The Importance of Bookkeeping

I’ll admit it, for years, I didn’t give bookkeeping the credit it deserved. As an accountant, I saw it as basic, almost administrative work. It wasn’t until I stepped back into a financial analyst role about five years ago that the picture shifted. In the analyst world, there’s a phrase we lean on: garbage in, garbage out. And nothing proves that more clearly than bookkeeping.

If the data going into QuickBooks Online isn’t accurate, customized, and consistently maintained, the reports coming out will never give you the clarity you need. You can’t make confident decisions if the numbers you’re relying on are incomplete, generic, or miscategorized. That realization is one of the main reasons I started this business. I understand the entire accounting system end-to-end, and I know how critical the front-end setup and monthly inputs are to producing meaningful financial insights on the backend.

From a tactical standpoint, this starts with building a chart of accounts that reflects your business - not a generic template that includes categories you don’t use and leaves out the ones you actually need. A standard QBO chart of accounts will never tell the full story of your business. For example, if you don’t pay rent, you don’t need a Rent Expense line cluttering your profit and loss. But if you run an executive coaching firm and purchase client kits or materials, you do need a specific Supplies or Client Materials category so you can track those costs and understand their impact on profitability.

Good bookkeeping isn’t just data entry. It’s the foundation that allows you to see what’s really happening in your numbers and make decisions with confidence. When the inputs are thoughtful, consistent, and tailored to your business, everything that flows from them becomes exponentially more useful.