Essentially, bookkeeping means recording and tracking the numbers involved in the financial side of the business in an organised way. It is essential for businesses, but is also useful for individuals and non-profit organisations.
While it may seem obvious, detailed, thorough bookkeeping is crucial for businesses of all sizes. Seemingly straightforward, bookkeeping quickly becomes more complex with the introduction of tax, assets, loans, and investments.
Tracking the financial activities of a business is the truest purpose of bookkeeping, meaning it allows you to keep an up-to-date record of the current incoming and outgoing amounts, amounts owed by customers and by the business, and more.
Bookkeeping has a long history as an integral part of accounting. Traditionally, it involves ledgers, charts of accounts, and a tedious double-entry system.
Annual accounts preparation
Tax returns for individuals and companies
Prepare and submit VAT Returns
Completing the prime bookkeeping entries on your accounting system
Manage your businesses PAYE requirements, calculating deductions, providing payslips and meeting HMRC filing requirements
Prepare management accounts for your use to give an up-to-date indication of the business results
Prepare budgets and cashflow forecasts for your use to assist with decision making and planning
Reconcile bank accounts to ensure all entries have been accurately recorded
Reconcile your customer/debtor ledger so that you know exactly what monies are outstanding from your customers
Reconcile your supplier/creditor ledger so that you know what you owe and can confirm supplier statements
Take your records to Trial Balance stage before they are handed over to your accountant meaning that the time they spent preparing the accounts is reduced
Liaise with your accountants to answer any questions that they may have and to provide them with the information that they need to prepare your Accounts and Tax Returns