THE BASICS OF BOOKKEEPING

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Latest Breaking News - Business - Viewing: The Basics Of Bookkeeping

2010-01-25

Keeping an up-to-date ledger can make things much easier for both you and your accountant at tax-time. Over and above this, it can also:


  • Show the financial health of your business or your family

  • Keep the law off your back. Retaining records and proof of transactions for your tax records for six years is mandatory. Cash records, bank counterfoils, receipts etc all fall into the "proof of transaction" category.

The basics that need to go into your ledger are as follows:


  1. Income. If you have multiple channels of income, you can maintain either one income account or multiple accounts.

  2. Expenses. Divide expenses into personal expenses, business expenses and payrolls. This will help you keep track of where your money is going, and how much of it is generating a greater cash flow

  3. Cash. For business ledgers, an account for petty cash is essential.

      4. Each of these accounts should have columns for the date of transaction, debit/credit, balance and lien amounts.
      For each of these accounts, maintain a detailed "remarks" column that includes:


      • Cheque numbers

      • Invoice numbers

      • Details that help with budgeting. This last is more important for personal accounting, as it keeps track of luxury expenses separately from essentials.

      Personal and small business accounting software is extremely helpful for bookkeeping, as it offers a choice of separate accounts for every type of expense. Also, every transaction contains details of where the money came from (income, cash or asset) as well as where it went. For example, if you pay a restaurant bill with your VISA cards, your transaction record automatically appears in both your "VISA" asset account and your "Food" expense account.

      While maintaining records can help you enormously when tax-paying time rolls around, there is sadly no substitute for properly filed receipts. The more transactions you are able to produce proof of, the more likely you are to get the tax rebate you have been hoping for.

      Bookkeeping - even with the help of software - is no substitute for an accountant either. A good tax professional does more than arrange and submit the information you have supplied to him. His job is to :


      1. Prepare your tax return

      2. Minimize your tax liability by categorizing your expenses to the best of your advantage

      3. Keep you informed about options you can exercise to minimize the tax you need to pay

      These are things that you can only stay well informed about by reading for several hours every week or month - something that will cut into your time(and hence money) much more than paying your accountant will. To keep your accountant's fees low and the dealings simple, however, make sure to do your bookkeeping at home with full efficiency.

      For business concerns and individuals in London who earn a taxable income, the services of a London accountant can be extremely useful. For Manchester dwellers, Manchester accountants can provide the same services.

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