How do I know my bookkeeping is correct?

The good news is that online bookkeeping software does take a lot of the hard work out for you, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for an accountant.

Your accountant’s job is to use your software and perform reconciliations and checks to ensure that your software has not only included everything but also that everything has been categorised and treated correctly.

This will typically be done alongside some work that needs to be completed on your behalf such as a VAT return, a self-assessment tax return or annual accounts etc.

Like most software it will do what you tell it to, but it cannot interpret legislation, so unfortunately if you don’t know what to do with an item your software isn’t going to be able to help.

Some software nowadays has an ability to learn by the use of ‘rules’. These rules can used to classify an item automatically. For example, say you receive a petrol receipt from a garage. If you class it as fuel, the software will remember this and automatically classify items from this garage as fuel going forward, unless you tell it differently.

Software speeds up your bookkeeping as it becomes more automated for you and it’s much easier for your accountant to help you as they can simply login and check how items are being classed and to help you use the software.

Here at TaxAssist Accountants, we have lots of experience with a range of cloud bookkeeping software and can help you from getting it set up correctly, to giving you training, right through to performing checks to ensure it is complete and accurate. Please contact us on 0800 0523 555 or use our simple online contact form to arrange a free initial consultation to see how we can help you.

Date published 29 Aug 2019 | Last updated 25 Sep 2020

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.