Running a business is no easy task, and if you’re new to it, there are pitfalls and experiences you need to learn from in order to make better decisions next time. One of the most important and probably also one of the most boring things you need to do with any business, large, small, new, or old, is bookkeeping.

Unless you’re making money, tracking finances isn’t much fun, but it’s an imperative part of business function, not only for tax and audit purposes, but also to give invaluable information in order to make well-informed business decisions, and to keep a track on incoming and outgoing’s. Put simply, effective and efficient bookkeeping will give you a solid business performance indicator.

If it’s your first time keeping financial records like this, below you’ll find five useful bookkeeping tips, aimed at helping you make the whole process easier.

Don’t leave it until the last minute

The best way to managing your bookkeeping is to make it a set part of your day or week. Don’t leave receipts hanging around for weeks with good intentions to enter them into your spreadsheet or computer software, instead do it regularly, making it much less hassle, and much more accurate.

Find the best way for you

Probably the most important of all bookkeeping tips is to find a system that suits you personally. One size doesn’t fit all, and whilst some people are perfectly happy to simply use an Excel spreadsheet they have designed themselves, others may find it more useful to purchase dedicated software, such as MYOB. You also need to develop a filing system for receipts and statements, instead of stashing them all in random drawers!

Track your expenses

When you come to do your tax return, there are certain things you can set-off against your tax, but if you don’t keep accurate records and receipts of this, you won’t have a clue what to record on your return. Keep a record of everything you spend or receive, not only for this, but also for audit purposes. Anything you buy for your business, any business lunches or trips, anything you receive back – keep a record.

Budget for your taxes

You know you’re going to have pay tax on what you earn, and you will know when you will need to make a payment, so instead of sitting staring at tax bills, wondering where you’re going to find the lump sum from, budget accordingly over the months, starting with putting it in a high interest account you can’t touch.

Monitor your incomings like a hawk

If you have several bills due to be paid to you, it’s easy to lose track. This is why you need an accurate system of tracking unpaid bills, and a way to chase them up. Again, you need to find the best way to suit you, whether that’s employing a person to do this for you, or setting up a spreadsheet that is updated and checked on a daily basis. Unpaid bills mean lost money!

Bookkeeping isn’t glamourous and it isn’t particularly much fun, but if you follow these easy bookkeeping tips you should be able to simplify the matter enough to make it a manageable, regular task.

If being your own bookkeeper does not appeal to you, and you would like to pass this job to a professional who will take care of everything for you, leaving you worry free, call the team at Accounting Bookkeeping Gold Coast now on 5576 0011. We will have you so organised, you won’t know yourself!

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Launching a business is easy; however, launching a successful business can be very difficult. That’s the key difference.

Anyone can throw a business idea out there and watch it sink, however there’s a shocking statistic to take into account – 60 per cent of new businesses fail within the first three years. That’s not a statistic attached to successful businesses!

To launch and establish a success, you need to plan, persevere, change things around, listen to outside influences to a degree, and work yourself ragged.

At the end of all that, congratulations, you may just have a success on your hands.

So, just how do you launch a successful business?

Business plan

Put together a business plan with no holes in whatsoever. Once you’ve done that, go over it with a fine tooth comb and look again. A solid business plan should always be formed through plentiful research, industry experience, talking to those who have clout within the market and know what they’re talking about and of course, market research.

Know your market inside out

It’s no good launching a product or service into a market you know little about. Gain experience, volunteer, talk to industry champions and suppliers, conduct surveys until you know every single corner of the market. This will mean no nasty surprises.

Take the time to get to know your target audience

This is unfortunately yet more market research, but you need to understand what your target audience find attractive about a product or service, in order to be able to angle it in the right direction for optimum sales or uptake. You need to be best friends with your future customers.

Money, money, money

This is obvious, but you need to put into place cash resources to get you through start up, growth, and a little aside for any future problems. This will probably involve you going to the bank with your business plan, but you need capital to fall back on, and to enable you to push forward with your aim to launch a successful business.

People are important too

Whilst you might think cash is everything, and yes, it carries an awful lot of clout, the people you choose to surround yourself with and where within the structure you place them, will mean better chances of success. Make sure you’re careful with whom you choose to be part of your journey, identify their strengths and weaknesses and work with it.

