As small business owners, we are not naïve to the amount of effort, stress, and passion it takes to get a business up and running, let alone, keep it going. It’s fast paced but most often, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Most of the clients that come to our bookkeeping firm are often at the end of their rope. Their financial picture is a mess and they don’t know where to start to get back on track. The answer is actually pretty straight forward- get organized!
1. Manage Your office Space and Storage
Believe it or not, the environment of your company plays a huge role in its performance. This is the first layer of becoming financially organized. Do you have stacks of paper shuffling around on your desk or hiding in the closet? Shoeboxes full of receipts? Unopened letters- maybe it’s a bill maybe it’s not? The stack of “I’ll get to it tomorrow.”
Paperwork is a huge frustration for many small businesses. You can reduce the amount of time spent managing paperwork by first creating an organizational system for your workplace. Go paperless and reduce your physical paper storage. Start by organizing your stored documents in a logical order virtually- like the Cloud or Dropbox.
2. Improve Your Virtual Workspace
Believe it or not, by adding a few plants around your office, you can increase productivity by 15% through improved concentration. You’ll also get a boost by using a standing desk and cleaning up your cables. These techniques help you stay energized and focused without the distractions that come from a cluttered workplace.
Don’t let your computer fall behind either- it’s an asset to your company! Keep your desktop organized. A good rule of thumb is that if you can’t see your desktop background, you should work to reduce and remove the items cluttering your computer. Don’t forget to tame your emails either. Delete junk emails and only save what’s important. For those important emails, create logical subfolders for them to be stored in.
3. Most Importantly, Keep Track of Your Time Effectively!
The biggest consumer of time is lack of processes and procedures. This is where we see a lot of small business owners fall behind. They are so busy being the face of the company, the other behind the scene things like a clean office and work space take a hit. But you can get ahead.
A simple time saver- manage your passwords. Whether you have a spreadsheet or an app like LastPass- make this a priority to set yourself up for organizational successes.
Another tip is to manage the paper as it’s coming in. Scan and file expense receipts accordingly and keep track of invoices and payments. Record payments against invoices as they are received. Doing this transactionally, daily, or weekly instead of spending a weekend every so many months to try and get caught up, will not only help you catch potential errors earlier but also allows you to invest your time elsewhere, like with family.
Finally, plan ahead. Plan ahead for quarterly taxes or upcoming renewals. Taxes especially, there is not a lot of grace when a payment is missed and left unnoticed.
In a nutshell, a majority of our clients at 3 Pillars Business Services have come to us for one or all of the reasons above. Odd as bookkeepers, but we pride ourselves in helping our clients develop business specific processes and procedures to become as efficient as possible. Whether it’s beginning the process of recording payments and invoices, cleaning up all of last years expenses, or taking on tax payments- our ultimate goal is to see your business succeed and be the partner you can count on.
Alex Bulmer - Three Pillars Bookkeeping and Business Services
763-464-6408, Office@threepillarsbusinessservices.com
Most of the clients that come to our bookkeeping firm are often at the end of their rope. Their financial picture is a mess and they don’t know where to start to get back on track. The answer is actually pretty straight forward- get organized!
1. Manage Your office Space and Storage
Believe it or not, the environment of your company plays a huge role in its performance. This is the first layer of becoming financially organized. Do you have stacks of paper shuffling around on your desk or hiding in the closet? Shoeboxes full of receipts? Unopened letters- maybe it’s a bill maybe it’s not? The stack of “I’ll get to it tomorrow.”
Paperwork is a huge frustration for many small businesses. You can reduce the amount of time spent managing paperwork by first creating an organizational system for your workplace. Go paperless and reduce your physical paper storage. Start by organizing your stored documents in a logical order virtually- like the Cloud or Dropbox.
2. Improve Your Virtual Workspace
Believe it or not, by adding a few plants around your office, you can increase productivity by 15% through improved concentration. You’ll also get a boost by using a standing desk and cleaning up your cables. These techniques help you stay energized and focused without the distractions that come from a cluttered workplace.
Don’t let your computer fall behind either- it’s an asset to your company! Keep your desktop organized. A good rule of thumb is that if you can’t see your desktop background, you should work to reduce and remove the items cluttering your computer. Don’t forget to tame your emails either. Delete junk emails and only save what’s important. For those important emails, create logical subfolders for them to be stored in.
3. Most Importantly, Keep Track of Your Time Effectively!
The biggest consumer of time is lack of processes and procedures. This is where we see a lot of small business owners fall behind. They are so busy being the face of the company, the other behind the scene things like a clean office and work space take a hit. But you can get ahead.
A simple time saver- manage your passwords. Whether you have a spreadsheet or an app like LastPass- make this a priority to set yourself up for organizational successes.
Another tip is to manage the paper as it’s coming in. Scan and file expense receipts accordingly and keep track of invoices and payments. Record payments against invoices as they are received. Doing this transactionally, daily, or weekly instead of spending a weekend every so many months to try and get caught up, will not only help you catch potential errors earlier but also allows you to invest your time elsewhere, like with family.
Finally, plan ahead. Plan ahead for quarterly taxes or upcoming renewals. Taxes especially, there is not a lot of grace when a payment is missed and left unnoticed.
In a nutshell, a majority of our clients at 3 Pillars Business Services have come to us for one or all of the reasons above. Odd as bookkeepers, but we pride ourselves in helping our clients develop business specific processes and procedures to become as efficient as possible. Whether it’s beginning the process of recording payments and invoices, cleaning up all of last years expenses, or taking on tax payments- our ultimate goal is to see your business succeed and be the partner you can count on.
Alex Bulmer - Three Pillars Bookkeeping and Business Services
763-464-6408, Office@threepillarsbusinessservices.com