Business accounting late into business

[Nura]

Hi,

I started my business about a year ago and have been procrastinating the accounting part. Now everything's all over the place and I am not sure where to start. I don't think I can get all the records... Can I start fresh? What do I do? Please help.

Thank you.

[Freelancier]

You get a small business accountant. Today. And then follow their instructions to the letter.

[bjay99]

Get an online service like quickbooks, freshbooks, etc. Go through the process. I would fill in as much as you can and then move forward.

[jamesray50]

Hi Nura - Lots of new business owners put off doing any bookkeeping/accounting until they need to do their taxes. You don't say what type of business you have so it's hard to say exactly what you need. An accounting program would be a good place to start. Do a search online to find one that will accommodate your needs. Most accounting programs will allow you to download your bank and credit card transactions. This will get most of the financial information into the accounting program but there will most likely be additional information that will be needed. If you have inventory, startup costs, fixed asset purchases, loans you want to enter all that information. Your goal is to enter all income and expenses, you want to minimize your tax liability. And, depending on what type of reports you want for management purposes you do not need to enter every single transaction for 2014. You can enter summary information by month, for example, total deposits that was income, total deposits that were from loans, etc and total expenses that were business expenses, total expenses that were personal expenses or payments on loans, etc.

It will take a little bit of time to do all this but once you are done you will be so relieved. And plan on doing it monthly this year to reduce your stress level next year.

Good luck!

[Adel Landman Steyn]

I am a certified Business Accountant in Practice in South Africa.
I specialize mostly in management consulting (business plans, due diligence investigations, valuations, internal control evaluation and design, strategic planning and so forth), but it is useful for my personal business plan to be allowed to sign off financial statements for non-listed entities.
It is quite common for small business owners to let their accounting work heap up.
As another poster suggested, the best option is really to contact an accountant for assistance especially if there is a tax deadline.
Some taxation authorities require copies of the signed off / independently compiled / audited financial statements. The requirements may vary by the specific tax jurisdiction. Unfortunately, your location is not available as part of your profile.
There is still some additional work required before a trial balance resembles a full set of financial statements (including reports and notes).
There are a number of accountants and bookkeepers who focus specifically on assisting small businesses. Ask around, obtain references and contact them. You may find that it may not be that much more expensive to let them deal with it for you, than it would be to purchase a license for some accounting programs.
However, depending on the size of your business and whether you purchase and sell on terms or not, some banks have also developed accounting packages for small businesses.
I wish you all of the best.
Adel