So you are running your own business. You are an entrepreneur. You might also be called a wife or husband, a mom or dad, a house keeper, doctor (we all get sick sometime!), driver, cook, and the list continues with your list of OTHER responsibilities besides the business you are running. I totally understand that there are so many demands put on us today that we often find there is not enough time in the day to get all that we need to accomplished. I often feel this way myself and while it's easy to use this as an excuse, I challenge you NOT to.
What I specifically want to challenge you NOT to do, is to get lazy (or continue being lazy) and allow your books to become incomplete, inaccurate, and behind. Unfortunately, it is SO COMMON for business owners to only do the books at tax time, or just keep receipts till you "get around to doing it". Let me tell you, you are doing your business a disservice and making it harder on yourself in the end. The fact is that if you stay on top of inputting and categorizing your spending, this allows you to use that information to inform your business decisions. You need to know if your business is profitable or not and figure out ways to make it more profitable. If you only do the books once a year, you’re left guessing the rest of the time.
Okay, so if I am talking about you here, I want to encourage you to do one of the following:
- If you do your own books, set aside a longer period of time in order to get everything current and up-to-date, and from there, schedule a few minutes at the end of each day, week, or month inputting new information to keep them current. OR
- Have someone help you. My recommendation is to find someone who knows bookkeeping as it relates to coaches (or your field). You should plan on communicating with and reviewing their work to make sure you approve it and that you are being taken care of appropriately. If you need help setting up your business in online bookkeeping software, or are looking for someone to completely keep your books up-to-date each month, please contact me today!
It is in the best interest of your business to have up-to-date, complete, and accurate books each month because this will give you necessary information year-round (not just the one time you did it each year), and will save you time as tax-season rolls around each year (and $$ not having to pay your CPA to do it). Once again, if you're needing help setting up your business' finances, or would like someone to give you back the time you deserve by having them do the bookkeeping for you, send me a message and we can set up a FREE call to discuss how we can help you.