Most small businesses still spend hours each month on data entry that software can do for them. Here is a practical guide to automating your bookkeeping, step by step.
1. Start with cloud accounting and bank feeds
QuickBooks Online and Xero both connect to major Canadian banks and card providers. Transactions arrive daily without downloading statements. Add bank rules so recurring transactions (rent, software, utilities, fuel) are coded automatically with the right GST/HST.
2. Automate receipts and bills
Receipt-capture tools such as Dext or Hubdoc read the supplier, date, amount and tax from a photo or forwarded email, then publish the bill to your books with the document attached. This is where most of the time savings usually are, and it keeps your input tax credit support in order.
3. Put bill payments on approval workflows
Accounts-payable tools let you approve bills from your phone and schedule payment runs, with every step logged. No more late fees or paying the same invoice twice.
4. Let invoicing chase payments for you
Set recurring invoices for retainer clients, add online payment options and turn on automatic reminders. Most customers pay faster when paying is easy and reminders are polite and consistent.
5. Connect payroll and sales channels
Payroll providers can post journal entries straight to your books. Shopify, Amazon, Stripe and Square payouts can be split automatically into sales, fees, refunds and taxes, which ends the most painful reconciliations.
6. Automate the reporting
Once data flows in automatically, dashboards and monthly reports can update themselves and arrive in your inbox on a set day.
Keep a human in the loop
Automation handles the routine. An accountant should still review every month, reconcile accounts and catch exceptions. That is exactly how our accounting automation service works: we build the systems, monitor them and keep your books accurate.