What’s Not to Love about Accounting?

The shops are full of love hearts, romcom DVDs, and chocolates to fill the world three times over. Pink and red are everywhere. It’s hard to avoid that February is the month of love.

I’m reminded of an old boss who used to say that ahttps://taxplusaccountants.ie/love-accounting/While it may be a cliché there is a certain merit to it. Accountants take data from financial figures and turn it into information that is clear, useable and logical.

They take information about the past – sales, stock, expenses, payroll – and use it to create projections for the future. It gives guidance to business owners and allows them to make informed decisions. Put simply, accountants give information which helps business owners make better management decisions every day.

What’s not to love about that?

Yet many business owners don’t see the attraction of accounting. They often break out into a sweat at the thought of gross profit margins and debtor days.

Every business owner, from the CEO of a Fortune 500 to a one person consultancy works with accounting information and it’s time to begin a relationship with it, if you haven’t already.

3 Steps to Begin a Relationship with Your Accounts

1. Start Receiving Month-End Statements

If you’re new to accounting or simply deal with your accountant on a yearly basis, here’s where you make a change.

Ask your accountant for month end statements. f you use accounting software, your accountant has, more than likely, access to it. If not, send all your expenses, invoices and bank statements to your accountant. Your accountant can access all the activity during the month. Your accountant can give you an overview of your sales, expenses and stock levels.

You can make decisions for the rest of the year on it. It might be a bit early asking your accountant for month end figures for this February but ask. They may be able to do it but definitely ask for March. They should be able to give you the numbers by the first week in April.

2. Get Yourself Accounting Software

There are so many advantages to using accounting software. For a start, your accountant can have ready access to your accounts which suits them. Accounting software will never replace your accountant, it will just make your accounts more effective.

You can invoice customers or clients with professional invoices, automatically reconcile bank statements, manage expenses and get a snapshot of your financial health. You can have an accounting system that is in the cloud or on a desktop.

We train our clients on accounting software and advise which one would suit them. Not every software suits every business.

3. Identify Trends Over Three Months

There will come a time when you start looking at your own figures on a monthly basis that you will see patterns or trends. You can ask your accountant about them, allowing you to become more informed of your own accounting and your own progress and growth.

If you think working with your accountant on a more regular basis will cost you more, think again. We have seen clients save money by working with us regularly and that includes our fee. You get to see the detail in the figures and see where you are leaving money on the table.

As a business owner, you may like control. You may like freedom. You may like being kept informed.

You can achieve all of these and more once you fall in love with accounting.

If you would like further information on any of the above, we would be delighted to speak with you.

TaxPlus Accountants are accountants serving the North East of Ireland. They bring simplicity to your accounts with proven results. They provide a complete range of accounting and book-keeping services to businesses operating a manufacturing, retail or service business.

Call us on 041 9844525 or email info@taxplusaccountants.ie