How To Keep Your Accountant Happy!
I’m often asked what is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant? People think that they either have to hire one or the other but depending on the size of your business you will probably need both.
Yes, their roles may overlap from time to time. But both have distinctively different parts to play in helping you grow your business.
Bookkeeping is about keeping up to date with the day to day finances and ensuring that the record keeping is compliant with HMRC rules. Good bookkeeping is done regularly and thoroughly, and provides accurate data in order for you to run your business.
Keeping on top of your bookkeeping means everything is ready for the accountant to take care of at year end.
What makes your accountant despair?
Basically, books that have been neglected or, even worse, completed incorrectly. They don't want to get started only to find you have posted loads of transactions to Suspense and that your bank account doesn’t reconcile. Any mistakes mean a lot more work for them and a larger bill for you
How can you help your accountant?
Here's a list of jobs you or someone in your business should be doing weekly/monthly:
Bank reconciliation
Check supplier statements to invoices and pay suppliers
Review debtors / send customer statements / chase late payers
Run payroll / Pay staff / Pay PAYE & Pension / Post payroll journal
Review and reconcile all Balance Sheet accounts
Post Prepayments / Accruals journal
Post Deferred income / accrued income journal
Maintain fixed assets register and run depreciation
Set aside savings for tax liabilities (30% of income)
It's quite a detailed list. Now, tell me the truth. Do you do all that? Every month? Without fail? I completely understand that you can only do so much in one day, and, as a business owner, you are stretched for time as it is.
What can you do?
It's time to develop and organise the finance function of your business.
The finance function has 2 purposes:
To provide financial information that other parts of the business require to run effectively
To provide financial data that supports business planning and decision making
What does this involve?
To have a fully working finance function that keeps your accountant happy, you need to follow the monthly checklist. But, more importantly, you have to understand what is involved in each task on the checklist and make sure you complete each one correctly.
If you don't feel like you or the team have the time, or the knowledge, to do all this correctly, it's time to hire a bookkeeper.
What does a bookkeeper do?
A bookkeeper will take away the stress of managing your finance function. They'll gift you more time, and they will probably save you money. A good bookkeeper won’t just stop at processing the day to day transactions, they will also work through the monthly checklist in order to keep your records up to date and accurate so that handing them over to the accountant at year end is a breeze.
It's what every business owner dreams of.
All you have to do is hand it over to your accountant, who will thank you and wish all their clients were as efficient as you.
How can I help?
As a qualified accountant, I know exactly what your accountant wants from you at year end. I will make sure that you have everything ready to hand over to them and will even liaisie directly with your accountant on your behalf.
I will also support you during the year. You need to make sure you are making the right decisions for your business, and without up to date financial records, you simply can't. Why wait till your accountant gets hold of the figures? Imagine the peace of mind you will gain from having information that you can rely on every day!
Book a free discovery call to find out more about how I can help both you and your accountant!