Being organised enough to keep good financial records can be just as important to the success of a company as having the creativity to come up with a unique business idea. Problems often arise in successful start-ups because the most creative people are the ones least concerned with bureaucracy and recordkeeping – something they soon regret not taking an interest in when they are subject to a tax inspection or need to apply for a loan.
Things to remember:
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Recordkeeping allows you to keep track of your financial situation and measure your progress towards set objectives
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Estimate your start-up costs and work out how much money you will need for the first year of business. If in doubt, estimate higher rather than lower
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Set up a ledger to record all transactions. This can be easily managed using the accounting function in OnlineOffice
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Make sure you have systems in place to manage cash transactions i.e. numbered sales invoices
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Use a calendar to remind you about important deadlines such as tax dates or payroll schedules. This feature is also present in OnlineOffice
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If you have employees, bear in mind that there are certain mandatory records that must be kept. These range from keeping a log of accidents they suffer through to keeping a full history of their personnel details and tax records
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You will need to keep your receipts, purchases and various expenses as proof for a number of years. By scanning copies into the Document Store of OnlineOffice you could keep a permanent record of financial documents
For the previous stages of this checklist look here
