Cleaning Up Your Books Now: Make Better Business Decisions

Cleaning up your books is likely the last thing on your mind if you’re like many other small business owners. You have bigger fish to fry. Your mind is more likely occupied with a customer acquisition. Or maybe it’s on philanthropic opportunities. Maybe you’re already thinking about the next busy season.

Let me ask you…

• Have you ever wondered where your business would be today if the time was more like five or ten years ago?
• If you knew what would happen in advance, what would you have done differently to prepare your business?
• Could you have been prepared?
• Did you have the right insights into your profitability?
• Did you have enough cash in reserve?
• Were your financials in order so that you could get a loan? Was your company credit-worthy? Were you bankable?

What if this year you could answer “yes” to all those questions?

It is possible.

Cleaning Up Your Books

When it comes to bookkeeping, your main focus should be on clean-up and preparation for the year-end close.

Now, we are not talking about starting your books over. We are talking about taking control of your books. Starting on the right foot, with clean books, can provide a better handle on your financials. And that can help you say yes to all of the above.

More Informed Decisions

As a small business owner, it is important to know your numbers, and there are so many reasons why.

In the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, we are taught to: understand money, metrics, and forecasting, read and interpret financial statements, and know what it means to be bankable so we can make better business decisions.

Knowing your numbers gives you power—bargaining power, the power of choice, and the power to grow your business.

According to research done by CBInsights, 38% of startups fail because the owner ran out of cash or failed to raise new capital. And that was before the pandemic. So even if you are an established small business, it pays to know where you stand financially.

Today and Beyond

It can be challenging to make informed financial decisions when your information is incorrect or incomplete. This can hamper your business growth. It is hard to chart your path ahead if you don’t know where you are or where you have been.

That is why you need to start off on the right foot with your books this year. But how do you begin?

By Cleaning Up Your Books.

Once you have reconciled the past year, you can tackle this giant – one bite at a time.

Chart of Accounts

Take some time to look through your Chart of Accounts. Are all of your accounts listed? They should include all of your bank accounts, all your credit cards, and all liabilities, loans, or lines of credit. You also want to make sure you have all sources of income delineated as you wish to report. In other words, add accounts for each line of business or each type of product that you want to track for revenue and profitability. Do the same for the Cost of Goods/Services, and again for expenses.

List all items that you want to include in your financial statements. You can get granular with your categorization, separating different types of insurance or software expenses, for example. Or create an account for spending on different marketing channels.

This level of detail enables reporting that gives you a clear picture of your finances. You can see if certain lines of business are making a profit or if a particular marketing channel is paying off. It also makes it easier to see if certain things are miscategorized.

How we can help.

At HireEffect, we provide customized, outsourced solutions for bookkeeping and payroll services that go beyond compliance. In addition, we offer franchise bookkeeping services, recruiting & talent acquisition, HR & talent management. We can do as little or as much as you need and want.

Our ultimate objective is to help your business grow by getting you out of the back office and giving you the freedom to focus on customer-facing, revenue-generating activities, and strategic business growth. Contact us today.