5 accounting tips for small businesses
Sarah Gadeke
Accountant | Maidenhead & Bracknell | Working with ambitious business owners who are looking to grow their business | Monthly packages to suit SMEs and start ups
1. Have a separate bank account for your business
When you are employed, your salary is usually paid into your personal bank account with all the necessary deductions already made. However when you run your own business, it’s important to organise your finances so that you can easily track down incoming payments and outgoings related to your business. By far the easiest way to do this is to keep your personal finances separate from your business transactions.
This becomes especially important when it’s time to do your taxes.
2. Budget for tax
Even though you might be bringing in plenty of money and have made a profit, not all of the money is yours. You’ll need to hand some over to the taxman. If you budget for this as you go along, you won’t find it such a shock as you go along. A good idea is to use a savings account to set part of your income aside so you have that to draw on when your tax bill arrives.
3. Be aware of tax deadlines and stick to them
Although you might not look forward to paying your taxes, it is a legal requirement and late payments can result in fines. Your business set up will determine when and how you pay, but it’s your responsibility to make sure payments are made on time. For the sake of your stress levels, it’s good to know and prepare in advance of the deadline, making sure you’ve set aside enough money to pay what you owe. Your accountant will normally remind you, and get everything ready but ultimately the buck stops with you!
4. Keep your records carefully
Do you enjoy spending time on keeping records, and logging everything? If so, great! If you’re generally untidy or disorganised about your business paperwork, you might be wise to appoint a book-keeper and/or an accountant. Tidy records make it easy to submit accurate information on time. The opposite is true if you’re scrabbling around at the last minute trying to pull together details of business transactions.
5. Accounting software is your friend
When it comes to keeping on top of your invoicing, expenses and everything financial, an accounting package makes life a lot easier. Whether or not you use an accountant, the system will enable you to keep everything organised. Of course it will require somebody to enter accurate information in order to do so, but the ability to pull reports, do forecasts and more is invaluable for business planning.
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4 年Great tips thank you Sarah ????
Director at Brand Chatter Ltd
4 年My number one tip would be: appoint Sarah Gadeke to look after your accounts. That’s what I did and it’s been one of my best ever business decisions! Working with Sarah means I can spend my time on things I’m good at.