When bookkeeping takes a back seat

Aug 23

During wedding and event season, it’s pretty common for bookkeeping to take a back seat. It’s one of those things that is easy to ignore when you’re booked out and stressed out. But let’s be honest, you’re not really ignoring it because deep down, it’s bothering you.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Whether you’re ready to hire help or need tips to organize things yourself, we’ve got you covered.

Let’s tackle that financial stress!

First, we want you to determine if it’s time to hire a bookkeeper. Here are a few things to consider:

How much time are you spending on bookkeeping?

If you’re still doing all of your bookkeeping yourself, I want to challenge you to do a time audit. Use a time tracking app like Clockify or the timer on your phone and make note of ALL the time you spend doing any bookkeeping tasks for a week or a month, whichever makes the most sense for your business.

As the CEO of your business, your time is better spent on income-generating activities, like marketing, nurturing leads, serving clients on events, and creating new offerings.

After doing the time audit, you may be shocked to learn how much time you spend on a task that isn’t moving your business forward. Yes, it has to be done, but not by you.

Are your books behind?

If you’re months or even a year behind on your bookkeeping, you can’t possibly be making informed business decisions. You have to know your numbers. When you don’t, it can lead to unpredictable income, late payments, and overextending your business. Running your business based on guessing can negatively affect your confidence as a business owner, and you don’t want that.

Is tax time a pain?

When tax time rolls around, you should be able to hand your financials over to your accountant with ease. If you’re having to piece together your financial records at the last minute or not paying your estimated quarterly taxes because you don’t have accurate records, it’s time to get help.

Are you burned out?

Let’s face it, trying to wear all the hats as a business owner will eventually take its toll on your health and your bottom line. And unless you’re a professional bookkeeper, managing your finances is probably not your zone of genius. You should be doing work that brings you joy and grows your business. The rest can be outsourced or delegated.

After answering these questions, you should be able to determine if hiring a bookkeeper is the right move for you and your business. If it is, we’re available and would love to talk to you about how we can help. You can schedule an appointment here.

We understand if you’re not ready to leave the DIY approach behind. But we suggest getting things as organized as possible to help alleviate some of the stress this business area can cause.

To help get you started, we’ve provided a checklist below of bookkeeping tasks based on the frequency you should take care of them:

Daily

Check account balances
Track your time
Invoice clients
Log business mileage

Weekly

Open financial mail and take action
Clear receipts from wallet & upload to Hubdoc
Log and categorize income
Log and categorize expenses
Deposit checks or cash
Pay yourself
Update inventory
Send invoice reminders

MONTHLY

Reconcile all accounts
Run & review Profit & Loss report
Compare Profit & Loss to previous month
Run a year-to-date Profit & Loss report
Review business budget
Calculate & transfer funds into tax savings
Check for business expenses in personal accounts
Update home office expenses
Update auto expenses

QUARTERLY

Run & review Profit & Loss report
Compare Profit & Loss to the previous quarter
Make estimated tax payment
Review 1099 tracking sheet
Check-in on financial goals

ANNUALLY

Run & review Profit & Loss report
Compare Profit & Loss to the previous year
Issue W2s
Issue 1099s
Submit requested reports to Tax Pro for tax return preparation
Review annual reports against goals
Reassess your salary, profit, tax savings, and expenses
Set new year goals

P.S. Bookmark this blog and follow us on socials for all things accounting - We promise to make it less confusing than determining if Ross and Rachel were on a break! ✨