Accounting Records

[bossy45]

Hey y'all!!! I am trying to get a good account record keeping going for my practice but I don't know where to start. I have peach tree software but I have found it very difficult to use. What are you guys doing for your record keeping. Do you know of anything simpler or easy that I can do. All i need really is to have  a record of what money i am bringing in, what bills i am paying, nothing complex. please help. ??? ??? ???

 

[Natalie L]

Hi Rosina,Please note, I am not a trained accountant, but I have helped a few businesses with different computerised accounts.One thing you could use for simple record keeping is Microsoft Excel (if you use Windows, it probably came with your computer).  Excel doesn't make you do any one thing or another for book-keeping, but gives you a nice easy format for entering rows and columns of figures, and working out totals.You would want to make one worksheet for money coming in from sales (let's call it the sales ledger), and one for money going out on purchases (the purchase ledger).  For each item you buy/sell, you would make an entry in one of your ledgers with the date, the amount of money, who the money is from/to, and what item was bought/sold.  You might also want a column for the sales tax (or other tax part) if you need to record that separately.To do the proper double-entry system, you would also make another worksheet for a 'cash book'.  The advaneforum.xxxe of this is that the totals of the three worksheets should always balance out, so you can check that everything is recorded properly.With a cash book, everytime you sell anything, you make two entries - one to show the item going out (in the sales ledger sheet) and one to show the money coming in (in the cash book sheet).  Similarly, when you buy something, you show an entry in the purchase ledger to show the item coming in, and one in the cash book to show the money going out.  That way, the cash book will always show the whole picture of what money is left in the business, and every penny that comes in or out should be recorded in two places.  To check that everything balances, you just add up all the entries in sales ledger, minus all the entries in the purchase ledger, and this should equal the total of the cash book.The cash book entries might also show whether the money is literally in cash, or a cheque or credit card payment, etc.  That way, at the end of each month, you would be able to reconcile the cash book to your bank account, and to the 'cash in hand' in your business.Later, you would get on to making a balance sheet and a profit/loss account, but I won't get into that - accountants do this kind of thing for fun ;-)

 

[esa8025]

Accounting Records

I use QuickBooks and love it. Very easy to use.

 

[vogonsrock]

I agree, Quickbooks is really very easy to use.  I've used it for years.  There is also a great program that is super easy to use for tax purposes...www.nitrotaxhelper.com  I've used that one for the past couple of years also.  It's for small businesses as well as internet businesses.  (My accountant loves the fact that I make his job so much easier!)  Also, it's always a good idea to check with your tax professional.  He/She may have a great recommendation for you.  Good Luck!  

 

[Tamprio]

Accounting Records

Thank you all for the help with my accounting issue. I think I will go with Jay's excel idea for now. I am pretty comfortable with excel and the method is simple enough. Thank you so much Jay. I think later on I will look into getting the quickbooks software. Thanks everybody and I wish you all success. Stay up!!!!!