The biggest recommendations from our team to keep your records straight

Managing the day-to-day record keeping of your corporate finances can feel like a full-time job. From tracking your expenses to customer invoicing, there’s a lot of important data that you need to keep current in order to remain compliant as a business and file your corporate taxes every year.

While hiring a bookkeeper or chartered professional accountant (CPA) is always an option if you don’t want to take on your record keeping, it is possible to manage it yourself. What’s key is that you have the bandwidth to do it correctly and consistently.

If you’ve decided to handle the record keeping for your business, read on to discover six recommendations from our team.

6 ways to streamline your corporation’s record keeping

1) Identify your needs before selecting your method of record keeping

From software to spreadsheets, there are a lot of options available to help you track your business finances. While each of these solutions can be beneficial in their own way, it’s important to determine your bookkeeping needs and financial objectives first. What works best for a mid-sized incorporated business won’t be the same for a small sole proprietorship.

A few popular solutions for various stages of business include:

• Cloud-based bookkeeping software: Software like this usually offers a wide range of services from basic bank reconciliation to invoicing and inventory management. That said, it commonly comes with a higher price tag than the solutions mentioned below.
• Expense reporting apps: This solution can be good for small sole proprietors, but these apps typically don’t have the ability to track assets or bank balances for corporations.
• Self-maintained spreadsheets: This method of record keeping can be highly flexible and affordable but can also require many hours of manual input.

Bottom line: Choose a software or method that makes sense for the needs of your business.

2) Select a solution you can use with confidence

Your choice of solution should reflect your knowledge of the business. It’s always best when the person who is preparing the record keeping knows what the numbers mean. At the very least, you should understand where the numbers come from versus finding numbers somewhere because “that’s where the program puts them”.

With that in mind, make sure that you feel comfortable using your solution, even if it means working in a less sophisticated environment.

3) Pick a reasonable record-keeping cadence and stick to it

Choose a frequency for record keeping that is manageable. That said, don’t leave your bookkeeping until the end of the year!

Many first-time businesses hit a substantial hurdle in their initial couple of years because they leave their record keeping too long. It is much easier to record a transaction that is a week or a month old compared to one that happened a year or more ago. The volume of recording is also much easier to manage when done more frequently.

Oftentimes, a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly approach is best, depending on how prolific the business is.

4) If you have questions, ask them

If you have an accountant engaged and your relationship allows for it, send them a quick email whenever questions come up.

Otherwise, make notes in your records when the thoughts are fresh, so your accountant will see them at the end of the year. These notes can also serve as a reminder for you to ask certain questions whenever you speak to your accountant next.

5) Keep your records safe, secure and accessible

For paper records, keep them in an organized place or scan them to make a digital archive. If you have a digital storage solution, make sure that your data is backed up and can be restored in case your files become corrupted or compromised.

6) Know when it’s time to hire a professional

Everybody has their strengths and yours should be running your business. If the record keeping becomes too complex, or you are losing too much time trying to keep it up to date, it may be time to hire someone to do your bookkeeping.

Not sure what the difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA is? Read our article about The Key Differences Between a Bookkeeper and a CPA to learn more.

Find out how Loren Nancke can support your finances

We’re known for our smart, straightforward corporate tax and accounting services, as well as our expertise in wealth, legacy and estate planning. Our ultimate goal is to support you on your journey to what we like to call financial serenity by bringing all aspects of your financial life together.

Get in touch with our CPA firm to learn more about how we can support you and your financial goals.

By Jacob van Gaalen

Jacob Van Gaalen, CPA, BBA, is an Associate with Loren Nancke. As a senior accountant with a background in Business and IT Administration, he uses his experience to mentor and train the up-and-coming accountants at the firm.

Learn more about Jacob and the rest of our team.