It’s time to stop feeling puzzled when it comes to accounting software options.
Do you feel comfortable talking about accounting software options? If you’re not a bookkeeper or an accountant, it can be a bit befuddling. Instead of ducking the subject, what you need is a quick guide to the fundamentals of accounting software that you can use effectively for your small business. Let’s take a look.
Use the Right Accounting Tools
When it comes to business tools, having the right software for the things you do is essential. This is especially true when it comes to tracking and reporting all your financial information. Quickbooks is the software tool of choice for many small businesses, and for good reason. It is a comprehensive program that provides everything you need for your bookkeeper or accountant to manage your books effectively including:
- Track income and expenses
- Manage banking and credit card transactions
- Create and manage invoices to customers and clients
- Pay bills and keep track of expenses
- Purchase order creation
- Payroll management and preparation
- Contact database for customers and vendors
- Inventory tracking
- Reporting and high-level oversight of financial and company information
- Tax preparation
Do the Right Tasks
Every business is different, but there is a list of to-dos to make sure you stay on top of your financial information, tracking, and recording. Once you get behind, it’s a lot of work to try to catch up. Don’t put all your receipts in a shoe box and hope for the best come tax time. Keep up with daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, and you’ll be in good shape when it’s time to pull up financial information and to file taxes. Here’s a sample list you can refer to:
- Enter transactions into Quickbooks, including cash payable and cash receivable
- Record all receipts and file appropriately
- Review and pay bills that are due
- Sign checks for employee payroll
- Send invoices to customers and clients, including past due notices
- Check cash flow statements and manage forecasting
- Balance business checking account
- Analyze inventory and adjust as necessary
- Review and distribute payroll
- Produce and analyze profit and loss statements
- Review month-end balance sheets
- Prepare tax statements and file taxes according to deadlines
Take Advantage of the Right Functions
When it comes to your accounting software, you need to understand the functionality. If you need a report, but don’t know how to generate one, the software doesn’t do you any good. And if you’re ready to file your taxes, but haven’t done due diligence with entering and tracking information, you’re going to be in a bad spot. Accounting software is just like any other aspect of your business. If you can’t use it, you’re not going to be able to take advantage of the benefits.
Hire the Right People
There are experts out there that know accounting software inside and out. Not only that, they know bookkeeping and accounting inside and out, and they are the ones to seek out when you have a small business and need proper management of your money. Even if your business is small, and you don’t want or need to hire someone full time, a part-time bookkeeper or accountant can help you take advantage of all Quickbooks has to offer. They can use their expertise to keep all your information up to date and guide you when it comes to financial decisions, investments, budgeting, payroll, staffing, and taxes.
Every business needs a tool for financial record keeping and management, but even more important is a professional that knows how to use it. Call 678-990-0924 for a free consultation to learn how accounting software can help your business.
