Super Simple Tips to Catch Up on Your Books
Are you caught up on your bookkeeping? If not, don’t worry, as I have a few tips to get you back on track!
Set Daily or Weekly Catch-Up Goals
When I started selling on Amazon FBA, I was also working six days a week. So, even though I was busy with work, I committed to work on Amazon each morning. I got up around 4:30 am and focused on Amazon for 30 minutes to an hour. As a result, I made progress, and my knowledge and sales grew.
If catching up on your books is a big job too, then I recommend doing the same. You don’t necessarily need to get up at 4:30, but commit daily or weekly time to get caught up on your bookkeeping.
Work your bookkeeping into your schedule, whether it’s 30 minutes each morning, two hours on Tuesdays, or three hours every weekend.
Yes, life happens and something will come up that digs into your dedicated bookkeeping time. Don’t beat yourself over it, but get back on track as soon as you can.
If needed, do a shorter amount of time. If you normally spend one hour on your books, temporarily scale it down to thirty minutes. This way, you'll still be making progress!
Break the Bookkeeping Down into Small Steps
With the shorter blocks of time, you’ll need to break your bookkeeping catch-up project into smaller steps.
I like doing my books one month at a time and I use QuickBooks Online Simple Start. This is my typical routine:
Categorize bank and credit card transactions
Reconcile bank and credit card statements
Pay credit card
Enter Amazon sales, fees, and COGS into QuickBooks
Enter Etsy sales, fees, and COGS into QuickBooks
Review Profit and Loss statement
Review Balance Sheet
Make sure my numbers are correct and fix errors if needed.
Besides my monthly routine, I do these things at the beginning of each year:
Reconcile Amazon Inventory (confirm that the dollar value in the warehouses matches my inventory number in QuickBooks).
Double-check my annual numbers. Confirm they match bank statements and sales reports.
Gather the reports and supporting documents that my accountant requires.
Give my accountant the reports. I like doing this by mid-February so she has plenty of time to do my taxes before April 15.
The annual tasks do take a few hours for me to do. I usually work on them for an hour or so each day until it's all done.
Once You’re Caught Up
First of all, great job! You did it!
Catching up on your bookkeeping is a huge accomplishment, and you’ve shown real dedication by getting it done!
Now it's time to establish a routine that will ensure you never fall behind again.
I like doing my books on the first day of every month. This way, I know right away how well my business did the previous month. However, if I’m busy on the first, I’ll do them the next day or as soon as I can.
Usually I can do everything in one sitting, and it takes about two hours. However, sometimes I’ll tackle the bank reconciliations one day and then Amazon and Etsy numbers the next.
If you stay current on your books, then when January comes around, you just need to do December and your annual tasks. There's no need to worry about catching up on 12-months of bank reconciliations right before tax time.
