Finance Tips for small business owners
As a small business owner, one of the fastest ways to know if you are growing or not is from your finances. You should be able to know from one glance at your records, whether you are running at a loss or if you are making a profit. If you do not have an organized system of record-keeping, that could be very hard to do. The website of the Internal Revenue Service of the US (IRS) shares the reasons why you need to keep records; you can read that article here.
So the first thing to do is to keep track of your finances in an organized way, but just how do you do that? Here are some suggestions on how to do just that.
Use an Excel Spreadsheet
If you are a whiz at Microsoft suite, you might want to use an excel spreadsheet to keep track of your expenses. It is functional and could save you a lot of money. The only problem with this method is the time it takes to fill in the spreadsheet. It is time-consuming. Another problem with using a spreadsheet is reconciling all the expenses, invoicing, stock and all the other records that you need to keep track of.
Hire an accountant
Another option is to hire an accountant. Actually, you will need to get one eventually to help you make sense of your records and handle your taxes. However, you will accrue more billable hours if you do not already have clean records. Having an accountant on your payroll will ensure that your financial records are clean and easy to read. The problem with that is what it will cost you to pay an accountant every month. Small businesses usually cannot afford to have large overhead costs. Hiring an accountant for your day-to-day accounting might be too heavy a cost for your business to bear.
Online accounting software
One option which more small business owners are embracing is the accounting software. These are programs that make it easy for you to keep track of your finances so that when it is time to file your taxes, everything is straightforward and simple. There is accounting software, used by large companies that are really expensive. This is often what comes to mind when accounting software is mentioned. They are fast, efficient and make it possible to combine all the tasks necessary for financial record keeping. Although these have traditionally been enterprise solutions, created for large corporations, there are now affordable online solutions for small businesses.
ZapInventory Accounting Software
One of such solutions is our accounting software, ZapInventory which makes it possible for you to track your finances in a convenient and time-efficient way. You can carry out invoicing, track payments and perform general accounting tasks necessary for your business.
We have spent a lot of time researching the best solution for your business and how we can provide this service at almost no cost to you.
Way back in 2014, Fox Business recognized the need for small businesses to use online accounting software and listed several benefits, including easy input. The writer said indefinite terms, “I encourage all serious business owners to keep their books on computerized accounting software.”
Eventually, as your business grows, you will need to involve more people in the financial side of things and online software makes it possible to add other members of your team. They can pull reports, add changes and keep track of everything. Also whenever you decide to work with an accountant or an accounting firm, you can easily transfer data and records to them.
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