3 Timesaving Tips to Help Keep Your Books in Order

As anyone who runs a small business can tell you, one of the most time-consuming parts of keeping things organized is bookkeeping. Just keeping track of everything can be an enormous task as your business begins to grow.

And if you don’t keep careful track of every part of your business, you may find yourself missing important pieces of information—and even losing revenue.

Do yourself a favor, learn about small business recordkeeping, try to automate your processes, and save time in the long run.

Automate Invoicing

Month-end invoicing can be a time sink, and sometimes an unpaid invoice or two can get lost in the shuffle, which costs you money.

Find a way to automatically generate invoices—you can then email or print them, and ensure they reach their proper destination.

A service like Clientbooks lets you automatically generate invoices. After you create the invoice, the information is fed into your accounting reports automatically, reducing data entry time.

You can also use an accounts receivable app, such as Invoice Sherpa, to help automate the process.

Automate Expense Reporting

Data entry for expense reports can be a massively time-consuming process. You can spend hours a week just working on your expense reports—and that can be frustrating. An app like Clientbooks can, again, help with this process.

If you automate your expense reports, you’ll save time tracking down reports, coding receipts, and writing checks.

Evaluate Past Due Invoices

Collecting on past due invoices can be unpleasant as well as cost you time. Re-evaluate your credit policies. Consider how to enable payment when the service or sale is made, instead of thirty days later.

An accountant or bookkeeper may be able to help you find a better credit policy for your business. If delinquent accounts are an issue, you may also want to consider turning the worst offenders over to a collection agency.

Overwhelmed?

If you’re still feeling overwhelmed by all the bookkeeping needs of your business, it may be time to hire an accountant to help keep you on track. Having a pair of outside eyes can help in those moments where you feel bogged down—as well as take a lot of the more tedious work off of your plate and leave room for things that may be more fun.