Many architects struggle with staying on top of their finances. After all, they were trained to draw and design, not how to run a business. Here are seven bookkeeping tips to help you better manage your finances with innovative tools.

1. Get Comfortable with Reporting
The first tip is to get comfortable with the reporting system of your accounting software. You spend money on bookkeeping so that you can get valuable information out of the system. This is precisely where the reports come in. If you have a good working knowledge of the reporting area of your accounting system, then you can pull reports, analyze your business and make decisions based on that. Of course you should also consult your bookkeeping and/or accounting professional for help understanding the reports, especially if something doesn’t make sense to you.

2. Know Your Numbers
The second tip comes right on the heels of the second. You should have a working knowledge of how your business runs from the numbers, even if you have a bookkeeper. This will help you understand if your bookkeeper is doing their job well. Otherwise, you have no idea. It will also help you do a lot more on your own, which will save you money and free up your bookkeeper to focus on the things that you don’t need to concern yourself with.

3. Use Classes
The third tip is for architects who are using QuickBooks for billing. In QuickBooks, classes is the best option to handle phases. The main reason is that when it comes to billing, you can invoice several classes on a single invoice. Of course the best solution is to use a product that was made for architects like ArchiOffice, which has project phase estimation and specific contract types already built in to the software.

4. Learn How Items Work
The fourth tip is based on learning how items in QuickBooks work – particularly 2-sided items. This will give you access to much better job cost reporting, which is critically important for architects who want to understand how well you are bidding jobs. In other words, you want to understand how profitable your current jobs are so you can get better at bidding future jobs that are similar.

5. Review Your Books Once a Month
The fifth tip is to set aside one day per month to review your books. Now, you’ll consolidate everything mentioned above into a monthly review process that will give you incredible insight into how your company is performing financially. Of course the financial performance is based on the results of operations. So everything ties in here!

6. Review the Balance Sheet First
The sixth tip is about how to go about tip # 5. Review the Balance Sheet first. Look at every account, and drill in to see what’s inside. Is it complete (all there)? Is it accurate (the right valuation)? Did it happen (e.g. for accounts receivable did the work being billed for get done)? Do this for every account on the Balance Sheet AND the Profit and Loss. You will have a tremendous understanding of what the books are saying about the financial position and health of your company when you complete this process.

7. Move to the Cloud
The seventh and final tip is to consider moving your accounting and everything else into the cloud. There are all kinds of arguments for this. The convenience, and the time you’ll save by not having to worry about backups and file conversions and sending them to your accountant and so on, will prove to save you much more than what you’ll spend in the applications themselves.

These are a few things to think about and better yet, some action items to follow up on.

About BQE ArchiOffice:

BQE ArchiOffice is an award-winning time tracking, billing and project management software created by architects, for architects. With simple usability, smart functionality and a streamlined user-interface, ArchiOffice is brilliantly designed to organize and analyze all of your business information.