Let's Talk Bookkeeping
Let’s talk bookkeeping. I love it!
My business administration, number-crazy, spreadsheet-loving brain gets so excited about balancing the books.
I know some of you are thinking that I am crazy, and some of you are wondering what I am even talking about.
Fear not, I am here to help.
What is bookkeeping?
If you check dictionary.com, bookkeeping is
“The work or skill of keeping account books or systematic records of money transactions.”
Bookkeeping, in its simplest form, is tracking the movement of money related to your business, in your case, trucking.
Why do you need bookkeeping?
Every business big and small should be bookkeeping. How else would you know how much was spent on fuel that month, the last six months, or in the last year? Not only should you know where your money is coming from and going on a regular basis, but bookkeeping helps you to plan for the future. You use the information from bookkeeping to budget, make goals, and make other key strategic operating, investing, and financing decisions.
When should you start bookkeeping?
You should start bookkeeping with the first money transaction in your company. The longer you wait the bigger the headache when it gets to tax time. You don’t want to be frantically organizing all your income and expenses while getting all of your tax documents together.
How do you start bookkeeping?
- Make your list of different revenue streams.
- What are your sources of revenue?
- How do you bring in the big bucks?
- Make your list of different expenses.
- What are all those things that you need to keep your business running?
- Where do those big bucks go when they leave your pocket?
- Set up your spreadsheet or choose a digital accounting software.
- Use Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or Apple Numbers
- Find a digital accounting software you like.
- Start tracking!
- Start right away.
- Include: the date, the amount, the payee or payer, and the income or expense category.
- Make sure you plan/schedule for bookkeeping.
If bookkeeping is not on your schedule or in your calendar chances are it is going to fall off your radar in the day-to-day. You may end up spending way more time later trying to catch up with your bookkeeping than you would have spent on it in the first place.
Take it from Benjamin Franklin, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
When or how often should you keep your books?
Ultimately, this is a personal preference. Do you want to spend hours at a time tracking your income and expenses or do you want to spend a couple hours at a time? Smaller companies tend to have fewer transactions per week than larger companies. Smaller companies may decide to keep their books once a month. At the same time, a larger company may spend time every week keeping the books.
You should be fully convinced that bookkeeping is imperative and needs to be part of your business right away.
So, are you ready to start bookkeeping? Let’s do it!
Does Superior Trucking Payroll Service offer bookkeeping?
No, unfortunately, we don’t. If you want to outsource your bookkeeping and are having a hard time finding someone: reach out to us! We have connections all across the country, and can surely find someone who best fits your needs.
Written by Paige Rozell
Paige has 7 years of customer service experience, a passion for developing spreadsheets, and a wonderful way with words. She can’t wait to physically explore the home country of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Champagne!
[form id="8639" /]