Profit and Loss are going in the wrong direction

Your business won’t be the first to experience this nor the last, but it is something that most will encounter at one time or another: your profits are decreasing and your losses are mounting up. Your bookkeeper will know your business by now and be able to navigate those accounts with a clear head and without prejudice. They will be able to find where things went wrong and why and suggest ways to turn things around. The sooner you engage them where this is the issue the quicker they can help put things right to avoid the problems becoming insurmountable.

Are you looking to grow

If you are in this position, then things are going really well! If you have done everything you know how to do and done it well, then your business is going in the right direction. A fresh pair of eyes and some new ideas can help you jump over the hurdle of taking the next leap to growth. It is often not something that you can do yourself as you are too immersed in the day-to-day running of the business and lack the time to analyse and research other avenues to branch off to.

You want more or different kinds of customers

Looking to grow your market share but not quite sure how to do it? With knowledge of similar businesses and your specific sector, as well as of the particular unique selling points of your business, your bookkeeper can come up with some fresh ideas of how to target and win a larger share of that market segment you are working in.

You need to streamline your processes

You may have reached that tipping point where things are going well but your administrative tasks and processes are beginning to take up too much time. This could be taking you away from managing the business and focusing on business development. Your accountant can assess where your processes can be restructured and streamlined to cut down the time they take and get you back on to the things that bring in the money.

Your team could do with a morale boost

Sometimes you could be doing everything right and going well, but it could mean your staff are overworked. Alternatively, if your business is suffering your staff could be too. Don’t risk giving them the opportunity to move elsewhere. With some advice from your accountant who will have seen similar situations before, you can work together to come up with solutions to raise morale again and keep your hard-working team on your side, ready to take the next steps for the business.

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Not setting up the chart of accounts properly

If possible, try not to use what the bookkeeping software gives you as a default, as it might not be correct or relevant. It’s far more beneficial to build your own, and we can help you with our experience to set them up to suit your industry. Which will give you only the “Chart of Accounts” (codes) that are necessary to track? At the end of the Year, this will make life much more suitable to prepare your tax return. The same is applicable and also essential to make sure the GST codes are correct!

Setting up a ‘Petty Cash’ account in Assets

If you have a “Petty Cash” tin in your office for these is quite a common feature in many offices! – It is NOT an asset, so please don’t set up a “Bank Account” for it! There are more effective ways to allocate monies spent out of your pocket on business expenses.

Not setting up payroll correctly

The Payroll and Employees must be set-up accurately. Make sure you include the employee’s DOB, TFN and ensure that their penalty rates are correct. Make sure also that your linked “Chart of Accounts” are connected right (this includes superannuation, tax and many more). Let us help you and supply a checklist to follow the correct procedure.

Treating Assets or Liabilities as Expenses

You MUST know the difference between a “Balance Sheet” item and a “Profit & Loss” item and remember, your bookkeeper can help you with this. We can be explaining the Profit & Loss – what it means, what it’s telling you about your business).

Not Reconciling Property

It would include ALL bank and credit card reconciliation, BAS reconciliation, payment summaries and superannuation (Bookkeepers are EXPERTS at reconciling!)

The above are just five of the common mistakes, but in reality, there are many more. Lots are commonly made by business owners who are practising small-business bookkeeping OR sometimes offshore companies. These five, in particular, will take a lot of time and effort to fix. They also have the potential to make your bookkeeping file unusable and can cost you a lot of time and money. Especially when you need to take it to an accountant on the end of the year to have your tax returns/financials prepared, or the GST BAS return.
Now for having said that, it’s crucial to make sure you set up correctly and on track from day one. For this reason, This is why we offer training to small businesses and individuals. Depending on your chosen bookkeeping software, we specialise in Xero bookkeeping and Xero Cashbook, Myob Bookkeeping and QBO. If you think your business might benefit from bookkeeping services;

• if you someone to lodge BAS
• if you need a bookkeeping software health check
• training or assistance setting up your books

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In 2006 Xero disrupted the accounting & bookkeeping software industry in being one of the first utterly browser-based software solutions. It is fantastic as long as you’ve got a great internet connection! Our team love to practise Xero bookkeeping, but not all bookkeeping software might be right for your business! Bookkeeping software comes with various pros and cons, so it’s worth investigating before you set up your small business!

