An in-house team will provide you with great availability with instant support when you need it. However, you can expect to pay more in terms of overheads once their salary and pensions are taken into account. Outsourcing, on the other hand, can be much more cost-effective and better suited to the needs of SMEs. Those unfamiliar with the discipline of bookkeeping may be unfamiliar with the meaning of terms like single-entry and double-entry. This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. For specific advice applicable to your business, please contact a professional.

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Ecommerce platforms and bookkeeping

To be in balance, the total of debits and credits for a transaction must be equal. Debits do not always equate to increases and credits do not always equate to decreases. However, bookkeeping and accounting clerk jobs are expected to decline, with the BLS projecting a 5% fall in jobs over the same period.

Bookkeepers aren’t required to be certified to handle the books for their customers or employer but licensing is available. Both the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB) and the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB) offer accreditation and licensing to bookkeepers. Simply put, business entities rely on accurate and reliable what is bookkeeping for both internal and external users. The chart of accounts may change over time as the business grows and changes. If you’re unfamiliar with local and federal tax codes, doing your own bookkeeping may prove challenging.

Office management

Whether it’s Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, or Adobe Commerce, you must keep track of income, outgoings, and any relevant taxes. An example of double-entry accounting would be if a business took out a $10,000 loan and the loan was recorded in both the debit account and the credit account. The cash (asset) account would be debited by $10,000 and the debt (liability) account is credited by $10,000. Under the double-entry system, both the debit and credit accounts will equal each other.

The entry system you choose impacts how you manage your finances and how your bookkeeping processes will work. Some accounting software products automate bookkeeping tasks, like transaction categorization, but it’s still important to understand what’s happening behind the scenes. Profit and loss statements highlight the revenues, costs, and expenses your business incurred during a set period, while a balance sheet shows your assets and liabilities at any given moment in time.