There’s a very specific kind of dread that comes with opening your accounting software and realising you have no idea what you’re looking at. Or worse – you haven’t opened it in weeks… or months… or since your accountant ghosted you in 2022.

As an bookkeeper, I see you. And I promise: you’re not the only one.

Over the past 25 years, I’ve worked in and around small businesses, and now I spend my days helping women manage their business finances without fear or embarrassment. I can confidently tell you: your Xero file is not the worst I’ve seen. And no, I’m not judging.

But there are a few things I do wish more small-business owners knew – especially if they’ve ever felt behind, overwhelmed, or like they somehow missed the class where everyone else learned how to do this.

Avoidance isn’t laziness, it’s a nervous system response.

If your stomach flips or your brain fogs at the thought of logging into Xero, you’re not flaky or irresponsible. You’re probably overwhelmed or under-supported – but more than that, I’d bet you simply don’t have the capacity to take in new information in those moments.

When we feel unsure or threatened, our brains and bodies can shut down. It’s that “lights are on but nobody’s home” feeling. That’s biology, not failure.

Understanding your numbers shouldn’t activate your stress response. If it does, you need support that feels safer and slower – and you absolutely shouldn’t feel pressured to just “push through”. That’s when the overwhelm ramps up, everything feels harder, and suddenly you’re ready to burn it all to the ground.

We don’t need more information, we need transformation.

Yes, there are webinars, tutorials, e-books, and forums galore. But if you’ve ever sat through a 90-minute training and walked away more confused than when you started – join the club. Learning which buttons to press in your software means absolutely nothing if you don’t genuinely understand why you’re pressing them or what’s happening in the background.

What you really need is someone who can help you apply what matters to your business. Someone who can explain what’s important to you – and what’s completely irrelevant. Someone who can walk you through setting things up in a way that supports your brain and your bandwidth.

While AI tools can help, if the real issue is that you just can’t connect the dots between what’s on the screen and what’s happening in your business, they don’t always cut it. Even in an AI-powered world, there’s still so much to be said for personalised, human context – especially for neurodivergent business owners juggling a lot.

Shame around money often starts early but it doesn’t have to stay.

So many of us carry stories about “not being good with numbers,” usually dating back to how we felt in maths class. Add a couple of confusing chats with accountants, and it’s no wonder people freeze when it’s time to talk finances.

But here’s the kicker: you were never taught this properly. Nobody talks about how a handful of bad experiences with numbers can stop you from asking questions when you become a business owner (because spoiler: you don’t magically get gifted this knowledge when you get your ABN!).

This is not a reflection of your intelligence – it’s simply a gap, and gaps can be filled with the right guidance. 

This is where your bookkeeper comes in: You’re allowed to ask questions and you’re allowed to start again. You just need to find the person you feel safe asking that first question. After that, the rest tend to flood out.

Clarity in your numbers = confidence in your business.

When you know what’s coming in, what’s going out – and why  – you can make better decisions. Full stop. 

Understanding your numbers helps you price better, spot patterns, pay yourself consistently, and plan ahead without guessing. No more 3am panic about tax bills. No more winging it. While it might feel like it sometimes, bookkeeping isn’t just another chore on your to-do list – it’s the foundation for sustainable growth and peace of mind.

You don’t need to be a “numbers person”, but you do need to understand the basics.

You can absolutely outsource your bookkeeping if that works for you – but handing it off without understanding what’s being done leaves you vulnerable. At the end of the day, bookkeepers and accountants act on your behalf – and they can only work with the information you provide. If there’s a mistake, the ATO comes to you.

And if you choose to DIY? You don’t need to become an expert – but you do deserve support from someone who speaks your language. That means no jargon and no judgment. Just someone who can help you set things up in a way that makes sense to you.

If your bookkeeping feels heavy, scary, or soul-sucking, know this: it’s not because you’re bad at business. It’s because no one ever taught you how to do it in a way that actually works for you. And that’s something you can absolutely change.

The post Five things I wish all small-business owners knew as a bookkeeper appeared first on Inside Small Business.

Overcoming challenges is part and parcel of running a small business, but in recent years, they’ve been especially demanding. Rising operational costs and high interest rates have squeezed margins, with small business insolvencies reaching record highs in the last six months, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Despite these challenges, there’s a growing sense of optimism within small businesses in 2025. Nearly half (46.6 per cent) expect their cashflow to improve in the next 3-12 months, according to Zoho research, while 29 per cent “see a lot of growth opportunity” in the next 12-18 months and 34 per cent believe they’re “recovering nicely”.

