Being a small business means keeping on top of a lot of details.  It’s easy to get overwhelmed and fall behind.  Here are some ideas to make it easier to stay on top of needed tasks to manage your business effectively:

Paperwork: Make it a habit

  • Choose a set time.  Make it before or after something you already do daily, like when you stop for the day, or right before you start.  Make it a rule to always do it then.  Once you have done it several times, it will start to become automatic – habits are hard to break!
  • Keep it short.  Set a timer for 15 minutes and do as much as you can.  Knowing it won’t take long helps you stick to it.  Trying to get through everything in a marathon will have you avoiding it in the future.

Go digital

  • Digital Receipts.  Check out your app store to find a receipt organizing app.  These apps allow you to scan, store and organize your receipts for future reference.  Having your records in digital form means easy access on the road, and saves you from faded/lost receipts
  • Paperless Bills.  Set up your bills to come by email.  If you’re rarely home, your bills should come to you – not your house.  Most Government programs, Lenders, Utility Companies, etc., will have online accounts that you can set up and log into to view your bills, activity, and retrieve tax documents.  The digital documents often arrive before your paper copies do.
  • Sign it Online.  Apps like Adobe sign or DocuSign will allow you to fill and sign documents you receive by email.  Downloading and learning to use one of these apps will save you endless time and money trying to print/fax documents on the road!

Communicate like you mean business

  • Check it often.  Business is time sensitive.  Business people reach out to each other for important reasons and expect timely responses.  Missing that communication results in lost opportunities, and sometimes late fees!  You want to check voicemails daily, and emails at least once a week.  Put business names in your contacts – so you know who’s calling you even if you can’t answer, and your business contacts don’t get screened out by filtering services.
  • Keep it separate.  Consider setting up a separate email address for your business.  Personal emails fill up fast with low-value messages, which means important business communication gets lost.  You can set up folders within your business email to archive types of emails for easy recall.  Possible folder names include: Bills and Receipts, Tax Documents, Abacus Emails.
  • Make an appointment.  If you have important deadlines, don’t rely on memory – put it on your Calendar App and set a reminder that will give you time to prepare for the deadline.  As a business owner, there are too many important deadlines to keep them all in mind.  Let your technology help you out!

At Abacus™ CPAs, our focus is you! Contact us today if you need help or more information on this valuable topic.

We believe that our employees and clients deserve to interact in an environment that fosters growth, trust, and confidence. Abacus™ professionals provide leadership by relentlessly pursuing the best guidance possible so those we serve can make smarter decisions.  

We are here to serve you and your business. Contact us today by calling 417-380-5000, or visiting our website at www.abacustrucking.com