 "Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business. Transactions include purchases, sales, receipts, and payments by an individual person or an organisation/corporation" ... well so says Google. That sounds simple enough, right? You buy something, you record it. You make a payment, you record it. Just about anyone could do that, surely? Perhaps even your office junior? Or your partner? Or your retired uncle that did an accounting course in 1998. Well, Business Owner, times have changed. Bookkeepers have changed. The landscape has changed and maybe there's a few things you need to know. We are innovators. We now work at the cusp of new technologies that continually enter our space - there's new accounting software programmes, endless updates within those programmes, and the constant arrival of new apps and programmes that integrate and automate. We see a new payment system, or inventory programme and we immediately think of you. Would it add-value to your business? Is it worth the cost? How would it work with your reporting needs? And we need to be nimble to manage the ways that technologies impact on our business model. We see Optical Character Recognition on our horizon and rather than panic, we embrace the technology and reconfigure how we work. We are out there keeping abreast of it all, watching tutorial video's late at night and attending webinars in our lunch hours - all because we care about you and your business. We are life long-learners. Nothing in our world is static - it's always changing. We work hard to ensure that we understand the impact of changes from the Government, ATO or NES. For those that desire to be BAS Agents, there's another layer of learning and education. We deep-dive into the world of GST, superannuation and payroll. We navigate the intricacies of the GST system and ensure your business is claiming correctly. We try to understand complex employment awards and seek advice on your behalf when we don't know. We are collaborators. Forget the stereotype of us sitting awkwardly in a dark corner sorting receipts. We hold discussion groups, we create forums, we attend workshops and develop on-line group resources to share knowledge and support each other. We find something that works in one industry and let others know. We see something our colleague is doing and wonder which client it might work for of ours. We find a new app troublesome - we spread the word. But most importantly, we truly care about your business. Way more than you may ever realise. We ponder things late at night. We day-dream at the breakfast table about how this or that might work. We work on weekends to get your BAS lodged on time. We ask colleagues if there is a better way for you. We keep you compliant. We don't ask you to sign a Letter of Authority because we're being overly finicky - we ask you because that's the law. We say you need to have a receipt, because you do need to have it. We say that you can't do that in a pay- run, because we know you actually can't - and that for all of these there may be serious consequences. So dear Business Owner, and Google for that matter, we are so much more than mere recorders of transactional history. We are a valuable and educated resource, an ally for your business. We're motivated and tenacious - but of most importance, we are on your side. Gabrielle Osborne (BAcc) is a small business specialist who loves to help business owners focus on what they do best. An innovation enthusiast and determined problem-solver, Gabrielle can change your life too. e: [email protected] m: 0410 546 000 
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 I spend my days looking at the Xero files of business owners. Xero is an amazing accounting software programme that helps business owners be more efficient, keep on top of their finances and enable them to make better business decisions in real time. Let me be clear, there is no doubting that. But like anything, there can be some traps and pit falls for the less experienced when starting to use it. From my experience, here's the top 4 things I see new users get wrong that can result in inaccurate files, the need for someone to conduct a fix up and, well, a solid dash of frustration for all. 1. Applying payments to an invoice AND coding from dashboard. In some other programmes a payment needs to be applied to invoices to mark them as paid. This is not the case in Xero. With the automagical bank feeds, items can be matched and reconciled once the payment hits the dashboard. There are times, for example when doing batch payments, where a payment is applied before the payment hits the account. In reality, payments can be applied to individual invoices if that's the preference of the business owner or their Advisor- but where people get in to trouble is marking as paid AND coding the payment or deposit straight from the dashboard. Here's an example: Client pays two of your sales invoices $1000 + $2000 - happy days. Business owner finds those two invoices in their unpaid invoices and scrolls down and marks them as paid individually. They then code the $3000 on their bank feed dashboard directly to their revenue account. Effect - overstating GST collected, or in hurty terms, giving the ATO the tax owed twice and I am yet to meet a business owner keen on doing that. This error is easily identified by looking at the Account Transactions, and clicking on Status. If you've got pesky orange transactions you might have a problem (NB: it doesn't always mean an error to see orange items, eg it is completely normal if you've done a batch payment and the money hasn't shown on the dashbaord).  2. Not doing a Reconciliation Report each month or quarter to see unreconciled items. The bank feeds are an awesome way to keep on top of reconciling, but things (such as point 1 above and point 3 below) can sneak in without being realised if a Reconciliation Report isn't done on a regular basis. It can be found under Manage Account > Reconciliation Report (below). This is another way to find the pesky orange transactions. It's also a great idea to check the bank balance is correct against the actual bank balance and publish a copy of the Reconciliation Report.  3. Using the (uh-mazing) Xero Touch app but paying from the wrong account. The Xero app is a great way to snap your receipts and allocate to an expense account on-the-go BUT I've noticed many business owners don't realise that if they have more than one account, they need to choose the correct account that the receipt was paid from . Otherwise, it all arrives beautifully with a copy of the receipt attached BUT to the wrong account, creating more, you guessed it... more orangeness. There are work-arounds and ways to fix but life is much easier if you choose the right account in the first place.  4. Not engaging the services of a Certified Xero Advisor. Get it right from the get-go. An hour or two assistance with a Xero Advisor that can ensure your file is set up is correctly, and that you understand how to drive it is money well spent. It's far better to get it right in the first place, than wait til you have one red (orange) hot mess of a file! You can find your nearest Xero Advisor by clicking on this link here Disclaimer: I have nothing against the colour orange. I rather like orange.  Gabrielle Osborne (BAcc) is a small business specialist who loves to help business owners focus on what they do best. An innovation enthusiast and determined problem-solver, Gabrielle can change your life too.
e: [email protected] m: 0410 546 000 |
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