It might sound like a bold claim, but it’s true! At Yorkshire Accountancy, we’ve helped numerous clients who once dreaded doing their accounts find inspiration to not only keep their books up to date but also enjoy the process. By following our simple tips, you can transform your approach and manage your accounts better in just one hour a week.
Step 1: Create a Checklist for Keeping Accounts
Let’s face it, very few people enjoy keeping records, but putting off this essential task will only create bigger problems in the future. From paying bills on time to ensuring you’re prepared for that inevitable tax bill, having a tried-and-tested system in place is essential.
Set aside one hour a week to tackle your accounts. To help you stay organised, create a checklist of essential tasks that need to be done. This will keep you on track and prevent any unpleasant surprises.
Step 2: Stay On Top of Invoices
One of the most critical tasks on your checklist should be managing your invoices. It’s crucial to keep them up to date and send them to clients promptly. If you delay invoicing, you delay getting paid, which can hurt your cash flow.
- Tip: Use a standard invoice template or specialist invoicing software to streamline the process. Many tools can also track unpaid invoices, saving you time and effort chasing late payments.
Step 3: Efficiently Manage Your Bills
Next on your checklist is paying any outstanding bills. Doing this online makes the process more efficient and helps keep your suppliers happy.
- Use this time to review your business bank account transactions. Make sure everything is accounted for and that your books are balanced. Printing out a weekly statement and annotating it with explanations can save a lot of headaches later, especially when your accountant asks about specific transactions.
- If you use an online accounting system, make sure you can import bank statements directly into the software. This will save you even more time and reduce the chance of errors.
Step 4: Assess the Profitability of Projects
Use part of this hour to analyse which projects are bringing in the most profit. By calculating the expenses associated with each project for the week, you might gain a new perspective on which clients and projects are worth prioritising.
- Accurately recording costs allows you to quickly assess which projects and clients are the most profitable. This can guide your decision-making on which types of work to focus on in the future.
Step 5: Review and Improve Your Business Processes
Lastly, use this time to review your business operations and identify areas for improvement. Looking at your accounts can reveal patterns you might not have noticed before. After handling the basics, take a step back and consider how you could streamline your processes.
- Consider whether doing smaller accounting tasks daily could help you stay more organised.
- Review how you’re tracking time spent by yourself and your employees. If there aren’t enough billable hours being worked, it might be time to refocus your team’s efforts on more profitable activities.
Put This Plan Into Action
And that’s it! With just one hour a week, you can:
- Stay on top of your paperwork and filing,
- Identify ways to streamline your business operations,
- Uncover clients or projects that might be draining your resources.
Take the plunge and put these steps into practice, you won’t regret it!
