If you’re like most business owners, you probably love making money more than you do bookkeeping. But there are many reasons to get excited about setting up the best system for you and your business. For starters, a good bookkeeping system will help you keep your finances in order and make it simple for you to make proposals and sales. When tax time rolls around you will also have a much easier time gathering the information you will need to file your taxes. There there are plenty of different bookkeeping systems to choose from, so you can find one that best suits your needs. In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of the most popular bookkeeping options and help you decide how to set yourself up for financial success.

Bookkeeping is really just about keeping track of money that comes in and goes out. You just need to track your income and expenses. There are two main types of bookkeeping systems: accounting software and paper-based ledgers. Accounting software is by far the easiest. In theory, you can do your bookkeeping in a journal or spreadsheet but in practice, it can be a bit more complicated without accounting software because you need to track specific details about what each transaction is for. This is especially important when you file your taxes. If you are dealing with a high-volume business keeping track of this information manually may be a nightmare. Most businesses use Accounting Software because it’s just easy and because it can save you a lot of time and headaches for very little money.

If you are a small business or just starting out, having a bookkeeping system is practically a must because you really should focus on growing your business and minimize administrative tasks as much as possible. There are so many affordable options to choose from like QuickBooks for example which starts at less than $15 a month and can track your transactions from your bank and debit or credit cards for you. The program can also help you generate estimates and invoices and allows you to take payments online. Bench also offers a similar plan for startups that includes support from professionals that can help you categorize your expenses for you and provide you with reports you can use to make decisions about your business.

This is a list of some other popular Accounting Software according to Investopedia:

Even the best Accounting Software will require you to do some initial setup configurations and management tasks daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly depending on your business and volume of transactions. If you don’t want to deal with bookkeeping at all or if you have a complex financial situation, you can always outsource your bookkeeping needs to a professional altogether. This is likely the most expensive option but it frees up your time so that you can focus on other aspects of your business. You can check out our directory for a list of companies that provide full-service bookkeeping starting at $399/month. We recommend going with whatever Accounting Software your bookkeeper recommends since they will be the ones handling the work day to day.

The best bookkeeping system for your business is ultimately the one that works best for you and fits into your budget. If price is no object, then hiring someone to do it for you in-house might be the way to go. They will likely guide you in the best accounting software based on their experience and your need. If you already have accounting software when you bring someone on, you can always train them in it before considering making a switch.

At the end of the day, what really matters is that you are tracking your income and expenses so that you can make informed decisions about your business. If you are using Accounting Software, there are a number of reports that will give you insights into where your money is going and how much profit you are making. You can also track this information manually in a ledger but it will take more time to compile the data into usable information. No matter which system you choose, just make sure it works for you and provides the information you need to run your business effectively.

What bookkeeping system do you use for your business? Let us know in the comments below!