You only get out what you put in
- Feb
- 15
It’s an age-old saying isn’t it. Well in managing accounts it certainly hits the nail on the head!
I was asked recently to help a company who had been inputting masses of information into their accounts package including purchase invoices, sales invoices, payments, receipts as well as recording VAT calculations.
All good; except the problem was nobody really understood what all this information meant and what they were supposed to do with it. Had things been left like this the company would have had one of the biggest losses since it started.
I went away armed with lots of paperwork and quickly identified the need to simplify entries and most importantly to put processes in place. Those processes have started yielding regular monthly reports, giving the company directors the information they need to know so they can make changes before they get to year end. It will still take some time for them to get back on track but at least now they are heading in the right direction and showing signs they will stay that way.
With a little training and guidance in using Sage, the person entering the data also has a better grasp of what she is putting into the system and what to get out. Having that knowledge and communicating it is what effective accounts management is all about.