Who doesn’t love a good spring cleaning? The weather turns warmer, the sun sets later, and many of us are simply overcome with the urge to declutter and get things in order. Spring cleaning isn’t just for your house or other physical spaces, though. Organizations and businesses can apply spring cleaning principles to their financials and accounting processes, too. 

It’s the perfect time to dust off the books, get rid of things you don’t need, and put processes in place to keep your business organized and tidy. Here are three spring cleaning tips, CPA style, to help your organization do just that.

1. Clean Up Your Financial Records

The first way to spring clean your organization’s financials is with a close, careful inspection of your financial records. Your goal is to ensure things are accurate, documented, up to date, and well, clean! Here are some specific things to do to sort out your records.

  • Look for duplicate entries, missing transactions, and incorrect amounts.
  • Reconcile your records with those of your bank, checking for discrepancies.
  • Review your expense classifications and make sure they are accurate and up to date.

2. Clear the Clutter from Your Records and Your Processes

When spring cleaning your house or other physical spaces, one of the most satisfying parts is clearing out the clutter. Having things out of place or things that you don’t need taking up valuable space creates chaos in the mind. Getting rid of stuff or simply putting them in their proper place creates clarity and calm. And you can do that with your business’s financials and accounting processes, too.

Clutter is created in your accounting processes and records primarily through redundancies and inefficiencies. Here are a few top things to look for and eliminate or address to clear the clutter and breath a sigh of organized relief. 

  • Inputting the same information into multiple systems or reports
  • Having multiple software or tech solutions that handle parts of your process instead of using one solution that does it all
  • Overlapping reports that contain the same or similar information
  • Manual handling of calculations, inventory tracking, expenses, and the like instead of relying on automations
  • Paper-based processes that lead to a high risk of error, procrastination, and take more time than necessary to complete (More on fixing this below!)

3. Organize Your Receipts, Invoices, and Expense Reports

Every accountant or CPA has worked with business clients whose receipts, invoices, and expense reports end up in a mess. It’s understandable! Business owners and leaders are working hard to win new business and deliver on it! It’s easy to simply toss this paperwork into a pile with the plan to sort it out later. 

Before you know it, the piles become unruly, the associated expenses and revenues never get recorded, and what was a small mess becomes a major financial complication that can cause big problems for your business. 

Make your spring cleaning the time to get rid of the stacks, record all of the information, and file or digitize all of the documents. You can avoid this messy situation from happening again down the line and make this part of your process tidy, permanently. How? With technology, of course. 

There are tons of accounting apps and software solutions that are designed to handle taking your “paperwork” and digitizing it. They are available at various cost levels and complexities so you can find the one that will work best for your needs and your budget. At Lumix, we are well versed in helping clients integrate technology into their processes for more streamlined, accurate, and efficient accounting processes. 

If you are ready to spring clean your business or organization from a financial perspective, the team at Lumix is ready to help! Contact us here to learn what we can do for you.

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