Small business owners wear many hats, and it's easy to let things slip through cracks (like that great marketing campaign you were going to do for the holidays). It's nothing to feel bad about ... when priorities shift, your attention and time needs to as well. There are plenty of tasks that can be tabled, but there are some that border on dangerous when delayed, and bookkeeping is one of them. When you let it pile up and get too far behind, the details start to slip and are harder to reconstruct. So, we thought we'd share a few of our sagely tips that seem to be useful in keeping the time spent tracking your finances as efficient and effective as possible.
Throughout the year, we publish weekly blogs loaded with tips, tricks, and valuable information about QuickBooks and all things bookkeeping. We all know 2020 was an unprecedented year, with information regarding relief programs and other solutions for businesses affected by COVID-19. We've compiled our most popular and significant blog posts from 2020 here to be sure you don't miss out on them!
There are many tasks involved with small business bookkeeping. These tasks often take much longer than we expect because concepts are easier to understand than to implement.
Here are some simple solutions to your bookkeeping problems:
It’s not too late to get organized for year-end. A lot of small business owners wait too long to get their financials in order. Closing the books for the year doesn’t have to be a race to the finish; it can be a jog. Below are a few things you can do now.
As COVID-19 rages on, there are additional relief packages being considered in the Senate. Among them are The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (“HEALS”) Act and the “HEROES ACT,” short for the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act.
Every business owner is concerned with being profitable, particularly in this pandemic. Profit is not just the money you put in the bank. You need to cover the costs associated with being in business (rent, payroll, taxes, supplies, etc.). The amount left over is your profit margin. While there is no magic formula for making your small business profitable, there are several things you can do to increase your profit margin.
One of the toughest aspects of being a business owner is planning for upcoming expenses when you are not in the habit of forecasting revenue and expenses. You may want to hire another employee, purchase new equipment, or expand the location of your business. Many of these expenses are necessary in order to grow your business, but how do you know if, or when, you can afford them?
When is it too late to start a budget? Some business owners don’t use a budget, and as a result, aren’t sure where money is being spent. Maybe you created some projections at the beginning of the year but are missing the mark on the sales side. Even though half the year is over, you can gain some valuable insights by assessing your first-half actual results to create a new budget.
The current economic environment has been challenging for all business, particularly small business. To that end, it’s important to know your Burn Rate and adjust spending accordingly.
You may have heard people talking about scenario planning given the current state of the business environment. Should you be scenario planning? Before deciding whether you should, or should not, allow me to explain what it is.
