When it comes to hiring an accounting firm for their bookkeeping service, many businesses underestimate how much time and money they can save – especially new and small businesses.
Here at 3rd Arm Admin, we find that average business owners in New Zealand can spend up to 10 hours or more each week on bookkeeping – that’s a lot of time better spent on growing the business.
But good bookkeeping is about more than just keeping your affairs in order. It is imperative to the successful running of your business, as it covers all your transactions, your employees, and taxes. Today, we’re taking a look at a number of bookkeeping elements that business owners may not be aware of before they begin trying to handle it alone.
Invoices and ‘Accounts Receivable’ ledger management
Aside from payment processing, bookkeepers are charged with creating and updating invoices for clients and sending them out. It’s a bookkeeper’s responsibility to keep the ‘accounts receivable’ ledger updated, as well as to make sure that payments are not missed, or mis-coded. Often customers don’t send statements and don’t chase outstanding money until it Is too late. A good bookkeeper will sort all of that for you – these are fewer worries for you to deal with.
Day-to-day transaction management
Your bookkeeper will ensure your accounts are up to date, accurate and well organised. They will often know of a more efficient way to achieve this and, as we all know, time is money. They will help you ensure you are using the best accounting software – and, if relevant, add-ons – for your business. Furthermore, a good bookkeeper will have all invoices sent and payments chased, all while keeping a close eye on business cashflow.
’Accounts Payable’ management
The accounts payable, or creditors, are the people or businesses you owe money to. They will send you an invoice at the time of the purchase, which will have the payment terms on it. Ideally, they will send you an end of month statement also. Your bookkeeper will process and enter these invoices, reconcile the statements, and then set up payments through your accounting software, ensuring you are paying the correct amounts in the correct timeframes.
Cashflow review and management
Bookkeepers help you stay on top of your business’ revenues and expenses. They will help you to identify and manage those cashflow peaks & troughs. This is a perfect example of the saying ‘knowledge is power’. So often we see businesses get into financial difficulty, and it is quite common that they didn’t even know what they didn’t know! If your systems and processes are not accurate and up to date, then managing cashflow becomes very difficult, or even impossible.
Talk to the bookkeeping experts!
Whether you need training with accounting software, help with your payroll, or reliable bookkeeping, 3rd Arm Admin can help. With us, you can concentrate on what it is that is important to you as the business owner, whether it be expansion and growth of your company, or more time with the family. For more information about our packages, call us, or visit our offices today!
