Most small business owners do bookkeeping once a year, in a panic, from a shoebox. There is a version that takes an hour a month and produces better results.
The minimum to record
- Every dollar in — with the date, the source and what it was for.
- Every dollar out — with the date, who was paid and the category.
- Mileage, if you drive for work. A log during the year, not a reconstruction later.
- Assets you bought — equipment, vehicles, tools.
- Anything owed to you and anything you owe.
How often
Monthly. Not because a month is magic, but because a month is short enough that you still remember what a transaction was for.
Reconstructing December in March is the part that costs money, in both lost deductions and preparation time.
What good bookkeeping tells you
- Whether you are actually making money, which is different from whether there is money in the account.
- Which work is profitable and which is not.
- What you will owe, before the bill arrives.
- What a lender or a landlord will ask for.
- Whether the business is growing.
The first thing that makes any of this possible is a separate business bank account. Without it, bookkeeping is archaeology.
Let us handle it
We keep books for small businesses across Midland and Odessa. Call (432) 257-7547 or come by 700 C Andrews Hwy in Midland. We work in English and Spanish.
Related services