Amelia’s talk at East London Trades Guild meet-up 29/01/2025.

Hi, I’m Amelia MacLellan from MacLellan bookkeeping.  I became a bookkeeper about 10 years ago as a second career.  My first career was as a curator at The Natural History Museum which I left after 13 years to spend some more time with my family and my father who was unwell.  I came to bookkeeping when my husband, Fraser, started his own business and opened a café in Orford Road in Walthamstow which happen to coincide with a bookkeeper friend of mine offering me some casual work with her and something just clicked. 

I have huge respect for small business owners.  Your work is your passion, you’re creative and dedicated.  This is what has driven you to do what you do and allows you to be your own boss.  Unfortunately, it can also come with taking on every other role needed for a business whether that is Head of HR, Head of Marketing, Social Media Manager, Head of Procurements and Bookkeeper.  The list is endless.  All these additional roles are incredibly important for the smooth running of a business and if they slip, it can take valuable time away from you being able to do what you do and grow your business.

I’m here to talk about the bookkeeping side of a small business, if this is one of the hats you wear, and some good practices you can do to keep things running smoothly.

Bookkeeping is not something that most small business owners look forward to and can often be left at the bottom of the to-do list to be put off to the next day.  This is very understandable.  The last thing you want to do after a long day, which is usually way past 9-5 is sit down and go through your accounts.  Unfortunately, this is something which, if it slips, can have a significant negative impact on a business.  One of the most important benefits to a small business of keeping accurate accounts is to know exactly what your current financial position is as this is how you can make quick business decisions and plan for the future.  This fundamentally comes down to knowing what money you currently have, what money is coming in, how you spend it, what you owe and what you are owed.  This information is vital when it comes to looking at how your business is performing, being able to correctly price your product or service and ensure your business continues in the future.

Different systems work for different people.  Some people like to have information presented to them in a visual format, graphs, pie charts etc, some people like spreadsheets with figures, some like lists or even post it notes reminding them of who they need to pay and who owes them (although this scares me in case a gust of wind blows everything away). Whichever way works best for you is what you should do.  Knowing how you can process information about your business is vital.  It’s no good having a management report full of numbers and terms not familiar to you if it doesn’t mean anything and actually you get much more benefit from a report containing graphical images and clear language.

Problems can come when you are not clear about your financial position.  This may be because you simply don’t have time to get all the information together, are not sure how best it should be recorded, are missing information you need or are not being presented the information in a way that is useful to you.  In this case I would suggest making this a priority.  Without knowing where you are, it is very difficult to make quick business decisions or plan for the future.  None of these are easy fixes, you can potentially find time by looking at how you work making sure you are as efficient as you can be and maybe investing in what you need to become more efficient, if that is a possibility for you.  Finding missing information can be time consuming but improving the way you keep your records should ensure that there are as few gaps as possible.  If you are not being presented the information in a way you find accessible, this can be changed, software can produce a variety of reports and being open about how you receive information can be very positive.

In the current financial climate, it can be tough to look at where you are.  Maybe you know you owe money to HMRC or suppliers but are unsure about what to do.  Facing these issues and making a plan can stop you worrying at night (or in the early hours of the morning, which is when I do my worrying) and leave you more focused on your business.  Being overwhelmed can leave you feeling helpless which is not good at all and is not going to help you or your business.

I know it is easy to say but knowing as far in advance when you have significant amounts of money to pay out for example VAT bills, corporation tax payments or self assessment payments can really help.  Get these assessments done as soon as you can, and you give yourself as much time as you can to plan and save before the payment deadlines.  If you’re a Limited Company, make sure you know your end of year and when returns are due, if you’re VAT registered, make sure you know your VAT quarters and when the payment is due and if you’re self employed make sure your get your return filed as soon as possible after the 5th April.  You still won’t have to make the self-assessment payment until the 31st Jan of the next year but you will have nearly 9 months to plan and save. 

I am not creative in the way many of you are and could not do what you do but as small business owners, you can be expected to do what I do, which doesn’t seem fair on you.  There are many different software options for bookkeeping for small businesses out there for example Xero and QuickBooks and many market themselves on being easy to do and suggesting that any small business owner can use them, but it isn’t always the case.  If keeping your own books and analysing the numbers is something you enjoy and find manageable, that is great but if it is something you struggle with and something you feel you don’t have control over, reach out.  Bookkeepers are not necessarily just the people who deal with the numbers.  One of my particular strengths and one of the parts of my job that I find the most rewarding is working with a small business, getting their records straight, helping set up financial processes and presenting the information in a way that helps the business owner to make decisions about their business.  Bookkeepers can also be helpful as an external person between a small business owner and their customer.  Often small businesses have strong relationships with their customers which can make chasing payments awkward.  Bookkeepers can take the awkwardness out of this.  There have been many times where a client has used me for those kind of jobs where maintaining a good working relationship with a customer is paramount. 

Running a small business is really hard.  Often you are facing challenges on your own and doing the worrying on your own not wanting to bring your work home and worry the people in your life.  This is why groups like the East End Trade Guild are so important.  You can talk about what is happening with you and your business with other people who share your experience, and we can support each other. 

Lastly, if you do feel like you are not in control of your business finances or are unsure about what you should be doing, reach out to a bookkeeper or an accountant who will be able to help you with what you need, whether that be taking over your bookkeeping or even helping with specific areas, for example advising on and setting up software for you, creating processes or producing guides so you can manage the day to day tasks yourself.