Your company’s financial records are the window into the soul of your company. Developing a system should be one the first tasks on your agenda when establishing your company. Of course, most of us wait until we’ve begun operations, and then we accumulate a mound of paperwork. At this point, either one of two things happen; you ignore that mound until you can’t ignore it anymore, or you’ll pass it off to someone else to handle for you. That’s why it’s advantageous to create your system in the beginning of your operations. You’ll save time and money.Your bookkeeping system should be designed specifically for your type of industry and it should be modified to represent the uniqueness of your particular company. If designed correctly, your bookkeeping system will not be too complex and it will provide you with pertinent financial data at the click of a mouse. To set up the proper system for your company a Bookkeeper will ask a series of questions to gain insight into the type of business you have, and from that information he/she will be able to advise as to the type of transactions and the establishment of the chart of accounts. In the beginning, your chart of accounts will provided very basic data due to the fact that not a lot of activity is occurring at that point. However, it should contain the necessary information for financial reporting and tax reporting. As your company grows, so will your chart of accounts. Your bookkeeping system should be flexible in that it needs to accommodate the addition of various financial statements that management would use such as a balance sheet, an income statement, budgeting, cash flows, etc.Creating accounts and posting transactions are not the only components of a good bookkeeping system. A good system will include controls to make sure that the data captured and presented is done accurately. For instance processing cash receipts, paying bills, and entering invoices; all these tasks should be clearly documented as to the responsible party, the actual procedures involved, and the responsibility for the review of or oversight of these functions. And most importantly, automation is key. Although you may feel that in the beginning it’s not necessary, do yourself a favor today and make sure that your bookkeeping system is automated. Manual bookkeeping systems are outdated and inefficient. Automated systems provide a higher degree of accuracy, and prevent you from having to set up ledgers, journals and accounts that you aren’t familiar with.It’s not too late to give your current system an overhaul. Have your Bookkeeper review it today!
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