Their second biggest priority in 2025 – after simply ‘staying afloat’ – is to automate or digitise their business. As they look to turn optimism into growth in 2025, what role can data and automation play?

Let’s look at the role data can play in two critical operations: finance and customer service.

Optimising accounting and finance

Financial management is the backbone of every small business, and leveraging data is key to improving efficiency and strategy.

Two in three (67 per cent) SMEs consider accounting and bookkeeping software their most critical technology investment in 2025. Automation plays a vital role in streamlining financial processes, reducing administrative burdens, and minimising errors.

For example, let’s say you’re a small builder working manually. You spend hours providing a quote, collecting physical receipts – which often get lost amongst those for other jobs – scouring time sheets for employee hours, sending an invoice or PO, chasing an outstanding payment. Automated finance tools would cut the process down by many hours. From the first action to the last, everything is automated, drastically reducing the administrative burden and risk of human error. And when a payment is made, everything syncs to an SMEs accounting platform, to make real-time tracking and EOFY obligations seamless.

Data, meanwhile, allows SMEs to benefit from real-time business-wide insights, make accurate forecasts and connect formerly disparate processes or teams. It SMEs to predict cashflow, understand profitability – not just overall, but for particular products, service and team members – track the cost of materials and labour, and more. This doesn’t just guide finance teams, but can inform broader business decisions, for example sales guiding teams to prioritise more profitable products or services.

Enhancing customer support

With almost half (45 per cent) of SMEs considering investing in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software in 2025, focusing on customer support and experience is clearly a big priority. But how can SMEs turn support and experience into drivers of retention and acquisition?

Approved customer data enables SMEs to establish important insights into customer preferences, habits and even pain points. Data can be used to not only tailor personalised product offerings to customers based on past orders or their recent online review, but to remove hurdles too. For example, if a small retailer notices they have high rates of cart abandonment, it’s a sign to improve their checkout process.

Consumers don’t just want personalisation, they want speed and convenience too. Automated chatbots can resolve common queries instantly, for example answering FAQs, it improves not only the customer experience, but also operational efficiency. If an SME can automate common tasks like scheduling appointments, requesting feedback or sending order updates, it frees up team members for more nuanced, meaningful or revenue-generating tasks.

SMEs that take a proactive, data-first approach – not just in their finance and customer support, but business-wide – will be well-positioned to not only weather economic pressures but turn their growing confidence into cashflow. The key to success lies not just in surviving but in using data to unlock new opportunities, adapt swiftly, and drive long-term growth.

The post Growing a small business in 2025? Data and automation are crucial tools appeared first on Inside Small Business.

When I started my business in 2015 as a ‘side hustle’, I had a full-time job that paid the bills. That was both a blessing and a curse because I didn’t depend on it for survival so I told myself the numbers weren’t that important. But what I did have from the very beginning was an amazing small-business accountant who helped me to understand my position, and what my numbers meant. And that full-time job I had was in state government where I was responsible for budgets and deadlines, accountable by processes and procedures, where everything had to be planned out to a T before it could be executed. This was a long way from the wedding floristry business I created, but definitely gave me a heads-up as a business owner. 

If you’re running a business on your own or with limited resources, the whole concept of ‘knowing your numbers’ might feel ridiculously overwhelming, but I assure you, it actually gets to be really simple, and sometimes it’s more about getting out of your head and getting it all on paper, making it crystal clear. Starting with understanding your baseline.

The first step is working out what it actually costs to run your business per year, alot of small and micro business owners understand what their product or service costs, but don’t consider the actual running costs of their business. The things like rent, power, water, insurance, phone, internet, vehicle registration, fuel and servicing, software and systems subscriptions, wages and superannuation, networking and marketing/advertising and any other expenses you have each year running your business. Once you’re clear on that you can assess what you need to bring in each month to cover your costs and what making a profit actually looks like for your business.

Another key piece of the puzzle is moving to an online accounting system like Xero or Myob where you can see the numbers in real time, reconcile expenses on the go and easily create and access reports. And even frolimitedm your dashboard you can see where you’re at for the month and how that track against previous months.

