Stop the madness! Bringing peace to your year-end accounting

I look towards April with mixed emotions. On one hand, spring is starting to show the first signs of life and the garden is beginning to sprout. On the other, it’s year-end accounting time, and I’m stuck inside doing my bookkeeping, yikes!

Here’s the big lesson, and I’ve learned it the hard way: a little bit of work throughout the year can greatly reduce my pain come April.

I’ll admit, I used to be an accountant’s nightmare. All year, I’d pile up my accounting records in the corner of my office. Then, come April, I’d start on a mad, week-long bender of entering it all into our accounting program. Good times!

This had the not-so-unexpected result of making me very grumpy as well as preventing me from giving proper attention to our business and clients. It also irritated our accountants.

Another problem with this once-a-year approach? It’s impossible to truly know how your business is doing month to month. Being in the dark like this is never a good idea!

I’ve developed a system for making April so much more enjoyable. It’s simple, really. Once a month I collect all the paperwork and reconcile that month’s accounts. This allows us to look back at our profits and expenses and resolve any issues as they arise.

What’s even better? Using software that tracks your daily sales.

For example, by using salonMonster’s Point of Sales system, all your daily sales are recorded, along with taxes, tips and payments. You do a daily register closure to balance your till and then enter those numbers into your accounting software. Now you’ve got pretty reports to send your accountant that have all your tax payment details, payment type breakdowns, tips and more.

How do you handle YOUR year end? We’d love to hear from you.

If you don’t have a system that’s working for you, take a few minutes now and sketch out a plan. Does your software track your sales data as you make the sales? Do you need to set aside an hour each month to review the last month?

A little bit of work each month will reward you with a lot less pain at the end of the year!