Streamlining Small Business Accounting: 3 Tips

If you own a small business, you may have come to realise that organising your accounts can be time-consuming. Because time is money, there could be a hidden cost to inefficient accounting as time spent attempting to crunch the numbers could be better used in developing your business. Read on to discover 3 ways you can make your accounting processes more cost-effective.

Invest in accounting software

While accounting software may require a sizeable upfront investment, using it to process your company's payroll and tax returns could create significant time and cost savings. Rather than having to pay multiple people to act as human computers when trying to perform accounting tasks, you can simply track everything by inputting data into your computer. Then, at the click of a button, you can run reports and generate tax returns and payroll information. If you really want to streamline your accounting processes, you should look at ways of automatically sending data to the software without the need for manual input. For example, some software will allow you to connect to data from your bank so the latest balances and payments sent and received can be viewed instantly.

Incorporate payment requests and outstanding invoices

Keeping track of your outgoings and money owed to your company is the key to ensuring that the books remain balanced. The best way of doing this is by incorporating any payment requests and outstanding invoices that others need to pay into your digital accounting software. Setting up reminders if a request for payment has not been met will help to ensure that you keep your supplier happy. If you pay your bills on time, you may also be able to negotiate lower prices or higher credit limits with your suppliers. Likewise, similar reminders can be set up for any outstanding invoices so staff know which invoices need to be followed up on as a matter of urgency

Use a professional accountancy service

While software will allow you to manage and streamline a lot of your accountancy processes, nothing beats having a professional cast their eye over your books every so often. When it is time to file tax returns or if you are facing a tax audit, it is always best to hire an accountant who can make sure that everything is in order.

If you are interested in finding out more, you should get in touch with a local accountant today.