Reviewing your numbers regularly is what gives you the best handle on your finances and helps you to start identifying the trends in the income and expenses. Some people allocate this as a ‘Money Monday’ or a ‘Finance Friday’; a dedicated time each week to review the financial situation because where focus goes, energy flows. The more you understand what’s going in and out and why, the more power you have to do something about it. It’s not uncommon in the start-up stage of business to have losses, and it’s also not uncommon to have periods even as you grow in business where there are losses. However, frequently looking at your profit and loss statements in Xero or Myob helps you to understand why there’s a loss so that it’s not a shock when it ‘appears’. You might have invested in a new software or some new office equipment, you might have taken on a new software, you might have stopped production of a particular item. Loss is not the end of the world in business if you understand why, it’s there and have a plan to bring more profits long term.  Business is a long game, not a quick win. 

The post How to get your head out of the sand and use your numbers as your superpower appeared first on Inside Small Business.

With increasing financial challenges this year for Australian SMEs such as inflation, rising wages and high petrol prices, tax obligations may not have been front of mind for many small-business owners.

Chances are your resources, budget and manpower are already stretched when it comes to maintaining your accounts, however, it’s important to be on the front foot with accounting as it can be one of the most critical aspects of business success.

Here’s how you can avoid making simple accounting mistakes –

1. Track your business transactions

Keep a record of all your business transactions. Have digitised copies and paper backups for future reference and to maintain the health of your business. Don’t forget records of employee compensation, utility expenses and cash receipts. If you’re audited by the tax office you will be required to show records of all your business expenses, even the small ones. Consider implementing financial tools that can help you automatically monitor your business transactions and create a backup in case of an emergency.

2. Communicate effectively

Your bookkeeper should have a good understanding of your company’s financial performance at any particular time. Ensure that you clearly understand and communicate regarding your financial records, reports and any other vital statements relating to your business. They need to know what’s going on – be that small or large transactions, or new finance arrangements or structures.

3. Keep up with paperwork

Make sure you keep your books up to date. Falling behind on paperwork is one of the most common mistakes we see small-business owners make and if you fall behind on billing customers you may find yourself with a debt that never gets paid. There’s also the risk of other payments being late that you may be liable for fines and penalties from the ATO. With the rise of online accounting software, Xero, MYOB etc, staying on top of your accounting is simple.

4. Budget for every project

For every new project you start with your business make sure you have a clear budget set out from the beginning. Those that don’t do this often find they’re setting themselves up for financial failure. You don’t want a significant portion of your cash flow utilised unless you’re getting a good return on your investment. Look back on past projects to determine an accurate budget based on what you’ve spent before.

5. Don’t mix personal and business accounts

Mixing business and personal accounts makes it harder to track business expenses and you might miss an expense that could have been a tax deduction. Having a separate business account also gives lenders an understanding of your finances if you’re applying for a loan or an alternate funding options like invoice financing. You want to make sure you maximise your credit score to obtain the best financial solution for your business.

6. Don’t be afraid to delegate

Sometimes small-business owners are unwilling to outsource essential tasks to save money. This is understandable however eventually you will need to outsource sufficiently in order to scale your business to expand. Focus on what you’re good at doing and pay specialists to handle necessities such as your accounting. Having expert advice will help you to maximise your income and any financial or strategic opportunities whilst also minimising your taxes.

The post Accounting mistakes: where your small business is going wrong appeared first on Inside Small Business.

However, far too many people who’ve made the transition haven’t given any thought to the financial challenges. To help ease the stress, I’ve prepared some tips that all new business owners should know:

Declare your income

First and foremost, income you receive from your business is taxable and must be declared on your tax return. You might think your side-hustle is just a hobby but the ATO will disagree!

What can I claim?

You can claim deductions for any expenses you incur as part of running your business. That could include the costs of using your vehicle for business journeys (particularly relevant for ride-share drivers), the cost of any materials you use in your work, as well as the costs of any courses you undertake that are relevant to your business.

If you offer your services through a sharing economy platform, they generally take a fee or a commission out of the price you charge your customer for the service. That fee or commission is tax-deductible. 

If you run the admin side of your business from home, don’t forget to claim the appropriate proportion of home-office expenses, such as internet fees, landline or mobile phone bills, costs of office furniture, etc.

Finally, where expenses relate to a mixture of business use and private/domestic use, make sure you only claim the business-related element.

