The list of where each payment lands
Nobody wrote down why each payment goes where it does.
Every kind of payment a business takes lands somewhere in its books, and almost nobody has written down where, or why.
Not every business has this problem, and some should leave it alone.
Most of these can be handled better. Whether it's worth doing is a separate question. What follows is one common form of the problem, described in general terms, because your version will differ. These are possible challenges, not a description of your business, and some should be left exactly as they are. If it sounds like your week, that's worth a conversation.
Watch: The Decision Nobody Wrote Down
Sound familiar?
- A new bookkeeper asks where something goes, and nobody is sure.
- The same payment type has been recorded two different ways.
- The accountant's questions take days to answer.
- Settings were chosen years ago by somebody who has left.
What it looks like
Cash, card, check, deposit, refund, gift card, a payment from a third party: each one arrives through some system and ends up in some account. Where it ends up was decided when each system was connected, and the decisions were rarely written down.
The business runs on those choices every day without seeing them.
What it costs
Nobody can answer a simple question quickly. Where does this kind of payment go? Finding out means opening settings in several systems.
Two paths can disagree. The same kind of payment may land in different places depending on how it came in.
Changes break things silently. A new payment method or a new system is added, and nobody checks it against the old choices.
Where it goes wrong
- The mapping is inside the software. Each system holds its own piece. Nothing shows the whole picture.
- Choices were made by default. Nobody decided. The setup screen suggested something and it was accepted.
- The reasons are gone. Even where somebody chose on purpose, the reason was not recorded.
- Nobody reviews it. It gets looked at only when a number is wrong.
What a better version looks like
One short document lists every kind of payment the business takes, which system receives it, where it lands, and why, in plain language. It is reviewed when a new payment type or system is added, and handed to the accountant as a single thing to check.
It is small by design. Its value is that it exists, is current, and can be read in one sitting.
What still needs a person
The accountant decides whether each mapping is right. A person keeps the document current when something changes, and asks when something does not look right.
Questions worth asking about your own operation
- Could you list every way money comes into the business?
- For each one, where does it land in the books?
- Who chose that, and why?
- When was the last time anyone checked?
If this sounds familiar
Bring me the version you actually have. I'll learn how the process really works before I suggest anything. If it isn't worth changing, or isn't a fit for me, I'll say so. Talk through a problem