The Definitive Guide to Business Finance: What smart managers do with the numbers, Second Edition

First buy some shoes

Suppose for the moment that you start a new business with a small number of clients who each pays you handsome fees – maybe for consulting services, software development or perhaps sculpturing. You will be quite busy enough without wanting to spend much time dealing with the rather important matter of keeping financial records. Here is a secret. The best way of ensuring that your records are accurate is to insist that every transaction passes through your bank account (even petty cash, of which more in the next chapter).

Every time you write a cheque or make a deposit, write the full details on a sheet of paper – pre-printed vouchers are available for this – staple any supporting documents to it, and drop it in a shoebox. ...