As a sole proprietor in accounting, you’ll wear a lot of hats throughout the day… But perhaps one of the most important roles you take on is that of recordkeeper. The tough job of documenting all your bookkeeping processes falls solely on you.
You might be thinking, “Why do I need to write detailed procedures? I know how to do my job.” Maybe you’re getting through your daily tasks just fine, but it’s still important to have your procedures documented and stored somewhere safe. We all make mistakes, after all. Regardless of whether you work with a team or do it all on your own, writing things down is essential to your firm’s success for many reasons.
Keeping Deadlines
Have you ever found yourself writing to-do lists on whatever scraps of paper are lying nearby? Being a solopreneur means everything is resting on YOUR shoulders. Because one person is managing the entire workload, there are more deadlines and it’s easier to miss them… So it might be time to ditch your old method of messy note-taking and instead develop and consistent and reliable system for documenting procedures. When you have your processes lined out step by step, you can better assess how much time each task will take and avoid costly missteps.
Juggling Different Roles
When you don’t have a team backing you, you’ll end up taking on additional responsibilities. These additional responsibilities, whether big or small, add up. A typical day can involve wearing enough hats to fill a millinery. Keeping separate documents for the different types of tasks you perform as a sole proprietor will help you keep them straight.
Visualizing Your Knowledge capital
Did you know that one of your firm’s most valuable assets is knowledge capital? Your knowledge, unique procedures and client relationships have value — and that value needs to be stored somewhere. Your knowledge capital is what gives your business its edge and sets it apart. Don’t underestimate how empowering it can be to see everything you know laid out in front of you. Besides, no one wants to forget an important phone number or password. Writing down what you know will save you trouble down the road.
Planning Ahead
The future is unpredictable. Retirement, death, and unexpected changes in your business and personal life are all things that need to be taken into account and prepared for. Should something happen to you or with your business, neither your clients nor your potential successors should be left in the dust. Documenting your procedures is a way to ensure you always have a backup plan. Besides, if you ever decide to expand your team of one, having those resources readily available will be invaluable.
When it comes to writing down your procedures, you’ve got nothing to lose and plenty to gain. It can be especially useful for solopreneurs whose knowledge capital is stored solely in one place — their own head.
Are you the sole proprietor of your accounting firm? Let us know how documenting your procedures has changed the way you work down below!
