by Mitchell 1

Among all the complex day-to-day operations involved in running a successful auto repair shop are the back office tasks like keeping your shop’s accounting in order. When you can complete them accurately and efficiently, you’ll help ensure success for your business.

Bookkeeping vs. Accounting

To begin with, bookkeeping and accounting are not the same;  yet both are essential components of your business. The main difference between these two terms is that bookkeeping refers to recording all financial transactions for your business while accounting refers to analyzing, reporting and summarizing that financial data.

The Value of Your Time

The most important aspect to keep in mind when it comes to bookkeeping for your business is that your own time is extremely valuable. As a shop owner or manager, you are responsible for managing the business as well as diagnosing and repairing vehicles. While accounting and bookkeeping fall into the shop management area, they do require very specialized set of skills. If these are not uppermost on your resume, or are not your favorite tasks, you have two choices: 1) Delegate those tasks to someone with more knowledge and experience, or 2) Find a method of simplifying the process for yourself.

Delegating Your Bookkeeping Services

Delegating your bookkeeping to an in-house accounting specialist or outsourcing it to a local bookkeeper can be very efficient, but it can be very costly. However, as long as you use your newly freed up time to do work that is more productive for your repair shop, this can make sense from a business standpoint.

Bookkeeping On Your Own

There are some excellent alternatives that will allow you to keep your accounting in-house.

For example, the Accounting Link auditing tool seamlessly integrates Mitchell 1’s Manager SE shop management system with most popular accounting software applications such as QuickBooks, Peachtree, Simply Accounting and many more. Accounting Link eliminates input error since the data generated within Manager SE is directly transferred to the accounting program of your choice. So you can relax, knowing your financial data is accurately captured. Keeping your books balanced has never been easier or more time efficient.

Maintaining Your Balance from Anywhere

Accounting Link helps you keep up with your bookkeeping by allowing you to process your financials from home or anywhere you choose to have it installed. This added flexibility gives you the opportunity to keep track of your business at your convenience and to stay on top of your books.

Each business transaction will have some form of documentation whether it’s a sale invoice, sales receipt, or purchase order. These documents are vital to maintaining your records as they provide your business with a reliable trail to follow, should your business be audited. Utilizing software to record all of these documents quickly will allow you to simplify this process.

Accounting Link

The easiest way to get back your time is to minimize the amount that you spend on your bookkeeping. With a few simple clicks, Accounting Link can verify your activities for the day and get you back to what you do best, managing your auto repair shop. Best of all, this powerful auditing tool is fully compatible with Mitchell 1’s Manager SE software, the industry leader in auto shop management.