Three years ago 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.
