The Pain of Small Business Bookkeeping & Accounting

December 2, 2011 by Ed Becker

Many small business owners view bookkeeping and accounting as necessary evils, frequently asking these questions:

• Who has the time?
• Doesn’t my CPA handle this?
• How do I control my overhead costs?
• How can I grow my business if I do not have useful information to make decisions?
• We have no cash. Why?
• How do I know? I am not an accountant!
• Why are my cash collections so slow?
• Shouldn’t my current bookkeeper know how to do that?
• Didn’t I pay you already?
• Who has the time to get all this year-end information my CPA needs?
• What is all this mumbo jumbo of debits and credits and how does this translate into more sales?

Sound familiar? Maybe you’re one of the many entrepreneurs who share these negative thoughts about small business bookkeeping.

Why do something you do not enjoy doing that does not generate revenue? This is the real question you should be asking yourself.

Sample of Action Items I can start right now:

• Implement a time table to catch up on accounting work that has fallen behind (posting, bank reconciliations, collection calls, etc)
• Keep current on the new transactions
• Talk to advisor about using current software package
• Evaluate skill set of current bookkeeper and take action if needed
• Implement procedures for paying vendors on a set schedule

One simple answer to alleviate these problems is hiring an outsourced bookkeeping service that can provide you with outside expertise and useful information for you to manage your business.