As a small business owner, you probably like what you do and are good at it. Bookkeeping is most likely not your favorite thing to do. You may see it as a necessary evil and put record keeping off as long as possible, perhaps even until year end when it’s time prepare your tax return!

No matter what you use for bookkeeping, it’s easy to become frustrated when you can’t get the software to do what you need. It’s also a problem when you’re not able to get reports to give you the information that you need to run your business. Keeping up-to-date records and learning accounting software can be intimidating to a small business owner who already has a lot to do just running the business.

When used well, QuickBooks can help you avoid duplication of efforts. Many of the accounting entries are done behind the scenes in QuickBooks just by carrying out the day to day activities of your business. And it provides virtually unlimited reports to give you the information you need to make important business decisions.

Below are some the capabilities that QuickBooks has and how it can help you spend less time doing bookkeeping and more time running your business:

Control Cash Flow

Invoice Customers – Create and send invoices in QuickBooks. When you have a customer that wants to give you money for products or services, the last thing you want to do is wait on sending them an invoice. Properly and timely invoicing of customers will decrease your accounts receivable and increase your cash flow.

Manage Bills and Accounts Payable – Using the ‘enter bills’ and ‘pay bills’ functions in QuickBooks will help you stay on top of keeping your vendors paid and happy. Paying your bills directly through QuickBooks via online bill pay or printing checks will reduce unnecessary data entry and increase productivity.

Reconcile Accounts – Make sure to reconcile bank accounts, credit cards, loans, lines of credit and payroll liabilities on a consistent basis.

Financial Reporting

Customized Chart of Accounts – Your chart of accounts is all about your needs and should be customized to those specific needs. Don’t make the chart of accounts so complicated that the reports become meaningless.

Class Tracking – Classes are a way to track your data in a way that is meaningful to your business, such as by location or department.

Owner-Memorized Reports – Develop a custom set of reports you find particularly useful to run your business. You can create a list called ‘owner reports’ and memorize important reports to that list to make them easily accessible.

Take advantage of the reporting that is available in QuickBooks. Without running and analyzing financial reports, you aren’t using your bookkeeping system to allow your business to perform to its full capability. Your QuickBooks file should be a tool that you use to aid you in making key business decisions.

If you have questions or need personalized training to get the most out of your software, please call one of our certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors!

Jackie Klein, ProAdvisor
419-625-4942
Sandusky

Jodi Harris, ProAdvisor
419-668-2552
Norwalk