"I would rather face root canal surgery with no anaesthetic than do bank reconciliations" - Devan Sabaratnam
Does that sound like you? Well it's that time again.. the end of a quarter.. but it doesn't have to be as bad as all that! Why not look at it as a clean slate, a time to reflect and check in with your business? BAS time can actually be used to your advantage!
BAS time
Here is a quick checklist to get you BAS ready and some tips to make this time a solution NOT a problem!
1. Make sure all your invoices are in your accounting software - both purchases and income
2. Record all your petty cash in your accounting software
** TIP, did you know you can take a photo on your smart phone and upload your petty cash (and even purchases from your credit card or bank account) and attach them to the transactions in Xero?! NOW YOU CAN THROW OUT ALL THOSE LITTLE BITS OF PAPER!
Upload files
3. Check your clearing accounts and suspense account - are they are $0? If not, what's in there that can be reconciled?
4. Payroll processing, check all the payruns have been processed through your accounting software to capture all the PAYG tax
5. Reconcile all your bank accounts and credit cards
** TIP, check your end of month balances match your bank statements and remove any "unreconciled transactions that shouldn't be in there!
6. Run your reports and cross check them
- Profit and Loss (to check your expenses are all in there and the wages match)
- Balance Sheet (to check your PAYG and GST liability balances)
- PAYG summary report (to check the wage and PAYG figures)
7. Review the GST audit or summary report and make sure all the GST is correctly accounted for on all Capital purchases and expenses for the quarter. This is a good time to check the accounts items are reconciled to as well, i.e. Capital items are not recorded as expenses, etc.
Now, I said you could use this time to your advantage... but how?
Getting organised can save you time and money and keeps you on top of how the business is tracking! So why not use this time to:
- Review your reports and analyse your business' position
- Look at your business objectively and see what changes can be made to streamline operations and reduce costs
- SET YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEXT QUARTER
- keep them simple and measurable... you will see what a difference a goal can make to performance when you have something to refer to!
- Clean out that pile of papers sitting in that "in tray" - while you are scan and uploading receipts why not scan all your invoices in and store them in the cloud? Once they are there, backed up and secure .. why hang on to them? RECYCLE!
Now you are armed and ready to tackle the end of the quarter!
Have fun ;) and happy BAS time,
Lakiesha
Boss Lady & Chief Empowering Officer