You’re on your own now

Particularly if you’re coming out of a paid job, you’re probably used to getting your taxes deducted straight from your pay packet by your employer. But now you’re in business on your own account, nobody is going to be deducting anything so you need to proactively manage your cashflow to set money aside for future tax bills. This might seem obvious but, unfortunately, failing to set money aside to pay tax is one of the most common pitfalls that new businesses fall into.

You might also need to register for GST. If you’re an Uber driver, you must register for GST with the ATO and charge GST on all your fares, from the first dollar. For most other businesses, you only need to register for GST if your turnover from your business (combined with any other business you run) exceeds $75,000.

You can also claim back GST incurred on business purchases. You will need to report your GST sales and purchases at least quarterly by lodging a Business Activity Statement (BAS) with the ATO.

So, being self-employed comes with extra tax obligations. But it also comes with some tax perks. For instance, you have access to all the tax concessions available to small businesses, including the full expensing of capital assets, which is available until 30 June 2022. That means you can immediately deduct the cost of any plant, tools or equipment you use in your business, including items such as computers and even most motor vehicles.

Stay out of trouble with the ATO

My tip for keeping taxes stress-free is to get an accountant. Most people find it far less stressful to simply pass on all their information to a tax accountant and leave it to them to complete their BAS and tax return, safe in the knowledge that the work done will be accurate and complete.

An experienced accountant will usually be good at sniffing out those obscure tax deductions you didn’t know you could claim so they can often pay for themselves several times over.  Best of all, their fee is also tax deductible!

The post The biggest challenges Aussie start-ups face…and how to overcome them appeared first on Inside Small Business.

But while many are thriving, more needs to be done to support them, particularly the smallest of businesses, sole traders and freelancers who often struggle to find the resources to call on external support.

This is none truer than for managing their financial admin, bookkeeping and accounting needs.

2024 is going to be the year that changes.

Sole traders’ tax burden to ease

Taxes have traditionally been a major pain point for sole traders who often struggle to afford to pay an accountant to do their financial admin including BAS, end-of-year tax return and managing expenses. Managing it themselves can be a significant burden and prevent them from doing what they do best, running their business. In 2024, more sole traders will capitalise on the technologies that are making managing taxes and accounting simple. There are one-stop accounting tools available that cover sole traders’ every accounting need, including bookkeeping, invoicing, BAS and tax return lodgement.

AI to revolutionise accounting

Technologies are now tapping into AI to make accounting much simpler and more intuitive for sole traders. At TaxLeopard, for example, we have partnered with RMIT’s Centre for Industrial AI Research & Innovation (CIARI) to build an AI-based Smart Tax Assistant to help sole traders, who don’t have easy, regular and affordable access to an accountant, to better manage their business. The AI being developed will give personalised advice on areas including how to increase income and how to maximise deductions. This is one of several use cases that sole traders will be able to tap into in the near future.

Mistake anxiety to decrease

Sole traders who do their own accounting can experience anxiety when it comes to submitting BAS and tax returns out of fear of making a mistake. This is completely understandable given that business owners often go from having no accounting experience to single-handedly managing their finances and taxes. Working out total income, GST, which expenses are tax deductible and how much can be claimed is difficult. Sole traders in 2024 will begin to recognise that there is software available to take these headaches away.

Forget about receipts

It seems like we should be way beyond the days of small business owners collecting paper receipts in a plastic folder for their accountant to lodge in their tax return, but this is still a reality for many. It doesn’t have to be. Sole traders can now use accounting tools that enable them to make a digital copy of their receipts and log them instantly within their accounting software. The software will advise on how much of each expense they can claim and work out your estimated reduction in tax income at the end of the financial year.

Sole traders to knowledge share

The sole trader and freelance community is often interconnected and collaborative, particularly within industries. Freelance Slack networks, for example, are developing globally, locally and within industries, like No Code Founder and We Work Remotely. This appetite for collaboration and knowledge sharing will only continue and this will permeate into freelancers and sole traders sharing advice on finance and tax management.

There is a technological revolution happening with regards to the innovation and democratisation of finance tools for the smallest of businesses and we expect the community to share their experiences and help each other unearth the tools that are best for them.

The post 2024 tax trends for SMEs and sole traders appeared first on Inside Small Business.

The company has received more than $60 million in recent funding, courtesy of Australian investor AirTree Ventures, existing investor, New York-based Left Lane Capital, and Athletic Ventures, a syndicate of current and former elite athletes, which represented individual investors such as cricket star Mitchell Starc, NBA basketball player Matthew Dellavedova. Akshay Kothari, Co-Founder and COO of Silicon Valley software company Notion, is also participating in the round.

