The 10 Question Bookkeeping Review: is it time for change?
                     The 10 Question 
Bookkeeping 
Review: is it time for 
change?
How to Conduct an Internal Bookkeeping Review
There is a very famous saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix 
it”. True in some cases but absolutely not true when it 
comes to bookkeeping and the way you run your 
business. 
Sometimes we get so caught up in our business we 
never get a chance to float above it (metaphorically 
speaking!) and look at the cogs of the process engine to 
identify things slowing it down. 
Sure, something might not be broken but there may be 
a few cogs or processes that are cumbersome and 
groaning under the weight of the growth of your 
business, any strategy changes you are making or 
changes in customer expectations and behaviour. 
It’s always good to have regular reviews of the different 
components of the business – online marketing, 
logistics, business development, sales approaches, 
safety, repair and maintenance and of course, 
bookkeeping. 
We find with the clients that come to us after they’ve 
done a review they’ve realised that their traditional 
desktop approach to bookkeeping has worked but as 
other parts of the business ramped it up with 
technology and online communication, desktop 
bookkeeping got left behind. 
It became a cog in the business wheel that slowed the 
entire engine down. 
They identified the issue, researched alternatives such 
as cloud accounting, made the switch with us at 
Cornerstone and have never looked back. 
SO! How should you review your bookkeeping 
approach? Here are 5 simple questions you can ask 
about the current capability of bookkeeping process?
• Have you streamlined your finances and internal 
processes within the last 12 months?
• Are you taking less time to complete your payroll every 
week, fortnight or month? 
• Are payroll changes to tax and superannuation laws set 
to automatically update within your accounting 
software? (hyperlink this to landing page for Payroll 
book) 
• Can staff prepare quotes and sales invoices remotely and 
on the go wherever they may be? 
• Can you be sitting at the airport with the capability to 
download the company’s latest profit and loss statement 
reflected in real time? 
Hmmmmm….if you’ve answered NO to at least one of 
those questions, it may be time for a re-think of your 
bookkeeping approach. 
But we don’t want to be presumptuous! Let’s ask a few 
more questions and see how you go. 
• Are you collecting every receipt manually and placing 
them in a bag or envelope to give to your 
bookkeeper every month?
• Do you reconcile your bank statement manually 
every month?
• Is there delays in distributing employee pay slips? 
• Are you manually submitting your employee 
superannuation contributions? 
• Are you transferring desktop accounting files to your 
accountant? 
Okay. If you answered YES to one or more of those 
questions, it’s time to look at cloud accounting as a 
bookkeeping alternative and a smart business strategy. 
Here’s the thing. Cloud accounting saves time and it 
saves money. We have seen it firsthand in our own 
business and also with our clients. Time and money are 
like the holy grail of small businesses. We all want more 
of it! 
The old style of bookkeeping is costing you money. 
Money and time that could be invested in other areas 
such as business development, research and customer 
connection that could really kick-start your business to 
a whole other level. We’re talking thousands of dollars 
a year. 
Knowing which systems to introduce to your business 
and how to implement them is as easy as picking up the 
phone and speaking with Cornerstone. If you’re anxious 
about the technology, don’t be. We are experienced 
with cloud accounting. In fact, it’s the only form of 
bookkeeping we use with our clients. We can help you 
identify the best way forward to make financial 
management easy for you. 
It’s time to put your hand on the phone and your head 
in the cloud. 
If you have any questions regarding your current 
situation please feel free to call us here.  We can show 
you in 30mins or less how to streamline your business. 
(Hyperlinked to contact page)