Accounts and record keeping

28 June 2007 - 02:00
By unknown

All entrepreneurs must carefully manage accounts and records to ensure that their businesses survive.

All entrepreneurs must carefully manage accounts and records to ensure that their businesses survive.

One mistake that many small business owners make is to ignore the importance of paperwork.

Your office administration must be efficient to deal with issues such as chasing customers for outstanding money, queries about payments, invoicing and preparing pay slips.

Every transaction must be recorded.

If bookkeeping is not your strong point, hire a qualified bookkeeper.

That will give you more time to focus on what you do best. In case you can't afford a permanent bookkeeper, bring in a regular part timer.

Don't ignore other administration duties such as staff medical aids, company insurance, pension funds, disciplinary issues, hiring and dispute resolution.

You could possibly outsource these functions, which might work out to be cheaper than employing a permanent person.

Use professional services if you decide to hire someone.

A trained professional in human resources will know how to find a person you can trust with your finances.

But you will also need some knowledge of accounting to avoid being cheated. You don't have to be an accountant, but you do need a basic understanding of bookkeeping.

This will enable you to do checks and balances of the finances.

And it will put you in a better position to see if there is a problem on the financial side of your business.

Enrol in one of the many available short courses to help develop your knowledge of basic accounting.