Business owners – you are really great at what you do, but chances are that you were not so great at bookkeeping when you ventured into this business.
Efficiency with bookkeeping these days depends, not only on up-to-date and relevant accounting knowledge, but also on an inside-and-out knowledge of your accounting software.
This year’s successful, Vegas-themed Xero conference in Brisbane really was as amazing as it looks in the pictures (yes, that ball pit swimming pool was real!). Accountants and bookkeepers from all around Australia and New Zealand attended – final delegate count was 3702.
For new bookkeepers it can be hard to get some practical accounts experience. You can’t get a job without practical experience and you can’t get practical experience without a job. It can be a bit of a catch 22, right? You may find another bookkeeper who is willing to take you on without experience, but itRead more
I get asked a fair bit by people I meet – “what actually is the difference between bookkeepers and accountants”. Seeing as the NZ Bookkeepers Association conference is coming up, I thought this would be the perfect time to differentiate between the two; There is a distinct difference between bookkeeping and accounting and it’s importantRead more
Ages ago, I read an article by Rachel Klaver from Identify Marketing where she was interviewed for an article about bloggers and other social media influencers getting free stuff in return for endorsements to their followers. She’s also featured in this Stuff article. This piqued my interest as some bloggers I know get sent gifts/contra allRead more
When I owned my bookkeeping business I was once asked if I had a different rate for data entry work. The inference being that that particular task was worth less than the bookkeeping rate which I had quoted.
The thing is though, with bookkeeping it’s never just data entry.
The end result of working with a good bookkeeper is meaningful data with which you can make sound business decisions. It’s data which tells you the story of your business; the health of it, the results of your past decisions, and the predicted future of the business. It’s also staying compliant with the IRD and meeting your tax deadlines. It’s data that tells you how much money you’ve made and how much money you can take out for yourself (shareholders) or for reinvesting in growth.
It‘s not uncommon to assume that everyone else knows all the stuff that we do. If we know it then everyone else probably does as well, right?
Value what you do. There are so many people or businesses out there who need the skills and experience that you bring. Do not underestimate how valuable you are.
I don’t think anyone would dispute that as a business owner you need meaningful business information in order to make good business decisions, yet I see many business owners flying by the seat of their pants, so-to-speak, making significant business decisions without having much in the way of relevant and meaningful business information.
In order to get meaningful business information, you need to have good business systems in place to capture the information accurately and efficiently.
Understanding the accounts of your business is fundamental in order to grow a successful business. It is the backbone of the business and understood and reported correctly, will give you important business information to make sound business decisions. Here are some common bookkeeping and accounting terms that you should know about and understand if you are in business, particularly in business in New Zealand
Sometimes good enough is good enough. This is a lesson that a business mentor used to try to drum into me until I finally took it on board. You see, I can be a perfectionist by nature. There were times that I would spend ages and ages making a marketing flyer just so because everything hasRead more
