Bookkeeping Essentials For Dummies

Foreword

While reviewing this edition of Bookkeeping Essentials For Dummies, I have once again been impressed with how well Veechi has captured the essence of bookkeeping in today’s world. While some say bookkeeping doesn’t change, what is very obvious (and what Veechi takes care to explain within these pages) is that new technology and changing government regulations constantly drive change in bookkeeping methodologies and practices.

Bookkeeping Essentials For Dummies is a must-read, whether you’re considering doing the books for your own business, as an employee or whether you’re considering bookkeeping as a career. The combination of step-by-step explanations, background information, tips and warnings will help you gain a rapid and accurate understanding of all requirements. Veechi not only explains the basics, introducing essential bookkeeping concepts, but also embraces more complex and advanced bookkeeping topics, including the latest on the rules and regulations involved with working as a BAS Agent.

I first met Veechi Curtis more than fifteen years ago at an MYOB accounting software conference. I was the technical presenter and Veechi was there in her capacity as a bestselling author of numerous accounting software and small business titles. Since then — many years, many conferences and many chats later — it has become obvious to me that Veechi has a passion for sharing her knowledge about bookkeeping and small business in a creative and committed way that always sheds new light on the topics.

I helped found the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) in Australia in 2006. ICB is the largest bookkeeping institute in the world and aims to promote and maintain the standards of bookkeeping as a profession. All kinds of people, with different backgrounds, experiences and qualifications, are involved in ‘keeping the books’. Although some people seek out bookkeeping as a profession, others end up working as bookkeepers almost by accident — which is fine, but without training, they often lack the skills to do the best job possible.

My vision for ICB is to help bookkeepers find information and resources, and access insurance and quality support. Given ICB’s aim to provide bookkeepers with information of the highest quality, I’m very proud to write this foreword for Veechi’s book.

Good luck — and happy bookkeeping!

Matthew Addison

Executive Director, Institute of Certified Bookkeepers

August 2020

Introduction

Bookkeeping has changed enormously since I first started as a bookkeeper in my late teens, writing up accounts by hand in leather-bound journals in my hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland. Accounting software has replaced handwritten books, emails have largely replaced the postal service, and the ability to add up in one’s head is now an anachronistic party trick. However, one thing has stayed the same. A bookkeeper remains a person upon whom most businesses depend.

Bookkeeping Essentials For Dummies aims to be a reference for any bookkeeper. Are you wondering about the difference between an asset and a liability, how GST works or how to calculate an employee’s take-home pay? Then I hope this book can be your go-to guide. I also talk about the major changes that have occurred in the bookkeeping industry in recent years, such as cloud accounting, browser-based software and bank feeds, and how these changes affect the way you do your day-to-day work.

About This Book

In this book, I talk about bookkeeping for all sizes of business, both large and small. I cover essential topics such as how to record expenses or raise customer sales, how to balance a bank account, process an employee’s pay or apply GST correctly. I also explain the basics of employee payroll, and how to generate financial reports.

Because this is a pocket guide, I don’t delve into some of the more complex bookkeeping topics, such as calculating depreciation, working with inventory or making general journals, topics which fall into a grey area between the responsibilities of a bookkeeper and those of an accountant. If you want to know more about these topics, you may want to get a hold of my ‘big’ bookkeeping book, Bookkeeping For Dummies, 3rd edition.

Foolish Assumptions

Because I’m so blindingly sensible, I don’t make any foolish assumptions about you, dear reader. I don’t assume that you have any bookkeeping experience or even that you’ve worked in a business before (although it’s possible, of course, that you’re a bookkeeper extraordinaire with 30 years’ experience under your belt). All I assume is that you are at least vaguely interested in bookkeeping and the results that the process yields.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book you find icons in the margins to help you navigate through the text. Here’s what these icons mean:

gst You find this icon next to stuff relating to GST or taxation (ah, such fascinating topics).

Remember Tie a knot in your hankie, pin an egg-timer to your shirt but, whatever you do, don’t forget these little nuggets.

Tip This icon points the way to doing your job better, faster and smarter.

Warning A pitfall for the unwary. Read these warnings carefully (then you can’t say no-one told you …).

Where to Go from Here

Bookkeeping Essentials For Dummies isn’t a gripping novel to be read from cover to cover. This book is designed (all 13 bite-sized chunks) so you can pick it up at any point and just start reading.

If you’re new to business and trying to set up a bookkeeping system from scratch, I recommend you read Chapters 1 to 3 before doing much else. If you’re trying to figure out how best to organise paperwork and record sales and expenses, then Chapters 4 to 6 are made for you. Chapters 7 to 9 provide a reference for more technical stuff, such as understanding GST, working with payroll or reconciling bank accounts. And finally, Chapters 10 and 11 deal with the topics of financial reports and starting a new financial year, while Chapter 12 provides some guidance about starting your own bookkeeping business and Chapter 13 provides tips for those with the need for speed.

Chapter 1

Getting Started

IN THIS CHAPTER

check Choosing accounting software

check Matching bookkeeping systems to the game in hand

check Understanding GST, working with payroll, and reconciling accounts

check Settling into a certain mindset

check Deciding whether you need to get more training

In some ways, bookkeeping is like cooking up a fine meal. The process of washing and chopping and steaming and frying isn’t much to write home about. What makes everything worthwhile is the outcome: The hot taste in your mouth, the warm feeling in your belly. A good bottle of red simply adds to the fun.

In the same way, adding up receipts and paying bills aren’t the most exciting activities in the world. What brings the buzz to bookkeeping are the results: An organised office, cash in the bank and a set of financial reports that help a business succeed. After all, without a Profit & Loss report, how does a business know how it’s doing? And without a Balance Sheet, how can a business owner gauge their personal worth?

