Common Accounting Mistakes: Part 4

Spending too much time on accounting: Knowing the numbers is critical, paying taxes and not too much, is extremely important, but if you spend all your time on the numbers and forgot to do the work that the business is actually designed to do, then you could end up with a lot of numbers to a business that no longer exist...

How should you avoid wasting time?

• Make sure that there is time dedicated to this task. At first, you may not know exactly how long it should take and sometimes it will take longer than others. Regardless, set a schedule and stick to it.
• Develop a system. Nothing is worse than trying to reconcile the books and not knowing where everything is located or having to track down information. Get organized and have your team follow a system that keeps receipts, invoices, payments, etc. in order and in a place where they can be quickly retrieved.
• Scan everything. Paper gets lost, torn, washed, etc. never to be usable or seen again. Make sure that you and your team are scanning the information and backing it up off site.

What to remember: Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Plenty of people have gone before you and have great ideas and inspiration on setting up well tested system for keeping the books in order.