Once you start a small business all the things that need to be done can add up quickly. This can cause you to feel overwhelmed and you may not be sure what to focus on. As you are navigating through the beginning stages of your business it is very important to keep track of your finances. This may be done by hiring an accountant, this accountant Idaho Falls is great to work with if you go that route. But you may decide to do the bookkeeping in house if that’s what makes sense for you. If you decide to do this yourself it is essential you do it correctly.
Business and Personal are Separate
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This is the number one rule. Ensure that you are keeping your personal finances and business finances separate. The best practice for this is to have separate accounts and cards. This way there is no confusion as to what money is for what and what should go back into the business. This will also save you time down the road as you are going through expenses because you will not need to figure out what charges were for what. It will be all sorted for you.
Keep Your Receipts
As a business owner, you will have a lot of expenses. Even if you have a separate business account for all your business expenses you must keep all the receipts. It is required by the IRS that you have a record of all the business expenses especially if you plan to write them off when it comes to tax season. It can be tedious to keep track of all your receipts so if you are looking for simpler options there is bookkeeping software that you can upload your receipts. There are also apps that you can download onto your phone that you take a picture of the receipt and it will store it for you.
Pay Yourself a Salary
When you own a business sometimes you put yourself on the back burner compared to the business and your employees. But it is important that you pay yourself a salary just like you do all your employees. This is important because you get paid a consistent amount and it is recorded by payroll into the books. If you are not paying yourself through payroll it can get a little muddy when it comes to figuring out exactly how much you have paid yourself. This also helps with eliminating paying for personal expenses through the business.
Outsource Payroll
If you hiring an accountant for something, consider hiring them to do your payroll. Payroll may seem like something that you can tackle as a business owner but it is usually more work than you think. There are a lot of little things that go into payroll such as the amount of taxes that are withheld and benefits withheld. For this reason, if you are not familiar with these things it could take a significant amount of time to process payroll. Accountants can do it a fraction of the time and do a professional job.
Will You Hire an Accountant?
When starting a business bookkeeping is a crucial part that you start from the very beginning of the business. It can be helpful to keep personal and business accounts separate. You should keep all your receipts, pay yourself a salary, and outsource payroll to help create a smooth experience for bookkeeping. These are all important things in order to have good experience with bookkeeping.
