Accounting is an important part of any business, but it's especially important for startups and small businesses that don't have much money to spare on accounting software and other infrastructure investments. That's why we are going to show you how to set up basic accounting procedures in your own small business right now - without spending any money. Keep reading!
Create a set of standard financial statements.
A set of standard financial statements is a useful tool for keeping track of your business’s finances. It can help you identify trends in the company’s performance and make it easier to compare your company with other companies in your industry.
Standard financial statements include:
- The balance sheet: Lists all assets and liabilities, including current assets (such as cash), long-term assets (like property), and liabilities (such as loans).
- The income statement: It shows how much money comes into and leaves out of the business during a period. It is also known as net profit or loss. It shows what happened financially during that time period based on transactions made by customers, suppliers, employees, etc., and any other gains or losses not related directly to these activities, such as interest payments on loans taken out by owners who invest their own money in their companies instead of using credit cards as most people do nowadays when buying things online instead.
Keep your books in order.
Keeping your books in order is important for your small business. It can help you avoid unnecessary expenses and find out how much money you're making, which is crucial if you want to grow.
There are several ways to keep books in order:
Use a software program like QuickBooks or Sage Payroll that has a built-in ledger feature- the thing where every transaction gets recorded. These programs will make it easier for you to track all of your transactions by providing charts and graphs that show when they happened and what they were used for. They'll also help prevent mistakes by giving users alerts if something unusual happens, such as an employee missing work without explanation then allowing them time before filing an official complaint about their supervisor's behavior.
Set up a separate bank account for payroll.
It's a good idea to set up a separate bank account for payroll services. This can help you ensure that all payments are made on time and without any errors, which will save you time and money in the long run.
- Payroll is usually paid in cash, so it makes sense to have your own account at the same bank where you keep your business savings.
- The payroll usually comes out every month, so having an account dedicated solely to this purpose makes sense.
- If someone wants to make changes or deposits (such as when they pay their taxes), they'll need access to only one place instead of having multiple accounts open at once—and if something goes wrong with one transaction's details being entered incorrectly into other systems each time, something needs, updating again later down the road due simply because there wasn't enough room left over after everything else had already been updated beforehand too many times already by now; this kind of thing happens far too often when dealing with smaller businesses like yours.
Create an easy-to-follow budget.
Creating a budget is one of the major steps to ensuring that your business has a strong foundation for growth. A good budget will allow you to track how money flows through your company, which can help ensure that you're spending wisely and efficiently. You'll also want it to be easy for employees and other people (such as customers) to understand—and easy for them as well. So make sure that any numbers are clear so everyone understands what's going on in their department or division.
Identify your tax liability and do your taxes separately.
It’s important to know your tax liability and do your taxes separately. This is because the IRS has rules about how you can make deductions, which means that if you make a mistake in this part of the process, it could cost you money.
To do this yourself:
- Find out what each type of income or expense would be considered by an accountant or other professional who specializes in taxes before deciding whether to hire one.
- If possible, get help from someone who knows more than just numbers—a friend or family member who has experience with accounting for small businesses might be able to help with questions about specific types of expenses (like depreciation).
Accounting is important for startups and small businesses that don't have much money to spare.
- Accounting is important for any business, but it's especially important for startups and small businesses that don't have much money to spare on accounting software and other infrastructure investments.
- Accounting can help you track your business, so you'll know whether or not your company is making money as well as how much it's spending. This knowledge will help make better business decisions down the road.
Conclusion
In this blog, we’ve walked through the basics of accounting and identified a few strategies to help you become more efficient. You don’t need to be a CPA or have any special training to do your books yourself—just some basic math skills and an ability to learn new things as they come along. Accounting is still a mystery, but with the right knowledge and tools, it can become less so. If you are struggling with accounting and in need of support, look no further than Global FPO.