Clear communication is key in any relationship, especially with your books and accounting.
We highly recommend for any business, big or small, to stay as organized as they possibly can be. By utilizing these tips you will feel confident about your business AND increase your productivity and efficiency.
Here are a few simple tips we love to share with every business owner we work with. These are proven to work and proven to save you money.
Organize your files!
As simple as it may sound, having your files organized is the best tip anyone can ever give you. This may look like using a file cabinet, having a wall file, utilizing folders and tabs, and if you are a visual person, colour-coding your files.
Keep all your expenses recorded.
Keeping all your expense records, both business and personal, is extremely useful - especially when running a home business. Whether its hydro bills, internet, gas/car mileage, printer ink, electric bills, you name it. Keep these invoices and receipts, they will come in handy come tax season and keep your business looking clean.
Keep your receipts organized.
We all know how many receipts we collect within a week, yet alone a year. We highly recommend you keep your receipts organized by date and by use (i.e. keeping all gas receipts together, all ink receipts together, etc.) This will not only help you but will help your accountant as well.
Save and print out bank and credit card statements.
You may be tech-savvy and want to keep it all online, however saving your statements and keeping a paper copy is never a bad idea. Printing out your statement will allow you to easily see where your numbers are at and aids on the input side. Also, the in-case things change or go wrong, it’s always nice to have your own copy on hand.
Set up reminders for deadlines.
This one also may seem simple; however, don’t estimate the power this has. Things get busy, both in personal and business life, causing us to forget things here and there. Whether it’s a calendar on your wall, a reminder on your phone, a hand-held planner, or a calendar app on your computer, setting reminders will help you and your business. We recommend if you to set your reminders about a week prior to your due date. For example, your quarterly GST/HST is due the 15th of April, so you would put a reminder for the 8th of April. This not only helps you remember, but it also gives you time to do it and not rush to get it done.
Use cloud-based accounting software.
No matter how big or how small, we recommend having your accounting done on a cloud-based software (such as Simply Sage or QuickBooks). Don’t get us wrong, excel spreadsheets are great and we use them in addition to these software programs, however they have so many advantages excel sheets don’t always have! These programs are user-friendly, so if you are hoping to check in on the status of you books you have your accountant managing, you easily can!
Categorize and file your e-mails.
As almost every business owner knows, the amount of incoming e-mails can be overwhelming to say the least. Creating sub-folders in your Inbox and categorizing them will not only keep your inbox looking clean, but it will be easier for you to find old e-mails as needed.
Create and prioritize a to-do list.
“If you can see it, you can achieve it” – and it’s true! Having a to-do list in front of you helps productivity and gives you satisfaction every time you check things off. We suggest you put your highest priorities at the top of the list (like Payroll or Source Deductions) and put lower priorities at the bottom. Work your way through the list and check off as you finish them! It’s always great to see your list get shorter, and it helps you stay on task.
