The last several weeks I’ve been learning how to use Quickbooks to keep track of my money. Now, I’ve been in business now for almost 7 years, and I’ve known a little about quickbooks, and how to do a few things, like pull reports and stuff. But when it comes to the register, I’ve let my partner deal with that end of things.
Well, we have need of some growth, and the banks are being difficult, like, they want an accurate chart of accounts? Pbhth! Who needs that? I sure don’t… I don’t know why they want to know what I have and where when I am asking for a million dollar loan… Doesn’t make any sense to me.
Anyway, I started trying to figure QuickBooks out because, well, frankly I’m the one spending the money, I should probably be the one to enter the expenditures into the system. My partner is great, don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t know all the little things that go on, and where things need to be allocated so our P&L (Profit and Loss for those that don’t know what that is… It’s basically the sheet that tells you how much you made and how much you spent, and where, and what you have at the end. I’ll write another post on that someday and link it here) actually looks like we know what we are doing. Because we are a part of a franchise group, it also helps when it comes to comparing with our sister companies- making sure all our incomes and expenditures line up. Payroll for example, is a lot easier to compare when all the paychecks are put in the right categories.
As I’ve been struggling through, it has occurred to me several times that this would be a lot easier if I had been paying attention this whole time, and entering things in the registers as they happened. Now I am working on forensic accounting, and it is a pain in the patootie. Seriously, it stinks. Trying to figure out which checks and cash got put into which deposit and into which account, is no fun. But it’s needed, so that what QuickBooks says and what my bank account says are a little closer than $80,000 off.
Looking back, it is really important to make deposits regularly, and to be paying attention to the cash and checks. Staying on top of credit card deposits is really key as well.
Basically, learn QuickBooks early, and stay on top of things from the beginning. It makes things a lot easier in the long run.
DaveGrigsby.com 