Every event planner knows that proper organization is essential, whether it is about planning a corporate event or a wedding. However, there is one, not so creative aspect of running an event planning firm every small business owner should be aware of, and that’s bookkeeping. If you don’t want to get lost in the books, we suggest investing in bookkeeping for event planners to get custom-tailored services.
Why Should Event Planners Know a Thing or Two About Bookkeeping?
Whether you’re just a wedding planner or organize all sorts of special events, you’re probably great at multitasking. Juggling catering, music, guest lists, different venues, and having that flower girl on speed dial to make sure every client gets everything they requested are things event coordinators do on a daily level. Sometimes as an event organizer, you’re the one adding final touches and making sure everything’s the way it should be.
But is bookkeeping another skill you want to add to the long list of your duties? If you didn’t add the expense of bookkeeping services to your business plan, you might have to try out as a bookkeeper. In the beginning, while you don’t have a steady cash flow and only an occasional invoice or financial statement, it might seem like it’s doable, but eventually, taking care of your financial records could become too time-consuming.
However, bookkeeping is a must because not only will it help you keep track of your finances and business health, but all these records could serve as proof that your company is financially stable and reliable in case you want to get a bank loan or a new business partner. You can choose to do it on your own or outsource if you think that’s something too complicated.
What Is Bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping serves as a blanket term that covers many different operations regarding daily cash flow, payroll services, invoicing, and all sorts of financial transactions. As someone who runs an event planning business, you probably offer many different event planning services, now imagine having to track every single cent that comes in or out.
Because that’s what bookkeeping is all about, and it is probably not as nearly interesting as planning a birthday party or a fundraising event. Is bookkeeping mandatory for event management companies? You bet, so here are some tips you should keep in mind if you want to thrive in the hospitality management field.
What Should Every Event Planner Know About Bookkeeping?
In case you’re still at the very beginning with your event planning business, you know how to send professional invoices and some basic things about business administration, you could start doing your own bookkeeping if the time allows you to do so. As a planner, you’re probably aware of how crucial it is to have everything well organized to the smallest details, so you should follow the same approach when it comes to your financial books. Here are some useful tips for you to follow.
- Set a date for bookkeeping – as an event planner, you probably can’t afford to spend your Friday evening on bookkeeping, so don’t leave it all for the last minute. Determine which day of the week works the best for you, and dedicate some time to noting all the transactions from that week.
- Organize your receipts – to make everything a bit easier, you could circle the date and the amount you paid on each receipt, plus add the name of the event on the top. This will help you spot important information quickly when documenting, but also in case you need to double-check something later.
- Have a separate business account – this one is a must, and it will help you so much with tracking all transactions. Use this account solely for the purposes of your event planning business.
- Scan your receipts – this might seem like a total waste of time and energy, but sometimes physical receipts get lost or damaged easily, so having a digital copy could be beneficial.
- Save all purchase orders – you will probably have to make several purchase orders per event, so it could be easy to forget about some smaller ones or confuse them with the others you made for a different event. To avoid that, you have to keep all purchase orders and file them immediately.
- Go digital – if you’re someone who does everything online, why not do your bookkeeping like that as well? In the beginning, a simple Excel sheet might do the trick, but with time you might require something more sophisticated that you can use and edit on the go.
- Don’t forget about the equipment – in case you’re not renting everything and always have some basic things for weddings and different events ready, keep in mind the cost of that. Some of these things wear off quickly after several uses and need to be replaced, and that also has to be clear from your books.
- Make monthly statements – whether you opt to do your bookkeeping daily or weekly, at the end of each month, you should draw the line to see where you are. How much was spent, and how much was earned? You know that not every month is equally popular for some types of events, so this will also help you pinpoint when’s the wedding season, for example.
What’s the Best Bookkeeping Solution for Event Planners?
As you can see, organizing your books is not as nearly as fun as planning a wedding. If you want to focus on growing your business and attracting potential clients without having to play the role of an accountant from time to time, there is a solution to that, and it is conveniently called LessAccounting.
Since 2011 LessAccounting has been saving entrepreneurs precious time and money with their unparalleled accounting software and bookkeeping services. Every successful event planning business should invest in a proper bookkeeper, and with LessAccounting, you will get a dedicated bookkeeper who will take care of your financial records.