Hnry’s all-in-one digital accountancy platform handles everything from tax payments and lodgments to invoicing and expenses. Since launching in Australia in 2020, it has become Australia’s fastest-growing specialist accountancy FinTech that has benefited sole traders across the country, saving them hundreds of dollars a year and freeing up time usually spent on financial paperwork.

Hnry will use the capital to fund the platform’s growth in Australia and overseas as it seeks to target the growing market of sole traders including freelancers, contractors and tradies. This focus comes on the back of research revealing that approximately 1.5 million Australians classify their primary occupation as “self-employed”, generating estimated earnings of around $90 biilion a year, with the number of Australians registering as sole traders growing by tens of thousands every year.

“We’re thrilled that AirTree Ventures and Athletic Ventures have invested in Hnry,” Karan Anand, Managing Director of Hnry Australia, said. “They bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the table, as well as a very impressive track record in this space. It’s also great to see existing investors following on with further investment, showing their continued enthusiasm for the Hnry service, and their excitement about our future trajectory, including expansion in Australia and potentially other markets as well. Australia’s self-employed have long been an afterthought when it comes to tax, finances, and financial services, so building the business so we can bring our offering to many more people is exciting and rewarding.”

The post FinTech start-up Hnry eyes further innovation and international expansion appeared first on Inside Small Business.

The shift from employee to business owner – and potentially employer – means there are a number of things to be aware of in this space, however navigating it all can be a little daunting.

This is where accountants and bookkeepers are able to lend a hand. But while they both perform valuable roles and can support you and your business in a number of ways, their specialisms are quite different.

Bookkeepers keep your finances in order, ongoing 

A bookkeeper is someone you will likely want to work with on an ongoing basis. They request bank statements relating to your business account on a monthly basis (and the relevant receipts or invoices), and use this information to prepare monthly management reports for you.

The P&L and balance sheet

These reports include two key items: your profit and loss statement (P&L) and balance sheet. The P&L contains data about all of your incomings and outgoings for the month – things like payments you receive for selling or providing your products or services, and the bills you pay in order to operate the business, such as those related to rent, electricity and subscriptions.

On the other hand, your balance sheet is what I call the “holy grail” because it includes information about your income, expenses, assets and liabilities. It provides accurate representation of the financial well-being of your business so that you can make informed investment decisions.

Tax estimates and BAS

Tax is a big one to be aware of. As a small-business owner, it’s important to put money aside for GST (if you earn over $75,000 per year, the government requires you to register for this) and income tax. Some (but not all) bookkeepers may also provide you with tax estimates detailing what you owe, usually on a monthly or quarterly basis, as well as prepare and submit quarterly business activity statements (BAS) for you. 

Accountants: the tax time experts 

Accountants are a must when it comes to tax time, which falls on 30 June each year. If you’ve been working with a bookkeeper, they will prepare your end-of-year accounts so that you can take them to your accountant in an organised fashion.

The accountant will then analyse the data that’s included in these documents to prepare your tax returns, provide advice around what you can and cannot claim as deductions for the business, and lodge the tax returns to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on your behalf.

If you don’t choose to work with a bookkeeper, it is possible to keep your numbers in order yourself and take these reports to your accountant annually. Alternatively, they can also prepare these end of year reports for you, however, their fees can sometimes be higher than those of a bookkeeper – particularly as they’ll be tasked with analysing a year’s worth of transactions (which can be a headache for you too, if you’ve not kept track of your receipts!).

Structural analysis and advice

Accountants also provide planning support to ensure your business is tax efficient in its structure. This means things like registering the business with the government on your behalf and providing advice around the best model for your business, such as whether taking the trust route is the right option or not.

The difference, summarised

As you can see, it’s important to look to the support of both a bookkeeper and accountant. A bookkeeper keeps your finances organised throughout the year, meanwhile, accountants prepare and lodge your annual tax returns, and can provide sound advice around your business model to help you grow and succeed.

The post Accountants vs bookkeepers for small business: what’s the difference? appeared first on Inside Small Business.

What or whom is a VCFO?

