If you feel like your business accounting is a bit of a mess, there's no better time than the present to get it on track. How do you accomplish that, though? Here are four ways you can tighten things up with your business bookkeeping

Develop and Maintain a Schedule

A major mistake is not setting aside regular time to make entries into your accounts. If you have enough inflows and outflows to justify doing it daily, then that's your schedule. Set aside at least a half-hour every day to make entries. If you're looking at a lower right of accounting entries, adjust accordingly. However, try to at least get everything recorded once a week. Even if you've hired a professional business bookkeeping firm to handle the work, they'll appreciate the effort and organization.

Separate Profits from Cash Flows

It's tempting to assume that all positive inflows must be profits. Unless you have zero expenses on a per-project basis, that's highly unlikely. Conflating profits and cash flows can create problems, especially if a deliverable takes longer to produce than you anticipated. For example, a printing professional who thought they'd have a job done in two weeks would almost certainly be less profitable if the same job ended up taking three weeks.

Bear in mind a reduction in profits isn't necessarily the greatest of tragedies. If you incurred bigger expenses, that may be used to reduce your tax bill. However, if it looks like a profit on the books, then it looks like a profit on your tax forms. Make sure you're only booking money as profit when it is legitimately so, otherwise you might be shorting your business.

Ask for Outside Guidance

Even if you just talk a couple of times a year with an accountant acting in a business advisory role, it can make a difference. Outsiders aren't biased toward your fears and goals, and that means they can provide independent advice. They might just tell you everything is okay, but even that input is helpful when things are working.

Break Things Up

Accounting is about distinguishing what's what. If you can't tell the difference between entries for employees versus contractors, for example, that's a potentially costly mistake. It could create later problems with taxes or even workers' compensation insurance.

The same goes for making sure personal and business funds are segregated. Set your business up so you can pay yourself a wage, salary, or dividend, and then leave the rest of the money alone.