by Danielle Hayden | Featured Contributor
Congratulations you are finally running the business of your dreams! As you may have realized by now as a business owner you have to learn how to understand your financials and how to use them. I know you didn’t go to school for accounting and that this can be very confusing for most business owners so we are here to help. We are asked by clients every day what needs to be done? How do I improve my bookkeeping processes?
No matter your stage here is your checklist for you:
New Business-No Bookkeeper
- Separate business and personal expenses
- Ensure you are set up as a business with your state
- Establish your EIN
- Open Business checking account
- Set up Accounting Software
- Choose the right point of sale system
- Sync your point of sale (where you are collecting payments) to your accounting software
- Keep track of your inventory and costs by product-Choose the right system for tracking.
- Determine your goals for this year and spend your business dollars strategically in order to grow revenue and increase profitability
You finally hired a bookkeeper so you can focus on your business. Remember you need to communicate with them, what do they need to know?
What do you need to communicate to your bookkeeper?
- What are your goals for the next quarter and the next year?
- What information do you need in order to help you determine if you hit your goals?
- Do you have any new revenue streams?
- How will you be accepting payments for any new revenue streams?
- Example: You are a business coach who offers private coaching, this year you launched a new group coaching program and an online course. Next quarter you will be launching in a live in-person event. Determine how you will be accepting payments, make sure they can be differentiated and communicate this information with your bookkeeper
- Report any new business credit cards
- Congratulations on your new funding, this needs to be reported to your bookkeeper to be accurately tracked
- Did you accidentally use your business credit card for any personal expenses? List those items so that they can be categorized correctly.
- Do you have any large expenses or deposits that have occurred that are out of the ordinary?
- Are you accurately tracking your inventory?
- Are you ready to calculate your cost of goods sold within your accounting software
Do you need additional assistance? Consider taking your business to the next level with the following exercises:
- Create an annual budget
- Outsource invoicing and collecting from clients to increase efficiency
- Improve your cash management
- Use a weekly cash dashboard
I know accounting can be confusing and overwhelming for most people so please know I am here to help you. Let’s learn from each other and grow together.
I want to see you succeed and I cannot wait to see what you and your business do as you get a better understanding of your accounting and how that can grow your business.
Danielle Hayden
As a Chief Financial Officer for over 10 years I loved accounting but felt like something was missing while just helping investors and board of directors of large companies.
That’s when I realized I had a certain thrill for helping entrepreneurs, especially women, who were breaking the rules of business in order to create something amazing – something the rest of the world didn’t expect them to do.
I left corporate accounting and formed Kickstart Accounting, Inc; an accounting firm designed to help female entrepreneurs understand their financials in order to grow their businesses and become more profitable.Our passion is helping entrepreneurs like you understand your numbers so that you can rock your business and grow the business of your dreams.
