Last year I wrote, what is the worst part of owning a business? If you guessed employees you would be wrong. According to the small business owners polled by the Service Corps of Retired Executives, 40 percent said bookkeeping and taxes are the worst part of owning a business. It is still true.
Want to save money on taxes? Keep better records. Want to make more money, become more profitable? Keep better records. Want to breeze through an IRS examination? Keep better records.
We call it the very exciting world of record keeping for business. Unfortunately us small business owners are doing it every day. You know the things that your small business does. The production end. Recordkeeping is often put off or not completed at all. As most businesses grow, eventually the light bulb goes on, usually at tax time, and the realization that some record keeping needs to be done.
What can you do?
In the old days we built our business on bookkeeping....an era before desktop computers and the internet. Nowadays the computer has revolutionized your small business record keeping. Here are three options you can try to make things a little easier. Don’t struggle. Don’t miss out valuable deductions. Make record keeping part of your daily routine.
1. Go online. Free advertiser supported online accounting software is available. Probably the most popular free software online is Wave.
Here is a link to their website: https://www.waveapps.com/.
It is easy. Fairly comprehensive. Working with your tax guy is easy, too. Just invite us as a Guest Collaborator and we can both see your data, securely, in real time. Perhaps the best part is the automatic download your bank account into your accounting records limiting the amount of data input you have to do. Advantages? It is free. It is intuitive. No need to change the way you are doing business today. We like wave accounting so much we became a Wave accounting pro advisor.
2. Consider a stand alone accounting software. We recommend the Quickbooks clone Avanquest Bookkeeper. This program offers more bang for the bucks than the 800 pound elephant Quickbooks. It is $39.95. What do you get for your money? A fully functioning accounting software that includes credit card processing for no additional charge.
3. The ubiquitous Quickbooks. It is expensive. Requires yearly updates. Currently the payroll update alone is $400.00. Our payroll service is cheaper. And it seems that you are constantly bombarded with additional add-ons to buy. However, the accounting community has embraced it as the defacto standard that our client’s are using to keep track of their records. We work every day with Quickbooks.
I know that there are other methods and systems. I have always taken the position that what works for you works for me. However, I suggest that you give the Wave accounting folks a try first and help you not miss all those deductions next year.
