I sometimes find myself asking – Why am I so faithful to QuickBooks? Why do I love it?
In my opinion, it just keeps getting better and better! Why?
- Purchase/Ongoing Cost (See previous post)
- Network of over 5 million users worldwide (See previous post)
- Outstanding reporting and integration capabilities (See previous post)
- You don’t need to be a book-keeper or accountant to use it
Last week I covered point 3, REPORTING AND INTEGRATION
Today – let’s consider point 4, YOU DON’T NEED TO BE A BOOK-KEEPER OR ACCOUNTANT TO USE IT …
Cutting Accountancy Costs
Let’s face it, every company needs to monitor and revise their overheads regularly if they are to succeed – especially in today’s financial climate. If you currently have an accountant doing your daily book-keeping, you could save money by doing it yourself. Not a decision to made lightly, you should weigh the pros against the cons. – For example, do you have the discipline and time to ensure you WILL do it daily to keep on top of matters? Will you keep the same standard of information regarding your entries as you currently do because you know you are passing it on to someone else for processing? – Do not assume that you will remember what each entry is for, even if your accounting routine will be daily – WRITE things down, or RECORD each and every detail you can.
Set-up and Training
You may not need a book-keeper or accountant to do the daily processing of entries, but it helps if you have someone to set up the basics and teach you how to use it going forward. This way, you don’t have to worry about the mechanics in the background – all you have to worry about is processing the information in the way you have been taught. Your information will then filter through to your reports in the manner it should, to give you useful reports you can rely on. It’s also good if you can set up an arrangement with your trainer that if you have any usage issues, you can contact them for support.
D.I.Y.
After setup and training, ongoing work can be done yourself easily – following your detailed notes from your training. You will have an amazing sense of achievement doing your entries, and you may even enjoy it! Even if you don’t LOVE it, like I do, you will see results as you run your reports, you’ll reduce your accountancy costs on your P+L and that’s a great result – all you need to know.
Word of Caution
Accounting is not for everybody. If you are not entirely up to this task, or are not motivated enough to take it on – DON’T (it could be the worsT thing you do!). It could end up costing you more if you do not receive the proper advice and training, as your book-keeper or accountant will ultimately have to be more involved to iron out any issues you have caused.
