Accounting for the running of your business is not a chore necessitated only by the possibility of a visit from the taxman. It is the only way to see where your business currently stands, to locate and conquer hurdles impeding year-on-year growth, and to achieve peace of mind that there is method behind the day-to-day madness of running a small business.

There‘s a selection of questions you need to ask yourself to decipher whether or not your accounting is running smoothly and helping you hit targets.

Does the management information you receive enable you to make informed decisions or do you find yourself second-guessing?

Are you able to identify niggles like bad debts on your weekly or monthly reports before they become a real concern?

Do you receive regular financial information in a format that you fully understand and trust?

If your answer to these questions is in the negative, you are managing your business in the dark and are also restricting the chance of successful growth.

So, where do you start if you do not think that your regular accounting is enabling you and your business to succeed?

Every business needs regular accounts. Professional help may be required to undertake an initial assessment of your business so that you can implement systems that allow you to stay in control of your finances. Once the systems are up and running, regular checks on profits and losses and regular cashflow of the business will help you maintain a clear picture of how your business is doing.

Accounting can seem like an overwhelming task for a small business and it can distract great minds from the kind of work at which they are best. One option that has benefited a lot of businesses in the UK is outsourcing their finance function to a team of trained business advisors.

Delegating functions to a professional team of accountants with more resources and increased support allows business owners to focus on their core business, resting assured that their back office is running smoothly.

It also allows you to move more comfortably through peaks and troughs. If your business has seasonal surges, then the resource is always available when things get busy without you having to employ more staff.

Outsourcing to a suitable provider gives you access to the most up-to-date technology and best practice advice. There are a number of software packages that can help you keep track of your accounts. The scale of your business and the speed at which your business is growing will dictate whether you just need a health check or if you need more permanent solution. Once you‘re on top, it‘s much less difficult to stay there but, if you are buried beneath accounting madness, you need to ask for some help.

It‘s no secret that having an effective accounting system is essential to maintaining a successful business but financial management can prove to be a frustrating, daunting task for many small businesses. While technology and accounting are both areas that can often prove particularly challenging to smaller companies, technology really can make accounting simple and ’hassle-free‘.

Until recently, there was very little technology could do to help. Most accounting packages were designed – and priced – for large enterprises, leaving small businesses to create piecemeal solutions from applications not designed for accounting, or to manually track everything from invoices to customer payments and supplier tracking.

Fortunately, times have changed. Products and programmes can now be tailored for the specific needs of smaller companies, and there is no reason why smaller businesses can‘t compete with the big players. The same technology that has long been available to bigger enterprises is now available to smaller companies but at a price proportionate to their size.

Just because you‘re buying a lower-cost package doesn‘t mean that you have to settle for second best. When you evaluate what programme to buy, make sure it:

• Enables you to get a 360-degree view of your business, tracking sales, products and finances from supplier to customer

• Manages all aspects of your accounting needs, including the creation of reports, management of financials and payment tracking on one system

• Fits with the way you already work, integrating with your existing systems for contact management and business planning

Choose a solution that fits the needs of your business right now, as most companies have bolt-on products available that will allow you to scale it up later if needed. Accounting programmes now available enable you to do everything from identifying late payers and targeting them immediately so you don‘t spend precious time chasing them, to viewing cashflow trends and modelling future revenue streams. These solutions will enable you to take a more holistic view of your business, allowing you to look not just at financial output but also at trends, key customers and new business opportunities.

Adopting a new accounting solution may seem like an overwhelming task, but moving away from the paper trail to an electronic system delivers massive benefits to small businesses. Most importantly, it will free up your time allowing you to focus on the things that matter most to your company. The key to implementing a new accounting solution is to choose a programme that is right for you, your business and operation model.

It‘s no secret that having an effective accounting system is essential to maintaining a successful business but financial management can prove to be a frustrating, daunting task for many small businesses. While technology and accounting are both areas that can often prove particularly challenging to smaller companies, technology really can make accounting simple and 'hassle-free‘.

Until recently, there was very little technology could do to help. Most accounting packages were designed - and priced - for large enterprises, leaving small businesses to create piecemeal solutions from applications not designed for accounting, or to manually track everything from invoices to customer payments and supplier tracking.

Fortunately, times have changed. Products and programmes can now be tailored for the specific needs of smaller companies, and there is no reason why smaller businesses can‘t compete with the big players. The same technology that has long been available to bigger enterprises is now available to smaller companies but at a price proportionate to their size.

