callnow

Live Support

+1-802-778-9005

What is Bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping is basically the process of writing, classifying, and maintaining a firm’s financial transactions. The main objectives of bookkeeping are to make the record accurate, to report it effectively, and to give a correct picture of the state of affairs of a business. It forms resources to allocate funds and make funding decisions that would improve the operation of any enterprise. It can be done by hand or using a special program if the scale and intensity of the operations performed exceed some limit.

Understanding Bookkeeping

In the digital era, people are increasingly inclined towards new technology emerging within the market. Online bookkeeping services in the USA are becoming more popular with time, as there is a pool of bookkeeping services available for businesses of any size.

Bookkeeping is essential for small businesses as it depicts their current position in the market, identifies their strengths and weaknesses, and provides a foundation for their growth.

Being skilled in digital technology, for instance, is not enough if you don’t have an excellent financial view of your company and run into cash flow issues.

It’s crucial to understand all aspects of a company’s finances, not just its bank account balance. Online bookkeeping services can make this process easier and give you better insight into your business.

Let us discuss some bookkeeping elements and how bookkeeping services impact your business.

10 Bookkeeping Elements For Small Business

1) Cash

It does not get simpler than this. Many business transactions flow into the Cash account, which is so critical that accountants often use two journals to monitor the operation: Cash Transactions and Cash Disbursements. 

In bookkeeping, cash transactions should be documented in detail since the statement of cash flows reveals income and expenses for the period. This enables businesses to make the right financial decisions regarding their expenses, evaluate their liquidity, and determine future cash needs. 

2) Accounts Receivable

If your business offers merchandise but does not receive reimbursement right away, you have “receivables,” or money owed to consumers. Accounts Receivable must be tracked and kept up to date so that clear and transparent bills or invoices can be submitted.

In this, accounts receivable transactions are entered when a sale is made with a credit mechanism, which represents an asset on the balance sheet. Maintenance of accounts receivable control involves constant evaluation of customers’ accounts, enabling the organization to determine which accounts have not been paid, the capacity of customers to pay back, and the most appropriate way through which the companies recover the cash balances.

3) Accounts Payable

We understand that wanting to spend cash on your company hurts on the inside. Accounts payable, on the other hand, provide a much better picture of what you paid. Consider this account to reflect the money that the company owes to contractors in the form of bills and invoices.

If you’re excellent at bookkeeping, you’ll facilitate faster payments, and, most significantly, you won’t reimburse anybody again. However, suppose you are not into accounting yourself. In that case, you can invest in suitable online bookkeeping services for your business and save a bulk of your time, which you can later use for other critical business areas.

4) Inventory

Both items in the company’s inventory (whether in the back or even on the shelf) must be appropriately monitored and accounted for. This is crucial since the figures of the books can fit the physical counts of the product on hand.

Stock can be tracked in two ways: either regularly, where you physically count the product on a constant, weekly, annual, or some other schedule that suits your company’s needs, or if you make a sale, do whatever is more convenient for you and your company.

5) Owners Equity

The sum each owner invests in the company is reflected in the owner’s equity account. Suitable online bookkeeping services can help you manage this. Since small companies are typically controlled by a single individual or a group of investors, there seem to be no actual equity shares to split ownership. Instead, all money placed into the company is recorded in capital accounting, and money collected out is recorded in drawing accounts. 

What matters here is that the records meticulously document all of the owners’ accounting frameworks. In bookkeeping, this element is found on the owner’s equity section of the balance sheet and fluctuates with every transaction that impacts the business profits or withdrawals. This element consists of changes in the balance sheet and net worth, which influence the financing decision or distribution of funds for expansion to the owners or shareholders. 

6) Payroll Expenses

If your small company employs people, this may be an essential expense, and you can’t afford to overlook it while still doing your accounts. Nobody wants to live for less, so keeping this account correct and up to date is critical for meeting tax reporting standards. Ignore it, but don’t be shocked if you end up in boiling water with the IRS. 

