Top 10 Accounting Mistakes – No. 8 Accounting Backwards: How to Catch Up and Stay On Top of Your Accounting

Aug 8, 2013 | Accounting

Time is crucialEveryone starting a business, no matter what kind, hopes to see it succeed as early as possible. However, it usually takes a while before a company can see profits and unfortunately not all businesses make it in this competitive world. Things can rapidly become hectic and overwhelming after you open your business so you must always be prepared and organized to keep up with the fast paced speed of running a business. Especially when it comes to accounting, where deadlines can be very strict and penalties can be very severe.

To prevent your business from falling behind, you should avoid a few particular mistakes and follow a few of these useful tips.

Procrastination will make your business fall behind

To begin with you need to know that one of the reasons many startups fall behind is procrastination. Indeed, procrastination can kill your business. If one or a few employees in a company start and keep putting things off to a later date, it is most likely that it will fall behind. The paperwork will pile up and you will end up forgetting about important tasks such as filing tax forms or closing your accounting book on time. It is crucial to learn how to prioritize your tasks and make sure they are completed on time. By delegating tasks and using to do lists every day, you can keep your business on track and prepared for the next day.

Don’t forget the little but important details

In addition, you should never neglect the smallest details concerning your business and its activities. Since it is in human nature to forget things, you should keep track of all the things you need to accomplish in order to not let your business fall behind. When recording your financial transactions, you must be meticulous and not forget any details because leaving one off can create multiple incorrect records. This is why it is important for you to stay detail-oriented with your finances and bookkeeping to avoid unwanted consequences.

Falling behind can become costly

Many businesses fall behind because they do not remember to make important payments or they do not file their tax forms on time. By missing aspects such as these you will automatically increase your business’s expenditures. For instance, if you fail to make your payments on time, you may end up paying late fees, interests or penalties. Also not paying your federal withholding taxes on time or not providing your employees’ payroll on time is unlawful, not to mention highly unethical. That kind of mistake can become very costly for your business. By staying punctual you can avoid unwanted financial and legal troubles.

What can you do to not fall behind?

There are many things that can be done to prevent businesses from falling behind. To start with, you can set up a schedule indicating the deadline of different tasks and when you need to accomplish them. This way you will never miss an important date! Accounting is a very organized, logical and rational profession, this makes scheduling very important. For instance, you need to have a day scheduled for when you must file your tax forms and when they need to be returned. It is primordial for you and your team to know when things need to be done. Once you create this schedule, make sure you stick to it. Another thing you could do to avoid seeing your organization fall behind is to establish a routine for each task. For example, make sure your accounting software is in good working condition and is producing financial reports on a daily or weekly basis. This will ensure that you never forget any details; it will keep you on track with everything and will allow you to accomplish tasks more rapidly.

Do not get the bad habit of pushing things to a later date. Make sure you follow your schedule meticulously and update it when it needs to be. Forgetting one thing after the other will soon cause your business to fall behind. Avoid these mistakes by creating a schedule that fits with your accounting needs! If your business is already behind, it might take a few extra hours of work to keep up with the lose time. But it will be worth it in the end, as you will be up-to-date with everything pertaining to your business!