Top 10 Bookkeeping Checklist Items for the Month of October 2023
One of the most crucial facets of business administration is bookkeeping. It is the method used by business owners to oversee the finances of their enterprise. Bookkeeping enables businesses to keep track of additional financial procedures and ensures that every transaction is recorded in the company’s records. Hence, ensuring high-quality bookkeeping becomes crucial in the end. Many business owners prefer to utilise a checklist to help them stay on top of their bookkeeping because it may be difficult to keep up with everything. Do not panic if you are one of the owners who does not yet have a checklist. Here is a quick monthly bookkeeping checklist to get your business’s bookkeeping started.
Download Our Free Brochure →- Revisit the Cash Position
- Updating your Accounting Program
- Record Sales and Expenditures
- Review Customer and Vendor Invoices
- Reconcile Your Records
- Sales Tax Returns
- Review Your Inventory
- Record Credit Cards Transactions
- Review Debt Accounts
- Review WIP Reports
Revisit the Cash Position
All business depends on cash, therefore being well-informed about your financial position will help you manage your cash flow. Cash is the lifeblood of any organisation. Knowing how much money you have on hand allows you to allocate resources wisely, decide whether to invest in business expansion prospects, and decide whether to make new purchases right now or postpone them until you have more money on hand. Regularly reviewing your financial position enables you to make necessary adjustments to your budget and long-term projections. You can spot any gaps and modify your future estimates by comparing your actual cash flow to your budget and forecast.
Updating your Accounting Program
New updates to accounting software frequently bring enhancements to functionality and features. You can benefit from new features that can help you automate your accounting procedures, lessen the need for human data entry, and improve accuracy and productivity by updating your accounting software. Important security patches are frequently included in software upgrades to guard against flaws that could be used by hackers or other hostile actors. You can make sure that your financial data and sensitive information are safeguarded against online dangers by updating your accounting software. In conclusion, it’s critical to update your accounting software for better functionality, adherence to tax and accounting requirements, security, integration with other software, and customer support.
Record Sales and Expenditures
Making accurate company decisions can also be aided by keeping track of sales and expenses. You can find places where you can increase profitability by cutting costs or increasing revenues by studying the data. This might assist you in creating a strategy for expanding your company and reaching your long-term objectives. Recording sales and expenses is crucial for preserving openness and fostering confidence if you have investors or partners. Financial statements and reports may be requested by investors and partners so they may assess the state of the company and decide whether to make additional investments in it. You may monitor the progress of your company over time by keeping track of your sales and expenses. This can assist you in setting goals, identifying trends and patterns, and modifying your business plan.
Review Customer and Vendor Invoices
Making sure the data on the invoice is accurate involves reviewing customer and vendor bills. You may avoid overcharging, undercharging, or double billing, which can have an adverse effect on your cash flow and hurt the reputation of your company, by checking for inaccuracies. Reviewing the invoice gives you the opportunity to see any discrepancies and collaborate with the client or vendor to find a solution. By doing this, you can avoid conflicts and maintain your professional connections. Also, it aids business owners in ensuring timely payments, which is crucial for effective money management. Also, it aids in forecasting, budgeting, and preventing fraud. You may avoid mistakes, retain positive working relationships, and position your company for long-term success by frequently checking bills.
Reconcile Your Records
Reconciling your data is crucial for business owners for a number of reasons. Your financial data is more accurate if your records are reconciled. You can find anomalies and fix problems by comparing your company’s records with those of your bank or credit card provider. You may avoid overpayments, underpayments, and other errors by doing this, which can help your financial statements and tax returns be accurate. Your records should be reconciled to assist you identify and stop fraud. You can spot fraudulent behavior by looking over your bank and credit card statements for instances of illegal transactions, odd activity, and other red flags. This might assist you in taking prompt action to safeguard the resources and reputation of your company. You can make sure that your financial data is accurate and up to date by routinely reconciling your records, which will also help you with decision making.
Sales Tax Returns
For business owners, filing sales tax on a monthly basis has various benefits. Business owners can lower their risk of late payment fines and interest costs by filing sales tax on a monthly basis. Monthly filing can ensure that businesses stay on top of their tax obligations because many state tax authorities levy fines and interest on businesses who fail to file sales tax on time. Monthly sales tax filing can also assist companies in better managing their cash flow. Businesses can avoid having to make significant lump sum payments at the end of each quarter or year, which might strain their finances, by paying sales tax in smaller, more frequent installments.
Review Your Inventory
You can spot any excess or shortfall of stock by reviewing your inventory. To ensure you have enough inventory on hand to fulfil consumer demand while preventing overstocking or understocking, this might assist you adapt your ordering or production schedules. By detecting any surplus or slowly moving product, reviewing your inventory can also assist you in maintaining cost control. You can free up cash that can be used to fund other aspects of your business by lowering your inventory levels. You can find any products that are no longer in demand or that have become obsolete by reviewing your inventory. By eliminating these goods from your inventory, you may save them from taking up valuable space and save money by not having to store and manage inventory that is rarely used.
Record Credit Cards Transactions
Accounting for credit card transactions individually might make it considerably simpler to reconcile your accounts. Separating credit card transactions can help you make sure that all transactions are accounted for and recorded appropriately. When all transactions are combined on bank accounts, it can be challenging to reconcile them. You can keep better track of your spending by separating credit card transactions. You can easily track your business spending and make sure they are accurately documented by keeping a separate record of credit card transactions.
Download Our Free Brochure →Review Debt Accounts
For several reasons, it’s crucial for business owners to keep a check on their company’s debt accounts. You can better manage your payments and make sure that every payment is made on time by keeping track of your debt accounts. This can assist you in avoiding fines, penalties, and other negative effects of late payments. You can create a strategy to gradually lower your debt by keeping track of your debt accounts. You may determine which debt accounts have the highest interest rates or amounts by keeping an eye on them. Then, you can concentrate on paying those down first. Keeping track of your debt accounts can also aid in the creation of a more precise budget. You may more efficiently organize your expenses and make sure you have enough money to handle your bills and other commitments by knowing exactly how much you owe and how much you are paying each month.
Review WIP Reports
You may monitor the development of your projects with the use of WIP reports to make sure they are on schedule and within your intended spending limit. You can spot any difficulties or delays by going over WIP reports each month and taking corrective action before they worsen. You may manage resources more wisely by using WIP reports. Understanding how your projects are coming along will help you deploy personnel, supplies, and other resources more effectively and make sure that your projects have everything they need to be successful.
This marks the completion of the checklist. The elements on the checklist should make it easier for you to handle your bookkeeping, we hope. All the best.