Small business accounting bookkeeping software

An optional Gusto payroll add-on to calculate pay and deductions, pay employees, and simplify compliance. Its simplicity and scalability make it one of the best online accounting software options available. In fact, it recommends the best accounting solutions based on your industry, company size, and unique business needs. Create and track invoices, track and forecast cash flow, accept payments, automate admin, manage inventory , track expenses, and more.

Add multiple users such as employees to your account, as well as share real-time access with your accountant at no extra cost. While this tool is designed for small business owners that need to add team members, it also works well for self-employed individuals with or without employees. One-time and recurring invoicing, online and offline payments, bank transaction reconciliation, automatic tax calculations, reports, contractor management, and more.

With such a wide range of functionality, this tool provides just about everything you need to get control of your business finances now and keep control of them in the future.

Not only can you get back hours of your life with a hands-off bookkeeping and accounting solution, but you can rest easy knowing that your books are error-free. While software can drastically reduce the time you spend keeping on top of your books, remember, they do still take time to manage. Often, this is time that would be better spent focusing on other aspects of your business. In many cases, professional services may be a better option than DIY bookkeeping and accounting.

A professional bookkeeper can save you even more time than software and ensure the level of accuracy you need to keep your small business running smoothly. We're an online bookkeeping service powered by real humans. Bench gives you a dedicated bookkeeper supported by a team of knowledgeable small business experts. Your bookkeeping team imports bank statements, categorizes transactions, and prepares financial statements every month.

Get started with a free month of bookkeeping. This post is to be used for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, business, or tax advice. In this guide, we cover everything you need to know in order to do accounting for your small business: What Is Small Business Accounting? Keeping an eye on payables and receivables. Preparing financial statements and reports Filing for tax returns Keeping track of all the above using different spreadsheets, or even physical folders can become time-consuming and tedious really fast.

Double-Entry Bookkeeping Double-entry bookkeeping is the most used method of accounting. As a result, changes are recorded on both two accounts. They include cash, accounts receivable, equipment, etc. Increase Decrease Expenses are the cost of the consumed assets. They include rent, interest expense, etc. Decrease Increase Liabilities are claims against assets. These include accounts payable, wages payable, notes payable, etc.

Decrease Increase Revenue is cash received from business activities such as sales, dividends, services, etc. Decrease Increase Chart of Accounts The chart of accounts is a list of all the different accounts, separated by type. Instead, an account is a record of all financial transactions for a certain type.

The 5 accounts used in accounting are the following: Assets - What your business owns e. Liabilities - What your business owes e. Balance Sheet The balance sheet provides a financial snapshot of your business at a specific date. Nowadays, there are three main accounting systems you can use as a small business owner: Manual Systems e. Automated Accounting Systems e.

Asides from saving your small business a ton of time, it will also increase your accounting accuracy. Decide on a Bookkeeping Method There are two main bookkeeping methods, single-entry bookkeeping and double entry-bookkeeping. So, you might be wondering… Which one bookkeeping method do you need for your small business accounting? So, how do you track expenses? Keep every receipt in an organized folder or file. If you are using accounting software, then just store digital copies of all your receipts.

What counts as a business expense? Business meeting in a cafe or restaurant. Requires details on who attended the meeting and for what purpose Out of town business travel. Again, requires details on the purpose of the business travel. Any inventory purchase. Office rent. Home-office deductions. If you work from home, you can deduct part of your rent, electricity, internet, phone bill, etc All expenses are split in two different types of costs in accounting: Direct costs. These costs are directly related to providing your service or producing your product.

Indirect costs. These are also known as overhead costs. These are costs that are not directly related to creating the product or service, but are needed to keep the company going. Make Journal Entries Whenever you make a business transaction, you need to record it. All of these transactions are recorded in the general journal.

A journal entry is usually composed of the following columns: Reference number - a unique number to identify each transaction. This is also known as a journal entry number. Date of the journal entry - the date in which the journal entry was created Accounts - the two accounts that were affected by the transaction Debit - the amount that was debited Credit - the amount that was credited Journal entry description - the description of the journal entry.

This has to be as descriptive and accurate as possible. In practice, a journal entry is created, and it is automatically mapped to the correct ledger account.

Setup Payroll A company is nothing without its employees. Go on the Department of Labor website and on your state's website to check this information. You can use this number to identify your business to the IRS as a taxpayer and employer. Make sure to receive an I-9 Form from each employee before hiring them. The I-9 Form is a document that proves that the employee is legally able to work in the United States. This system allows you to pay your payroll taxes online.

You have to make the employer tax payments every time you pay your employees - which can be semi-monthly, or monthly. Keep track of the names, addresses, and how much you are paying each independent contractor.

If your business is based in the US, you might need to file a form for each independent contractor at the end of the year. Employee Benefits Once you have hired your first employees, you'll need to figure out what kind of employee benefits your business can afford to offer. The exact rates can be found on the IRS website. State Withholding Taxes - This depends on the state in which your business is located.

Keep in mind that you have to file the necessary paperwork with your state's tax departments to pay employment taxes. Local Withholding Taxes - You'll also have to pay a tax withheld from the employee's wage based on the city or town where your business operates. Types of Unemployment Taxes Under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act , businesses pay unemployment taxes for workers that have lost their jobs.

These types of taxes are different from the above in that they are paid by you, the employer. State Unemployment Tax - You need to calculate and pay this every quarter. The payment goes to your state tax department. Worker's Compensation Insurance - This is more of an insurance fund rather than a tax.

It covers any injuries that may happen to employees at work. Does all of the above seem a bit complicated? When we talk about offline payments, we are referring to payments done with a check, or cash.

Why do most businesses prefer getting paid online? Borrowing Money or Raising Funds When starting your small business, chances are that you will need to borrow money at some point.

Build Business Credit A ton of small businesses nowadays can benefit from building their business credit, as it can open up a lot of new funding opportunities in the future. The better your relationship with vendors, the higher the chances of you avoiding to pay upfront for the goods or services. Your goal should be to establish a line of credit or invoice payment terms like net or net with vendors that report those payments to business financial reporting authorities.

Get a business credit card. Especially if you own an e-commerce business or a dropshipping store, you have to get a business credit card. You can use the credit card to pay for things like inventory or any other business expenses.

The only thing you need to keep in mind, is to make sure to repay everything on time! Make sure your personal credit is just as good. When borrowing money from a bank, your personal credit score will matter just as much as your business credit score. Make sure to do all personal credit card repayments on time. Keep all the sales invoices! Accounting Pricing. Job Costing. Manage Bills.

Track Expenses. Manage Contractors. Track Miles. Sales Tax. Tax Deductions. Mobile App. Get the reporting, expense tracking, and financial tools you need to stay organized and on track. Bookkeeping Overview Bookkeeping Overview. Automate bookkeeping tasks. Work from anywhere with online bookkeeping. Stay organized for tax time.

Access and automate reports. Make better business decisions. Expense tracking made easy.