Start-Up Accounting

Start-ups are an integral part of a vibrant economy. They contribute significantly (disproportionate to their size) towards new idea creation, new technology and exciting products and services. Since Start-ups work in an environment of low resources and limited funding (generally), all their focus is geared towards the core activities of a business. This could be either sales or marketing or research and development.

Support functions like accounting, IT, and HR are usually make-shift arrangements or ignored completely. However accounting is one function that can be ignored at one’s own peril. Good Accounting is the means to a greater end- informed decision making and better controls. Information gleaned from a good set of books can give valuable insights into- how assets can be utilized, how sales can be analyzed and how expenses can be managed and inventory be streamlined better.

For example, an accounting system of an equipment manufacturing company that generates revenue trends for different income streams can lead to useful insights like service revenues are growing faster(though on a smaller base). Similarly, it can probably also show that service revenues are far more profitable than product sales. Hence the company can work towards selling more service contracts (and subsidize the equipment sales). Accounting system can give you more information that just how much money your firm makes!

Given the importance of accounting systems in decision making, its’ important that an entrepreneur always works towards establishing better accounting systems in his/her company , right from the early days.

I have listed below the five guidelines for start-up accounting:

1. Buy for the near-future rather than the present

Choose an accounting package that can not only meet your immediate needs but also handle the expected growth in near future. I have seen many companies use a basic version of accounting software, only to spend much more money doing a tedious migration to a larger software after some-time.

Thumb-rule- buy a accounting software which is one version higher than the version that just meets your current needs.

2. See your accounting costs as an investment, not as an expense

Most start-ups use a semi-qualified internal member or an over-worked part-time bookkeeper to keep their books. The perceived simplicity of popular accounting software further owners use semi-qualified bookkeeping help. These strategies can back-fire frequently and substantially! I have handled many such assignments where the expenses are all messed up and entered in hundreds of different accounts, assets are booked as expenses and owner’s personal expenses are mixed with business expenses. The effort and costs of this post-mortem correction is substantially greater then the time taken to create a new set of books.

A good set of books from the initial days goes a long way towards managing things when the big growth happens. They also help a start-up keep tab of its most precious asset- its cash-flows!!

The increased popularity of outsourcing accounting provides start-ups with a cost-effective and valuable tool to have their cake and eat it too-great accounting at an economical price.

3. Spend time with your accountant to chart out a good accounting system

Areas include creating a structured chart of accounts, establishing important internal sales, purchase, disbursements and expense reimbursement procedures. Setting up a chart of accounts is a very important accounting activity for a start-up. Poorly created chart of accounts with insufficient/duplicate/multiple expense accounts create a big head-ache (and a costly accounting prescription to fix it).

Plan out the revenue items and accounts, expense items and accounts(and sub accounts), and handling of credit card and merchant account transactions clearly. It helps to create a check-list and ask a lot of questions. For e.g. do you need to track freight along with cost of goods sold(a direct cost) or as a general expense(indirect cost), do you want to book rep commissions under sales or as expenses, do you want to track sub-contractor expense separately or under direct costs. You may have to go through a few iterations before you arrive at a good fit.

4. Don’t do yesterday’s accounting the day after!

Many start-ups handle accounting on a rewind/flash-back mode. They realize a few weeks/month before the tax-deadline that their books are only a set of papers and bank statements that have not been touched for quite some-time. This results in a last minute dash to book everything and somehow create a set of financials for the tax-preparer to work on. This hurried processing can result in costly omissions and errors. For e.g. expenses are hurriedly dumped in some general accounts with little memo/additional information keyed in. Many of these expenses could be tax-deductible but your tax-preparer wouldn’t know till he sees them!!. He is very likely to miss them in the maze of the general/dumping grounds(accounts).

5. Establish reporting signage in your business highway

Reports are like a dashboard in a car. They can serve multiple purposes. A Cash-flow report like a fuel gauge indicates when cash is running out, income statement like the speedometer tells us whether there is momentum in the business and balance sheet is like an odometer tells us the complete story so far!.. So have a good dashboard and look at it regularly as you drive along the business highway

Financial Accounting ACG2021 Spring 2008 Chapter 1 Crosson SFCC
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Accounting for Freelancers

When you start out as a freelancer, the accounting requirements are usually pretty simple. You know your expenses and how much you are earning. However, as your business starts to grow so do your expenses and earnings, so it would be a good idea to take a look at software for accounting to take care of all your bookkeeping requirements.   Good accounting system software will help you keep track of your expenses and who owes you money.

Accounting Plan

The accounting plan for your business will take into consideration the following factors:

•    Will you hire an accountant to handle your money matters or would you purchase accounting software?
•    What type of bookkeeping system will you use?
•    What kind of business bank account would you open?
•    Will you use a business credit card? How will it be used?
•    How often do you plan to send out the invoices and what are the terms of payment?
•    What type of system will you use for filing receipts and recording deposits?

If your business has just started, you might not want to spend money hiring an accountant. What you can do is seek out advice on proper ways to set up your books. If the money is really tight, you can do the basic accounting yourself. Just collect all the receipts and paid invoices and remember to update your ledger on a weekly basis. Then at the end of the year you could hand over your ledger, receipts, and paid invoices to an accountant.

The major problem with doing the accounting yourself is that you would not know until the end of the year how your business is performing. You might be under the impression that you have been making a profit, while in reality you are taking a loss.

Accounting System Software

What you can do is invest in software for accounting to keep track of all your finances. Accounting system software will not only help you save time and money, but will also give you an insight into the true picture of your business.

Take A Class To Help You With Basic Accounting

There are many of us who do not know anything about accounting. Terms like cash flow, credits, debits, financial statement, etc. confuse us. It’s a good idea to join a class that would help you learn the basics about accounting. There are many simple accounting software programs that deal specifically with accounting for freelancers or small business accounting. Understanding the basics would help you maintain your bookkeeping the proper way.

Overall, without a proper accounting system in place, your business cannot expand. So setting up an accounting system should be your topmost priority.

Mariela Perez-Simons, provides  SEO (search engine optimization), Internet marketing, website design, and website translations in the Greensboro / High Point / Winston Salem area.
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We recommend Merchant’s Mirror accounting system software, the next evolution in accounting for many businesses. It breaks the mold of traditional accounting systems and challenges what we usually think of when we refer to bookkeeping software.