5 Signs Your Books Need a Clean Up Before Year-End
5 Signs Your Books Need a Clean Up Before Year-End
November is here, which means year-end is getting closer. If bookkeeping has fallen behind or you haven’t taken a close look at your financial reports lately, now is a good time to make sure everything is accurate before December 31.
Here are five signs your books may need a clean up:
1. Your bank balance doesn’t match your bookkeeping software.
Your bookkeeping balances should match your actual bank and credit card statements. If your software shows $15,000 in checking but your bank shows $11,500, something needs to be reviewed. Missing, duplicate, or incorrectly recorded transactions could be the cause.
2. You have uncategorized transactions piling up.
Take a look at accounts like Uncategorized Income and Uncategorized Expenses. Transactions sitting there haven’t been properly classified and could affect the accuracy of your financial reports.
3. Your Stripe or PayPal activity isn’t recorded correctly.
Payment processors can make bookkeeping a little more complicated. If a customer pays $1,000 and you receive $970 after a $30 processing fee, both the sale and the fee should be properly recorded. Payment processor accounts should also be reviewed and reconciled.
4. Your Accounts Receivable includes old invoices.
If your books show customers still owe you for invoices that have already been paid, cancelled, or written off, your Accounts Receivable may not be accurate. Reviewing older invoices now can help clean things up before year-end.
5. Your Balance Sheet has balances that don’t make sense.
Unexpected negative balances or numbers that simply don’t look right are worth investigating. They could point to missing, duplicated, or incorrectly recorded transactions.
November is a great time to catch bookkeeping issues before year-end and tax season arrive. Clean, accurate books give you a clearer picture of your business and make it much easier to prepare for what’s ahead.
Think your books may need a clean up? Email Leah at [email protected] or call 1-928-880-2616 to learn more about getting your books back on track before year-end.
