As a small business owner, one of your primary goals is to ensure that your enterprise not only survives but thrives.
One of the easiest ways to ensure this happens is to efficiently manage the cash flow of your company through accurate and efficient bookkeeping. By keeping track of your business transactions in the form of bookkeeping—i.e. getting your books in order—you can organize your finances and identify areas of growth.
Without the help of a bookkeeper, you’re more susceptible to financial risks that can seriously impact your business.
Unfortunately, misconceptions surround the field of bookkeeping, which dissuades some small business owners from seeking expert services.
To help you steer clear of misconceptions that could derail your business, we at have debunked some of the most widely-believed myths about bookkeeping.
Myth #1: Anyone Can Do Bookkeeping
The term “bookkeeper” has been misunderstood for ages because of the belief that “anyone can do bookkeeping.”
Many small business owners think of bookkeepers as data entry clerks. However, data entry clerks don’t necessarily know how to distinguish between debits and credits, or which accounts belong on the balance sheet versus the income statement. As a result, the company’s numbers won’t make sense and can’t be used to make informed financial decisions that contribute to the health of your business.
Ask us for a health check of your books and we’ll ensure you’re on the right track. Using our knowledge and experience from the latest training and accreditation, we can offer suggestions on how to record transactions with accuracy and finesse for financial peace of mind.
Myth #2: QuickBooks Online does my bookkeeping for me.
We have spent hours fixing various clients’ QuickBooks Online (QBO) data files.
Why? Because simply clicking “Add” within the QBO software isn’t bookkeeping. While QBO is a helpful tool, it doesn’t allocate transactions to your accounts. You still need to understand which account to enter, whether GST is included, and whether the transactions in the bank feed are legitimate business expenses.
Need help with QuickBooks Online? Reach out to us , and we’ll be happy to set up an online training meeting.
Myth #3: Thinking of yourself and your business as one.
A common misconception among newly incorporated small business owners is that they think of themselves and their corporations as one.
They withdraw all the funds received from customer invoices and don’t leave enough to cover taxes and expenses. Having gone through CRA GST, payroll, and corporate tax audits, we’ve seen firsthand how vital it is for business owners to manage their cashflow. Accurate and current bookkeeping will help with cashflow management—and it’s always a wise move to take a reasonable fixed salary and set aside about 30% of your customers’ invoice amounts for paying taxes.
If you would like some help getting your books current, cleaned up, and accurate, contact us, and we’ll be glad to help.
Time for Better Bookkeeping
For the best business consulting and bookkeeping services in Edmonton, Alberta, reach out to GuYDanS Consulting & Bookkeeping.
We can help you boost your business by offering cutting-edge accounting software and personalized services to meet the unique needs of your business. Our services include bookkeeping, payroll, GST, personal-tax preparation, QuickBooks online training, QuickBooks migration, cashflow management using the Profit First Method.
In your corner,
The GuYDanS Team
