8 Tips to help you spend less time on your bookkeeping

29 June 2023

Bradley Medhurst

Cloud Accounting

Bookkeeping is an essential element of running a business.

Effective bookkeeping enables a business owner to have a complete view of their business performance whilst also ensuring financial reporting standards are met.

Despite the value bookkeeping has in a business, it is still commonly perceived as a monotonous and time-consuming task.

How do you manage your bookkeeping?

Larger businesses may delegate bookkeeping to a dedicated member of staff or finance department and think no more about it.

However, if the processes in place are tedious and not fit for purpose you are likely to find staff morale particularly low in this area.

Other businesses owners may prefer to take on the task themselves to stay in control or save on costs, although this often takes up valuable time that could be better spent on paid work, strategic planning, or some much needed R&R.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

How to spend less time on your bookkeeping

With existing technology there are many options available to enable you to save time on your bookkeeping, streamline processes and boost productivity in your business.

Here are some of our top tips on how you can spend less time on your bookkeeping:

Cloud software

If you don’t already have a cloud-based system in place, we highly recommend getting one.

Whilst not yet compulsory, cloud systems unlock the potential for the effective management of your business along with a range of built in or add on services.

It also allows you access anywhere for multiple users so everything you see is a real time reflection of your business.

Know your software

If you are using a cloud-based software, you need to have a good understanding of what it does and how to use it.

You don’t need to know the complete ins and outs of its functions (that you may feel are irrelevant) but feeling comfortable using your software and making use of the tools available is key to using a software solution efficiently.

Automate your data entry

Manual data entry not only takes time but also leaves room for errors.

Making use of the tools available that can automatically import and categorize transactions from bank feeds, cards, and other financial sources means more accurate data and time saved for you.

Make use of mobile apps

There is a huge range of bookkeeping apps that can be integrated with your accounting software.

For example, there is an app which allows you to scan and upload receipts directly from your phone – no need to keep hold of paper receipts for manual entry.

Track expenses real time

Regularly review and categorize your expenses.

If you find yourself trying to work through a backlog of expenses, it can be difficult to remember what you need to put though and why, which could lead to something being missed.

Keeping on top of your expenses prevents a backlog, keeps your records up to date and ensures accuracy.

Set up recurring transactions

Avoid reminders or late payment charges by setting up recurring payments for regular expenses or invoices.

This ensures payments are made on time and saves time on manual data entry or mistakes being made if you are in a rush.

Reconcile accounts regularly

Regularly casting an eye over your bank accounts, credit cards and other financial statements to identify discrepancies and errors early on will save time and effort in the long run.

Nobody wants to get to their year end to find the numbers aren’t adding up and then having to spend time working out what’s happened.

Outsourcing your bookkeeping tasks

If you don’t have the time or the patience for bookkeeping, you can always outsource the task to either a member of your team or if you don’t have the resource available you may look to appoint an external bookkeeper of virtual finance director to take care of things on your behalf.

Identifying and Implementing systems to spend less time bookkeeping.

Unsurprisingly this doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Being wrapped up in the depths of running a business can make it difficult to identify opportunities to become more efficient even when they are really needed.

The Business Software Solutions Team at Friend & Grant offer support to business owners looking to implement solutions to save time and streamline their processes.

We work closely with our clients to understand their needs and identify bespoke solutions to enable businesses to become more efficient and drive profitability.

If you would like to speak to us about our services, you can contact the head of our Business Software Solutions team Bradley Medhurst by email or call us on 01634731390.