Just because you‘re buying a lower-cost package doesn‘t mean that you have to settle for second best. When you evaluate what programme to buy, make sure it:

• Enables you to get a 360-degree view of your business, tracking sales, products and finances from supplier to customer

• Manages all aspects of your accounting needs, including the creation of reports, management of financials and payment tracking on one system

• Fits with the way you already work, integrating with your existing systems for contact management and business planning

Choose a solution that fits the needs of your business right now, as most companies have bolt-on products available that will allow you to scale it up later if needed. Accounting programmes now available enable you to do everything from identifying late payers and targeting them immediately so you don‘t spend precious time chasing them, to viewing cashflow trends and modelling future revenue streams. These solutions will enable you to take a more holistic view of your business, allowing you to look not just at financial output but also at trends, key customers and new business opportunities.

Adopting a new accounting solution may seem like an overwhelming task, but moving away from the paper trail to an electronic system delivers massive benefits to small businesses. Most importantly, it will free up your time allowing you to focus on the things that matter most to your company. The key to implementing a new accounting solution is to choose a programme that is right for you, your business and operation model.

VAT accounting can be straightforward, but businesses need to be aware of some important rules that affect them and the methods by which they can manage their VAT liabilities more efficiently.

• The quarterly or monthly VAT return includes a formal written declaration that the information given is true and complete. Deliberate, and in some circumstances innocent, errors can give rise to penalties and interest charges. Ensure your VAT return is accurate to the best of your knowledge and belief. If you are in doubt speak to your accountant or HM Revenue and Customs.

• It is imperative that your VAT return is received by H.M Revenue and Customs by the due date (normally by the end of the month following the period covered by the return). Failure, even by one day to get your return in on time and pay the liability on it will bring you within the scope of default surcharges. These can rise to 15% of the VAT liability on an individual return and should be avoided if at all possible.

• Businesses whose turnover does not exceed £660,000 can account for VAT using cash accounting. This means that they are not required to pay over the VAT on sales until such time as the customer pays, however, they cannot reclaim the VAT on purchases until such time as the supplier is paid. This scheme will be of benefit to businesses who suffer with late-paying customers.

• Retailers account for VAT on their takings but are entitled to reclaim the VAT on purchases, regardless of whether they have paid their supplier or not.

• Annual accounting can be used by businesses with a turnover of less than £1,350,000. This scheme allows businesses to submit only one VAT return per year and make monthly or quarterly payments which smoothes out cashflow.

• HM Revenue has also introduced a flat rate scheme for businesses with a turnover of less than £150,000. This scheme can really reduce business administration, but needs to be considered carefully as it can result in additional VAT liability for the unwary. The scheme works by applying a flat rate percentage to a business‘s total tax inclusive income, which is lower than the standard rate of VAT. Input VAT on purchases can however not normally be recovered.

If your business sends out invoices created using a word processor, or even manually, and then tracks who owes you money in a spreadsheet, there is a better way!

You may think that your spreadsheet is fine, and for some businesses it will be, but for many others having better tracking and reporting will enable them to run their business more efficiently. By using the right tool for the job, you reduce your chances of making calculation errors on invoices, not following up on customers who owe you money or not billing customers for work you have done.

I recall the story of a lady running a chain of chip shops - very successful ones - who used spreadsheets to manage the finances of her business. She thought there was really no need to automate things any further and was happy with what she was doing.

As the conversation progressed, she began explaining how she entered all her takings into the spreadsheet, but went on to say that it would be nice to be able to compare takings this year against last. She proceeded to describe all the things she did and was really describing what accounting software could do for her in a lot less time.

When you think of accounting software as just a database to store your business finance information, you can start to see that by putting the information in once, you are able to slice and dice it however you want. You can get the information you need to run your business and also produce things such as VAT returns quickly and easily because all the information is in there ready for the reports to be run.

A common objection is that small businesses don‘t have the time to put accounting software into their business. The reality is that it will involve some time and cost to set things up, but it is an investment in the future of your business and the time-saving benefits will come as you use the software for routine tasks further down the track.

Studies have shown that getting into a regular pattern of keeping the books up-to-date can increase your chances of business success. So don‘t get left behind, take control of your finances and spend more time minding your own business.