Although the Bookkeeping and Bookkeeping Tasks List may fall under the lowest tier of accounting and financial management, it is one of the most crucial components because it serves as the foundation for all other financial facets of the company. If you want your company or organization to develop and prosper, it’s crucial to have a successful bookkeeping system in place.
Every successful company, whether it be an accounting firm or another small business, has an effective system in place for managing its funds. 66% of the most frequent causes of startup failure are issues with financial planning.
Why do you need a Bookkeeping Tasks List?
The Bookkeeping Tasks are essential for your company for a number of reasons bellow:
Use a checklist to stay organized. Using a Bookkeeping Tasks List makes it simple to keep your company’s finances structured; you’ll know what to do and when to do it, and you can cross each task off as you complete it.
A checklist will ensure that nothing is overlooked. You must complete numerous Bookkeeping Tasks on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis to keep your company operating properly. There’s a lot to remember to do! A Bookkeeping Checklist can ensure that nothing is overlooked and that you successfully finish all the bookkeeping activities that must be done for your company.
If you want to delegate the bookkeeping task to someone else, a Bookkeeping Checklist may be useful. You may want to delegate your bookkeeping duties at some time (for instance, if you hire a controller or engage a bookkeeper, CPA, or accounting expert who provides bookkeeping services to handle your financial activities). A Bookkeeping Checklist makes it simple to train and onboard a person to take over your company’s bookkeeping and provides them with a detailed list of all the additional responsibilities they’ll bear.
21 Things You Should Include as Bookkeeping Tasks For Small Business
Having a clearly defined bookkeeping workflow will help ensure that financial information is in order, deadlines are being met, cash flow is accurate, and nothing is falling through the cracks, whether you run your own business or are looking for a good checklist of items to better serve your bookkeeping clients.
Depending on the industry, the size of the company and accounting staff, the level of sophistication of the accounting system, and other considerations, specific Bookkeeping Tasks For Small Businesses and accounting procedures will vary. To maintain effective bookkeeping procedures, every company should nonetheless adhere to some standard steps.
The best bookkeepers complete Bookkeeping Tasks List on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis.
Daily Bookkeeping Tasks
The Bookkeeper Checklist must do responsibilities related to recording transactions each and every day.
1/ Check your cash balance. You should check the balances of your business bank accounts and petty cash at the start and end of each day to make sure there is adequate money available for making changes for walk-in customers paying for your services or to be utilized for last-minute small like office supplies.
2/ Record and classify each payment, both incoming and departing. For the day, keep track of every transaction. Any funds given out for the day as well as any funds received for services are included in these transactions.
3/ Deposit each payment. Customers’ payments, including cash and checks, must be deposited into the company’s bank account. To begin the transfer of money from the consumer, enter all credit card transactions. The corporation gets a current view of its available funds by doing this each day.
4/ Update your Bookkeeping program. If you use financial or bookkeeping software, you should keep it as current as possible so that you have a clear understanding of your company’s finances and can generate precise financial reports as needed. Check your software at the end of each day to see if any client payments or costs need to be recorded and categorized; if so, take care of them before you leave for the day.
Weekly Bookkeeping Tasks
At least once a week, the bookkeeper needs to make sure all the numbers add up and there is enough cash to cover expenses.
5/ Accounts at banks must be reconciled. Compare the deposits that are shown in the accounting system with those that are mentioned on the bank statement. By creating a digital connection between the bank account and the accounting program and importing daily bank transactions, integrating a bank feed streamlines this procedure.
This implies that the bookkeeper is not required to manually download and input the bank statement. Reconciliation can be made simpler by the business defining the matching criteria in the system. Do not assign the task of bank reconciliation to the same person who manages the cash. If there is a lot of cash, reconcile every day.
6/ Check your debts and the list of people who owe you money. Determine whether clients have not made prompt payment of invoices, and then contact them via phone and email. The IRS advises creating an “aging” column in the books to arrange open invoices according to how many days a bill is past due if accounts receivable (AR) are handled manually. These reports can be generated by accounting software, which can also update them instantly.
7/ Check for delinquent invoices. Establish a schedule for paying the next round of due bills. A business can set up an accounts payable (AP) aging report in its accounting system to keep track of money owed and payment due dates, much like it can with AR. Prior to payment, staff members should verify receipt of the items and reconcile invoices with purchase orders (i.e., a three-way match). you avoid fraud, make sure you have distinct personnel cut and sign the checks.
8/ Financial housekeeping. The company should schedule time each week for ad hoc Bookkeeping Tasks like emailing customer account statements.
Monthly Bookkeeping Tasks
It’s time to consider more involved Bookkeeping Tasks for month-end now that the bookkeeping is done.
