Knowing how to maintain pharmacy accounts and records is essential in the pharmacy sector: without it, you’re flying blind and without an understanding of your true financial position. That’s a precarious position to be in.
But maintaining records isn’t easy — especially when you’re so busy running your pharmacy. So, what can you do to help yourself? In this article, we lay out the essentials for maintaining healthy accounts and financial records for your pharmacy business.
Invest in the right accounting system
From the start, it’s important that you set up the right system and accounting tools as soon as possible to help you keep records of expenses, income and taxes.
Specifically, you should search for a cloud accounting software solution that works for your business. Cloud accounting offers several benefits for record keeping, which is why it’s gained so much popularity among businesses. Here are just a couple:
- Simple uploading. With some cloud accounting platforms, uploading and categorising your expenses and income is as simple as taking a picture of the relevant document. The software will automatically upload the data, saving you time and giving you an accurate view of your finances in real-time.
- Accessibility. Cloud accounting lets you access your financial records from any device with an internet connection. You can view, update and manage your records at any time, even when you’re on the move.
- Collaboration. You’re not the only one who can access your real-time financial information — you can grant instant access to your team so everyone is working off the same financial figures.
- Automatic backups. Cloud accounting systems have built-in automatic backup features. This means your financial data is regularly backed up and stored securely in the cloud, where it’s safe from prying eyes and can never be lost.
Pharmacy businesses are renowned for their reliance on records, especially paper ones. So, why not declutter your workspace and move your pharmacy accounting online?
Work on your bookkeeping schedule
While cloud accounting software is great to maintain pharmacy accounts and financial records, it’s only good as your bookkeeping discipline is — it doesn’t matter what fancy software you have if you input the data late, which increases the chances of late and erroneous entries.
So, make sure you keep on top of things — little and often is a good approach that makes it easier for you to stay up to date with your finances.
Staying on top of the books is seriously important for your business: it ensures you can claim every allowable expense (as a pharmacy, you probably have a lot!) to decrease your tax liability and makes sure your income is correct so you report the correct figures to HMRC.
Good bookkeeping also ensures that you can maintain a positive cashflow to keep up with bills — both expected and unexpected — and tax payments. Missing tax deadlines can result in penalties, which quickly add up.
Reconcile your bank statements
Matching the information in your accounts and the transactions in your bank account is an essential part of bookkeeping. It ensures all income and expenditure is accounted for and no mistakes have been made.
You can do this manually, in which case regularly doing the books is a good idea. Alternatively, you can use accounting software to import your bank statements and automatically match the transactions with the information in your accounts.
Use the data in your accounts to understand your business
If you’re spending time on your accounts but not using the data to give you insights about your business and create plans, you could be missing out.
There’s a misconception that collecting your financial data is just about compliance — it should also be a tool to monitor your business’s financial performance.
But reading accounts and financial records can be tough, so don’t be put off by hiring an accountant to help you. They’ll also be able to help with your bookkeeping and accounting so you can focus on the business.
Need help with your bookkeeping? Get in touch with us to better maintain your pharmacy accounts.
