Business owners are often very busy as time is paramount. As a bookkeeper I have found several tools that really help to make the bookkeeping process quicker.
Software, HMRC are trying to push business owners to digital records and it does make sense. Lots of people used to rely on spreadsheets, but these can corrupt, be easy to make an error on or simply take a lot of time.
Digital software such as Xero, Quickbooks, Sage and Pandle import the bank, which used to be a very time consuming part of bookkeeping. They do a lot of the double entry bookkeeping for you and make it a seamless process. You may need to be trained on the software and a knowledge of double entry bookkeeping will also help, if you need to put in journals such as the payroll journal.
Another short cut is the use of Hubdoc or Dext, these are receipt/invoice processing software, where you simply upload your paperwork to the cloud. It is intuitive so can save time on processing as it will remember past choice. You can't just rely on the AI though, you do need to check the VAT rates and category is correct.
Scanners, I love the scansnap as it very quickly will scan paperwork. So I would definitely recommend a decent, fast scanner for anyone that has to process huge piles of invoices. It can literally save hours as it processes at a much faster speed then a regular scanner.
Decent internet, I have seen the frustration caused, by clients with slow internet that keeps dropping. We are all internet based these days and having a decent internet connection can make a work day much better then being frustrated at being unable to do what you need to in a timely fashion.
A decent computer - again struggling with archaic devices can be stressful and time consuming. A decent PC or laptop should work at a good speed.
I hope you have found reading this a little useful, please remember these thoughts are my own and I bear no responsibility if my suggestions do not work for you.
