What is the biggest mistake small business owners make with their bookkeeping? It’s actually not doing their bookkeeping.
That’s right! Not doing your own bookkeeping is the biggest mistake that small business owners make, even if they have every intention of doing it.
Can I do my own bookkeeping?
You may feel like you’re probably educated, knowledgeable, and should figure it out. But, at some point, you get really busy with your business and then you don’t have time to work on your bookkeeping. You probably keep remembering that you have to work on the bookkeeping late at night when you’re getting ready for bed or something. But, by then, you can’t do anything about it. This is very normal, and what I would encourage you to do is make a decision.
What to do if you’re planning on doing your own bookkeeping
The key is in developing that daily routine of working with your financials.
Work on your bookkeeping on a daily basis
Even if you think, “Hey, I don’t have a lot of activity. I could just do it once a month.” I highly encourage you to work on your bookkeeping on a daily basis. And the easiest way to do that is to work on your bank feeds in five minutes a day. Just spend five minutes a day working on your bank feeds (those are the transactions that download from your bank into QuickBooks). Work on categorizing those transactions, and then you’re done!
You’ll see how once you develop that habit, you’ll be more likely to spend five minutes a day, then maybe 10, then before you know it, maybe 15 minutes a day! By working on your bookkeeping a little bit every day, you’ll soon be caught up.
5 minutes a day keeps the stress of bookkeeping away
The worst thing that you can do is to forget about it or to put it off. Then tax time comes and you’re not ready because you don’t have any books – and then what happens? You get an extension, right? And then you extend your taxes to later, and then you put it off until the last minute again. You develop a pattern of stress, of reacting to a deadline, and really not wanting to engage with your financials because every time that you do, you have a negative experience. So instead, just spend five minutes a day on your bookkeeping. That’s all it takes!
Closing
I have shared some very useful resources below to help you work on your bank feeds in just five minutes a day.
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