If you’re like most small business owners, you love your job, but there are definitely parts you could do without.
Most people become small business owners because they’re passionate about the products they sell or the services they provide.
What they’re not passionate about are all the other things they have to do to keep their company going.
More often than not, at the top of that list is bookkeeping.
4 Reasons Small Business Owners Hate Bookkeeping
While most small business owners don’t particularly enjoy any part of bookkeeping, there are four reasons in particular that they’d rather do.
1. It Takes Forever
If accounting were something that took a few minutes every day or a half-hour a week, it still wouldn’t be fun, but it might be tolerable.
As you probably already know, that’s not the case.
Furthermore, you already have enough priorities vying for your attention. When you’re not working, you’re trying to find time to spend with your friends and family.
Keep in mind, too, the better you do, the longer your bookkeeping is going to take.
2. Learning Accounting Is Difficult
You can learn many aspects of owning a business on-the-go. Most owners learn how to take inventory after they open the doors. Many even handle their own marketing.
Accounting isn’t something most people can simply teach themselves. Even if they could, that would be yet another strain on their already limited calendar.
This isn’t the kind of task you can’t afford – literally – to make mistakes with, either. One mistake can cost you dearly.
It also doesn’t get easier as time gets on. The longer you’re in business, the more numbers you need to crunch and records you need to rectify.
3. It Needs to Change with Your Business
As time goes on, your business may change. You may add other services or products, expand, or even acquire a competitor.
Unfortunately, incredible opportunities like these come with one very significant price (besides the obvious one).
Just like making more money will mean more bookkeeping, modifying your business in any way will require that you add to your normal routine, too. Even something as small as adding another service will need to be documented and then regularly accounted for.
4. Understanding What to Do with Ghost Assets
If you don’t know what ghost assets are, you’re not alone. 49% of business owners surveyed said the same. Another 25% did but didn’t know how they affected their books.
Ghost assets are fixed assets that can’t be accounted for because they’re either unusable or missing.
For example, perhaps some of your computers became outdated, so you donated them to a local school.
Even though it might seem like a lot of trouble to go to, removing ghost assets from your ledger can help you save on your property taxes, reduce your insurance premium, optimize your return-on-asset ratio, improve your budgeting for other capital expenditures, and much more.
Effective Bookkeeping Doesn’t Need to Be a Pain
If you’re sick of putting up with the common bookkeeping pains we just listed, there’s good news: you don’t have to.
Save time and stay focused on your small business’ day-to-day needs without sacrificing results by entrusting Marshall, Wazcheka and Patrick, CPA with this essential practice.
Contact Us today for any bookkeeping, tax planning, or accounting questions, and let’s talk more about how we can help.