In bookkeeping, payroll entries include gross wages, taxes, deductions, and net pay to the employees. This issue is closely related to the general management of payroll, which is critical for promoting a satisfactory level of remuneration, developing an acceptable cash flow from the organizational setting, and preparing balanced financial statements that reveal a business’s operational and financial health. 

7) Retained Earnings

When you file the books, the residual earnings account records the potential revenue you spend in the business rather than keeping it for yourself or paying out to other owners. If you are successful in finding suitable online bookkeeping services, you can easily manage your retained earnings.

Retained earnings are accumulated, which implies they would show as a running sum of money you’ve kept from the start of your company. In all seriousness, handling this account does not take much time, so keep track of it and see how much your company has expanded.

8) Sales

Another essential yet crucial account to keep in mind when doing your books. The sales account is where you log all received money from what you deliver, so it’s no wonder that company owners like it.

Be sure to properly and timely report your sales, so you know where your company is. Remember, the goal is to help the company prosper while also preventing HMRC from causing a commotion.

There are numerous advantages of bookkeeping services for small businesses. When you begin doing bookkeeping for your small company, you should be mindful of the many forms of records you must keep track of. Good online bookkeeping services can leave a great impact as well.

9) Loans Payable

Loans payable include the total amount of credit a business entity is required to repay, mostly in the form of principal and interest. This liability is reflected on the balance sheet and influences a range of factors, including financial leverage and business risk. 

In accounting, the entries have to depict the amount borrowed, the time frame of repaying the amount, and the interest charges attracted. Both loans receivable and loans payable are essential in retaining efficient cash flow, and the business must ensure that it pays all its debts as they come. They also aid in financial budgeting and choosing the investment for such liabilities. 

10) Bank Reconciliation

Bank reconciliation involves comparing the organization’s financial account records with the bank’s records for the same period. It also helps in cases like cheques written but not encashed, deposits not recorded, or bank expenses not included in the company books. 

Bank reconciliation enables businesses to correct mistakes that might have occurred, detect fraudulent cases and verify its cash balance. It is crucial to keep adequate financial transactions in a systematic way to capture income, expenditure, and cash flow of their businesses to improve the running of their businesses. 

After discussing bookkeeping’s elements, let’s discuss why online bookkeeping services are crucial and some bookkeeping tips that will ultimately boost your business.

Why Bookkeeping Is An Essential Part Of Your Business?

Bookkeeping Is An Essential Part Of Your Business

Bookkeeping is very important in any business since it helps in keeping account of all the financial transactions in the business, which is very important in making business decisions. Small business people can also record every financial transaction in a systematic way to capture the income, expenditures, and cash flow of their businesses to improve the running of their businesses.

Here’s why bookkeeping is essential for your business:

  • Accurate Financial Records: Accounting makes it possible to record each financial transaction systematically and, therefore, monitor income, expenses as well as cash flow.
  • Informed Decision Making: Organized financial information helps a company make well-informed decisions about its financial resources, investments, and expansion plans.
  • Compliance with Legal Obligations: Bookkeeping then assists in that preparation to avoid any discrepancies that would lead to penalties.
  • Facilitates Audits and Transparency: Proper maintenance of records is essential in audits besides showing the organizations’ stakeholders such as investors and lenders, that the financial books are accurate.
  • Improves Financial Planning: Predicting future costs and revenues is very helpful for a business to be financially sound and viable.

What kind of Entries Find their Place in Bookkeeping?

In accounting, several types of entries are made with the intention of achieving a systematic record of financial transactions.

