Streamlining is the process used to simplify or eliminate unnecessary tasks to improve the efficiency of operations in business.
Taking the time to streamline your operations will result in:
- Fewer errors and delays
- Reduce costs
- Reduce hours spent on administrative tasks
- Reduce STRESS
Here are some simple but effective ways to streamline your business.
Streamline Your Bookkeeping
Make any place your place of business using CLOUD ACCOUNTING
Cloud accounting software:
- Keeps all your data encrypted and secure in one place
- Accessible and synced across all of you and your team’s devices
- Allows you to check current finances anytime, anywhere
- Allows you to collaborate with your team and advisors
- Eliminates the need to stay on top of data backups
In the event of a flood, fire, or other natural disaster, your data stays safe and you avoid downtime.
Working online enables the easy flow of data allowing you to seamlessly connect to the CRA, your bank, and other third-party apps.
Free Up Hours Every Week with Digital Receipt Capture
We use Hubdoc to easily capture, upload, and store receipts, statements, and other supporting documentation.
- Electronic receipts are easier to file, retrieve, store, protect, and match with the bank feeds.
- They are less likely to be lost, faded, damaged or destroyed.
- Digital receipts help merchants avoid the cost of printing customer receipts and help reduce the environmental impact of paper receipts.
- Digital receipts speed up the checkout process, saving you time!
- Most importantly, digital receipts are CRA compliant.
How it works with paper receipts:
Before the receipt flies out the open window, you spill hot coffee on them, or they fade from sitting on the dash in the sun, follow these simple steps:
- Make a note on the front of the receipt to indicate the purpose of the purchase.
- Scan the paper receipt with your smartphone in an app like Dext, and it automatically uploads the information into your accounting software.
- File the receipt in a portable folder in your vehicle.
- Empty the folder at the office weekly.
Streamline “CashFlow” with Electronic Invoices
Get paid faster AND look more professional.
– Customers receive online invoices immediately, cutting out the delivery time of non-digital methods. You can track when the customer received and viewed their invoice. It stops second-guessing: did I actually send that invoice?
– Adding a link in an invoice to pay it online is convenient for customers and good for your business’s cash flow.
– Online invoicing can integrate with accounting programs and consolidate record-keeping into one location.
– Save time and money tracking which invoices are paid, prepping new invoices and mailing them to customers.
– Digital invoices help your business avoid the cost of printing and postage along with reducing the environmental impact of paper invoices. It can be another way to get your marketing message to the customer!
**There is a potential for lost emails or being flagged as “junk mail.” Please ensure your customers have added your company email to their email contacts or Whitelist.**
What Are Email Whitelists, & How Do You Get On Them?
Streamline “CashFlow” with Customer Payout Options
– Offering various payment methods, cash, check, e-transfer or credit cards, your business can attract various customers and allow your customers to make larger purchases.
– Accepting e-transfers and credit cards saves time and travel expenses to the bank during business hours.
– Having more payment options, now when you are smaller, you can get the bigger contracts because you aren’t worried about cash flow.
– Online payments can integrate with accounting programs, reducing time spent matching payments to invoices.
– Digital payment options help businesses avoid the cost of printing and postage along with reducing the environmental impact of paper documents.
Streamline with Separate Business and Personal Bank Accounts & Credit Cards
Although setting up a business bank account can take extra time, there are benefits. Separate accounts will help you file more accurate tax returns and is the foundation for building your business credit, enabling you to apply for credit cards, lines of credit and loans in the business name rather than your own. The clearer your business records are, the simpler it will be to apply for credit if needed.
Separate bank accounts won’t guarantee fewer audits. However, separating your business transactions and providing a clear audit trail will make the process less painful. CRA can just say “no” if they see personal and business mixed, and they will deny everything.
Separating your business and personal transactions can save you both time and money. Eliminate the need to spend hours separating statements and receipts at month-end or tax time. You are isolating your company receivables and payables, allowing accurate cash flow planning and financial report preparation.
As a Sole Proprietor, using your business name and CRA number for all transactions lets your clients, customers, peers and suppliers know you are serious about your business and demonstrates professionalism. Portraying a professional image may favourably impact the terms of your account with your suppliers.
Often there are no other options but to use your personal credit card until the business credit has been established. Be diligent to keep all receipts, attach them to the statement, and explain on the receipt what it’s for… Take a picture, or email it to Hubdoc with a description.
Separate and dedicated accounts and credit cards for your business isn’t just a milestone moment in the growth of your business. It will set you up for success down the road.
Streamline with Trusted Professionals
Trusting a bookkeeper for your growing business makes good business sense. Bookkeepers aren’t there to judge how many Starbucks coffees you buy, they are just there to deal with the numbers, help you understand them, and how you can make the money work for you. Spend your time doing what you do best, and your bookkeeper will do the same! Bookkeepers love what they do, and you should be doing what you love, too. Be a business owner. Do what business owners do. Lead your company to bigger and better profits, and your bookkeeper will record your success.