Common Mistakes People Make In Small Business Accounting
Small business accounting involves more than just maintaining books for tax preparation purposes. It requires practicing all aspects of accounting for tracking, recording, and analyzing a business’s financial transactions. However, as an owner, tracking every expense, deposits that your business incurs can be quite challenging and inevitably may commit significant errors and mistakes.
Such lapses could lead your business towards facing penalties for filing reports late or lose out on financial opportunities. To help you avoid some basic errors that could prove to be costly, Astute Business Services has put together a list of the most common mistakes people make in small business accounting.
1. Not having a clear business plan
Most people get into business with lots of enthusiasm and optimism without a proper financial plan, lack of focus, not identifying revenue streams, capital requirements, and eventually wasting limited resources. If you’re a new business owner, you need to consult an accountant or an expert who’s good at drafting business plans. It would be best if you were realistic and practical by revisiting the plan periodically to adjust it as market conditions evolve.
2. Ignoring marketing
Marketing helps your business stay on top of your competition. It will enable you to target your potential audience through creative branding. Enlisting the services of a marketing firm will assist you in creating, implementing, and, more importantly, devising suitable marketing strategies that will work best for your business’s interest.
3. Not maintaining proper accounting records
As a business owner, organizing all accounting records is critical. Keeping the books up-to-date, receipts for all expenditures, noting business expenses, whether credit or debit cards and so on.
4. Thinking accountants only do tax work
You need to know that an accountant does more than tax filing! They assist in assessing your finances and prepare statements, maintain payrolls, cash management, create a financial forecast, and so on.
5. Not taking financial planning seriously
Some business owners skip on measuring the business’s result and also forget about checking on financial reports at specific intervals. Without the ability to see and measure the results, there is no way of knowing how the business is doing and how to correct wrong trends or refocus.
6. Managing accounting in-house
Do you handle your business financially the right way? Even if it’s an extremely small business, running by yourself could actually cost your business more money.
To avoid these and other mistakes, reach out to the experts at Astute Business Services. We have a team of highly-qualified financial experts who will guide you through all your tax and accounting needs. Our extensive experience in bookkeeping, business planning, payroll service, and tax preparation will allow us to give you the peace of mind to focus on your growing business. Our professional services are available to clients across Ajax, Pickering, Markham, Scarborough, Whitby, Oshawa, and the surrounding areas.
For a complete list of our services, please click here. If you have any questions about accounting, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us here.