It is an unfortunate challenge that most small business owners face – that looming stack of paperwork in the corner of the office that desperately needs to be organized. Bookkeeping software helps to keep things on track.
Most often, it is the need to focus on the core objective and operation of the business that results in the bookkeeping software being neglected. But like most business owners, you may be unaware that the disorganized mess is probably costing you money. Can you remember every invoice and whether it has been paid or not? How do you manage your Bookkeeping software?
It is also costing you time and frustration. How long did it take you to locate a receipt or invoice that you needed among the stacks of papers? And of course, there’s the threat of a looming audit every time a deduction made without the proof of a receipt or as a result of another lost or misplaced invoice. No business wants to attract any additional attention from the IRS (the CRA for Canadians).
When tax season arrives, it’s time to gather your relevant tax documents and do the necessary business tax filing. This is the ideal time to take back control from that stack of paperwork and start getting your bookkeeping software in order and keeping it that way.
Below are our 5 top tips to get organized and stop losing sleep over documents that you don’t find even though you swore you left them on your desk or in a drawer. Preparing for tax season shouldn’t require a torch and set of knee pads to protect your knees while you are hunting under desks and other furniture for lost paperwork!
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Familiarize yourself with the plethora of excellent bookkeeping software packages that are available. GetMyInvoices is a popular choice for many small business owners across the country – and for good reason. It is simple to set up and one of the most user-friendly software packages available making it a top option.
Take some time to familiarize yourself with this solution, which by the way is completely free for 14 days. Invoices and other documents automatically retrieved from thousands of sources – from portals over email postboxes and cloud storages to scanned documents. All documents stores and organized in one location. From there, they conveniently forwarded to numerous other solutions, for example to your accounting software or tax consultant. GetMyInvoices and/or one of the other outstanding bookkeeping packages surprises you to discover that getting your books organize not as difficult as you may think.
A comprehensive bookkeeping software solution is ideal and should allow you to perform several different tasks from reconciling your bank statements to entering your payroll and keeping track of your accounts receivable and payable. Using a quality bookkeeping software program will mean that you never again have to hunt for invoices or other documents while allowing you to keep track of every aspect of your business activity.
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Design a system that allows you to keep track of your mileage. Like most small business owners, you are probably spending a lot of time on the road. It is imperative to record your mileage as well as other travel expenses that you incur so that you can benefit from the relevant tax deductions. A logbook is the simplest and most convenient way to do this.
The logbook kept in your vehicle allowing you to readily enter the odometer reading when you leave and return from a business-related errand without having to leave your vehicle. Include a date as well as a reason for the trip for later reference and as proof that you were on a business-related trip.
At the end of each month, tear out the relevant logbook page and enter the information into your bookkeeping software program. You can simplify matters even further by recording the information on a smartphone logging or mileage app. There is a multitude of these types of apps available for both Android and Apple users.
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Most banks will be able to accommodate a request to send a monthly statement on a specific cut-off date. This will allow you to synchronize all your credit cards and bank statements for the same period making it much simpler to reconcile statements at the end of each month. GetMyInvoices can synchronize directly with the bank to obtain all bank statements and to import them automatically in GetMyInvoices on a daily basis.
It is much more efficient to match expenses with the relevant item on a credit card or bank statement if the dates correlate correctly. Remember to keep your personal and business accounts and expenses separate. You are simply making your bookkeeping far more challenging when you can’t distinguish between personal and business transactions.
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Unlike your personal credit card, your business credit card should come with a variety of additional benefits such as higher spending limits, discounts for purchases (from hiring a car to purchasing office supplies) as well as rewards programs, and access to helpful reporting tools.
A good history of timeous payments will also boost the credit rating of your business. This, in turn, will give you access to more competitive rates. So, when applying for a business loan, line of credit, or financing large purchases for your business.
Using a credit card also makes bookkeeping a breeze. There is a clear and concise record of every purchase made on the credit card. Which itemized categorically on your monthly credit card statement for faster and simpler reconciliation. Using a credit card for every business purchase will also protect you from a slew of problems that may arise down the line such as if your computer or software suddenly giving up the ghost.
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Prepare yourself for loss of data and paperwork as a result of fire, flood, theft, or computer malfunctions. At the end of every day, back up all your data digitally to the cloud or an external drive. Talk to an IT specialist to determine your needs and requirements. Later to prepare a back-up and data recovery solution to suit the unique needs of your business. Saving your data is critical to avoiding the loss of your bookkeeping and business records for any reason whatsoever.
GetMyInvoices executes regular encrypted backups and thus protects against data loss. The backups cached on German servers and backed up at various locations. You can also synchronize all your invoices and receipts with third-party systems. Like document management software and store them in the cloud.
See the benefits of automated invoice management:
Better overview. Less accounting work. More time for your ideas.
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