Bookkeeping basics: Introduction to Bookkeeping What is Bookkeeping
A digital app lets you keep your incomings, outgoings and everything in between properly organised which makes it simpler to manage your financial records. By opening a new bank account, you can keep your personal finances and your business dealings separate so there’s never any confusion between the two. When it’s time to do your books, you’ll easily know where to find the financial information you need. Similarly, you can reach out to other small-business owners to ask about bookkeeping services they recommend. More than likely, someone within your small-business community will be able to point you in the right direction for getting the best bookkeeping assistance for your business. A small business needs to identify potential deductions and make tax procedures as seamless as possible.
- See Business.org’s top picks for the best bookkeeping software.
- Below, we’ll break bookkeeping down to its most basic principles.
- Implement a system and stick to it so that you can keep accurate records every day and there won’t be any mistakes when you’re filing your tax returns.
- If you bill a customer today, those dollars don’t enter your ledger until the money hits your bank account.
Double-entry accounting enters every transaction twice, as both a debit and a credit, to “balance the books” between accounts. Although more complicated, it can prevent errors in recording transactions. Generally speaking, accrual accounting is better for larger, more established businesses. It gives you a more realistic idea of your business’ income and expenses during a period of time and provides a long-term view of the business that cash accounting can’t provide. If a general ledger is like a book, a chart of accounts is like a book’s table of contents—it’s a list of all the accounts your business uses to record transactions.
How to Do Bookkeeping: Basics Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know
Apart from having the data for your transaction on hand, you’ll need to decide which accounts that will be debited and credited. Companies also have to set up their computerized accounting systems when they set up bookkeeping for their businesses. Most companies use computer software to keep track of their accounting journal with their bookkeeping entries. Very small firms may use a basic spreadsheet, like Microsoft Excel.
Evidence of financial record keeping has been found in Mesopotamia, Babylon, Sumer and Assyria as far back as 7000 BC. Archives have been discovered, showing the recording of accounts from farm produce in ancient Greece as well as from the Roman Empire. Our expert bookkeepers here at Bench have built an Income Statement template in Excel that you can use to turn your business transactions into an Income Statement.
Finding the right bookkeeping method for you
Bookkeeping is not something you can pick and do when it suits you. One of the most important bookkeeping basics is to stay consistent and stick to the schedule you’ve established for your business. You must record all financial transactions — ideally once a week.
- Apart from having the data for your transaction on hand, you’ll need to decide which accounts that will be debited and credited.
- Accounts payable are usually what the business owes to its suppliers, credit cards, and bank loans.
- You can use the following software solutions to set up all your business accounts.
- Getting a handle on your bookkeeping can also prevent your sensitive financial data from falling into the wrong hands.
- Millions of small business owners and startup entrepreneurs are masters at creating great products and services, building effective teams, and winning over customers.
There’s nothing worse than having to search through too many statements to find one small yet vital piece of financial business that you need. That can often be the case if you haven’t split your personal and business funds, so they’re always combining into one account and it’s easy to lose track. Create a new business account, set budget aside for tax, keep your records organised and leave an audit trail.
You need it to do your taxes
However, for the novice, the introduction of bookkeeping-specific vocabulary and the rules that govern proper bookkeeping processes can be overwhelming. Implement a system and stick to it so that you can keep accurate records every day and there won’t be any mistakes when you’re filing your tax returns. It can be difficult to track business expenses, but by using a business credit card, for example, you can make sure that all of your expenses are kept together and tracked. The easiest way of doing this is by categorising your bills into types of expenses to make things a lot easier. If Bench does your bookkeeping, you can also upload and store as many digital receipts and documents as you’d like in the Bench app.
You can hire a full-charge bookkeeper, a virtual bookkeeper, or use software to keep financial records. For a simple business, you can do this on the go through an app like Keeper. These apps allow you to record income transactions and scan your credit card or bank statements for outgoing expenses. Liabilities are what the company owes like what they owe to their suppliers, bank and business loans, mortgages, and any other debt on the books.
Should you use accounting software for your bookkeeping?
At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don’t guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services. Using a spreadsheet is the cheapest option, especially if you use Google Sheets rather than Microsoft Excel, which costs a monthly fee.
How to find bookkeeping help for small businesses
Under single-entry, journal entries are recorded once, as either an expense or income. Assets and liabilities (like inventory, equipment and loans) are tracked separately. If you’re just starting out, are doing your books on your own and are still in the hobby stage, single-entry is probably right for you. The income statement is developed by using revenue from sales and other sources, expenses, and costs. In bookkeeping, you have to record each financial transaction in the accounting journal that falls into one of these three categories.
Reasons Why Bookkeeping is Important for Your Business
This blog will highlight even more useful bookkeeping tips and terms that you should be aware of. To find reliable options, look through your accounting software’s directory of certified bookkeeping professionals. You can also consult professional bookkeeping communities, accounting blogs or industry forums for available professionals. Small-business bookkeeping requires you to choose between single- or double-entry accounting.
With the development of bookkeeping and accounting technology, bookkeeping tasks have become more automated. However, this doesn’t make it any less important to ensure you set everything up properly from the start. Find out what bookkeepers do, and get an intro to double-entry bookkeeping. An accounting degree requires deep education and training in tax and other laws with which businesses need to comply, plus finance and business management. While some bookkeepers may have developed similar skills, that level of training isn’t required to be called a bookkeeper. Accounting refers to the analysis, reporting and summarizing of the data that bookkeepers gather.
Many business owners think bookkeeping is a dreaded chore, but if you understand and effectively use the data your bookkeeper collects, bookkeeping can be your best ally. As a sole proprietor, freelancer, or small business owner, you can choose between using a traditional hand-written ledger, spreadsheet software, or accounting software. This process can be as simple as preparing an invoice for a customer to setting up your electric bill to be paid.