Bookkeeping and Accounting Fundamentals for Startup Founders
Should You Do Your Own Accounting?
You’re in the earliest stages of your consulting or professional services business. Should you save some money and do your accounting on your own?
No.
Well, maybe yes when you’re really just starting out and haven’t yet inked any deals, but as soon as you start to get clients, you need to invest in professional bookkeeping support, and then more in-depth accounting support as your business grows.
I’ve previously shared that in the early stages of my new consulting business, I tried to do all the bookkeeping and accounting myself. Don’t repeat my mistake.
Should you still get a handle on the basic principles of bookkeeping and accounting?
Certainly.
Some Resources
Below are several resources that can help you gain a baseline understanding of bookkeeping and accounting.
All of these resources are low-cost or free, and several of them have been vetted by Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/best-online-bookkeeping-classes-5080723
You can get started with one of these three resources:
- Accounting & Bookkeeping Basics in 90 Minutes (Skillshare)
- Accounting Foundations: Bookkeeping (LinkedIn Learning)
- Accounting for Startups: The Entrepreneur’s Guide (Deskera)
For a little bit of a deeper dive:
This modular guide can be useful for learning and ongoing reference:
Accounting Principles (Accounting Coach):
As the founder and the default CEO, you’re responsible for understanding the fundamentals of all functions within your business, financials chief among them. You’ll need to learn enough to interact effectively with the finance professionals whom you contract or hire. As your business grows, this foundational knowledge will enable further learning and increasingly informed decisions about your company’s financial future.
