{"id":68861,"date":"2021-01-04T09:30:03","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T07:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/?p=68861"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:48:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:48:30","slug":"hate-bookkeeping-6-tips-pain-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/hate-bookkeeping-6-tips-pain-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Six tips to make bookkeeping hassle free"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMoney Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSix tips to make bookkeeping hassle free\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Keir\t\t\t\tKeir Thomas-Bryant<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you love your business but hate bookkeeping, help is at hand. Follow these six tips to spend less time doing admin and more time doing what you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re like most small business owners, you probably don\u2019t usually feel a thrill of excitement at the prospect of doing the books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from being boring and time-consuming, it isn\u2019t the reason you went into business in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the long run, if you want to make your business venture the success it deserves to be, you\u2019ll need to get on top of your financial admin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are six tips for beating the bookkeeping blues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Ditch unnecessary paperwork<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

OK, so not all paper will go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paperless office is like science fiction\u2019s flying car: always predicted but never quite arriving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, it would be hard to argue you need all that paper in your office when there\u2019s software out there that can tackle bookkeeping more efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problems with paper are legion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gets lost or misfiled; coffee gets spilt on it; you use it to scribble notes on when a client calls and then accidentally throw it away; it\u2019s hard to locate documents when you need them (such as at tax filing time), and it\u2019s difficult to keep up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you can do<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The more you record digitally, the quicker it is to access and the less time you spend doing the books<\/mark>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use accounting software<\/a> for your bookkeeping (yes, that\u2019s right, a good accounting solution will allow you to do the books and a lot more too) to declutter your workspace of all that paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Digitise your receipts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you added up all the time you spend gathering, sorting and filing receipts you\u2019d regret not spending it on more productive tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest problem can be finding them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you run a business on the move, they could be anywhere. Once they pile up, they\u2019re difficult to tackle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting on top of them takes a larger and larger chunk out of the day, so you put them off endlessly. But avoiding managing your expenses will lose you money in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll probably end up paying more tax than you need to, and it\u2019ll play havoc with your financial forecasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you can do<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By scanning and digitally recording receipts for just a few minutes every day, you can keep on top of them, keep the business finances up to date and save time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can use a smartphone app<\/a> or a desktop scanner, included in many modern printers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Invoice on time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to become so busy with the day job that invoicing gets forgotten<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t let this happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to keep cash flowing into your business, you need to invoice as soon as the work is finished and accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you can do<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If a job is particularly large, you could figure out how to invoice some of it in stages to ensure you can keep your business running while you work on the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good accounting software will support invoicing<\/mark>, flowing data from purchase orders, automating repetitive tasks and avoiding the time-consuming and error-prone rekeying of data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many clients will automatically pay within the agreed period, usually 30 days. But some might need a nudge, which brings us to\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Make sure your clients pay on time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No one likes chasing clients for payment. After all, these are the people you need to win work from to keep your business growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t want to upset them<\/a>. But if they\u2019ve agreed on a fee and an invoice schedule, and accepted your work, they should pay on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some might miss payment dates by mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others might try hanging on to their cash until they really have to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There may be some people who are in real financial trouble and are desperately short of cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you can do<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Look for accounting software<\/a> that will track when invoices are overdue, and either alert you, or send an automated invoice reminder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes an automated reminder is all it takes, relieving you of the unpleasant task of having to call to chase up your money<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s worth keeping in contact with your clients too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a regular dialogue with them means that if they are struggling to make payment on time, you have advanced notice and can take steps to make sure you\u2019re not stuck when it comes to payday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Automate your tax<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No small business can avoid submitting tax documents \u2013 and that means finding and collating lots of different bits of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that information is all over the place \u2013 in paper receipts and invoices \u2013 this becomes an annoying and burdensome task. You\u2019ll probably put it off till the last minute, causing you extra stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you\u2019re the kind of person who forgets to keep receipts, or accidentally throws them away, you can end up paying more tax than you have to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you can do<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Much of the taxation process can be automated by the right software tools, if you keep your accounting up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you keep records throughout the year in your accounting software, your tax return<\/a> needn\u2019t be a pain when the time comes to file it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Bank in real time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why wait for a bank statement to learn if your finances are fighting fit or at death\u2019s door?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internet and mobile banking make it easy to stay on top of your transactions as they happen \u2013 and with the right software, those transactions can be automatically reconciled with your business accounts so everything adds up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you can do<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most banks offer online access accounts and a good accounting software package will automatically pull transaction info from your bank account and reconcile it with your accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can be proactive in managing your cash, spending, investments and borrowing. This will help your business access finance in the future and set it on a path to growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10 tips to transform your productivity<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Discover how smart technology can reduce the time spent chasing late payments, inputting receipts and compiling reports, so you can spend it on improving your business.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload your free guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Get a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you hate bookkeeping, don’t despair. Check out these six tips to ditch unnecessary paperwork, get paid on time and automate your tax.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":280,"featured_media":68730,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[313,318],"business_type":[2],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[15,16],"imagine_tag":[64,68,83,73,85],"coauthors":[405],"class_list":["post-68861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-matters","tag-bookkeeping","tag-cloud","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-za","author_name":"Keir Thomas-Bryant","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/07\/sage-bright-path-chosen-100-scaled.jpg","imagine_tags":{"64":"Cloud accounting","68":"Grow your business","83":"Growing business","73":"Money Matters","85":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice South Africa","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/68730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68861"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=68861"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=68861"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=68861"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=68861"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=68861"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=68861"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=68861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}