If you’re a small business owner, you’re no doubt strapped for time, because you have to do so many things. You’re so busy, you no doubt need to save time to get everything done, and you can automate some of the more routine or mundane tasks with specialized software, such as the specialized accounting software, QuickBooks Online Accounting. You will have more time to plan the growth of your business. Here some of the ways you can save time, if you still do most things manually.
Save Time on Payroll/Accounting Tasks
If you’ve been doing this, you know it’s more than just issuing checks once a week for your employees. You also have to file payroll forms with the Internal Revenue Service, be careful to calculate the correct amount of taxes due, and pay those taxes on time. It’s bad enough that you have to spend so much time on this vital task, but suppose you make a mistake. You could end up paying heavy fines and penalties. Using QuickBooks, however, can help you save crucial time and avoid costly mistakes.
Just what you will need will be determined by how many employees you have, whether you use direct deposit for your employees, calculating withholding taxes, paying them, staying informed on tax rate changes, monitoring vacation, sick leave, and sick overtime, preparing W-2 forms, and taking care of health care plan contributions. This may cost you $20 to $80 monthly.
Managing Your Inventory
Doing this manually can take a lot of time, because you have to track each product, enter the information for each product, delete it after it sells, and determine when to reorder it. An inventory management system will do this automatically, and calculate when to reorder, as well as how much. You will also be able to scan bar codes, instead of doing it manually. Do this with Advanced Inventory, which is fully integrated with QuickBooks Enterprise Platinum and comes with it. You can pay a monthly $80 subscription or try it free.
Invoices
The best way to keep up with your accounts receivables to invoice often and early. Doing this manually is extremely time-consuming. Using QuickBooks, allows you to set create a custom invoice template. With this, you can monitor the accounts which are overdue and the paid ones. In addition, your estimates are quickly turned into estimates, and you can even schedule invoices for reoccurring accounts.
Continually Check Cash Position
You never want to come close to running out of cash. Each day you can check how much cash you have. You will also want to know how much you expect during the coming week and month, as well as how much you will pay.
Record Each Transaction
You should record every transaction (such as billing customers, paying vendors, and receiving cash from customers) in the correct account daily or weekly. This can be done using Excel sheets, but it is so much easier to use accounting software like QuickBooks.
Document and File Receipts
Keep copies of every invoice sent, as well as all cash receipts (check, cash,and credit card deposits).
You should have vendors file, sorted alphabetically for easy access. Create a payroll file sorted by date, and a bank statement file sorted by month.
Pay Vendors and Sign Checks
You will also be able to track your accounts payable and have funds prepared to pay your suppliers on time. It doesn’t matter whether the payments are made online or by check, keep copies of invoices sent and received.
These are only some of the ways you can save time with QuickBooks Online Accounting. There are many more. For more information, feel free to contact us.
Read more about Quickbooks Online.