A VCFO is a person or an accounting firm engaged to provide CFO services to one or more businesses on an ad-hoc (as required) or part-time basis. It’s often small to medium-sized businesses that require the service, due to not having enough duties for a full time, in-house CFO to fulfil in order to justify the expense. Your VCFO could work on a weekly, monthly, quarterly or project basis and fulfil tasks including budgeting, forecasting, cashflow, reporting, financial modelling, strategic planning or specific project work such as preparing for a capital raise, technology implementation and training, loan applications or Advisory Board work.

A VCFO engagement is different to engaging an accountant to prepare your business’s annual financial statements and income tax returns. Rather than being a compliance-driven engagement, a VCFO is hired for a specific objective designed to improve the performance of the business. A VCFO can also provide a tailored service that evolves over time as your business grows and matures.

Why would you hire a VCFO?

• Provides businesses with a professional that has both business and financial expertise at a fraction of the price of a full time CFO
• A VCFO might have access to expertise not readily available in the business
• They will hold you accountable to your business’s financial and strategic goals
• Access to wider industry knowledge, and
• A VCFO will be impartial to your business and able to recommend strategies without bias.

When would you hire a VCFO?

• When you’re not receiving timely or meaningful reporting on the performance of your business
• When a business is experiencing significant growth in revenue
• When there are plans to sell the business in next three to five years
• When decision-makers require strategic guidance
• When your CFO is on extended leave such as long service or parental leave, and/or
• Qhen you need to fill the CFO role temporarily while you hire a permanent CFO.

Skills required of a VCFO

Aside from well-honed accounting skills, a VCFO should be adaptable and able to meet the changing needs of a business. A VCFO should have demonstrated experience working in a commercial business environment and strong business acumen.

It’s important that a VCFO is technologically savvy with advanced understanding of cloud-based accounting software and the ability to easily switch between different systems. There is now a range of different accounting and business software in the market, each with its own benefits. What best suits one company will be different for another, so it’s imperative that a VCFO is across the different options and can help you to evaluate the systems available, finding the right fit for your business.

Also high on the list of required skills are communication skills. To reach the best outcomes, a VCFO needs to ask questions of management and staff and will need to work reasonably closely with key decision-makers.

And just as you’d hire people with industry experience for other roles in the business, it’s beneficial that your VCFO has experience in the sector your business operates in.

These aren’t an exhaustive list of skills, nor have I provided a complete list of reasons for when and why you’d hire a VCFO, but rather, the most common reasons cited in my experience.

The post What is a Virtual CFO and how could the role help your business grow? appeared first on Inside Small Business.

Accounting methods: cash versus accruals

Most businesses work on a cash accounting method, but this isn’t always the best option. You need to decide between cash and accruals with your accountant, based on your company goals, your business structure, and the manner in which you operate. A cash system is straightforward, it means recording any money coming into the business once it has exchanged hands, and similarly, recording any cash leaving the business. Accrual, on the other hand, records the money when the income is earned even if the client hasn’t paid as yet. For this, your bookkeeping will require you to record “accounts payable” and “accounts receivable”. Cash record-keeping might be fine from a compliance perspective, however, it doesn’t provide an accurate picture of the financial health of your business.

Tracking the movement of your money

Know if your cashflow is healthy? Do you have a good influx of new leads each month? Is your business profitable and able to keep its expenses covered? You can establish how healthy your cashflow system is by analysing the movement of your money. Your accountant will look at this to help you plan a strategy for growth based on your current financial data.

If you are serious about growing your business, invest in cloud-based accounting software. It will allow you to track the movement of your money in real-time and establish how healthy your cashflow is. Market-leading software solutions link directly with your bank and have the ability to capture data from bills, matching the bill to the payment and storing an electronic copy of the bill. It makes the tracking of accounts payable a breeze. On the income side, invoices are created in the software and automatically matched to the bank deposit. This eliminates paper, speeds up the processing of financial data giving you real-time information for informed decision making.

Be consistent

Consistency is important when it comes to maintaining a financially healthy business. Your bookkeeping processes must enable you to keep up to date records as easily as possible. When a task becomes easy, you are more likely to remain consistent with it. As you get started on managing your finances, take a few hours each week on a regular day (pick a date and time you can commit to each week) and use it to catch up and;

• Pay bills and vendors.
• Prepare and send invoices.
• Reconcile bank accounts.
• Review outstanding invoices.
• Review overall financial health.

Financial reports give you insights to plan your next move in business. They can help you to plan your strategy and implement new processes that strengthen the integrity of the business as a whole.

The post Cash versus accrual: how to set up your SME bookkeeping process appeared first on Inside Small Business.