Keep records

Finally, always keep records, especially financial. You will need to show the tax man evidence of your activities, as well as countless other organisations along the way. So keeping up to date, easy to use, and accurate records will ease the waters, and stop any problems in the future. The team at IQ Accountants are strong believers in client education and will ensure that you leave the office armed with further knowledge of what you can claim so that your return is maximised for future years to come. You can reach us on 5576 0011.

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Bookkeepers are an essential aspect of every business because they take care of all the financial accounts for you. They’re in charge of managing your financial transactions including, receipts, sales, purchases and reports. Besides handling transactions, a good bookkeeper takes care of many other aspects of the business, such as, keeping an eye on various accounts and preparing auditing and statistical reports when required.

A good bookkeeper makes your life easy in so many ways. Firstly, they’re always up to date with new accounting procedures or systems which may come in place. This will keep you from having to know or worry about these things, making your life much easier to focus on other aspects of business.

Secondly, a good bookkeeper stays on top of bills, both payable and receivable, so no need for you to remember when bills are due or when it’s time to collect money from your customers. In this sense, bookkeepers act as a comfortable cushion between you, your creditors and your debtors.

Thirdly, bookkeepers will help you stay on top of your accounts, all of the time. You could ask for your bank balance or the available cash on hand, and you will know the answer within minutes.

Imagine yourself sitting at your desk with a pile of bills, having to sort through and account for each one. This task can be very time-consuming and effort-centric, and it may even disrupt your work life balance. Why go through all this trouble when you can hire a good bookkeeper to take care of all your accounts?

Lastly, when its tax time, you won’t have to hurt your brain with all those numbers trying to get your accounts and bills in order, because everything is done and ready for you. Your only job will be submitting it all to the tax consultant. It doesn’t get easier than that!

If you do not need a bookkeeper full-time, you can always hire one to come to your home or office once or twice a week to help get things in order. Either way, a good bookkeeper makes your life easy, so why not give them ago. Contact Accounting Bookkeeping Gold Coast on 07 5576 0011 to enquire about our bookkeeping services, and how they can benefit you and your company.

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If you’re entertaining the idea of starting a family business, or thinking about working for one, you should equip yourself with some knowledge about how to make it work. It may seem like a dream to be able to work with your family – you love your family, so everyone should be able to get along perfectly, right? Unfortunately, that’s often not the case, and the start-up process can be especially taxing on your relationship. According to statistics only 1 in 3 family businesses survive to the next generation. The following keys will help you find family business success:

1.  Treat it like a normal business

One of the most common mistakes those involved in a family business make, is focusing too much on the family aspect of it and not enough on the business side of things. Yes, family is important, but in some ways you might have to be prepared to put family second if you want your business to succeed.

2.  Set boundaries

While it’s very important to treat this company as a business, you also need to set boundaries and make sure they’re followed. If you and your family members are discussing the business whenever you see one another, including out of work hours, be prepared for tensions to rise. Starting and running a business can be stressful enough without having the added pressure and stress of taking the business with you wherever you go. Make some house rules, such as never discuss business during dinner time.

3.  Avoid giving “pity” jobs to other family members

Sometimes, business owners think they’re doing the right thing by giving a jobs to their kids or other family members just to help them out, and while that’s noble, it’s not always a smart idea. If you’ve decided to give a job to someone who isn’t a good worker and is unemployed because he or she can’t keep a job anywhere else, you should probably re-think your decision. This could lead to needing to fire someone down the line, which will cause more problems in the long run.

4.  Communicate

This is extremely important. Your family’s business success relies on keeping the lines of communication open. This could be tricky, especially if you’re not very open with family members at the best of times. But in a business situation, you will have to make an extra effort to talk freely with both the non-family and family members involved within the business, regardless of how well you know one another and how open you are.

5.  Make sure expectations line up

If you need something done by a certain time and day, let it be known to whoever you give this task to that there’s a dead line that needs to be met. Make sure everyone is on the same page from the very beginning to ensure there are no surprises or let downs. Keeping the lines of communication open will be your greatest tool. Communication is key!

The experienced team at IQ Accountants can provide the business services advice and support you need. Call us today on 5576 0011.

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