Help! Need to start Bookkeeping using Excel - Trading Firm/SME

aap

Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Hi there,

I recently joined my family business; a trading(import/export) firm that has been in business for some 25 years now.

Unfortunately, all the bookkeeping has been conducted manually(on paper) all this time, while inventory management is done on excel on a very basic level. In addition, there is no barely any record of financial statements, cashflows or any other accounts to help analyze the performance of the business.

I cannot hire a consultancy firm to audit the business as other partners in the business wouldn't allow me(they want to protect the firm's business secrets!), which is why I am here.

I am looking to convert all the manual data from my business on a computerized software so it is well organized, easy to maintain, and simultaneously helpful in judging how the business in performing, while also enabling me to make forcasts/future business decisions.

I feel that MS Excel is the most appropriate software to start with, relative to Quickbooks/Peachtree/Quicken etc, as it would allow me to create workbooks from scratch, tailored to my business's needs.

Although I am thoroughly familiar of accounting concepts, I have to admit that I haven't a clue where to start. I am sincerely hoping someone can guide me based on the following information (I'll try to provide as much as I can, while making it as coherent as possible):

The company owns an office for administrative work, A milling plant for processing and packaging of products (which in this case is rice but can also be maize, wheat, chili etc), along with a warehouse, a bunch of long-term assets in shape of properties and other various office fixtures and vehicles(for personal/staff use).

My business is perpetual, so most of the inventory is rotating, however there is some inventory thats been sitting for more than 1 fiscal year. Furthermore, rice has a lot of varieties, resulting in similar number of bi-products, each with varying prices. The office staff overlooks the documentation for import and export (B/L, Invoices etc)

In addition, I want to maintain the budget and expenses for home, as well as my personal budgeting.

I want to categorize my accounts in the following 4 headings:

Factory
Office
Home
Personal

Since the business is registered as sole propreitor and taxes are handled by a tax consultant, any guidance/advice need not equate taxes in their replies.

Once I know where to start, I can convert all entries/data from Jan 1 to present date so that my fiscal years performance is unhindered.

My target is to ideally create all books so I can follow all my income and expenses accurately, create cashflows, P/L accounts, balance sheets, manage my inventory effectively, create graphs and patterns that would help determine net present value and other ratios etc. Most importantly, I'd like to be all to consolidate/merge all my books in a pivot table or otherwise, so I can have something of a bird's eye view of how my business is performing(it will also make updating multiple accounts a lot easier).

Any help would be immensely appreciated. Just let me know where to start and what books do I need to create on Excel in order to efficiently pursue my goals.

Thank you in advance.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top