9/ Balance the books. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) advises that a business owner’s list of activities at the end of the month should include examining and reconciling all bank and credit card accounts. It guarantees that the company isn’t overspending and that all incoming revenue and outgoing expenses have been accurately tracked and recorded. Verify that the figures on the bank statement, checkbook, and general ledger are identical. Check the balance of the account, ensure that the checkbook and books accurately represent all bank charges and the amount of the checking account, and fix any mistakes.
10/ Examine credit card charges. To ensure that there haven’t been any processing issues that have kept money out of your hands, make sure credit card payments have been placed in the bank account.
11/ Examine accounts receivable to address overdue invoices. Determine which clients haven’t made a payment before the deadline and send them reminders and past-due invoices. At this stage, a lot of businesses will also call customers to provide an update.
12/ Payroll processing and review. Because monitoring payroll taxes is complicated, many businesses outsource their payroll operations. Processing payroll entails withholding payroll taxes, filing and depositing income tax returns, and making other tax-related payments. The monthly and semi-weekly tax deposit schedules are the two available options, and businesses must determine which plan they must follow each year. For Forms 941, 944, and 945, businesses should consult Publication 15; for Form 943, Publication 51. There could be a failure-to-deposit penalty of up to 15% if you don’t make these payments.
13/ Analyze the inventory data. The cost of goods sold (COGS), an important metric for constructing the income statement for businesses in various industries, must be calculated using accurate inventory numbers. You can also find excess stock, products that should be discounted or promoted by analyzing inventory data, and products that should be written off.
14/ Establish financial statements. You may create the monthly income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement once you keep track of all these statistics. Compare actual spending to the planned amount. Your month-end balance sheet should be compared to the previous month’s. Examine which figures are changing and why; is it due to clients who are sluggish to pay or rising costs? Do sales forecasts accurately predict outcomes?
15/ A profit and loss (P&L) statement should be provided. A P&L statement should display revenue and expenses and provide corporate leaders with those figures. These figures reflect the company’s present financial standing and serve as the foundation for estimating future earnings and costs.
Quarterly Bookkeeping Tasks
16/ Estimate your federal taxes and pay them quarterly. If they anticipate owing $1,000 or more in taxes when they file their return, C businesses and individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, and S corporation owners, are typically required to make anticipated tax payments.
17/ Pay your state taxes. Pay all required state taxes, which vary from state to state but may include excise taxes, sales taxes, and more. Businesses will also be subject to local taxes and property assessments.
Annual Bookkeeping Tasks
Every year, additional time-consuming procedures associated with taxes and year-end close are required of bookkeepers.
18/ Examine the fixed assets. Companies should carefully examine their fixed assets at least once a year to ensure that more recent acquisitions are recorded and obsolete items are deleted. Companies that adhere to GAAP are also required to evaluate the worth of their intangible assets, such as goodwill.
19/ Create and distribute W-2s for workers and 1099s for independent contractors. Employers are required by the IRS to complete and submit these two tax forms, either online or by mail. The W-2 form, often known as the Wage and Tax Statement, lists the annual wages paid and taxes withheld. The 1099 for contractors offers crucial information for tax purposes and describes the income contractors earned from your business.
20/ Register for taxes. Depending on the business’s structure, the IRS gives specific information on how to submit taxes, when to do so, and what kinds of taxes are necessary. During tax season, the majority of small businesses hire a tax accountant to ensure sure all of their paperwork is complete and filed correctly.
21/ Get ready for the year’s close. To start the following accounting period and prepare for the presentation of financial statements, prepare the general ledger accounts. In order to prepare for the following accounting period, accounts on the income statement must be zeroed out, and any balances are transferred to the balance sheet.
Automate Bookkeeping Task Using Accounting Software
When done manually, many of the Bookkeeping Tasks outlined below are time-consuming and prone to error, but accounting software can automate them. It can generate financial statements, invoices, follow-up reminders, and payments to your suppliers automatically.
Accessing the data required for financial reporting of all kinds is also made simpler by an accounting system. For part or all of their Bookkeeping Tasks and finance operations, more than half of American businesses surveyed by Robert Half currently use cloud-based solutions.
Accounting software provides real-time financial transparency, enabling better cash flow management and operational decision-making. Additionally, having software at tax time enables the company to precisely identify tax amounts to lower the taxable income rate, freeing up more money to invest in the company’s personnel and operations.
Having good bookkeeping practices is essential, but even for those who specialize in it, it may be overwhelming. There are many tasks involved in maintaining correct and current Bookkeeping Tasks. Your entire financial system, not to mention your business, will crash if you fall behind. To get up-to-date pictures of the state of your business at any given time, it is essential to stay on top of your Bookkeeping Duties List.
See more»
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