Wednesday, June 10, 2015

With A Reliable Bookkeeper Northamptonshire Businesses Can Expect To Thrive

By April Briggs


So many people think that all that it takes to establish a successful business is competence in a certain area. Yes, such competence is vital, but even more vital is the ability to manage the company, however small it is. The most important part of that management need is financial in nature. Failure to keep proper financial records is probably the biggest cause for failure. But, with the help of a properly qualified bookkeeper Northamptonshire businesses have nothing to fear.

Keeping proper records of all the financial dealings of a business is not only prudent and sensible. The law requires that businesses keep such records. These records must be made available whenever certain authorities, such as the income tax department demands it. In some cases businesses are also required to publish their financial status at least once a year. Failure to adhere to the laws can result in severe penalties.

Some people think that bookkeeping is a complicated affair. This is not the truth. In essence, bookkeeping is simply the art of recording all the financial transactions of an organisation. In most cases, these transactions involve either expenditure or income. Most businesses keep record of these transactions in various categories. As far as income goes, for example, they may want separate records for income that came from the sale of goods and income that was derived from selling assets.

Nowadays most businesses adopt a double entry system. This means that every transaction has both a credit and a debit entry in the books. One can look at it as if every positive entry must have a negative entry. When a business sells an asset, for example, the income derived from the sale is positive but the loss of the asset is a negative one.

Bookkeeping is as old as man itself. In the Bible, Joseph gained favour from the emperor because if his skills in keeping tabs on the stock of food. To this day these professionals play very important roles in their organisations. They record the transactions and they help their employers to avoid serious mistakes. However, these days it is all done on computers.

Many people confuse the terms bookkeeping and accounting. A bookkeeping practitioner is responsible for recording transactions. It is not his task to prepare financial forecasts, draw up budgets or interpret the data that he records. An accountant, on the other hand, uses the records contained in the bookkeeping system to assess the current and future financial situation of the organization. He advises management on these matters.

Proper bookkeeping helps businesses to stay out of trouble. Trouble can originate from poor information about the financial situation of the company or even in the form of legal troubles because the business failed to adhere to all regulations pertaining to tax and trade laws. Well kept books are also of prime importance when is business is bought or sold.

A proper bookkeeping system that is kept up to date at all times holds many advantages. It helps the owners to make sound financial decisions and to negotiate with banks, creditors and debtors in good faith. Without such a system no business can hope to survive in the long run.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment

Gimme your 2 cents!

Banner Ad