Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist for San Antonio Businesses

When you are running a business, there are many tasks that you need to handle. You always need to pay attention to the quality of your products and services and the user’s experience and ensure that you are making the right decisions. You may also need to handle basic branding tasks, such as finding the right way to design business cards and include it in your budget for marketing & advertising expenses. With all of these on your mind, bookkeeping often gets pushed aside. When you are working with San Antonio bookkeepers, they will ensure that they follow a monthly routine to keep your records accurate. Let’s look at some of the things on their checklist. 

First: Record All Financial Transactions

Recording all financial transactions is always the first task on the local bookkeeping services checklist. No matter what kind of business you have, all transactions must be recorded. When we say all transactions, that refers to sales, expenses, liabilities, and assets. These not only need to be recorded, but also recorded accurately and in the right category. The five main categories are: revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity. Categorization matters because they provide clear reports and ensures that you will be able to claim all legal deductions. Without categories, financial transactions would get mixed up.

Inaccurate records lead to bad financial and business decisions. Moreover, they could lead to legal trouble, such as penalties. Accurately recording financial transactions is the backbone of bookkeeping, which is why it’s the first and most important task on the checklist. There is no accounting without correct books, and accounting is needed for every successful company. If you have a business in San Antonio, you probably already know the importance of professional local bookkeeping services. Now, let’s see what some of the other tasks are on the checklist, as each one is essential.

Second: Review The Outstanding Invoices

You would be surprised to find out how many people forget about outstanding invoices. Outstanding invoices refer to a bill that has been sent to the customer but has not yet been paid. In the books, an unpaid bill counts as an asset, because it’s expected that it will turn into cash. Tracking these kinds of invoices is important if you want to have a clear view of the company’s cash flow. If a bill goes unpaid for more than 60 days, the chances of it being paid drop close to 0. This is where most businesses go wrong. By not following up on unpaid invoices, you are practically allowing the customer not to pay.

The first thing that professional bookkeepers will teach you is to follow up on outstanding invoices. Sending clients reminders about the invoices encourages them to pay. This will eventually reduce the amount of money you will be losing because of outstanding invoices. Moreover, professionals will also identify recurring late-paying customers, so that you are aware of the issue next time you sell to them. If you haven’t tracked outstanding invoices until now, if you decide upon local bookkeeping services in San Antonio, know that they will begin by giving you a count of the overdue invoices.

Third: Reconcile Bank and Credit Card Accounts

Most San Antonio bookkeepers believe that reconciling bank and credit card accounts sits at the foundation to accurate books. For those who don’t know, reconciling bank and credit card accounts refers to comparing your records to those of the bank. This article by Investopedia goes more in-depth into what this practice means. What this bookkeeping practice does is to allow you to check the records for accuracy. If the records match, it means that they are accurate. If they don’t match, it means that a mistake has been made.

So, the goal is to confirm that every payment, deposit, transfer, and fee has been recorded correctly and that there are no discrepancies. When discrepancies are identified, they must be corrected as quickly as possible. But, as you can see, the secret to identifying these discrepancies is to reconcile the bank and credit card statements. If you are skipping this step, it’s almost impossible to see that you have missed or duplicated a financial transaction. This practice also improves the chances of spotting unauthorized transactions. Because of all this, reconciliation is third on the checklist.

Fourth: Generate Key Financial Reports

The fourth element on our checklist is generating key financial reports. While it’s absolutely fundamental to record all financial transactions, not generating financial reports is a waste of data. Financial reports are very important if you want to identify patterns and actually understand how your San Antonio business is performing. You can immediately spot trends and use them to your advantage. But you can also spot mistakes and fix them before they do any more damage. You can also use reports to create budgets for the months to come, based on the money available and what you already know works. Financial reporting tells you if you can pay bills on time, and if the new strategy you adopted is working. The most important reports are:

• Balance Sheet – This report shows what a company owns and owes at a specific point in time. This refers to the list of assets and liabilities.
• Income Statement – Also known as the P&L, Profit and Loss Statement, it tracks income, expenses, and costs, also over a set time.
• Cash Flow Statement – This report shows you how money is moving in and out of the company through daily operations.

Conclusion

Having a business often means understanding all of the tasks that local bookkeeping services in San Antonio will help you with. Their checklist often looks like this: recording financial transactions, reviewing outstanding invoices, reconciling bank and credit card statements, and generating financial reports. All of these steps are considered essential by professional bookkeepers all around the world. By doing all of these monthly, it ensures that your records are accurate and can be used to make reports and good business and financial decisions. Most successful businesses have very good books, which allow them to see the big picture before making a move.