No small business owner would dispute the importance of accounting. However, wouldn’t it be better to spend less time on your accounting and more time on productive activities that have a direct impact on your bottom line? Here are our top time-saving accounting tips:
1. Use a Dedicated Accounting Tool
These days there are plenty of accounting tips and tools available to help you with your basic accounting needs and save you a lot of time.
Some of the most popular electronic tools include QuickBooks, Xero and FreshBooks, but there are many more. These provide a wide range of functions including reporting, monitoring, tracking expenses, invoicing and more.
If you do want to use accounting software, just make sure the tool you choose is secure and compliant.
2. Keep Track of All Your Expenses
Staying organised will save you a lot of time with your accounting and one of the first things you need to do is track all of your expenses.
It may sound simple but one of our top accounting tips is to have a system in place where you collect and organise all of your receipts. You might want to scan them and keep them electronically as well. The key is to be consistent – once you get a system in place, it won’t take long to keep track of everything.
This accounting tip will save you a lot of time when it comes to reporting your income and can also help boost the accuracy of your financial reports.
3. Set Up a Separate Bank Account for Your Business
Always set up a business bank account to keep your business and personal finances separate.
By doing this, you will be able to see what is going on a lot more easily and it will be simpler to carry out reporting and organise your tax return.
4. Invoice on Auto
One of our top accounting tips to speed things up in your business is to automate tasks. If you find yourself spending a lot of time on your invoicing, try putting it on auto.
Sometimes you can use your accounting software to do this by generating invoices automatically. You could also use an accounts receiving app – these can send reminder notices when clients fail to pay on time, and they can even sort out any late fees. A tool like Invoice Sherpa can help with this.
5. Hire an Accountant
Perhaps one of the biggest time-saving accounting tips of all is to hire an accountant! They will not only carry out a lot of the work for you but they will also reduce the amount of time you spend learning new skills or correcting mistakes.
Don’t waste time researching all the little details – let your accountant do it for you. You will also avoid missing important tax deadlines, dealing with problems with HMRC and more. They can even save you money by helping you to reduce your tax bill.
Save Your Business Time With These Accounting Tips
These are some of the simplest things you can do to save time and money managing your accounts. While keeping everything in order is absolutely essential, it makes sense to save time where you can in order to dedicate more of your resources to productive activities.
So follow these accounting tips to save time managing your accounts, and put that extra time towards improving other areas of your business.
