Are you an expert at bookkeeping? An expert marketer? Are you able to get it all done?
I know you have the best intentions. If you are like me as I run my business, every day you might find yourself saying,
I Will do the filing
I Will be better organized
I Will enter receipts into the computer
I Will finally get ahead of my finances
I Will make my business more successful
Does this sound like you? Small business owners often wear all the hats of running their business. Marketing, bookkeeping, sales, product or service delivery, customer service – the list goes on and on. Even if you do hire staff, you often carry the load of most non-revenue producing tasks and responsibilities.
You have probably heard the statistics of the longevity of small businesses. The Small Business Administration cites these statistics on the survival rate of new businesses: “About 50% of all new establishments survive five years or more and only 1/3 survive 10 years or more…”
Another startling fact that I just came across is in a study for Small Business Economics, about one–third of closed businesses were actually successful when they “failed.”
There can be many reasons why a business closure is termed successful at the time of closing but it makes me wonder if this business owner had the right tools for their accounting, would they have then still closed?
Before you can organize your accounting methodology, you need to figure out what works best for you and your business.
CONTEMPLATE
What size is your business?
- How many expenses do you have in a week or month?
- How many sales receipts from do you have?
- How much billing do you need to do to your customers or clients?
Each of these questions will help you evaluate how to approach completing your bookkeeping regularly.
- What is your style?
- Can you be organized with the bookkeeping?
- Can you bite the bullet and do it yourself?
I know that I have always hated paying the bills. I did not mind doing my books (online in QuickBooks) but keeping track of all of the paper, when things were due, and not making duplicate payments was very time consuming.
What is your capacity?
By this I mean, do you have the ability to learn how to do your bookkeeping or is your time better spent in other aspects of your business? Would it be prudent for you to either outsource your bookkeeping or hire someone in house to complete it for you?
DECIDE
As business owners, we often have to force ourselves to make a decision and then a commitment. In the case of our finances, we might be embarrassed over the state of our records. We might be reluctant to show our success or failure in running our business at a profit.
The need for good record keeping is never going to go away. The potential hole we dig for ourselves is only going to get deeper.
DECIDE
Do It Yourself
or
Hire/Outsource Your Bookkeeping
ACT
Once you decide what you are going to do, take action. Give yourself a deadline as to when you will take the first step in moving forward. What is that first step?
Stay tuned for more episodes of The Nightmares of Bookkeeping
At In The Black Accounting, our #1 priority is to give you the tools that you need to run your business in a format that you understand. If you don’t understand your financial statements we can give you other reports that are more meaningful to you. If you have a question that we can help you with, call, email, text, smoke signal our team!!
First off let me just say that ALL businesses need good affordable bookkeeping services. Most business owners just starting out are trying to cut costs and spend as little money as possible. I know all about this because I am a small business owner just like many of you! Contact Ronda Lane today to help you make decision on how you do your bookkeeping. That first consultation is free!
