Business owners typically must wear a lot of hats to ensure that all daily operations continue to run smoothly. It can be difficult to tell which of those operations should hold the biggest priority on a regular basis. As a franchisee, you are already dealing with more starting costs and other financial obligations than other types of businesses, making accounting one of the most critical components of your business to keep constant tabs on. The best way to learn about your company’s true bookkeeping needs is not to just focus on revenue, but on internal controls and accounting supports in order to prevent costly mistakes. So, let’s look at some key ways to reduce accounting oversights.
Ways to Reduce Accounting Oversights
An oversight could lead to total financial devastation and even legal implication. Below, Indevia experts will highlight some of the best ways to reduce accounting oversights and protect you and your company from any kind of fraud. Whether through accidental, unknowing means or through a dishonest employee, fraud can lead you to some serious trouble that may be difficult to get out of.
Ask a Third Party for Help
Worried you can’t afford the salary of hiring another employee? There are other ways to delegate your company’s financial needs to more than one person. You can use online payment services and third-party accounting software to conveniently and securely handle your company’s growing needs. Certain online payment services are easily accessible from anywhere in the world, while still maintaining safety and security so nobody can tap into your financial stats without permission.
Automated accounting software can help you manage and track the metrics that are most important to your business while processing AP needs and sending you reminders on a regular basis. This extra bit of assistance can be a life-saver for business owners trying to juggle so many tasks at once. It can also add some much-needed oversight controls to ensure all financial resources are checked by multiple eyes multiple times.
Expand Your Accounting Department
Even if your company is tiny when starting out, it is not a good idea to leave all of the company’s financial operations and tracking in the hands of one single individual. Unfortunately, smaller organizations are the most common victims of organizational fraud with employees stealing from inside the company. Your role as an owner is to ensure that you, your assets, and your company’s financial integrity are protected. It may not be wise to put a single individual in charge of every part of your business that has to do with money.
This is what makes it all too easy for small businesses and franchisees to be the most usual fraud victims in the nation. One person may be fraudulently changing the numbers to suit their own purposes. Or, perhaps it is not that nefarious, and this one individual simply has a lot of oversight and does not notice specific things that should be given a lot more attention. Whether due to intention or ignorance, accounting fraud can have serious legal detriments to you and your business.
Prioritize Financial Review
Whether through your own eyes or those of a loyal employee, it is important to ensure that your reviewers are double and triple-checking all financial documents. This can include pay stubs, bank statements, expense reports, reconciliations, and other expenses. It is especially important to check for mysterious or unapproved items like expenses, raises, and statements. Spotting something like this is a red flag for your company moving forward. It can be unfortunate when foul play is afoot, but it can be even more detrimental if that foul play goes unnoticed and unchecked for a long time.
Increase Financial Visibility and Reduce Accounting Complexities Today
Our Indevia accounting experts understand that this kind of advice may seem overwhelming, if not contradictory at first. You should delegate financial recording to more than one individual or partner, but keep a tight security system to restrict access to those who shouldn’t have anything to do with the financial parts of your business.
You don’t have to strive towards this perfect balance alone, especially when there are convenient third-party tools available to help you with your specific franchise business. As the owner of a company, you’ve got a lot of critical elements on your plate. You can learn more about the benefits of secure and automated bookkeeping systems by getting in touch with our financial agents today.
