There is no more important factor than financial records when it comes to operating a successful business, regardless of whether running a large corporation or working as a sole trader. Unless you’re a natural, it’s the kind of work that you’ll need bookkeeping course training for in order to complete it properly.
Accurate financial records are key to being able to forward plan, invoice, pay suppliers and take care of all those other obligations you have. If this is something you struggle with, then this blog is for you, as we’ll be showing you just how easy it is to take accounting courses online, but not before we give you five handy tips to guide your bookkeeping.
Tip 1 - Make Bookkeeping a Priority
It will come as no surprise that small business owners are busy people, with lots of responsibilities, however, what you can’t do is prioritise everything else over your financial record keeping. It can be easy to procrastinate and keep procrastinating, but it’s something that will bite you later if you do. As you’ll learn on any good bookkeeping course, things get much more complex when not kept up to date - particularly around tax time!
Tip 2 - Keep Your Personal & Business Finances Separate
Something else that accounting courses teach you is to make sure you keep your personal and business financial affairs separate. If you choose to mix the two together, it gets much harder to differentiate what needs to be counted and what doesn’t and that’s a complication you just don’t need.
Tip 3 - Know Your Obligations
Ok, so not many people want to sit down and research their tax obligations, but it’s vital that you’re familiar with what’s required at the very least. There are various different rules involved with business taxation, which may differ a lot from your personal tax requirements. The tax office won’t take ‘I didn’t know’ as an answer when you fail to meet those obligations, so it’s vital to learn them.
Tip 4 - Keep an Accurate Backup of Your Records
Another morsel of knowledge you’ll pick up on a bookkeeping course is the wisdom of keeping backups of your financial records. Long gone are the days when best practice involved just keeping paper copies, as you’d be lost if anything happened to them.
Keep either computer-based backups or take advantage of cloud-based accounting services and this important documentation will always be there when you need it.
Tip 5 - Carry Out Periodic Reviews
As accurate as your records may be, it still pays to carry out periodic reviews of your accounts - usually on a quarterly basis. This will give you insight into your revenue trends and highlight any issues that need to be resolved. Just a few hours a week will ensure that you’re in sound financial shape and give you an up-to-date status report of how your business is doing.
Get the Knowledge You Need With Online Learning From OCA
Having accurate financial records is fundamental to allowing your business to grow, which is why accounting is so important. The great news is that it’s never been easier to develop your knowledge in this area thanks to online learning like our range of bookkeeping courses that have been created in collaboration with industry experts.
Just like all of the training we offer at OCA, it’s modular and video-based for easy digestion, CPD-approved and able to be paid for in manageable instalments. So if you’d like to find out more about this or any of the courses we offer that cover 20+ industries and sectors, visit us today at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au.
Alternatively, give us a call on 1300 611 404 if you have any questions for us before you enrol. Whatever your needs are, our team will do their level best to give you what you require.
