Do I really need a Bookkeeper?

MGS Designz is all about sharing the good stuff! Lately we’ve been showcasing our clients blogs on our blog – just so you can see who are clients are and also see samples of our work.  Today we’re going to share a great blog post from Judith McMahon from Bean Counters of FL! We have been working with Judith for years and have helped her with her logo, business card and website. Please read on and feel free to contact us for more information!

Bookkeeping Tips by Bean Counters of Florida

# 1 Keep an audit trail

An audit trail is nothing more than a record of all your invoices and checks in numeric order. The thing to remember is never skip numbers. Record voided check and invoice numbers in numeric order with all other checks and invoices, only denote each one that is “voided.” This assures there will be no gaps in your numerical sequence and leaves a proper audit trail.

# 2 Due Date Reminders

It’s a good idea to follow a payroll tax due date reminder. Whether you have a payroll service preparing your payroll tax returns or you’re preparing them yourself, you should follow a check-off list of all the required payroll tax reports. A good due date reminder would be customized to your business’ specific payroll liabilities and include the follow information:

• Due date
• Type of tax
• Report number
• Government agency
• Time period covered
• Submit money, a report or both

# 3 Remember to Be Consistent

Consistency is essential to successful business bookkeeping. If you use a paper bookkeeping system, always be sure to head your columns the same way each month throughout the year. This small matter of consistency will save you and your accountant time and aggravation.

# 4 Keep Good Records

Many business owners don’t keep good records. Some don’t understand bookkeeping; others understand it, but may be afraid of what the numbers might tell them. Think of it this way–bookkeeping is the glue that keeps your business together. If your records aren’t in good shape, the business could fall apart. A healthy business is monitored through its records on a regular basis so you can find problems and correct them before it’s too late.

# 5 Deposit Ticket Books

How do you handle your bank deposits? One easy way is to record your daily deposit in a deposit ticket book. Generally, these books come with a white (original) copy and yellow (duplicate) copy in books of 50. For a small business, an order of 200 duplicate deposit tickets could last 2 years unless you make deposits every day. As you write each deposit ticket, it is a good idea to remove the white
copy to give to the bank and leave the duplicate (yellow) in the book. That way nothing gets lost.

Why would I have to hire a bookkeeping service? I can just go out and buy QuickBooks and do it myself.

Yes, you can, and then again you can’t. Why do we say this? Clients come to us after they’ve attempted to do their own books with QuickBooks. They usually fall into two categories: those that have made a complete mess of things and those who find they don’t have the time to get to it what with running their businesses, managing their employees, handling sales and marketing, family and so on. Eventually they find themselves so far behind that they know they’ll never catch up.

Hiring a professional bookkeeping service gives you a professional individual who doesn’t need to be trained, doesn’t want health insurance, workers compensation or vacation pay. Bookkeepers do the work of accountants for an affordable price. Can you go to your CPA? Sure you can. But think about this. They charge their normal fee, pay their bookkeeper a wage or a fee and pocket the difference. Wouldn’t you rather have that money in your pocket?

We bring to your business over 35 years of accounting and bookkeeping experience. We’ve worked with a number of different companies and know what you need and what needs to be done to get your books in order and keep them that way. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed out about your bookkeeping, then give us a call. We will be glad to help. Bean Counters of Florida is a full service bookkeeping company that serves small and start up businesses. What do we mean by full service? Well, everything from reconciling your accounts all the way to paying your bills and doing your payroll. We do it all!!