Behind on Bookkeeping? Here’s Your 5-Step Catch-Up Plan
Is your business’s overdue bookkeeping keeping you up at night? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Falling behind on your financial records can feel like a mountain of stress 🗻 but guess what? It’s actually easier to get everything up-to-date than you might think! We’ve crafted a straightforward, 5-step catch-up plan that can get you back on track.
As a busy entrepreneur, we know you don’t have the time to dedicate five straight days to catch up your bookkeeping. That’s why we’ve broken this process down into bite-size steps that you can accomplish within one day. Whether you plan to dedicate one day a week for 5 weeks, or crank out this tasklist over a couple of warrior weekends, we want this process to be manageable for you. We know you have a busy workload, and nobody wants their bookkeeping to get in the way of their other business operations.
Ready to prioritize your business’s financial health? Let’s get started!
👉 DAY 1: Gather + organize your financial records
Collect all financial documents, including invoices, receipts, bank statements, credit card statements, and expense reports from the past six months. Sort these documents chronologically and categorize them according to income, expenses, and any other relevant financial activities.
👉 DAY 2: Categorize transactions in QuickBooks
Attach documentation to all expense transactions in 2024 and categorize the transactions. Then, match any outstanding customer payments to their corresponding invoice. This is also a great time to send any payment reminders for overdue invoices.
👉 DAY 3: Reconcile bank and credit card statements
Beginning with January 2024 (or the last un-reconciled month in QuickBooks), reconcile all bank and credit card statements. This is likely going to be your most time-consuming (and potentially complicated) task during our 5-day challenge--if you're not familiar with how to reconcile a bank account, google "QuickBooks Online Reconciliation" and an article from QuickBooks called "Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online" should populate at the top of the list.
👉 DAY 4: Generate and Review Financial Reports
Generate financial reports such as profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the past six months. Analyze these reports to gain insights into your business's financial health and look for cost-saving opportunities. If you're unfamiliar with the three types of reports we just mentioned, we have a helpful blog post on ABHbookkeeping.com that goes into more detail!
👉 DAY 5: Plan for the Future
Now that you've caught up the first few months of the year, it's a good idea to schedule monthly or quarterly bookkeeping sessions. Give yourself more time than you need, and make sure to eliminate any potential distractions when the time comes.
Voilà, you’re done! ✅ By following these five steps, your bookkeeping will be in tip-top shape. If you ever feel like you’re in over your head, don’t hesitate to reach out. After all, you didn’t start your business to spend all your time bookkeeping—but we did! Let us know how we can help you run a smoother, more profitable operation, and remember: everyone deserves a bookkeeper.