The Case for Involving a Professional in the Early Stages of Setting up Financial Records

Most software programs, including QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online, are marketed to be out-of-the-box solutions for financial record-keeping. However, as I've seen over the years, financial records can be seriously compromised if not handled with care... which actually starts with the beginning processes of setting up the company file.

For instance, I've found that good basic set-up of a company's chart of accounts requires a basic fundamental knowledge of bookkeeping basics - a concept which is generally beyond the scope of most average people's knowledge base.

Conversely, individuals with an advanced knowledge of accounting fundamentals can often compromise the set up or subsequent data entry! For example, some CPAs are tempted to enter every transaction as a journal entry, when QuickBooks is designed to be a transnational program using standard workflows such as entering invoices, receiving payments, entering and paying bills, grouping deposits and entering them as they appear on the bank statement.

Even setting up the items list to track inventory, non-inventory, and special two-sided items is not an intuitive process for someone who doesn't possess enough knowledge of the software / platform used... It's critical for those individuals setting up the company file to understand how these components work in the background to provide the financial data needed, as these items are the foundational elements used by the accounting program to generate the needed reports that owners use to make sound business decisions on behalf of their business to include requesting loans, remitting taxes on time, filing accurate returns, and handling cash flows in and out of the business.

That's where someone like me can be a valued asset... As a Quickbooks Certified ProAdvisor at the Advanced Level in both Desktop and Online platforms, I can set up the software from scratch, clean up a giant mess, or perform needed tuneups in between. It's actually more cost-effective in the long run to have someone like me set everything up correctly in the beginning... when the problems get worse over time and become too large to handle, cleaning up the mess later on costs nearly 3-4 times the amount it takes to set everything up correctly in the first place.

If you're interested in set up or clean up services, or if you're interested in engaging in a file check-up to gauge the health of your QuickBooks file, then contact me today!