4. Keep receipts
Receipts are proof of transactions. They come in the form of sales invoices, note payables, credit card payments, and even pay slips. It’s the job of bookkeepers to make sure that all financial transactions and evidence thereof are kept on file to ensure transparency.
Even when receipts have already been recorded in the accounting or bookkeeping software, bookkeepers should still store hard copies for at least three years. When business owners see discrepancies in the financial statements, receipts will serve as evidence that bookkeepers and accountants can refer back to if the need arises.
While there’s no single way to keep receipts on file, there are some standard rules to follow. A bookkeeper documents the sales invoices in a timely fashion, or logs the information to the accounting journal by month’s end.
Some bookkeepers create a paper storing system where they organize receipts per category. For example, they put all receipts related to meals in one folder and office supplies in another. Others store receipts according to projects for easy tracking.
Bookkeeping is definitely tedious since the bookkeeper needs to manage financial information both in digital and physical platforms, but the job becomes much more difficult if the person-in-charge is not cultivating healthy habits that allow them and their team to keep things organized. Learning how to be a bookkeeper means knowing where and when to put the data where it belongs.
