Written by Bubacari Marega

4 July 2022

6 mins read

Bookkeeping Guide

Contents

• What is bookkeeping?
• Completing your bookkeeping?
• How often should I complete my bookkeeping?
• Our Bookkeeping service
• What financial reports should I be looking at?
• What our bookkeeping service doesn’t include?
• Pricing

What is bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping is the recording of your daily transactions on some kind of system, such as Excel or Google spreadsheets or accounting software.

These transactions are then used as a basis for completing your accounts, management reports and tax returns.

Completing your bookkeeping

Regardless of your business’s size, you will need to ensure you keep accurate bookkeeping records, to manage your overall finances and get a view of everyday expenses.

If you own a small business and have an understanding of bookkeeping it can be beneficial for you to do it yourself.

Doing so gives you a better understanding of the mechanics of your business, compared to outsourcing the work.

Outsourcing your bookkeeping

If you have no experience, time and not comfortable taking on your bookkeeping duties, outsourcing is highly recommended.

We are occasionally faced with asking a client to redo their bookkeeping or obliged to offer a quote to correct and clean-up the accounts ourselves to meet the required standards.

If you do decide to tackle your own bookkeeping, we recommend asking us to check the first few months’ entries to ensure you are doing everything correctly.

This can save a lot of stress and money later on!

This is because one of the biggest problems we see is business owners taking on their bookkeeping and not getting it right.

How often should I do my bookkeeping?

We recommend doing your bookkeeping on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, depending on your volume of transactions.

Completing your bookkeeping regularly reduces the chance of errors, missing documents and allows you to clearly understand how you business is performing, and taking measures to capitalise on opportunities and correct inefficiencies.

Our bookkeeping service

We can offer your business a dedicated bookkeeper for a small fee. As part of the service, you will also receive unlimited access to our accountants via email, phone and video calls.

Our experienced bookkeepers and accountants are trained in accurate data entry and they are certified QuickBooks, Xero and Sage accounting software.

Your dedicated bookkeeper will also conduct regular tax efficiency reviews to ensure your business is operating in the most tax efficient way possible.

Using alternative software

•If you would prefer to use alternative software and handle your own bookkeeping, you can do so.

•However, our bookkeepers will only ever use QuickBooks, Xero or Sage to complete your bookkeeping. This is because we specialise in only on these major third-party software.

This means you will have to migrate your accounting data to one of the software mentioned above so we can complete your bookkeeping.

Its not recommended running your business’ accounting system on Excel or Google Sheets due to the increased danger of errors and incompatibility with government filling portals.

How we complete your bookkeeping?

We would complete your bookkeeping in line with the deadlines of the other services you have appointed us for.

For example…

Monthly: If we’re completing monthly management accounts for you.

Quarterly: If we’re completing VAT returns each quarter for your business.

Yearly: if we’re only doing your year-end accounts and tax returns.

If you would prefer a more regular bookkeeping (e.g. daily), we would be happy to do so, just let us know.

If you require full management accounts (i.e. full financial statements) on a monthly or quarterly basis, then we would have to charge an additional fee for this.

•We regularly review your monthly fee as your transaction volume increase or decrease, you just pay for only the work completed.

What financial reports should I be looking at?

If you are completing your bookkeeping you can view your Management information reports (e.g. receipts, invoices, etc.) on a regular basis.

Other useful reports include Cash Books, Profit & Loss, Cash Flow statements, Payables and Receivables.

What is not included in our bookkeeping service?

Although our bookkeeping service is comprehensive, there are certain aspects that we do not cover.

These are not included:

•Invoicing: if you currently invoice your customers, you would need to continue to do so. Using one of the mentioned software is preferable as it saves us having to charge you to enter them separately into your bookkeeping.

•Debt collection: we would not chase your customers for overdue invoice payments. QuickBooks, Xero and Sage can send automated payment reminders to help with this, but beyond that it would be your responsibility to chase up outstanding money owed to you.

•Communication: we don’t communicate directly with your customers, suppliers, or employees (unless that employee is our direct contact in your business).

Pricing

The standard price for our bookkeeping service is only GMD35 per transaction, with no minimum number of transaction. However, there are some considerations which can also increase or decrease the price we are able to offer you.

Automation

If we can automate some of your transactions, then you will only be charged for the transactions we have process manually.

Complexity

If you have complex bookkeeping requirements, we have to switch to hourly billing. Complexity could include such things as factoring or extensive calculations.

Others…

As mentioned before, if you prefer to use other than the three mentioned software then we would have to charge you an hourly rate. Also, if you require your bookkeeping to be completed more frequently than our standard times and additional fee would be applied.

All fees will be agreed upon upfront by both parties before any work takes place.

Looking for help with your bookkeeping?

If you have any further questions, just emails at [email protected] or contact us via our website at www.bmabookkeeping.co and one of our friendly advisors will be happy to help.

Get an instant quote from our website today!