In this chapter, I explore the qualities of a good bookkeeper: Not just someone who can record transactions accurately, but also someone who cares about the financial statements that they generate. This chapter also considers what kind of training you require in order to become a bookkeeper, and what skills you may need to develop.

Deciding What Software to Use

Probably the first thing that a bookkeeper (or business owner, if you’re doing your own books) needs to decide is what software to use. In this book, I assume you’re going to use accounting software, as opposed to recording your business transactions in a handwritten ledger or a spreadsheet. I make this assumption because accounting software is significantly more efficient than any other option, and part of my role in writing this book is to help you do your books as easily as possible.

If you don’t already have accounting software, you will need to decide what product is going to work best for you and your business.

Tip I explain the pros and cons of different kinds of accounting software in Chapter 2. However, one tip I do have is this: Whatever software you choose, ensure this software has bank feeds capability. I explain more about bank feeds in Chapters 2 and 5 but, put simply, bank feeds are a feature that can save up to 90 per cent of data-entry time, and provide a significant efficiency boost for most businesses.

Designing a System to Fit You

After you have chosen your accounting software, you’re ready to set up a bookkeeping system that works in harmony with your business. The first step is to customise your accounts list (often also called your chart of accounts) so that this list reflects the activities of your business. The process sounds simple — and indeed it is — and an hour or two spent customising your accounts is one of the most productive ways you can spend your time. I talk about accounts customisation in Chapter 3.

With your accounts list looking spick and span, you’re ready to start entering transactions.

Getting organised

Accounting and bookkeeping involve so many different bills, receipts and statements that I used to think when I finally left this world for a better place, I’d be buried under a mountain of paper. Fortunately, the paperless office is slowly becoming a reality. However, this still doesn’t mean you don’t need to be super organised about your business recordkeeping.

What you want to create is a system that is efficient, but still complies with the law. On the one hand, storing invoices and receipts in electronic format only can mean less handling of papers; on the other hand, you need to create a system where you can locate a receipt or invoice for every transaction for up to seven years after you lodge a tax return.

Tip I provide lots of tips for getting your paperwork in order in Chapter 4. However, probably one of my biggest tips — and a tip that’s so important that I want to say it right at the beginning of this book — is to ensure that business and personal bank accounts are kept separate. Combining business and personal transactions in the one bank account consumes hours of unnecessary bookkeeping time, causes confusion and can ultimately lead to mistakes. No matter how small the business, open a business bank account and devote this account to business transactions only.

Keeping track of expenses and supplier bills

In Chapter 5, I talk about tracking expenses, supplier bills and supplier payments. This work usually forms the guts of a bookkeeper’s daily or weekly tasks.

I explain in Chapter 5 that the kind of bookkeeping processes you use for a micro business with no employees and not many sales is very different from the processes for a large business with lots of employees, complex inventory and multiple locations.

For smaller businesses, the biggest single step you can take to make bookkeeping efficient is to enable bank feeds. Although bank feeds can’t automate transactions such as raising customer invoices, processing employee payroll or paying suppliers, the automatic import of transactions from your bank accounts makes recording expenses and reconciling bank accounts quick, easy and reliable. (Chapters 2 and 5 talk more about working with bank feeds.)

With larger businesses, I recommend you focus on establishing a rhythm of what happens when. How often do you need to enter supplier invoices, pay bills or generate reports?

My main tip for bookkeepers is to set a schedule for bill payments, and then stick to it. For example, if you have weekly accounts, set one day per week where you settle these bills. If you have monthly accounts, set aside one day per month (usually a day that falls between the 20th and the last day of the month). Avoid paying bills in dribs and drabs and invest time in negotiating payment terms with your suppliers.

Recording money in

Unless you’re also the business owner, most bookkeepers aren’t responsible for recording sales invoices — this task tends to fall to somebody else in the business. However, bookkeepers are usually responsible for recording customer payments, matching customer payments against invoices, and chasing customers for overdue amounts. I talk about this process in Chapter 6.

In Chapter 6, I also explain how to allocate other kinds of deposits that don’t relate to invoices, such as owner contributions, refunds and proceeds from bank loans. Bookkeepers often find these kinds of transactions quite tricky, and so I try to provide you with a reference of exactly how to allocate each kind of transaction.

Getting Technical

If you’re new to business and bookkeeping, you will find there’s a heap to learn. When do you charge GST and when is something GST-free? How do know how much tax to deduct from an employee’s wages? And what is this arcane activity known as reconciling bank accounts?

Understanding GST

Registering for GST is optional if your turnover is less than $75,000 a year. If you think that your business, or the business that you’re working for, is going to exceed this annual turnover threshold and isn’t yet registered for GST, then I suggest you speak to the accountant quick smart.

gst Of course, complying with the law in terms of GST is much more involved than simply registering. You need to get down on scintillating topics such as what’s taxable, and what’s not; the key elements of a Tax Invoice; and how often to submit GST reports.

If you’ve never done any bookkeeping before, and you’re planning to do the books for your own business, probably my strongest word of advice is to force yourself to read all of Chapter 7 (the chapter in this book that deals with GST) from start to finish. Scarcely the most exciting way to spend a couple of hours, but I guarantee you that your time will not be wasted. In addition, do ask your accountant or a qualified bookkeeper to check your first couple of Business Activity Statements — this way, you can be sure your tax codes and systems are configured correctly, right from the start.

Working with payroll

Whether you’re a business owner doing your own books or a bookkeeper doing the books for someone else, bear in mind that as soon as a business takes on an employee, the real fun begins. Government paperwork starts pouring through the door like owl-delivered invitations to Harry