Accurate bookkeeping 'essential for business'

Date: 15th May 2009

Efficient bookkeeping can help small businesses succeed during the recession, it has been suggested.

An expert from the International Association of Bookkeepers (IAB) believes that, alongside the help of accountant, good management of financial records can maximise cashflow.

Chief executive of the IAB, Malcolm Trotter, noted that one of the greatest benefits of bookkeeping is that it informs managers exactly how much they owe and to whom, and what they themselves are owed.

He said: "Accurate and timely bookkeeping means that a business has, at its fingertips, up-to-date financial records and the benefits can be severalfold.

"It's often the bookkeeper that suggests ways of trimming costs without people losing their jobs … because the bookkeeper has a wider view of what's being used."

Mr Trotter added that bookkeepers will often make vital decisions such as to whom to delay payments to and for how long.

The IAB was formed in 1973 and claims it now has thousands of members across the globe.