life coach like me helping you through all of this allows you to feel so seen and cared for, and the results are amazing. Everyone benefits when they work with a certified life coach. After every session, you feel energized, and you know exactly what to do for the day or week to come, and relief knowing we will meet again to go over anything that comes up after your session. You’ll gain self-awareness while you take each step toward your goals. The investment in either of these programs is an easy yes for you. I’ve set these programs up in the most supportive way. If you are ready to join the Balance Life Coaching program, you can go to www.FinancialAdventure.com and click on the work with me button. You’ll see the link to join as well as additional information about the programs. Sign up now. There are limited spots available for these programs due to the one-on-one aspect, and they do sell out. If the payment link is gone, you can get on my waitlist to join the programs when additional spots are available. I help people get results and live a more joyful life. I coach everybody on everything. I know there is something you want in your life, and I can help you get it. I know this is something you’ve been waiting for. I’ve been asked by many of my listeners to create these exact programs. The faster you get access to the program, the quicker you’ll see the possibilities available to you. I also have a risk-free guarantee. I believe so strongly that everyone benefits from coaching that when you sign up for the Balance Life Coaching program today, if for any reason you are not satisfied with your first session, you can send us an email, and we’ll refund you immediately. Are you ready to enjoy your life now? Why would you want to wait? Make this investment for yourself. Take the journey with me…make it happen for yourself. Ask yourself why you need this program in your life right now. Are you ready to make bigger, bolder, stronger life goals? I’m looking forward to meeting with you soon and digging deeper to see where you currently are in your business or career and start creating actionable steps so that you can reach your vision and goals for the future, not only in your business or career but also in your personal life. I’m ready to work with you, see all of your successes, and watch you thrive in your business or career while creating your best work-life balance. I’ll post links to this and other valuable resources for business owners and accountants where you are listening to this podcast.
And, you know I’m going to ask…what’s at least one thing you will take away from this episode that will help your business succeed and grow your bottom line? If you need some accountability, join our PRIVATE Facebook community and post your action item, we’d love to support you.
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