The Magic of Three
Three is a magic number: there were three little pigs, three blind mice, and of course, three stooges (shuffle-on Curly!)! Today I offer you my three favorite business tips.
1 Don’t get personal
Commingling may be a great thing when you are making margaritas, but when it comes to your business books it can be the equivalent of a really bad morning after a few too many. Let me take this opportunity to offer you this sober advice – if you do not already have a separate checking account for your business – run, don’t walk to your friendly neighborhood bank and open one. This is the easiest way to keep all the financial aspects of your business separate from your personal ones.
2. Keep good records of your business transactions
Shoeboxes are overrated – at least as a place to keep your business records although they will often reveal fabulous wonders if you are anywhere near a Nordies.
Consider investing in inexpensive accounting software such as QuickBooks or use a spreadsheet such as Excel to keep track of your bookkeeping. The accounting software has the added benefit of providing you with financial reports, assisting you with reconciling your bank account, and generating customer invoices.
It is also a good idea to keep paper (or scanned) copies of the original documents for your expenses including bank statements, copies of checks and expense receipts.
3. Keep a mileage log
Many personal expenses are reimbursable such as driving your personal car to a convention or from customer to customer and yes, even to Starbucks if you are meeting a client or networking with one of your fab wibbie sisters. It is important to keep track of the dates of your trips, your mileage, and the purpose of the trip. This log and your notes can come in to play if you need to prove your mileage reimbursement in the event of an audit.
Let’s make sure that our business records reflect the professional business women that we all are!!
I know! Sometimes you think they should have named it “SlowBooks” instead of “QuickBooks”. Despite the fact that they would not sell many copies with that name, there are ways to make QuickBooks put the petal to the metal.
