I know accounts can be boring at times…
I know for some people, doing accounts is not the most exciting task in the world and yet, neither is doing the dishes, making the bed, doing the ironing, doing the shopping or exercising (at least not for some…). But we do see the benefits in doing all these activities, and if we really don’t like them we can always delegate, although not sure we can delegate exercise!
When we run our own business we usually spend most of our time helping others and very little time on helping ourselves. Which means that our accounts are usually the last thing we give our attention to. I know you likely feel this way as most of my clients do and occasionally I get carried away on a project, or am busy with clients thus leaving no time to do my own accounts!
However, Margaret thankfully keeps up to date with the day-to-day book-keeping, as she does for a handful of our clients. And although I will check the bank regularly and analyse the occasional expenditure I acknowledged recently during my annual reflection that I wasn’t doing my own weekly cashflow updates or monthly accounts, despite doing them for most of my clients. I even found myself filing my own annual accounts on the last day for filing last year. I knew what I owed in tax so that was ok, but the filing itself was not done and that is not how I like or want to be. I like to be organised.
This has spurred me into planning my diary for the year to 28th February 2018 (yes that’s right 2018!) scheduling in my own monthly accounts, weekly cashflow updates and payroll as well as those of my clients. I did this for two reasons: I hate not knowing how things are financially and got caught unaware last year. Embarrassing to admit but last year I was unable to pay myself a salary one month although thankfully I made up for it the following month. Furthermore, I hate the pressure of last minute filing for myself and my clients (more about this in next week’s blog…).
I always find my clients encounter similar experiences which is why this year is all about going back to basics with masterclasses and creating toolkits (essentially a manual and a spreadsheet which may upgrade to an app in time) for those who can’t attend masterclasses. The toolkits and masterclasses will allow you, the business owner, to ground yourself easily by encouraging you to check in with your accounts more regularly. I will also be offering monthly and quarterly management accounting packages soon to everyone so that we can get your annual accounts done earlier.
The question I would like to leave you with is:
What needs to happen for you to get on top of your accounts, if anything?
Love Helen x
To find out more about the masterclass, click this link: www.hmcoaching.co.uk/masterclasses
To find out more about our new Toolkits, click this link: www.hmcoaching.co.uk/toolkits
@ HM Coaching Ltd
