Our Insights

As a small business owner, I’m constantly looking for ways to make my business bigger, better and more successful. As one that deals in B2B services, my company also specializes in helping other companies in that arena – just obviously with a focus on the accounting side of things. In an effort to spread some knowledge and start some conversation, I’d like to spend some time talking about what I see as 8 of the top bookkeeping mistakes I see many small business owners making. As a follow-up to this post I will discuss each of these in greater detail, explaining why each of these is important to address, and how to do so. This list is not in any particular order and is not by any means all-inclusive. If you disagree with any of these or have one you feel should be added, please let me know! Here are 8 of the top accounting/bookkeeping mistakes I see small business owners making: 1. Not Keeping Receipts This is probably the most common I’ve seen with small business owners. It may not seem to be a big deal, but it can very easily become a huge issue. 2. Mixing Personal and Business Finances I see this regularly – whether its using personal accounts to make business purchases and reimbursing or paying for personal items with business accounts, both create multiple issues and concerns. 3. Improper Expense Classification Proper expense categorization can help an owner run and make decisions about their business. 4. Not Using Accounting Software While this doesn’t solve all problems related to understanding your finances as a small business, it goes a long way as doing this manually is just extremely difficult and inefficient. 5. Lack of Transaction Reconciliation Without proper transactions and bank/credit card reconciliation,, it’s impossible to fully understand the health of your company. 6. Improper Income Tracking Some may just use cash received, some just use an industry specific CRM, some use less, but not having proper income tracking can provide an incomplete picture of what your business revenue is. 7. Not Seeking Professional Help It seems simple enough – you don’t hire a roofer to do your accounting. So why leave something as important as your company’s financial information to someone not trained in doing so. 8. Lack of Financial Review Unbelievable as it may seem, there are many small business owners who don’t know the health of their company because they don’t have any sort of financial review other than what is in their bank account. Avoiding these common bookkeeping mistakes allows small business owners to stay organized, reduce their stress, and avoid major financial headaches down the road.