How important is organization in accounting?

jessbru99568 · ‎March 13, 2018

To me, organization is super important. Especially when the days are very busy and my desk gets filled full of papers everywhere. :)

I'm wondering what does everyone else uses to help with streamlining things? Right now, I do the accounting for three businesses (owned by our family). I am trying to figure out what is the most efficient way to keep on top of bills, invoicing, etc.. Right now, we use Wunderlist. I copy all the bills onto a list and add the due dates and that has been working well except for the extra time involved in doing that. Also is there an efficient way to add vendor bills into QBs without having to manually enter? I get them all sent to my email. Just curious what everyone else uses? Thanks so much!! :)

Rustler · ‎March 14, 2018

Jess

You know I do not use QBO for business, but this app I was looking at is interesting - at least the write up is, and it might be what you need
https://apps.intuit.com/app-b7qsvrszq7

That said, I have not used it. But the pricing for what you have told me is your volume might make it out of reach. And I would email and ask if it is multi company or do you have to subscribe once for each company you use it for.

I run three businesses too, not with your volume, but I have found that for me, add on utilities just add to my time, and really do not save me any. (and that is not counting the time to set it up, learn it, debug the working on my end where it is not working the way I understood it to work) And there is always the issue of inter-operation when something changes, QB or the app, or the operating system.

I dedicate the first few hours of the day, to each business catching up on overnights, then the rest of the day it is as it happens for which one.

Anonymous · ‎March 14, 2018

Jess,

I am yet to try Wunderlist, but judging by the way you talk about, it has to work well!

I work with a few accountants and one of my colleagues here at QuickBooks got her degree in accounting (go figure :)). We were chatting when I first started here and I said something cliche like, I love accounting but I don't like math. She stopped me, smiled, and said, "Don't worry, accounting is less about math and more about logic, following steps and protocols to achieve accurate results."

It's my framework for approaching work now, and keeping myself and my work organized is absolutely essential for ensuring a) things get done and b) things get done well.

Sounds like you have a great workflow! Every other Sunday evening, I go through my computer folders of documents and images and reorganize everything - talk about OCD. This helps me stay organized and think organized.

Do you think you yourself have to be organized in order to do "good" organized work? Or does starting with organized physical space/organized books make one efficient?

jessbru99568 · ‎March 15, 2018

Thank you, Rustler. Yes, honestly in some cases I have found an additional app or program can slow down the processes. At least for the first little while until it is set and in the normal routine. :)

The only addon app we have right now is for our invoicing. Our drivers are able to invoice at the customers location, then sync to QBs when they are done with their routes. That has worked very well and been an excellent time saver. Especially when you think about 80 stores with at the least 2 papers to enter per store, twice somtimes three times a week.....

jessbru99568 · ‎March 15, 2018

@Anonymous Yes, I use Wunderlist and do really like it. I really wish there were some way to automatically add our bills to there though. Would save me some time although not too bad. Right now, we have some lists for each type of bill. Example: Net 30 days, Utility (this includes NIPSCO, water, etc., and a few others. That way I can go to the "Today" area and see what is due or coming up.

"Don't worry, accounting is less about math and more about logic"

I'm sorry, I do not believe this. :)

I do believe that organization plays an important part in our work. I have a hard time working without being first organized.

Rustler · ‎March 15, 2018

@jessbru99568wrote:
"Don't worry, accounting is less about math and more about logic"
I'm sorry, I do not believe this. :)
I do believe that organization plays an important part in our work. I have a hard time working without being first organized.

And isn't logic a driving factor in methods of organization?

:smileylol:

I think logic in accounting makes sense, the computer does the math, unlike paper and pencil when I started. The logic determines what type of account you post to, and with only 4 to choose from, you have a 25% chance of being right if you just throw a dart - ROFL.

Anonymous · ‎March 15, 2018

@jessbru99568, it's certainly both, not one over the other. What my account friend was indicating is that following the steps, understanding the account/ing structure and prioritization of actions when new variables (assets, liabilities, etc) get added to the mix is more important than actually being able to do calculations.

And for lazy people like me (who aren't keen on math), computers now do that heavy lifting. My job is to double check it's work :).

We should bug the QB Developer team to make a Wunderlist integration.

Ah, I see, so the physical organization has to come first. I think I am the same way - I always start off with an OCD level of cleanliness. My workspaces progressively fall into disarray, but even so, I still feel comfortable since I know how to navigate the mess.

So, an organized mess!

Anonymous · ‎March 15, 2018

@Rustler, it's good to know I have to be right at least 1 out of 4 times.

Only speaking of myself, statistics always reminds me of studies I read in secondary school about monkey's beating the investor market using darts on a board.

jessbru99568 · ‎March 16, 2018

@Rustler I didn't mean that you don't need logic to do accounting only I don't believe that you need more than math. Maybe I just need it more than you. :) And we have a few more than four accounts to choose from and you can't just take a guess. That's where the problems come in. :)

@Anonymous Btw.. I've learned that monkeys are very good at accounting and statistics. :)

Rustler · ‎March 17, 2018

@jessbru99568

Jess there are only 4 types of accounts in accounting, you name them differently and create as many as you need.

Income, Expense, Asset, & Liability

And before anyone chimes in with equity, equity is a liability account, named and positioned on the balance sheet distinctly.

jessbru99568 · ‎March 17, 2018

Oh, I see. I wasn't thinking types, but rather the actual accounts. Sorry.

Anonymous · ‎March 19, 2018

@Rustler,

Good point, everything is a variation on those 4 basic account types, and the additional details of those variations help you understand and tell the whole story about your financial standing.

Balance sheet - can be written multiple ways! Understanding the Basic Accounting Formula with Scott Meister (thanks @ScottMeisterCPA).

@jessbru99568, I am not keen on math, so I lean on my logic side when figuring out my accounts (when I am not at work >< lol).

ScottMeisterCPA · ‎March 19, 2018

Just thought I’d chime in on the discussion. I’ve not used Wunderlist, but I did start using the free version of Asana recently. I’ve used it for about 3 months or so. I like the idea of teams and delegating tasks to the teams. I hope to hire an assistant soon and I currently use virtual assistants, so we’ll see how they react to Asana once I’m comfortable enough to share it with them. I’m also a big fan of google calendar and outlook as I set recurring reminders to pay bills, etc.

Pretty much all work related items are set to a calendar of some sort and this helps me stay organized and on top of financial tasks...I'd rather have too many reminders than not enough when it comes to finances:-)

For most of the bills I process (national vendors), I use the auto pay features from vendors (if available). A lot of times they can send an email reminder of when the bill is due and when I’ve paid it. This works well as sometimes I just let the transaction bank feed into QuickBooks. @jessbru99568,for vendors that may not have auto pay features, have you looked into bill.com? I’ve not used bill.com (no need yet) but I’ve heard it’s very useful if you have a lot of bills to process.

Hope this helps!

Scott

jessbru99568 · ‎March 19, 2018

@ScottMeisterCPA

Thank you for sharing! I have a calender setup, but I find it easier to view and keep on top better with a list form. Besides that all my lists are shared with our owner to be able to view also. :)

"I'd rather have too many reminders than not enough when it comes to finances:-)"

Exactly correct! I set reminders and pay our bills a few days before they are due.

Yes, I pay as many with auto-pay as possible and have email notifications as well! Very helpful! I go through my email every evening before I start working so those really help!

Yes, I currently use Bill.com that is integrated with QBO for our ACH payments. We have a few vendors that do require ACH. We do have quite a few bills to process at a time so it is helpful except the manual entry of the bills. :)

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How important is organization in accounting?