streamline your invoicing
Take the time to invoice properly
There’s much more to invoicing than simply sending out requests for payment. The key is to get your invoicing process right from the start.
It’s likely as a small business owner, you’re short on time, with many other elements of your business to set up, maintain and monitor. But making the effort to get the payment process right at the beginning will pay off in the end – literally. When your invoicing process is efficient and pain free, it’s likely that your cashflow will improve.
Develop the right mindset about getting paid
The majority of small business owners have worked as employees in the past, before deciding to set up their own company. The transition from employee to owner is not just practical and financial – it’s also psychological. In addition to this, if you’re having to now create invoices, you’ll realise how much time it can take to create and send them.
Employees become used to being paid regularly without having to think about it. The money appears in their bank account or they receive a cheque on the date it’s due. They never have to ask for payment – their pay simply arrives.
But business owners have to proactively chase payments – otherwise, they don’t get paid. And for some people, this can be a difficult adjustment to make. Consciously, you know you’re owed the money. But actually asking for it can feel daunting and stressful.
It’s common for small business owners to initially feel cowed into a feeling of subservience when it comes to asking for payment – particularly in dealings with larger organisations. But the fact is, they have taken your time and/or your product. This means they have a legal and moral duty to pay you according to the agreed terms.
So don’t be meek – be polite but firm. Your clients aren’t doing you a favour by paying. They must pay you, no matter how big or small they are.
Keep accurate records of your work
You can’t invoice if you don’t have accurate records of the work you’ve done for your customers. Keep track of the time and materials expended on a client’s project and make sure you invoice for everything!
Use time-tracking software and time-sheets if you need to record the number of hours or days spent on a project. Be sure to record all Bills of Materials too. Some software will handle this for you.
How to streamline your invoicing If you record the work done as you go, it will save you having to remember the details at a later.
Get Professional Help
One cannot hope to continue business for very long without using basic accounting and bookkeeping. If you are starting with your company, it may be possible for you that you do all the accounting and bookkeeping yourself, but as your company shall grow, the need for proper and professional accounting will gradually increase.
Thus it is advisable that you should hire an excellent team of accountants. It is entirely understandable that a start-up will not have enough funds to hire an accountant and in such a case, they can hire a part-time accountant who would suit the needs of the company and also keep the finances in check.
“ALYA” is one of the reputed chartered accountant firms in Dubai which will understand your business needs and will provide you with financial advice accordingly. At “ALYA”, we strive to help you by providing accounting and bookkeeping services, both traditional in-house accounting and outsourced accounting and also offer solutions for your business. For more information, do contact us today – we’d be happy to help.
How can ALYA Auditors Chartered Accountants help to take the Role of Accounting in business?
The vast expansion of businesses in the UAE has been taking place at a rapid pace and the legal requirement to maintain proper books of accounts make the Role of Accounting in Business more competent. To keep up with this rapid pace of expansion of your businesses in the UAE, it is sometimes difficult to manage the accounting activities of their businesses on their own especially for SMEs. Hence, to take up the role of accounting in business and serving the business in UAE, we provide the below Accounting Services in the UAE
