Let’s face it – not many people are excited about keeping their financial records. Sure it’s exciting to log that big client check, but keeping up with daily expense records and bills are quite another thing. The reality is that money is the lifeblood of our business, and keeping track of where it’s going and where its coming from can make all the difference to the growth rate of your company. To help ease the burden of this mundane task, below are some great resources and apps that will help streamline your accounting process and allow you to keep better financial records overall. When it comes to money, there’s one adage that’s good to keep in mind…
That which you give your attention to grows.
Bookkeeping at the Office
The key to keeping good records is having an easy to use system that works for you or your company. The best way to do this would be to consult with an accountant or bookkeeper and go over your personal needs. Their knowledge will help pair you with a system that will work best for you. If you’re looking for a simple way to keep track of your records, most will agree that QuickBooks is a good starting point. There also a growing number of online programs and apps for business accounting as well. A few to check out include:
Wave
A complete all-in-one accounting tool that allows you collaborate, take payments and run payroll – in addition to all the basic accounting needs you’d expect.
Zoho Books
Zoho is a cloud-based accounting app created for small businesses. You can use it to keep track of income, expenses, customers and invoices – all in one place.
FreeAgent
Launched with the idea of saving time and resources for small business and freelancers, FreeAgent has received high praise from its users.
Bookkeeping When You’re Away from the Office
Having a good bookkeeping system is important, but what about when you’re out and about? Using a mobile app to keep track of expenses and receipts during the day can save you a significant amount of time down the road. Not to mention, if you enter expense information right at the moment it happens, you won’t forget all the details later. Most popular accounting software have mobile solutions available. It’s a good idea to check into something that works seamlessly with what you already have. If there isn’t an option that seems to work for you, try one of the following apps. A few them even sync with popular accounting programs.
Getting it Done!
Out of sight, out of mind certainly holds true when it comes to mundane tasks like accounting. As a business owner there are many other tasks that hold more interest than basic bookkeeping. Since it’s something most of us would rather forget – we actually do forget and our tasks just stack up. To help avoid this, set up a daily reminder on your phone or computer to remind you to record transactions and notes for the day. A few minutes a day is a lot more confrontable than a few hours a week.