Paperwork Advice

[goldylocks77]

Could anyone give me a little advice on what paperwork to keep.
I'm just about to take on a new salon and although i have managed spas at sea i have never managed a land based salon.
I have an accountant to do all my book-keeping, tax returns and payroll. I understand what she need but it is the daily info i'm not sure about.
Do you keep spreadsheets of stylists daily takings in retail and services?
Sounds stupid but i just want to make sure i'm doing it right.
Any advice would be great.

 

[skymark]

Like with most things, the way you keep your records is just down to your preference.

Some people like to keep the work on an Excel type spreadsheet, the advantages of this being that it can be backed up easily and that when you want to work out a certain figure, i.e what percentage of your january turnover was retail? then it can be done quite quickly.

Of course your daily records can easily be done using a good old fashioned accounts book. Some people do prefer the pen and paper method, and the big advantage being that you don't need to have access to a computer in order to complete it.

Personally, I always prefer the double up method, with any business no matter which sector. By which I mean I always keep both a written record in a book as well as spreadsheet records.

If you find that you have a high turnover or quite a few stylists working then you might want to look into a small business software for keeping records.

Which ever way you choose to keep things I would certainly advise that when you have the time, to take a course in doing the financials for your business. It doesn't take a huge amount of time and you can consider it part of your education, just like your original qualifications. At that point you would be able to do your own books and payroll and may only need an accountant at the end of the fiscal year to check everything. Your accountancy fees may stack up if you continue using them every week.

For your own records, if you already have a list of what your accountant needs you to keep then anything you keep in addition will be for your own use and some of it could be very useful. So just think about what things you would want to know about your business in six months time. What questions might you need the answer to, and those are the things you should be keeping records of, as well as all your legal / tax info that you are giving to your accountant for now.

Sorry this ended up so long. lol.

I do wish you all the best luck for your business and I think its great you are asking these questions before you start instead of feeling overwhelmed afterwards.

 

[goldylocks77]

Thanks for your reply.
I booked myself on a basic book keeping course at the local college, only to find it was a stepping stone course to Accountancy! It was very intense and was not really what i was looking for i have transfered on to a small business course but that doesn't start until Sept.
Computers were never my strong point but i have googled "How to create a spreadsheet" so fingers crossed that's a start.

Thanks again

 

[kelly!!]

when i started i used this web page to help me sort out what i needed to keep/do
Taxes, records and returns - getting started | Business Link


have a look it has some great pages and links to get you started

 

[skymark]

Thanks for your reply.
I booked myself on a basic book keeping course at the local college, only to find it was a stepping stone course to Accountancy! It was very intense and was not really what i was looking for i have transfered on to a small business course but that doesn't start until Sept.
Computers were never my strong point but i have googled "How to create a spreadsheet" so fingers crossed that's a start.

Thanks again

Thats's great that you've looked into it. In the mean time, if you're having your accountant do your main stuff, theres nothing with keeping your daily book in an old fashioned account book. Just I would advise that as there is no computer back up in case of fire etc, when you do the books, have 2. A book that is your main one, and one that is your back up. Just copy the stuff from your main book into your back up book and take the back up one home with you, in case you're worried about just having one copy. You just have to clearly label the back up one and maybe have it be a different colour. And make sure when you are doing calculations, you are always working from the real one, just in case you get behind on making your back up copy.

Just a thought if you are not too happy with using a computer yet.