When you set out to start a small business, accounting and bookkeeping probably aren’t the processes at the front of your mind. Your focus lies with building your brand, satisfying customers, and laying the groundwork for future growth. However, it’s still important to consider your numbers rather than expecting your finances to work automatically as you succeed. Without good bookkeeping practices, how can you truly know the health and trajectory of your business?

That doesn’t mean you need to sign up for night classes and start planning to become a CPA. The need for good bookkeeping does require you to understand some concepts and procedures, though. Consider some of what you should know to keep your books in good order.

Know What Business Items You Need to Track

Bookkeeping primarily concerns the day-to-day finances of your business, whereas accounting takes a bigger picture view and includes an element of planning. For small business owners, the most important bookkeeping tasks surrounding the gathering and recording of numbers that speak to the health of your business. Some of what you should collect includes:

• One-time and ongoing expenses and when you must make those payments. Expenses can include staff payroll, real estate overhead, and inventory replenishment costs.
• Your current assets, including cash on hand, alongside other non-liquid holdings.
• Current and future liabilities, including your business tax burden, debts, and so forth.
• Net income and current equity.

With good bookkeeping, you can more easily identify your best customers, assess the health of your business, and make smarter choices from day to day.

Have Reliable Solutions for Following Your Numbers

Don’t overlook the value of good bookkeeping software. Small business owners shouldn’t try to track their data by hand. Manual processes lead to errors that can obscure the truth about your operations. Invest in good accounting and bookkeeping software to make recording and tracking your numbers simpler.

Reconciliation is a Mission-Critical Task

Do your books line up with the realities reflected in your bank accounts? This critical bookkeeping task is easy to overlook, but you don’t have all the facts without regular reconciliation. Reconciling your books and accounts gives you a clear sense of your current financial position and helps reduce the risk of fraud.

Know When to Call For Help

With so many different elements to track, you might find yourself feeling overwhelmed and even falling behind on important bookkeeping work. It’s not uncommon for many small business owners, but it doesn’t have to be a major concern. Recognising when you need additional capacity to keep your books in order is just as important.

When you need assistance, know where to turn for experienced small business bookkeeping. At Reion, we have decades of experience and multiple flexible engagement models to suit the needs of many kinds of companies. As your partner, we can provide advice and insight while also offering the opportunity to hand over your most critical bookkeeping tasks. Learn more today about how our friendly team can provide you with the key financial insights you need.