Accounting for your own company might seem like a daunting task. If you are a young entrepreneur looking to save money in this department, or maybe it just doesn’t make sense to hire an accountant at this point in time, you are faced with the responsibility of tight bookkeeping. The consequences of poor accounting can affect you and your company in the long haul when the audits come around. The truth of the matter is that there are a few guiding principles that you have to follow to make accounting seem less intimidating.

First of all you have to look at accounting as being part of your business habits, the same way you do with emails or inventory reviews. You should do the books at least once a month if not more. In fact, the more the better you do it, the better. Taking the time, if you can, once a week or every other week to do the accounting will keep the books as tight as they get, meaning that this is a small investment in the long term.

You also have to learn the language of an accountant. There is a lot of terminology to accounting that is not exactly intuitive, but once you get the hang of it, it’ll feel like a second language. This is the step that scares most people, but there are documents and websites out there that will help you understand the lingo. For example, there are the US Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers and accountancy groups such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Get an accounting software. These programs will make your job a whole lot easier. There are a lot of options and each one is suited for a different type of manager. If you are mostly at your computer, QuickBooks Desktop might be a good choice. If you’re always on the go, you have Xero. If you use an iPad you have Kashoo and Easy Books which operate as cloud-based software.

And finally, make sure you ask for advice. If you have some friends that are doing their own accounting you can ask them. You might want to take some basic classes or online courses, maybe even check the forums and become an active member of one you find to your liking. In fact, with the internet, you can find solutions to anything that might have you slumped.