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Keeping Records for Your Business

Article Summary: Keeping records for your business, whether a small one-man self proprietorship, or a business with dozens or employees, can be both necessary and helpful to your business

Keeping records for your business, whether a small one-man self proprietorship, or a business with dozens or employees, can be both necessary and helpful to your business. By keeping adequate records, you are able to get an idea on a regular basis if your business is expanding or not. You want to check with that increase of gross volume of business, is your profit margin going up or down. Then, on a long term basis, you need to know what investments you need to make, and over how long a period of time they will take to “pay off”. Good business records are also necessary to satisfy the IRS and legally and clearly pay the correct amount of taxes to local, state and federal authorities.

You will have to decide what system to use to keep your books. There are manual systems available, and increasingly, there are computerized systems. Can you keep your own books or do you need an accountant, either in the office, or on an outside consulting basis. If you have several employees, you need to issue them checks weekly, or every other week, and take out the necessary payroll and social security taxes. Many businesses, even fairly small business use a payroll service to print out the checks, and make adequate calculations of the withholding taxes. On a long term basis, the head of the company has to analyze cash flow, profit margins, good-will assets, such as brand names and distribution routes, and make future plans for the business. Expansion of your business is tempting, but also dangerous. Can you afford the additional expense of hiring new employees and possibly opening other branch offices? Sometimes the most dangerous period for a business is when it expands from one or two principal operatives and a couple of employees to a much wider operation.

Record information includes bank statements, to determine current cash flow, tax payment information and quarterly payments, payroll information and inventory. Inventory is often stored on the premises of a business or in a warehouse, and this is cash that is tied up in the form of temporary capital. What is important is not only how much cash value of inventory is available, but also how long it takes to sell or get rid of inventory. Inventory will usually depreciate in value over time, or in some cases can become totally worthless.

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Adam J. Heist
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