Thanks to Japanese organizational guru Marie Kondo, people across the world are “tidying up” their lives and clearing their spaces of anything that does not “spark joy.” With the KonMari method, people all over the world are sparking joy in their lives. Can you do it in business? Let’s find out!
Declutter and to simplify is the main goal of the KonMari. Be it at an office, a home, or a closet, Kondo insists that people remove their physical assets to be able to free their time and energy for those truly important things. This can become life-changing.
Letting go of anything that does not spark joy is Kondo’s key message– it’s easy to see how that same matter can be powerful in other areas of our lives.
Entrepreneurs should think about viewing their bookkeeping through Marie Kondo’s lens when it comes to maintaining their finances.
Does it spark joy? Let’s KonMari
Some entrepreneurs may say that when they connect with customers, solving problems for people, building a legacy or transforming a product sparks them joy. Most likely you won’t hear entrepreneurs saying that managing people’s books sets the heart on fire.
One of the top challenges small business owners have always reported is that financial operations rank among the leading challenges they face, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses‘ small business trends data. The small business mentoring organization SCORE reports that 40 percent of small business owners say that accounting and bookkeeping are the most unpleasant parts of owning a business. Still, 10 percent of small business entrepreneurs outsource their bookkeeping, only 17 percent use a CPA for their accounting, and just 15 percent outsource their payroll.
Declutter the business owner’s brain
Particularly, in a new, bootstrapped company, bookkeeping can take up a large part of your time as there is just not enough time in the day for owners to do everything and do it well. Entrepreneurs should focus on things such as marketing, sales prospecting, customer service, and product development to help bring them closer to their business goals.
Business owners can organize their brains of the endless details and tedious processes that go along with keeping their books up to date when using a digital bookkeeping service. By handing over bookkeeping to the professionals, this will help turn the clutter of receipts, statements, logs, and ledgers into actionable data that owners can use to make good decisions about how to manage their business.
A small business can also prove to be risky, especially as a business grows. Even with the wealth of do-it-yourself tools and resources available, the actual amount of data and paperwork required to keep accurate records can be overwhelming. Also, when the books are unorganized, it could mean filing taxes with incorrect information, which can have legal consequences and financial fines.
Accountants are better prepared to see opportunities for deductions and areas where their clients could get tax breaks, due to having accurate financial records.
Do it once
Those who accept her method need only to do it once to feel its sure effects, according to Marie Kondo. Just the act of getting started with a digital bookkeeping partner may seem like a lot of work, for some small business owners – particularly if they’re staring at lots of spreadsheets, statements and receipts. The initial setup is actually simple, and it truly does get simpler from there. A good digital bookkeeping service will easily integrate with all major banks and financial institutions, which means owners don’t have to stress about uploading statements or scanning receipts again.
Owners should partner with a company that backs them with a real live bookkeeping professional on the back end, to allow them o promptly get answers to any questions that come up and speak with someone who is familiar with the complexities of their business. If they need information for the bank, investors or the IRS, working with a digital bookkeeping partner makes it easy to quickly get a proper and crisp visualization of what’s coming in and going out, see holes that need to be plugged, and make educated business decisions based on real numbers.
Entrepreneurs can get back to focusing on the parts of their business that they love, by having a professional handle their bookkeeping. This allows us to remove the stress, frustration, and time obligation that comes with managing their own financial records and move toward developing and maintaining a business that truly sparks joy.
What do you think?
Are you ready to tackle the KonMari method in your business?
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Looking for money information or tips? Check out our post on The Importance of Documenting Processes and Systems