Many things go into making financial reports that are accurate and trustworthy. Everything from proper bookkeeping, to workflow management, to clear financial processes that are held accountable and followed by your team, and even software integration all play a big role in whether or not your reports are accurate, up to date, and reliable enough to make important business decisions from when it comes to the success of your company.
Proper bookkeeping is a major component when it comes to having accurate and trustworthy financial reports. Before you can even begin to look at your reports, you want to make sure you have all your day to day bookkeeping processes identified and followed by everyone in your company. Staying on top of your bookkeeping and having a handle on it daily is needed in your business to keep eyes on transactions happening within your company. If you only do bookkeeping once a month, it’s too late to catch things such as fraud, or go back and try to figure out what certain transactions were for, or what job they should have been allocated to. If you ever find yourself lost in the shuffle and frustration of managing your own bookkeeping, always keep in mind that a team of experts can help! Our team offers services in monthly bookkeeping such as:
- Accounts Receivable (Billing and all income transactions)
- Accounts Payable (Vendor invoices and all expense transactions)
- Payment Status Requests
- Financial Management
- Month-End Review
- Custom Reporting
- Payroll
- Reconciliation
- Check Requests
- Receipt Management
Bookkeeping and workflow management go hand in hand when it comes to trusting your financial reports. Workflow management is the cornerstone of your business’s success. Identifying your bookkeeping needs is step 1, step 2 is building processes and workflows around those things, and the third component is managing the pieces and steps so you can ensure there are no holes in your tracking. Things like receipt management and supplier bills need a workflow so that it is clear what needs to be done with each of those types of transactions. Within each process for both payables and receivables you need clear accountability and consistency within these to make sure everyone is following the workflow you have put in place. Once you have identified the steps to your daily bookkeeping tasks, then you need to create a process for month end reviewing or as we say in the accounting world ‘closing your books’. Monthly reconciliation is necessary for all banks and credit cards. Reconciliation is when you are comparing your company’s transactions for an account against the source document i.e. the bank or credit card statement. This is the KEY to double checking you have accounted for all money going in and out of your business.
You may be offering great services, but if you’re mismanaging your money, you’re going to run into trouble. Even the smallest errors can have a ripple effect on the rest of your company. It’s important to consider getting guidance from professionals who are experts in construction accounting and workflow advisory. Reaching out to a team of professionals would allow you:
- A workflow created by an expert who knows finance, knows the software, knows the construction industry and can make it work for you
- A guide to your entire financial process, including:
- Accounts receivable workflows
- Accounts payable workflows
- Month end workflows
- Reporting workflows
If you have a handle on all your bookkeeping processes and are running your books through a full month end check, you should be able to pull accurate reports that help you understand the health of the company. If you find yourself still questioning your reports, get to the root of the issue and identify why your gut is telling you something’s off. If your gut is telling you that your income is off, then dig into your receivables process and make sure you have all the proper steps in place so nothing falls through the cracks.
This brings us to software integration. How does software integration play a role in financials you can trust? It allows a streamlined process to automate your processes and save you time and frustration when it comes to managing your finances. Software integration can make managing your projects and finances so much easier and more efficient once you have everything set up and working correctly. And that’s the key…the right setup and a correct integration is crucial to having your software work for you and your company. Just like the other important points in this post, the right team of experts can help you reach the proper level of software integration that further grows your business by providing you with financial reports you can trust. This includes:
- Connect your project management software with QuickBooks®
- Create the correct mapping between your software
- Ensure financials move to the right location and are classified correctly
- Cost code consultation
Don’t underestimate the power of process and putting the time in to understand everything that makes up those line items on your reports. Your reports will have so much more value when you review your numbers and you are clear and confident at how those numbers on your profit and loss and balance sheet came to be. Having financial reports that you can trust is important for the success of your business. It allows you to see a clear picture of where your company stands and it also allows you to make the necessary adjustments and help your company to pivot if needed.
