When you own and run your own small business, vacations may seem like just a pipe dream. But if you do manage to tear yourself away from the operation of the business, how can you ensure that managing your finances won't interfere with your time off? Here are a few tips to protect your downtime.
1. Get Help In Advance
If you feel overwhelmed and behind while trying to get ready to leave your bookkeeping for days or weeks, ask for help now. Many owners try to handle it all themselves but end up either too stressed or never actually caught up. Outsource what you can to bookkeepers and your accountant now rather than waiting until you get back to a huge pileup.
2. Automate What You Can
Today's small business owners have an advantage that prior generations didn't: automation. Take full advantage of it to help yourself while you're away. Set up automatic reminders. Arrange for automatic payment of certain bills while you're gone. And preset automatic invoices to send to customers.
3. Assign a Proxy
Don't expect yourself to oversee your business bookkeeping while you're on vacation. Instead, designate and train a proxy to do key activities — such as checking balances, completing payroll, posting vital transactions, or authorizing payments. Make yourself redundant. This way, you can choose to check in but aren't obligated.
4. Do a Test Run
Learn to set boundaries even before you leave on vacation. How? Start before you head off. Assign tasks to your proxy or proxies while you're still around. Have employees pretend you're not there for questions. If possible, take some extra time off to prepare for your trip, letting staff and outsourced services handle things for you.
5. Work With Professionals
You're less likely to worry about things going wrong if you know that professionals are taking care of things. Talk with your accountant and/or bookkeeper about handling certain high-priority tasks themselves. And put them in touch with the internal staff who will handle other routine transactions. You may even find it better to check in with your accountant instead of calling into the office all the time.
Where to Start
If you're still trying to do all your bookkeeping on your own, now is the time to find a qualified accountant and bookkeeping service. Use your vacation plans as an excuse to develop a business relationship that will serve you for many years. Make an appointment today to get started.
To find out more, contact a company like Peggy's Tax & Accounting, LLC.
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