How?
How to keep your business records is a truly deep subject. Not like deep = profound, but instead, like deep = a deep pile of info!
Fortunately, this topic has become vastly simplified in recent years due to software that saves normal people -- like us -- from ever having to comprehend double-entry accounting! Double-entry accounting is laden with thorny mathematical mysteries and logic-defying nomenclature that makes sense only to trained accountants and bookkeepers.
Double-entry accounting is the basic system of bookkeeping. Each transaction is entered in two places. The two entries mathematically balance each other. If certain sums aren’t equal, it shows there’s an error somewhere that has to be found and fixed.
Small business accounting software now takes care of all that for us in the background, so transparently that we normal mortals don’t have to worry about it. We see and use a friendly front end that’s so clear, it’s a no-brainer (almost, anyway).
It’s said that Scott Cook, the founder of Intuit, the company that makes Quicken® and QuickBooks® software programs, was the first to have the concept that regular people should be spared from having to learn double-entry accounting just in order to do their bookkeeping. So hats off to Scott!
Simplify and automate
As business owners, all we are trying to do is be sure that we and our business keep adequate records to substantiate where the business’ money comes from and goes to. The simpler and more automatic we can make this process, the better -- we have other important things to do with our time -- things like marketing, making sales, satisfying customers and sleeping.
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