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I know that keeping track of all the money in your boutique can sometimes feel like a lot. But, trust me, by breaking it out into a simple bookkeeping routine, you can stay on top of it all year long so it never becomes a “project” that keeps getting pushed down your to-do list (I see you, girl!). Let’s break it down into a daily, weekly, and monthly bookkeeping task list to make it all seem a little more manageable.

Daily Bookkeeping Task List

Close Your Register & Prep Your Deposit Slip:

End each day by closing out your cash register, and counting all the cash (and checks & coins) in there. Typically, you can want to keep the same minimum amount in your registers from day to day, and anything over that should be taken out.

The cash that you’re taking out SHOULD match your cash sales for the day, but hey, incorrect change happens. Prepare a deposit slip for the amount you’re taking out, and put it someplace safe if you’re not bringing it straight to the bank.

Small discrepancies aren’t a huge deal, but if you’re consistently seeing daily discrepancies, it might mean that your staff needs better training on how to count back change.

If the amounts are consistent and significant, it may also be a sign of a dishonest employee. It’s important to take good records and to do this step daily so you can be sure to compare the daily sales to the daily cash.

Weekly Bookkeeping Task List – Introducing Money Mondays!

I’m a huge fan of doing all of these weekly tasks right away on Monday morning. Review all your financial activity from the prior week, so you know where you stand, and then focus on the rest of your week.

Deposit Weekly Cash/Check Sales:

Be sure you’re bringing all those cash deposits to the bank at LEAST weekly. You don’t want that much cash lying around, and it will ensure that cash is available in your account to cover your expenses.

File/Save Receipts:

Receipts are your proof of expenses. Make a habit of organizing and storing them properly each week. Digital tools like QBO Receipts or Hubdoc can be incredibly helpful for this task, but a simple Google Drive structure will do the trick too. Just PLEASE don’t be saving them in a shoebox 🙂

If you want more information on different ways to organize them, you can check out this post.

Record Weekly Sales:

Since all your sales information lives in your point of sale system, you need to get that information transferred over into your bookkeeping software. I’m not a fan of using any type of integration, as I’ve seen those make a MESS for clients, so I never recommend you use those.

Instead, I prefer to create a journal entry that you can just plug in all your weekly numbers to get your totals into Quickbooks. These journal entries will capture your gross sales, discounts, returns, sales tax, shipping income, COGS, and specific payment methods used (Paypal, Shopify, Sezzle, Cash, etc…)

The one piece to note is that if a week crosses over 2 months, you need to enter 2 different journal entries that week.

For example, the last week of November was November 26 – December 2. Instead of creating just 1 weekly entry for the entire week, you would create an entry on November 30 to total up everything from November 26-30, and another one dated December 2 to capture everything from December 1-2. This ensures that all your monthly totals are accurate, and all the revenue is being captured in the correct period.

Record All Transactions in Bank Feed:

The final thing you’ll do each week is categorize all the activity that was automatically pulled into your bank feed. By doing this weekly, you prevent a buildup of transactions that becomes a “project” that keeps getting pushed down your to do list. It also ensures that you always have up to date numbers you can depend on.

Monthly Bookkeeping Task List

Reconcile All Bank, Credit Card, and Processor Accounts:

At the end of each month, take some time to reconcile your accounts. This means comparing your records to those of your bank, credit card companies, and payment processors. This process will help you catch any errors or discrepancies.

While the bank feeds are a great tool to help you save time, they may occasionally glitch or disconnect which can cause it to miss a transaction. Reconciliation helps catch those errors.

To learn more about what a reconciliation is, and how to do them, you can check out this post.

Review Financial Statements:

Your financial statements are like a snapshot of your business’s financial health. Take a look at your balance sheet, your income statement, and your cash flow statement. By reviewing all 3 of these reports you will get the complete picture of all the financial activity in your business.

File Sales Tax:

Not EVERYONE will have to pay sales tax each month, and maybe you only have to do it quarterly or annually. But, whatever frequency the state has assigned to you, make sure you put this important deadline in your calendar so you don’t miss it!

To learn more about how sales tax works for retail boutiques, you can check out this post.

BONUS: Quarterly & Annual Bookkeeping Task List

There are also a couple more infrequent tasks that you may need to do throughout the year. Things like payroll reports and tax filings (monthly, quarterly, or annual), preparing and sending W-2 and 1099 tax forms (due each January 31st), or filing and making estimated tax payments (quarterly).

By staying on top of these daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, you’ll be in better control of the money in your boutique and be empowered & confident to make informed decisions. And remember, you don’t have to go it alone – if it’s all just too overwhelming for you, than check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques to have me hold you hand every step of the way!

Keep up the great work, and remember, even YOU can feel confident in the money-side of your boutique.