Top 5 Bookkeeping Tips For Small Businesses

December 8, 2021

Adopting some good bookkeeping habits early can help small business owners avoid costly errors and stay out of trouble with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Having a system and process in place gives business owners more financial stability and helps them achieve their long-term goals through the ups and downs that may arise.

Here are our top 5 bookkeeping tips for small business owners:

1. Determine what services you need – work with your bookkeeper to determine what services you need. In addition to providing clean records for your accountant, do you need assistance with filing sales tax remittances or payroll? Would you like an analysis of your cash flow? Discuss your expectations and deadlines with your bookkeeper.
2. Separation of business and personal expenses – Your business needs to have separate bank accounts and credit card statements to give a clear spending trail and avoid messy finances. It is more efficient and less costly if your bookkeeper does not have to determine if a receipt is a business or personal expense.
3. Organization – Do you just give your bookkeeper a pile of receipts? In order to keep your bookkeeping bills low, consider going through the receipts and statements quickly to identity any items that may keep your bookkeeper guessing. Be sure receipts are legible and the item is identifiable. If you do have a credit card that is used for both business and personal expenses, consider marking up the statement so your bookkeeper knows that which transactions are business related. Remember that your books will be only as good as the information you provide to your bookkeeper.
4. Timely record keeping – for a better financial picture and to assist with business making decisions, be sure to submit your paperwork to your bookkeeper in a timely manner. This will help them to meet deadlines with the Canada Revenue Agency. Answer any queries or requests for more documents from your bookkeeper quickly so the work can be completed, and reports can be sent to you while they are still relevant.
5. Keep your bookkeeper informed – having clear communication with your bookkeeper is beneficial. Address changes, changes to payroll employees, purchases and/or sales of large assets are all things your bookkeeper needs to know to keep your books accurate and up to date.

If you would like more information about what The Paper Chase can do for your business, please contact a member of our team by submitting a contact form. Our bookkeepers are standing by to help assist you.