Time Is Money

‘Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.’ – Jim Rohn

As small business owners, we know that time is money. So finding ways to be more efficient and organized should be on the top of our list if we value our time. But, unfortunately, many of us put off tasks that we think we can get to once we have a bit of “free” time. Which, of course, rarely happens.

Before any projects or tasks, one of the most important things we should do but do not is to plan. An hour of planning can save us more time when executing. But, unfortunately, some small business owners tend to skip some essential planning steps when setting up their businesses, like making sure you have your accountant, bookkeeper, and attorney in place.

With my years of experience as a bookkeeper, I am finding that more small businesses, unfortunately, skip those three steps above. Instead, most small businesses start with the owners doing their bookkeeping which was manageable in the beginning. But what they don’t realize or expect is that when their companies take off, then the bookkeeping is regarded to the bottom of the “to-do list.” Unfortunately, this has some repercussions. One of those repercussions is not filing taxes on time due to not having a complete financial picture of their business. Someone should take care of the books from the time a company develops. Having a designated person to do this other than yourself (owner) will keep your finances organized, know your cash flows and have complete and clean financial reports to pass on to your accountant when doing your taxes at the end of the year.

Many feel the expense of a good bookkeeper is something they can skip and do their books instead. But some realize early on that their time is more valuable than the expense of hiring one. They can always make more money, but they cannot get their time back. Having an efficient and great bookkeeper can save you time and money. The time you lost by filing an extension for taxes and spent trying to get your books in order—the money you spent on late filing fees and penalties.