Well, now you have your receipts and invoices filed, what next? For many, nothing, the receipts and invoices will stay in the box and they will stay there until tax time. Is that ok? Sure, but then you will not know how much money you are making and if you are making a profit or not. Is that the right way? No, you can’t run your business like that, not successfully anyway. What do you need to next?
- At the end of each month you need to enter them into a program, I like to use Quickbooks.
- Enter all your sales invoices first, enter them as invoices and then receive the money against them so that you know who still has to pay you – very important information to know!
- Next, enter all your receipts and expenses for the month.
- If you have any accounts with any stores then make sure you enter these expenses into accounts so that you know how much you will owe.
- Make sure you enter the receipts on the right bank account or credit card – makes it easier to reconcile later! Hopefully you don’t have any bank fees or credit card charges, but if you do, go ahead and enter those in too.
At the moment, you are probably thinking ” Oh my gosh I don’t even know where to start and I don’t own Quickbooks or any other bookkeeping software”. Don’t worry, when your business is just starting you can keep this information easily on a spreadsheet. When you start experiencing growth then you really do need to think about using a bookkeeping system, like Quickbooks, to track everything. The earlier you start to do this the better. Remember – April 15th has a funny way of sneaking up on you!
Great info here Kerry. All too often we overlook doing simple tasks now, and later are left scrambling!
Thanks Suzanne. Bookkeeping is so critical and it is all too often left behind! Thanks for visiting my blog!
Wonderful information! Bookkeeping is so vital, that is why I am going to be hiring you shortly to do mine
Thank you Susan! I can’t wait to work with you. You have been such a huge help to me, looking forward to helping you!
Thanks so much for your great tax tips! It is so important to keep things organized. I appreciate your articles because they help us to put system’s in place to keep us organized. Great info! Happy 4th of July!
Thanks Sarah! Appreciate you reading my blog!
Having run my own businesses for over 30 years I can tell you that your tips and advice are spot on!! Thanks for sharing! I hope all new business owners take advantage of your wisdom!! Blessings!
Thanks Denny! That means a lot to me!
Great info here, Suzanne. Thanks for sharing and for always reminding us about how important book keeping is.
Oops, I am really sorry. With Suzanne, I mean you, Kerry. I am really sorry. (Have read Suzanne’s name in the first comment and it stuck in my mind.)
You are so welcome! I know it is so easy to put off the bookkeeping!
This is awesome information, Kerry. I really would like to use QuickBooks, but the entire task seems so daunting. I never know where I need to start a calendar date. Can you go back to the beginning of the year? Or do you have to start on the date you load QuickBooks on?
Hi Theresa, glad this is helping. Quickbooks can be daunting if you do not have a bookkeeping background. You need to be able to understand debits, credits and double entry bookkeeping, otherwise it will be very confusing. Yes you can go back to the beginning of the year. I am talking to someone at the moment that would need me to go back to August last year!! I’ll message you.
Great reminder to work on this as we go. I have made the mistake of not being organized and it’s a pain!
Absolutely! Staying up to date is the key!
Great information! I need to get mine better organized..
Thanks Mandy! Schedule time each week to get this done. The busier you get with your business the longer it will take, so by being organized now it will help! I promise!
Great and very useful information. I have boxes of receipts everywhere
Thanks Jan. Are you a shoebox queen?!? Lol try and schedule time every week to get your filing system set up. You can do it! Shout if you need help!
I use a spreadsheet at the moment — it gives me a great sense of achievement to be able to know that it’s done! It’s one of those things I have to seriously work at, though. If I don’t schedule it, it doesn’t get done.
A spreadsheet is a great way to start until your business grows to the point that you need an accounting software package to give you the info that you need. Absolutely keep it on the weekly to do list
shoes box girl
ughh .. have to get it together or else LOL
No shoe boxes!!!!! Let me know if you need help setting up a system!
Thanks for the great info, Kerry! I have got to get better organized! My accountant probably hates me
You’re welcome Kim!
Yeah, I’ll be contacting you in the future regarding this…
Thanks Edmund. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great week.
Okay, you’ve convinced me. I definitely need a bookkeeper. Feeling “ready” for April 15 would be the best feeling of my life. My receipts are a mess, and I don’t think filing them is going to solve the problem ~ although I know it is step one, thanks!
It is definitely a great feeling knowing that at the end of the year you don’t have to go through all those receipts and invoices and try and get them in order.
I simply want to mention I am just very new to blogs and definitely loved you’re blog. More than likely I’m going to bookmark your website . You definitely have beneficial posts. With thanks for revealing your web-site.
Thank you for stopping by!