If you are self-managing your bookkeeping entry, here’s why we think Xero is an excellent choice. Compare the two cloud software and how to use it, to make life easier for both yourself, your bookkeeper and your accountant!

As you can see, Xero comes with a range of benefits including an app for complete functionality (trumping its competitor “Quickbooks” bookkeeping), automatic reconciliation and the accessibility of being cloud-based. There are many benefits from a BAS agent point of view as well. For example, it offers unlimited users, an open API, and updates don’t need to be updated and installed.

All of our bookkeepers are Xero experienced, which means you are in the very best of hands. Relax when it comes to having your Xero bookkeeping and Xero cashbook managed by one of our trained and professional Bookkeepers.

As a group, we are many times asked the question: what is bookkeeping? A bookkeeper organises your finances & documents to provide a snapshot of how your business is doing. Your bookkeeper will also prepare & lodge BAS, organise payroll, practise double-entry bookkeeping and sort your superannuation; whatever your business might need. You are not just a number to us – your success is significant! That’s why we offer training, bookkeeping and advisory; everything that you need to help your business run smoothly from day one. They say you need a good team around you to succeed, and this is true, and SOS will be your team.

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Online accounting has taken over the accounting software marketplace, with solutions to fit every industry and business type. Companies have made it simple to sign up and import data from your current program. Automated processes cut down on time spent performing routine bookkeeping tasks, and reminders keep you on top of your business.
There are many compelling reasons to enter your books in the cloud using any of the providers listed in our selection of the best accounting software. If you need convincing, we’re here to break them down for you.

Real-time data

Doing your books in the cloud means you’ll never have to wait for a bookkeeper to enter your transactions to know how much cash you have in the bank. Cloud-based accounting software programs sync with bank accounts to pull in individual bank transactions. After you set up rules to match bank transactions to an “Expense” type, cash flowing through your bank will categorise automatically for you.
Real-time data enables you to stay on top of your business’s finances, even if your bookkeeper calls in sick.

Build-in Backups – no worries

In addition to secure encryption and data protection, cloud-based accounting software providers offer free backup. With multiple realtime data recovery Servers in place. Applied SSL encryption and disaster recovery plans, they can far better protect your data than you might be able to.

Always accessible books

Many of the more prominent players in the cloud-based accounting market, such as QuickBooks Online, Wave and Xero, have invested in apps. Once you’ve downloaded an app to your phone and signed in, your data can be updated in real-time because you can access it anywhere at any time.
There are many advantages to that accessibility. If you’re on a job site and a client asks if they have past due invoices, you can check the app instead of calling a bookkeeper at the office. Some apps include built-in payment processing, so if they do have a past-due invoice, you can collect it right there.
Consider employees of project-based businesses that use Programs or Apps with built-in “Projects Functions” or Expenses, such as FreshBooks or “Xero Expenses” Apps. It can make a task very easy for the Bookkeeper and the company.

Automated Processes

Many bookkeepers perform the same tasks on a weekly or monthly basis. The likes of paying rent or electricity, invoicing clients and reconciling the books. The above are examples of functions that can become mindless and repetitive, which means they can also be left out by accident.

Conveniently Cloud-based accounting software will send recurring invoices and send out automatic late payment reminders. The software will also assign bank account transactions according to rules you define. Automating processes cuts down on user errors and forgetfulness.

Saving Time

Accounting and bookkeeping functions are cost centres because they generate no revenue for the business. Reducing the time and resources devoted to them frees resources to use elsewhere. While the automated processes in most cloud-based accounting software save time, the programs give you much more.
Businesses that bill by the hour won’t have to collect paper timesheets and manually input data if they sign up for FreshBooks’s or Xero Accounting project functions. Time tracking in the software, which employees can access through the app, feeds into invoices.

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