Bookkeeping to some, is a bit like doing the washing up….  it can be dull, boring and is never done.

If you feel this way about your business books then you must act fast and employ the services of a good bookkeeper, at prime entry we offer a fixed price bureau service, just contact us for a free quotation..

On the other hand if you have a keen interest in keeping the books of your business, then you must follow some basic principles.

• Firstly you have a statutory obligation and responsibility to do this job well, the penalties for not doing so include:  (and we genuinely see this happen to people every year!)
  • Not knowing how your business is performing, and thus potential failure and bankruptcy
  • Being investigated by the Inland Revenue and fined
  • Being struck off and banned as a director
• Bookkeeping is the recording of transactions as they occur, these transactions are recorded in the books of “prime entry”.  You need to identify the type of mechanism to record your Sales and Purchase Invoices, Money in and Money out.
  • This can be a traditional hand written ledger or cashbook
  • A spreadsheet
  • A computerised bookkeeping system
    • The most popular in the market place is Sage and many others like it, but in the hands of a poorly trained operator it can prove useless
    • We obviously recommend our own software, so please click on the link to the right for a 30 day trial
• Whatever system you choose you must get the correct training to record the data correctly and then perform the key reconciliations
  • Bank reconciliation
  • Cash reconciliation
  • Debtors control
  • Creditors control
• If you are registerd for VAT you must take the time to study and identify places where you can keep up to date with knowledge on your specific industry, www.businesslink.gov.uk or www.direct.gov are 2 very useful sites.  Failure to do this could cost you hard cash, by not declaring the correct figures.  Make sure you understand the importance of Cash Accounting schemes and if they apply to you or not.
• From your bookkeeping records you will start to build up some good data about the past, from sales analysis to overheads, using this data can help you prepare a budget and plan for the future
• If you are thinking about raising finance now or in the future, the recent banking crisis now means that you will not even get past the first hurdle with any lender unless you have up to date accounts, management accounts and a detailed business plan, cash flow and budget.

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