5 Accounting Tasks Every Small Business Owner Must Never Neglect

Many small business owners imagine that after employing an accountant or bookkeeper in Singapore, they no longer need to bother looking at the books since that is now taken care of by bookkeeping services in Singapore. This is actually far from the truth. There are key aspects of the business that you need to keep a tab on and looking through the books will help you do that. So for small business owners out there, here is a list of things that you should always keep track of.

Ensure the Bookkeeper Reconciles all Bank Statements

It is possible for the accountant to report to you every day but not do all their work. Bank transactions are commonly ignored and not reconciled in the books. As a business owner, you need to check at least once a month that the financial accounts are being entered. These include checking accounts, line of credit, loans, and savings.

Verify Entries

Sometimes the bookkeeper may not be dishonest but incompetent, they may be entering transactions in the wrong ledger. Some expenses may need to be entered under business expenses but they may be erroneously entered as shareholder distribution, which would make it a personal expense which is not tax deductible. Go through the entries and ensure they are entered properly or you could end up missing out on savings through tax deductions.

Track Credit Card Payments

Pay close attention to the payments made using the company funds, if you ignore it, a dishonest employee can easily charge their own expenses on the company or even pay for friend’s credit cards using your money. Carefully study the statements and make sure only company expenses are being paid for. Ensure you have access to these statements and actually verify them.

Confirm Payroll Reports

Your accountant may be paying themselves more than they are supposed to receive or they may have added more people to the payroll who actually do not work for your business. It is important therefore that every employee being paid is actually a real employee of the company and people are being paid exactly what they are supposed to be paid. If you do not check the payroll, you could end up finding out much later that a lot of fraud was going on every payday.

Study the Balance Sheet

If you are servicing a loan, the balance should be reduced with every payment made, usually that is a monthly payment so take time to look at the statement at least once a month. The figures should be changing every month and you should be able to make sense of those changes. As a business owner, you need to be able to understand a balance sheet.

Granted, there is a lot that a business owner needs to do to ensure the smooth operation of the business, but that should never be an excuse to ignore the books. The accountant or bookkeeper you hire is just there to make it easier for you, but you should always check to see what they are doing.

Here are a few tips to ensure you hire the right candidate for the job:

Give Sufficient Details in the Job Advert

The job advert should not leave the prospective employee asking more questions. Every detail provided should help the candidate determine if what is on offer is something they are interested in and qualify for. Many people get turned off by vague job posts since they see them as an insight into what it may be like to work for the employer. The job advert can be a sample of the instructions they are likely to receive from the employer once they take up the job. Use a Professional Recruitment Agency Professional recruiters have databases of suitable candidates and they have standard screening practices that can enable them to identify the best of the best. The process of screening may also be taxing for your internal human resource team and yet agencies have this as their dedicated work so it is a lot easier and faster for them. This will also present your company in good light and probably entice the best accountants and bookkeepers to work for you.

If they don't work in finding the ideal candidate, then you can simply outsource to a competent firm that offers a full suite of services that includes bookkeeping and accounting so you can focus on the core aspects of your business growth. You may also learn a few accounting skills so you can make sense of the books. Choose the best bookkeeping services in Singapore to assist you.