Q&A: How can I keep track of what my customers owe me?
I want to keep track of what my customers owe me and spend too much time logging managing the process. What can I do to help me make the process easier and save me time?
The best solution is to use an an online cloud bookkeeping software, such as QuickBooks. QuickBooks will keep track of everything you are owed, provide the overall number of your debtors, and will also have the detail as to what each individual client or customer owes you, what invoices are due and when they are paid, reconcile your invoices and mark them as paid automatically.
This may sound like a lot of work to set-up but you will be glad to hear that data can be easily migrated to QuickBooks from various sources and other software.Once set-up, it really is just a click of a button and you can see how much all your clients or customers owe saving you time and aiding view of your cash flow position at any given time.
Mirandus offer access, set-up and training on QuickBooks free as standard to all our clients, and as advocates of cloud accounting, we appreciate the gift of more time spent with our clients on meaningful discussions on business ambitions focused on budgeting, forecasting and growth.Here are a few more reasons why you should be switching from the spreadsheet to a cloud accounting package, such as QuickBooks:
All your business transactions located in one place. You can link as many of your business accounts to QuickBooks as you need, including bank accounts, PayPal, credit cards etc, with transactions pulling through in one location on your cloud accounting account, allowing for both a detailed and 'big picture' view of your finances at the same time. Furthermore, you can access your QuickBooks online account via your handheld devices. Mirandus offer access to your QuickBooks online account via the Mirandus App, where it also possible to capture receipts and add them digitally to your QuickBooks account seamlessly with Receipt Bank. Can an excel spreadsheet do that?
Summary reporting. QuickBooks also has tools to generate various reports to show you how well your business is doing over whatever time period you need, both historic and forward forecasting. Quickbooks can generate reports at a click of a button as the data required to do this is already pulled through into the software. Excel can produce similar reports, but each report would need to be created individually from scratch. QuickBooks gives you back valuable time to focus on your business.
Accounting. QuickBooks is built solely for the purpose of supporting your accounting needs, so mathematical formulas for calculating your tax liabilities are already built in the software and little need to know these yourself. With excel, you would need to know the formulas to be able to carry out your accounting analysis. In QuickBooks, you or your accountant are set-up immediately to be able to analyse and review transactions for tax purposes, in real time.
Audit trail. The benefits of having your business data, historic and present, accessible at any time on the cloud, means you always have an audit trail of all business activities. You are able to pull in data at whatever historic date you wish, whereas on excel, for the same equivalent level of information, you would need to spend huge amounts of time for set-up. Remember, HMRC can request backdated business transactions at any time and you are legally obliged to keep for at least the last 5 years of data.
Never lose track of current versions. Unlike a 'master spreadsheet' where, if more than one person is using it, it's hard to keep track of the latest version, QuickBooks solves this problem and multiple users can be signed into your QuickBooks online account at the same time.
Any time, any place. Being able to use QuickBooks while mobile on any handheld device will give you a competitive edge and maximum efficiency to you as a business owner, accessing the data you need at any time, in any place, globally, secure in the knowledge that your business transactions are secure via the cloud.
Mirandus Accountants can help
Mirandus Accountants are your local accountants and tax advisers in Farringdon, Holborn, Clerkenwell, Blackfriars, Old Street and also Edinburgh, providing accounting services, tax returns, corporation limited annual accounting and trusted tax adviser, national and international advise.
You can contact us for a tailored solution to your unique business circumstances.Whether you are an individual, freelancer, contractor or you run a small or medium sized business, sole trader or limited company, we can help to minimise your tax burden with our tax planning and tax advice services. That way, you can ensure you are only paying what you should be and nothing more.We strongly recommend you speak with a tax and accounting specialist like Mirandus Accountants, who can provide expert advice for your business and personal tax planning needs.
