Bookkeeping

With close to 10 years of working experience in the Australian Third Sector, I have come to learn that the sector is a dynamic, vibrant, and meaningful place to work, where people share the common vision that is, to make a difference. However, most of them struggle with basic administration tasks like documentation, bookkeeping and/or accounting. Among the difficulties organisations...

'2015 is coming to an end, and truth to be told, I couldn't be more excited about the New Year. In 2015, there were significant improvements in the cloud accounting industry. Xero has doubled its number of customers in Australia, Intuit (famous for its Quick Books software) Australia moved into a swanky new space in Sydney CBD, and here in...

'I started my business in 2009 with little to no capital, and have since gone through a number of roller coaster rides along my entrepreneurial journey. Six years may not be a substantial amount of time for start-up veterans, but it is enough to understand the nature of entrepreneurship. All in all, there have been a fair share of lows...

Here are a few tips to get all bookkeeping tasks lined up for the year-end festive season: 1. Payroll: Payroll mistakes are most common during holiday seasons as some business owners are left to process payroll manually when their bookkeepers or accountants have gone away. To avoid payroll mistakes: * Get your staff to apply for leave in advance, so...

Following my article on the micromanagement of finances last month, I will provide more evidence on how micromanagement leads to better return on investment (ROI) for businesses. I once had a client who provides electrical services, so he and his staff were always on the road and rarely in the office. When I took over to manage his business' finances,...

To me, micromanagement is ineffective because one has to spend a lot of time and effort with little gains. This reminded me of my early days as a bookkeeper, when my manager would get us to enter every single information from the invoice to the accounting system (specifically, MYOB). He wanted to convert MYOB into a database where he can...

I attended a conference the day before and listened to a series of speeches on digital disruption. For those unacquainted with digital disruption, the term basically refers to the change brought about by new digital technologies and business models that are affecting the current value proposition of existing goods and services. This phenomenon is expected to eliminate up to 60%...

Many clients tell us they don't have an accounting background so it's difficult for them to check work done by their accountant/bookkeeper. This article provides business owners with a list of 10 things to tick off with their trusted advisor. 1. Payment summaries: Check that your bookkeeper/accountant has conducted a reconciliation between total salary & PAYG with holding in your...

One day, I was watching the Discovery Channel with my four-year-old son Charlie when he asked, "Why does the big fish eat the small one?" Having gone through so many life experiences compared to my son, it seemed like a natural phenomenon because that's just the way things are in business too. Big companies are able to yield more power...

Tim, through his company Man Bites Dog Public Relations Pty Ltd, has done a fantastic job promoting and celebrating the successes of businesses in the ACT and Queanbeyan. As this is the last article of 2014, I will try to sum up what I have written for B2B during the past 6 months. I have introduced XERO - the world's...

Bookeeping can be a challenge for many business owners, and even if they don't mind bookeeping, they might not enjoy doing it. One of my clients recently remarked to me, "I don't like doing the books for my business because it is so easy to make mistakes, and the tasks are so tedious! And because I avoided bookeeping altogether, I...

Outsourced bookkeeping and back-office accounting have become our primary means of engagement with small-and-medium businesses. While there are advantages and disadvantages to outsourced bookkeeping, this article solely considers the financial benefits for firms which have shifted from hiring part-time bookkeepers to outsourcing their bookkeeping and accounting functions. After all, a firm's bottom line is all about cost savings. Based on...

In my last two columns, I introduced you to two of my favourite mobile applications - Xero and Receipt Bank. I use them on a daily basis and consider them to be part and parcel of my business. The growth in use of mobile devices has led to an explosion in the development of mobile applications. Small-to-medium businesses are using...

In the previous article, I mentioned Receipt Bank, an online tool that has revolutionised the bookkeeping/accounting industry. Now, I will take this opportunity to go into detail about its full features which can help you to reduce your bookkeeping costs and achieve a paperless office. Traditionally, a bookkeeper was considered as one who performed monotonous tasks such as data entry...

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher said "Change is the only constant in life." As with people, businesses must embrace change. So, this financial year, consider making some changes in your business. 1. Improve your accessibility Technological advancement has accelerated the pace of doing business, hence it is not surprising that business owners find themselves having to multi-task most of the time....