Accounting Bookkeeping Needs
Bookkeeping Basics
Now, assuming that you know a little bit about accounting, what do you think you need to do to manage a business's money ? Let's brainstorm ! To help us get started let's see what a bookkeeper does and what questions we need answered.
What does a Bookkeeper do ?
A bookkeeper has many duties or tasks that they perform. Watch my short video presentation to learn what their duties are.
Questions
Now let's use our common sense to list some questions that we need answered and reports needed in order to properly manage a business by making good decisions (not in any specific order).
- Are we making or losing money ? Profit/Loss Report
- How much do our customer's owe us ? Accounts Receivable Report
- Are our customers paying on time ? Accounts Receivable Aging Report
- How much do we owe our suppliers ? Accounts Payable Report
- Are we paying our suppliers on time ? Accounts Payable Aging Report
- What's the balance of our cash accounts ? Cash Report / Bank Reconciliations
- Do we have adequate cash to pay our future bills ? Cash Projections/Budget Reports
- Do we have all the necessary equipment ? Equipment Report
- How much is our payroll expense ? Payroll Reports
- Are our salaries and wages comparable to our competitors ? Payroll Reports & Analysis
- What's our inventory level (if the business requires inventory) and is it adequate to meet our sales needs ? Inventory Reports
- What are our total assets, liabilities, and equity ? Balance Sheet
- Are we timely filing and paying our business taxes ? Tax Returns and Reports
- How do our actual costs compare to our budgeted costs ? Budget Reports
- Are profit margins adequate ? Sales Reports
Based on a bookkeeper's duties (tasks) and our list of questions, what tasks do you think should be included in accounting software ? Whether we use a manual or computerized accounting system, we need the methods to record, process, and generate the needed reports. A manual system accomplishes this mainly by using the General Ledger and Special Journals while a computer system uses Modules.