6 Ways to Get Bookkeeping Ready for Summer
Summer is almost here, and while you’re organizing your space and schedule, it is also a good time to update your financial management. If your bookkeeping has fallen a bit into neglect, or if it could use an update ahead of the busy summer season, consider six things to help get your finances back on track:
1. Review and revise your budget
While you probably review your finances and analyze your spending at the end of the year, your budget may benefit from a mid-year review, as well, to make sure you’re staying on track and that your anticipated costs are matching actual expenditures.
2. Reassess your services
While you are evaluating and updating your budget, it may also be a good time to go over how much you’re paying for services, insurance, supplies, equipment leases, and other expenditures for your business. Comparing rates and getting new quotes for contracts and services that are due for renewal may help you find places to trim your spending or get more value for the money you are already paying.
3. Adopt online tools
Digital tools for businesses are widely available to help busy entrepreneurs save time and improve accuracy, while also streamlining multiple bookkeeping and administrative tasks at once. Cloud-based accounting and payroll tools are popular additions for small businesses that need bookkeeping assistance but can’t invest in full-time hires or pricey outsourcing. Online check printing and mailing is a helpful addition to other digital tools for financial management because it enables you to print customized business checks, on demand, for less money and in less time than traditional check-ordering from the bank would require.
4. Start an emergency fund
If you don’t have one already, now is a good time to start building a contingency fund to support you in case of an emergency or unexpected event. A back-up fund can help you stay better prepared if you get sick, have a family emergency, have to close suddenly, or have to replace an expensive essential on short notice.
5. Reduce paper waste and clutter with online storage
Business owners can often save a lot of space around the office—and perhaps even move to a smaller, less expensive office space—by using online storage options for uploading and storing documents. While some important documents should also be stored in hard copy, many routine items, receipts, and records that you want to keep and access regularly can also be available to you through online access. Checkeeper makes storing and searching the check payments you've made simple and instantaneous through an online registry that automatically records and stores the details of every check created. The registry can be accessed from anywhere, searched by any check field, printed or downloaded in its entirety, and shared instantly with a bookkeeper or accountant when needed.
6. Consider professional assistance
When the financial management is taking up too much of your time or has become too complex, professional assistance may be the answer. Virtual bookkeeping services are widely available to help businesses of all sizes and types, and they can be a budget-friendly alternative to full-time, in-house hires. Cloud-based software can also be a helpful addition for DIY bookkeepers and managers who need a little extra guidance and organization. Checkeeper offers cloud-based access to customized check printing as well as a full suite of mailing and outsourcing options. Checkeeper can work as a stand-alone service or as an add-on to other accounting, payment, and payroll applications you use; it also offers options to have unpaid bills and invoices converted directly into check payments for a faster, more professional payment system.
It's not too soon—or too late—to refresh your bookkeeping and payment systems so that they are more organized, more efficient, and more cost-effective. Assessing the inefficiencies that are slowing down the bookkeeping and bill-paying processes now will be a productive first step toward deciding which digital tools can best help streamline the financial management, reduce errors, and save time for everyone. Online check printing and mailing works with many other digital tools for small businesses and bookkeepers to cut down on wasted time, wasted paper, and wasted money—while upgrading the professionalism of business checks and keeping important payments up to date.