Simple Bookkeeping: Small Business Accounting Made Easy

What are Your Bookkeeping Options?

One option is that you can take on the bookkeeping yourself. Small businesses that have under 10 employees and minimal inventory are much better candidates for this - even better if you have a one-person company that you run from home with fewer bills.

Another low-cost option is that you get your own bookkeeping software and use a simple online payroll system and pay a bookkeeper to come in part-time or once a week to update the books. Generally, the cost for this is a few hours a week, for which a bookkeeper might charge in the area of $30 an hour.

How to Learn Simple Accounting for Free

In either case, you can learn simple accounting basics, and your bookkeeping software will do most of the work for you. Accounting Coach Pro offers free bookkeeping lessons online.

This accounting and bookkeeping course is actually very comprehensive - with over 30 segments, quizzes and question-and-answer sessions included. You do not have to complete all segments unless you choose to. You may decide that you just want to stick with basics, like chapters on bookkeeping, basic accounting, debits and credits, depreciation, accounts receivable, cash flow statement, balance sheet, chart of accounts, income statement, payroll accounting, etc..

Bookkeeping Software Costs to Expect & How to Save Money

Business accounting software will usually cost less than $200 and online payroll between $25 and $50 a month. You can save money on accounting software by purchasing a version that is a few years old rather than the latest item (eBay can be a good source for this). For basic accounting tasks, these software programs don't change much.

Many small businesses use Quickbooks or Quickbooks Pro as their accounting software, but there is also a or basic online version called Quickbooks Simple Start. If you don't need all the bells and whistles that the Pro version comes with and prefer to have your program cloud-based, Simple Start may be the best option for you.

If your business is small, you may not need to take on some of the more complicated accounting tasks. Therefore, you are likely to be able to use some of the free bookkeeping programs available online like Outright. Other low-priced online competitors that offer simple bookkeeping solutions include Xero and LessAccounting.com.

Once you have chosen and set up a record-keeping system that works for you, you don't necessarily need to spend a lot of time managing it. It is a good idea to allot a certain amount of time each week to dedicate to keeping the books. This way, you stay organized and don't fall behind on tracking your finances.

As your income grows or your record-keeping tasks become too time consuming and complicated, you may decide to hire staff to takeover the books. Don't think you are stuck doing the bookkeeping forever.