The idea of starting a new embroidery business is fun and exciting but have you really thought about the business end of setting up your business? When you first think about starting your new embroidery business, you are excited because now you are going to do something that you love to do, day in and day out! The thought of this is very exciting, but before you really dive into this new embroidery business, you need to stop and think about the business end of this exciting new business! The business end or I should say the bookkeeping end, is one of the most important parts and the only part that is going to help guide you in growing your business.
For most embroiderers or those that start any type of decorating apparel business, that is the farthest thing from their mind! They only think about being able to provide a lot of people with their unique embroidered or decorated apparel products. Most embroiderers are born creators, not bookkeepers, but unfortunately, it is part of owning a business and is a very necessary part of the business that you must stay on top of.
When Should I Start Setting Up My Bookkeeping Records?
This needs to be done in the planning stages of your new embroidery business. You need to be keeping records from the very onset of creating your new embroidery business.
- How much are you spending in the preparation?
- Do you have a license and legal fees that you are paying out in the setting up of your new embroidery business?
- Are you asking an accountant for advice on setting up your business? If not, then you need to be actively looking for an accountant to help you set up your business properly right at the beginning.
Accounting Tools That I Have Found To Be Very Helpful!
I have been in the embroidery business for almost 40 years and I have used many tools and have developed many systems that made a huge difference in my business. One of the most time-saving tools that I have found was QuickBooks. I started using QuickBooks many years ago, but I have since developed my own way of using QuickBooks and have since created a program around QuickBooks for other embroiderers. This same system that I created, Embroidery Business Bookkeeping System, and have used for many years helps me to know at all times:
- Exactly how much work I have in-house.
- Which department within my embroidery business is making money.
- Exactly which department or service is not making any money and it helps me make the right decisions as to whether or not to keep that particular service or remove it from my business.
Simple Steps For Setting Up Your Business Accounting Records
- Organize all of your information
- Set Up Your Chart of Accounts
- Import all of your Vendors
- Import all of your Customers
- Add your Price List for Services
- Add your Price List for Products
- Create Classes (Optional)
With my new Embroidery Business Bookkeeping System, I show you how to create a chart of accounts that set your business up in the right departments to make it easy and you can instantly see what is happening in your business. Once your QuickBooks is set up using my system, you can save a lot of time and know where you are at all times in your business. This system will help you increase your cash flow because you can collect money faster and easier when you follow the system.
- When you receive an order, you log it into your system with Pricing and all of the information about the job.
- Once the job is completed, you can instantly create your invoice.
- You send this invoice immediately to your customer instructing him or her that their order is ready for pickup and make sure to have the right amount of cash, check or a credit card with them in order to be able to pick up their order.
- At the end of each day, you will run a report to see what jobs are still in-house.
- At the end of each week, you can create your schedule for the next week based on all jobs that are still in-house.
- This makes it easier to schedule all new jobs that are brought in during the next week and you will know immediately where you can add rush jobs.
Obviously, there is a lot more to this system, but these are the basic steps that will help you bring in cash a lot quicker and with less hassle. Following this system, makes accounting a lot easier, and saves a lot of time, especially if you are a small home-based embroiderer and are doing all of the jobs yourself.
I have found that the easiest version of invoicing software for me is QuickBooks Online. I love the fact that it is always updated and I do not have to worry about my invoices getting to my customer on time. I can check on a job even when I am in the field because it is online and not on my desktop.
Check out my system, Embroidery Business Bookkeeping System today! You will be so glad that you did!