Spring Clean Your Books

By: Rachel Raupp

Spring has finally arrived! The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and…your books are a mess. It’s time for some major spring cleaning! Just like you do with your house, you also need to do with your books. Leave your Lysol where it’s at, instead grab some coffee and get to cleaning!

Your books need to be accurate, so everything you’ll be doing will to be to maintain accuracy and up-to-date records. Are your accounts reconciled? Do your books match what’s in your bank account? If the answer is no, it’s time to make these yes’s. Verify that all expenses are assigned to the correct accounts. This will help you avoid any “oops” moments you may run into in your books.

It would be helpful to have any important documents readily available. This could anything from bank statements to invoices, credit card statements to receipts. Anything that you’ve recorded in your books or need to record, have within an arm’s reach.

Imagine you’re cleaning out your closet and organizing everything by color. Now apply this to your books. If you don’t have things customized and categorized, what are you waiting for?! This only makes this easier and more organized for you. It breaks down what’s going on where and shows you which areas of your business are thriving and which are bringing you down. BUT, make sure everything is categorized correctly. Look for any mistakes and clean them up.

Review monthly/quarterly financial reports and compare to prior months/quarters. Are there any large changes? Why is that? Look at your checks and expenses - do they have a payee name? Review your stale dated checks. Why haven’t they been cashed yet? Figure out the reason.

These are just some ways to kick off cleaning up your books! We wish you patience and success on this endeavor. Happy cleaning!