Key types of entries include:

  • Revenue Entries: Cost of goods sold records the expenses incurred on goods and services, thus minimizing customer returns and allowances. Purchase journals capture product or service acquisition or where they are returned. The expense entries include operating expenses like rent, utilities, salaries, wages, etc., and the cost of sales goods, etc.
  • Asset Entries: These include acquisitions involving physical or intangible items and the spread of cost related to the asset over its useful life. Accounts payable records the amount payable to suppliers, while loans payable records any balances owing to financial institutions. Equity entries represent the investments made by the owners and also the distributions made to them in the form of dividends or drawings.
  • Bank Transactions: A bank transaction can be any form of deposit in an account or withdrawal of funds from an account. It contains adjusting entries, which involve accrual and reversal entries, which make the journal easier in the subsequent period. Wages payable include the entries for the overall wages payment to employees and the pay-as-you-earn taxes deducted.
  • Miscellaneous Entries: This records interest revenue or cost, non-operating revenue, or a one-time cost. Last, changes are error correction and yearly adjustments in accordance with accounting standards. These entries collectively constitute the core of a business’s financial statements, providing useful information allowing for proper management of the enterprise.

How Do You Do Bookkeeping for a Small Business?

Except for accountants, no one likes bookkeeping, and yet the longer you remain on top of it, the better it becomes. One can hire a bookkeeper or make this job easier with accounting and bookkeeping software or online bookkeeping services.

Clarity in the company’s finances is the best way to guarantee long-term success and prosperity. To improve and increase your company’s profitability, you must first recognize what is and is not working. You can’t make changes and enhancements to maximize profitability and efficiency unless you know what’s going on with your income. Below is a list of the main step you must learn to get a firm grip on your company’s finances and ensure that it is heading in the right direction.

1. Organize your Bank Transactions

Having different accounts simplifies it and reduces risks, and covers your interests in the event of an investigation or other compliance problems. Online bookkeeping services can be a great help for this. If the firm is organized as an LLC, maintaining different accounts is much more relevant because the company’s costs are deducted from your taxes.

Different budgets for corporate and personal spending will save you time and resources; believe us. It would be much easier for the accountant to keep up with the payments and prevent expensive errors if you have one. When you have different savings accounts, tax time would be much better.

2. Adopt A Better System For Record Storage

It is essential to have a well-organized structure for keeping financial documents throughout the year. Online bookkeeping services can help you achieve this, as they make it easy to complete your business operations monthly and biweekly and make tax preparation even simpler. The following is a list of items you can have in your monetary data storage system.
Here is a list of financial statements to keep on file and organize if you are unsure. 

  • Bank statements
  • Credit card statements
  • Canceled checks
  • All checks written
  • Receipts
  • Bills
  • Customer invoices
  • Customer payments
  • Sales receipts
  • Deposit slips
  • Tax returns
  • 1099 forms
  • Payroll documentation
  • Pick An Accounting Method.

Businesses primarily use two accounting practices: accrual accounting and cash-based accounting. You’ll need to choose online bookkeeping services accordingly when you begin. The following are among some of the advantages and disadvantages of both.

  1. Cash Basis Of Accounting: Small companies typically use cash-basis accounting, and it is the simplest form of accounting. Cash-basis accounting requires the accountant (whether you or someone you’ve employed to do the record-keeping) to report spending as soon as the cash is earned. The disadvantage of cash-basis accounting is that monthly costs and sales are not balanced. Expenses for both the present and previous months are not remembered until the cash is paid. This may be a dilemma if you apply for loans from a bank or customers when the company’s books seem thinner than what they are monthly.
  2. Accrual Basis of Accounting: Accrual accounting is a much more nuanced accounting technique often employed for more significant, more sophisticated firms. And if the buyer has not yet charged, the income is reported in this situation. This enables a company to have a better understanding of how much it spends as well as what it earns. This will aid in the analysis of cash flow and the making of market changes. Even so, since accrual accounting doesn’t allow for cash not collected, it is impossible to determine what cash is available and not only theoretically valid.

3. Invest in Small Business Accounting and Bookkeeping Software

When you are on an online bookkeeping services hunt, make sure you figure out what accounting tools and software they are using.. Accounting tools can assist you with organizing and managing your financial statements so that they are still available whenever you need them. This is especially beneficial to safeguarding your assets in the event of an investigation or legal issues.

