How much money are you owed by customers at this moment? How much more do you invoice in the summer compared to the winter? What is your biggest cost each year?

These questions are answered by having your books up to date and then also being able to use the figures to give you answers. Most businesses record their transactions in software now, but you need to know how to set the software up and how to use the reports. Putting the numbers in can sometimes feel like that they are lost from view when you press save…This is because entering figures is only one part of the job.

The right reports will answer the questions you have about how best to manage your own business. In most software packages, you tailor reports to tell you what you want. Do you want to look at months or quarters? Do you want to look at all the figures or just the key ones? The reports need to be set up to answer your needs.

Leaving the books to be reviewed once a year by the accountant also has the added nightmare of having to answer questions about something that happened over a year ago when the accountant asks. If the books are updated each week or month, you are never having to look back and try and remember what you were doing with the business at the time you paid for something.