Weekly Bookkeeping Checklist
If you don’t have a bookkeeper to handle all of your financial transactions, such as recording income properly as well as paying vendors, employees, and contractors, this list will help you take care of your financial responsibilities in a smoother way.
First, choose if you want a digital way to keep your bookkeeping in order, or do it with pen and paper. Digital platforms such as QuickBooks have the ability to sync with all of your online banking (as well as PayPal, Shopify, etc), and most versions are based in their cloud so you can access from most devices without needing to download software. I have used QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks online for 10 years in small businesses, it can be very intuitive once you spend time learning the tricks.
When you’re looking at the options, make sure you use the version that will work best for what your business will need in the near future (6-11 months). This allows most of the steps to be completed right away, so when you’re busier than you are now it’ll be easier to handle. I highly recommend using a digital platform that will compile comprehensive reports based on your income and spending so you can track what did well, where you might want to change things, and where you’re wasting money.
Now that you’ve chosen the system for your bookkeeping, let’s go through my recommended checklist for weekly keeping track of everything.
Weekly Bookkeeping Tasks
Transfer all income to your business bank account from sources, such as PayPal, Shopify, and other shops you make income from.
Label all income. If you’re using QuickBooks with the added features of syncing with your income sources, this will allow you to easily label what the income is for (shirts, monthly subscription box, wedding photoshoot deposit, etc).
Label all expenses - and categorize. By tracking where your spending your money, and having categories, you will see what you may need to start charging customers for if you’re not currently doing so, as well as look into money saving ways to keep the quality up but reduce the price.
Pay yourself - You need groceries to survive, pay yourself! What you determine to be your value is up to you, but you need to at least pay for your essentials of living such as groceries.
Pay employees - Make sure you’re taking care of your people! Money is one of the hardest things for some people to talk about, but it will definitely cause problems if you’re not paying your employees as agreed.
Pay credit cards for business expenses, and make sure any personal expenses you’re putting on that card are paid from your personal bank account.
Tally up how much taxes you owe for this period, and set that aside either in a savings account or earmark it to be only spent on taxes.
Federal and state tax rates are different, and you may live in a county/city that has added taxes you need to pay.
Transfer 1-5% of net profits to business savings, whatever you can afford after all of the above is done. This is your investment back into your business, allowing you to grow into your goals. Having money set aside for goals such as hiring more people, leasing a bigger space, or buying new equipment will allow you to make those kinds of decisions as well as let the banks know you’re smart with your money if you need a business loan.
