For anyone setting up or running a small business, having a steady stream of customers or clients is what makes the difference between survival and real success. But prospecting for clients, customers, buyers, call them what you will, takes time and focus. And sometimes time is a real issue for small business owners.

It’s all too common for the first time or even established entrepreneurs to find themselves burning the midnight oil in order to get the basics done before they have time to go out and do any real marketing. That’s a real shame.

Ask any small business owner what their biggest challenges are, and most are likely to include accounting somewhere in their top three responses. This is often the case because people who are drawn to being self-employed tend to be adventurous, creative types who find things like administration and accounting a real chore. Of course, that’s unlikely to be the case for the likes of virtual assistants or accountants themselves who set up in business, but in their case, they’ve set up in business to sell their services, rather than spend time doing their own.

Success starts with smart accounting

So what can you do to make sure you have sufficient time to prospect so you have enough clients now, in the short and in the medium term?

One of the biggest things you can do is make sure you have your accounting processes as streamlined as possible. Having a smart accounting system in place means that you feel more in control of your finances and your accounting takes less time. If you are keen to free up more time so you can attract more customers to your business to improve your chances of success, then smart accounting from The Smart Accountants is for you.

 

Smart accounting from day 1

By choosing the likes of Xero as your smart accounting solution, you’ll be working well, right from day 1. When you work with Xero, you can change your whole approach to accounting. There’s no need to tie yourself to your desk with spreadsheets or get bogged down in the likes of bank reconciliation. Working on the cloud using Xero means that you can do your accounting tasks no matter where you are, no matter what time of day it is. You can even keep your accounts up to date from your Mac, PC tablet or phone. All you need is your preferred device and an internet connection.

When you work with Xero, gone are the days where you need a tonne of paperwork beside you or access to files stored on your computer or laptop. The ideal way of working if you want to collaborate closely with your bookkeeper and your accountant, there are different types of packages that you can negotiate that will give you the exact level of support you need. Most accountants and bookkeepers will have great tips and tricks up their sleeve to share with you about how you can organise your accounting to free up as much time as possible. But here are The Smart Accountants’ 3 Top Tips:

  1. Have a place where you store all your accounting information ready for processing. It may be that you keep all your notes in a digital format or you might still be a paper and pen type of person. Either way, if you get into the habit of storing everything that needs to be accounted for in one place, you’ll save a whole lot of time when you sit down to get your accounts done.
  2. Set aside a fixed time each week, two weeks, or month to do your accounts. It’s all too easy to let your accounting slip, particularly if you’re not the type of person who gets satisfaction from seeing it done and dusted. If this sounds familiar, make sure you set aside sufficient time on a regular basis to do what you need to do. Make this time non-negotiable. Even if something crops up, the worst you should do is delay the task until later in the day. If you let it slip to the next day, it risks continuing to slip and slip until you feel out of control.
  3. Make sure you have the right support in place for your business and your budget. While running your accounts on the cloud means that you have less requirement for expensive accounting back up, it pays to know you have the right people on-side should you need them. When you work with The Smart Accountants you can opt for our core package and then choose from an additional menu of items that you need to keep you on track.

You’ll be amazed at the amount of time you free up when you streamline your accounting. That’s why smart accounting means more clients. Why not give it a try for yourself?