One effective way of reducing your accountancy bills is to do a big chunk of the work for yourself and for many people this means managing their expenses more effectively.
The common theme for these Yorkshire Accountancy blogs is to highlight how simple steps can make your business more effective but also how adapting your practices will bring control to your bookkeeping.
Obviously, you can pay an accountant to do absolutely everything to do with your accounts, or even take on a cheap bookkeeping service to take away what most consider to be a headache.
I have to say, with years of accountancy experience, that learning a few simple tricks pays off in the long run because looking after your books really isn’t that difficult.
I appreciate that for many people the extra paperwork involved in looking after your books can be a huge hassle when you’re trying to keep your business running, particularly if you are a start-up.
However, like most things in life it’s these little jobs which when left unattended then become big jobs which are time-consuming and distracting.
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This is my quick guide to help you claim, record and manage business expenses.
The most important question at this point is: what are business expenses?
In a nutshell, a business expense is a cost which you have paid yourself but which the business can reimburse you for.
For instance, if you used your personal money to buy a train ticket so you can visit a business client, or you bought stamps at the Post Office, then these are considered to be out-of-pocket expenses and can be reclaimed.
You must remember to get receipts for every purchase so that a valid claim can be made and that there is a paper trail of where the money in your business is going.
Yorkshire Accountancy can help manage your expenses
Because the receipts you collect build-up quickly, you should get into the habit of recording any expenses you incurred on a daily basis and review them weekly with a view to claiming them either that same week or at the end of the month.
There are software packages available which will allow you to use your mobile phone to take a picture and submit that picture as a valid receipt of any claims which is very useful as it helps prevents paper from cluttering up your work processes and also means you can do it instantly rather than scratching around trying to find the receipt that you are looking for.
Yorkshire accountancy recommends doing your accounts every week
We have noted at the Yorkshire Accountancy blog that most businesses can become more efficient and save themselves time, money and expense by balancing their books every week.
This process shouldn’t take too long and certainly shouldn’t take more than two hours and will bring long-term benefits to you and the business itself. By recording expenses to be claimed on a daily basis you will also save yourself the headache of trying to piece together what expenses you incurred at the year-end; which can be many months afterwards.
If you’re looking for a cost-effective accountancy service, or even some helpful advice, here at Yorkshire Accountancy we are more than pleased to share our experience and I would welcome an opportunity to discuss what we can do for you and your business.
