Ways to Streamline Your Company's Accounting Process

Running a business is difficult, and managing accounting processes is one of the most challenging parts. However, it is essential too as without managing and keeping track of your accounting data you cannot get an idea about your business's financial health. Managing day-to-day processes can make it easy and also saves a lot of time.

Following are the ways suggested by industry experts to streamline your accounting process:

1. Automate your bookkeeping - Granger, the CEO, and Co-Founder of Elite Patio Direct

The best way to streamline your accounting, especially if you are a small business, is to automate your bookkeeping as quickly as possible. When we do bookkeeping for our company ourselves, we tend to be constantly thinking about income and expenses, which can hold you back when thinking of the big picture. Automating your bookkeeping will allow you to take your mind off of finances, and help streamline your business and accounting process.

2. Automate Accounting Processes - Sameed Alam, the Founder of SoftMany

Accounting procedures must be standardized to ensure consistency and efficiency, mainly when multiple employees are working on the same task. This could be accomplished by creating a standard checklist and ensuring that all employees use it.

The vast majority of errors on financial documents are caused by human error. This issue can be addressed by implementing automated processes such as data entry via scanned document extraction and accounting. Hiring a third party to assist with this process is always an option; however, security concerns should be considered.

3. Use Accounting Software and Electronic Payment Methods - Jaanus Põder, Founder and CEO of Envoice

One of the best ways to streamline your company's accounting process is to automate as many parts of it as possible. For example, by using a software program like QuickBooks or Xero, you can automatically import your bank statements into the system and update them automatically daily. These programs also allow you to track invoices and payments, which will help you keep track of how much money is coming in and going out of your business each month.

Another way to automate your processes is by setting up electronic payments through PayPal or Stripe. This means that instead of sending checks or cash through the mail, you can simply pay your bills electronically—and the money will be transferred directly into your bank account!

4. Streamlining Business Accounting - Helmut Biemann, Co-Founder of On Demand Painter

The improvement of business procedures inside a company is known as streamlining. Fully optimized and automated operations assist companies in reaching their full potential while reducing risks and saving time. Businesses should consider automating and streamlining their working capital procedures.

• Suggestions for streamlining business accounting:

• Cut Back on Manual Tasks,

• Increase Disaster Recovery Activities,

• Eliminate Silos,

• Integrate Your Programs with Other Programs,

• Get rid of IT concerns,

• Establish proper audit trails, and create reports to run.

5. Utilize Credit Cards that Issue Consolidated Receipts - Shad Elia, CEO of New England Home Buyers

Some card issuers promote credit cards or fueling cards exclusively for small businesses. One of the numerous benefits of these cards is the possibility of receiving combined receipts for your business's expenditures. This is especially advantageous if you have several workers who want to purchase items on your company's behalf.

When you have the choice to do away with them and take advantage of integrated invoices from your gas card or credit card company, there is no longer any need to deal with piles of paper receipts & time-consuming expense reports.

6. Accounting Processes should be Automated - Kim Abrams and the CEO of Abrams Roofing

The accounting team is already stretched thin; giving them any additional support they request will be much appreciated. Accounting systems available today make this possible. These tools can automate routine accounting procedures, saving a tonne of time and work.

As technology improves, most experts are taking on advisory responsibilities. Invoicing and other payment-related tasks can be automated with the help of accounting software like QuickBooks, allowing accountants to accomplish more in less time. Because of this, it is crucial that you select the most appropriate accounting system for your company from among the many available.

7. Automate Invoicing Processing - Kenny Kline, President & Financial Lead at BarBend

In my opinion, Invoicing mistakes are far too prevalent in the accounting business, despite the fact that you may expect them to be uncommon. This is because many firms continue to utilize paper invoices, which are prone to error. For instance, a simple typo can result in a duplicate payment for an invoice. Incorrect totals, dates, and client information are a few more typical billing problems. These blunders can be time- and money-intensive for enterprises.

By automatically assembling bills, adjusting invoice dates, monitoring invoices, and producing invoices with previously recorded client information, time and billing software help reduce these mistakes. As a result, it saves time and reduces human error when creating invoices.

8. Give Account Reconciliation top priority - William Drow Senior. Manager of Finance at Starlinkhow

It's not always necessary to start from scratch when you want to improve your accounting procedure. Small measures might occasionally be the key to achieving larger objectives. The closure procedure includes reconciliation, which is crucial. It aids in error detection and improves the comprehension of your company's overall financial situation. However, there is a drawback to this: Not just once a month should account reconciliation take place. Make it a practice to reconcile your accounts frequently throughout the month. Waiting until the end of the month raises the chance that a small error will become something much worse.

While it may seem like you're wasting time reconciling accounts in the beginning and middle of the month, you'll save time. Automation is essential to reconcile your accounts more frequently; this enables you to do the task quickly.

9. Have a Physical Stock Plan & Check Fixed Asset Resource - Jonathan Merry, Director at Bankless Times

There is never a wrong time to begin making plans for a physical count. An inventory system is a crucial part of a company's year-end close process. While it is a labor-intensive and time-consuming operation, being adequately prepared will ensure everything goes as planned. Think about the kind of product that needs to be numbered, the number of SKUs, where they are located, and the resources needed to count them.

Check Fixed Asset Resource:

Check your residual value to see if it appropriately accounts for purchases and sales that took place in the previous year. Look through the calendar for marketable securities that need to be removed because they are no more in use.

10. Enhance Disaster Recovery - Gerrid Smith, Director of E-commerce of Joy Organics

I believe that strengthening our contingency planning is the best strategy to streamline the accounting process at my organization. In case of a catastrophe, relying on QuickBooks or a spreadsheet is risky. The financial data is backed up daily if our accounting software is hosted in the cloud.

Keep in mind that even if your on-premises system is set up with backups, the data is still physically situated in the same area as your business, which might be a problem in the event of a natural disaster or man-made disasters such as a fire or flood.

Conclusion

Standardizing your accounting approach helps simplify the process and allows you to manage finances in the most efficient way. However, if you are not a pro in handling accounting, outsource accounting services to experts to improve your business's efficiency and bottom line.