When tax season arrives, you’ll be glad you invested in accounting and bookkeeping software, which allows you to optimize the whole system, and you’ll save a significant amount of time and money.

There are many accounting tools and online bookkeeping services available. This can be a bit intimidating at first. We recommend that you begin by considering your business objectives and then search for software that can assist you in meeting those goals. Look for something that is relatively adaptable, such that as your company expands and evolves, your apps will adapt as well. You’ll probably want to think about the cost. We recommend using a program that costs no more than 25% of your bookkeeping and accounting budget.

Customers will combine their preferred accounting tools with their bank account via eBetterBooks, Quickbooks, Freshbooks, Xero, and Wave.

4. Try Merging Your Accounting And Bookkeeping.

NorthOne allows you to link your accounting and bookkeeping applications to your company’s financial institution. This makes a complete financial statement straightforward. With all of your financial resources working together, you’ll have a lot less work to do, allowing you to concentrate on the more enjoyable aspects of running your firm. You will no longer need to waste hours constantly matching purchases, and your accounts will now be neat and clear.

5. Keeps Your Books Tax Ready Throughout The Year

The issue that most companies have towards tax season is that they postpone it to the last minute. When planning for tax season all year, you make the challenge of filing taxes even simpler. Good bookkeeping and accountign services can easily do this job for you hasslefree.

And if you pay a specialist to file your taxes, you’ll have to supply them with paperwork, so they can do your taxes correctly, so keep these records updated so maybe you’re not struggling at tax time. Benefit and loss accounts, balance sheets, and reports of all company properties sold and purchased over the year are all salient points.

As a company owner, you must consider what is needed to file taxes on your particular commercial transaction (sole proprietor, LLC, S Corp, C Corp). This will assist you in avoiding errors that might cost you your company.

6. Keep Backup Savings

When it relates to your company savings, any smart business owner can warn you that it’s always best to be prepared for the worst. After filing returns, money owing after filing returns, misrepresenting, unexpected events, and prepaid/unfulfilled invoice payments are examples of typical business emergencies that can cost you money. Our advice is that you set aside a fraction of your monthly earnings. We’re not suggesting you’ll become a fantastic bookkeeper immediately, but persevere in it. Choosing to focus on such aspects of bookkeeping is the key to the company’s ultimate sustainability.

Bookkeeping Tools and Software

Bookkeeping Tools and Software

Here are five popular bookkeeping tools and software suitable for small businesses: 

  1. QuickBooks: QuickBooks is a popular accounting tool that enables users to create invoices, record expenses, manage payroll, and generate reports. It is ideal for business entities large and small and comes in both web-based and stand-alone versions. 
  2. Xero: It is important to note that Xero is a cloud-based accounting solution aimed at small businesses. It includes invoicing, bank reconciliation, expense tracking, and financial report creation. It is characterized by a simple and intuitive design and the possibility of linking with other programs. 
  3. Freshbooks: It is a web-based accounting system designed specifically for independent contractors and other small business operations. It mainly creates invoices, tracks work time and manages expenses. It also offers simple tools for producing financial reports and managing client relations. 
  4. Wave: Wave is free accounting software preset for small companies. It comes with most of the capabilities, including invoicing, expense control, and account receivables and payables, with the other features availed under a premium package that includes payroll and payment services. 
  5. ZohoBooks: It is an application from the Zoho Family that aims at small business users. Its features include invoicing, expense tracking, project management, and financial reporting, and it can easily integrate with other Zoho apps. 

Conclusion

Through this article, we hope to elaborate on ten bookkeeping elements that include cash, accounts receivables, accounts payables, inventories, owners’ equity, payroll expenses, retained earnings, etc. After elaborating on the above elements, we added some tips to do your business that would ultimately boost your business and explained why online bookkeeping services are necessary.