I use Quickbooks Online for all my business AND personal finances. We actually have an accountant version because of all the companies! I run my home as if it is a business. I am going to give you the structure and show you a little behind the scenes and then I have asked Deanna who actually runs our books to chime in and give some tips on how to keep it all rolling.
Homes should be run like companies in my opinion. so this should apply to you regardless if you have a company or not. You should be doing projections, allocating funds to different buckets and closely tracking what and where and why. If you are new here, my degree is in business finance and I read finance books and cash flow books just for the fun of it. #weird. I love excel. I use excel for projections and do them for each of the companies and personally. Especially projects that I do around the home too. Each project gets an excel sheet!
I have asked Deanna, who keeps are our company books, to give you guys some tips on how to set up a business’s books to run efficiently. Although I am a finance major and I love organization and numbers I do not do the actual bookkeeping of our businesses. I am a big believer in delegating tasks so you can focus and she has kept our books for over 3 years–starting with just one company and now we have grown to 5 (pending 6).
If you haven’t heard the most recent news, Start Kickin’ Booty is our most recent business venture. In the past, we offered one-on-one business consulting and we didn’t have the bandwidth to continue offering that option. Start Kickin’ Booty will offer online training videos and resources that you can utilize, grow and learn remotely! I plan to teach more finances! If you want more details about this launch and to get entrepreneur tips like this to make sure you on are my newsletter list! HERE
Find a system. Have a dedicated workspace and pick a system/software of organization, ie QuickBooks. Clutter affects the business organization, keep your workspace as neat as possible. Using software such as QuickBooks allows you to look at a snapshot of your company at any given time so that you always know where you stand with profitability. Review the numbers at least once a month. The month-end is a great time to review and to track and compare your monthly expenses.
Establish a credit card and checking account. Having a dedicated checking account and credit card for your business is another great way to keep track of ONLY company transactions. Commingling personal and business funds
Have a filing system and keep receipts – digital or manual filing Tidy filing systems will make your life much easier. When you reduce the visual clutter around you, you will reduce your mental clutter automatically. Clear out items that you don’t need or items that you have not used in a long time.
Track income and expenses accurately by having a chart of accounts set up so that all entries flow to the correct category. If you don’t know where you are, how will you know where you are going and how you will get there. Categorizing expenses will be helpful in keeping your company organized for budgeting purposes and assessing which expenses can be written off at tax time.
Use Your Computer A computer is like having an extra brain. Use it as much as possible. The more organized your small business is , the easier it will be to operate day to day, leaving you more time to concentrate on increasing your profits. Last but not least, when you decide to keep the books for someone and then later find out that you are keeping books for 6 different companies…….Run, quit and never look back!! 🙂
