Hi, welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new job.
A couple of options for you.
You could set up/use code 1230 "Petty Cash" and post the receipt there, especially if the money was taken from the bank originally to cover those expenses.
Are the expenses paid for by the boss personally? Therefore you could journal to drawings or make a payment to the boss from the bank to re-imburse him thus using "Bank" 1200.
Hi, welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new job.
A couple of options for you.
You could set up/use code 1230 "Petty Cash" and post the receipt there, especially if the money was taken from the bank originally to cover those expenses.
Are the expenses paid for by the boss personally? Therefore you could journal to drawings or make a payment to the boss from the bank to re-imburse him thus using "Bank" 1200.
I hope that helps!
These are receipts from either himself or his workers for items used in the business etc. I assume the money was paid for out of his own pocket rather than drawings from the bank. I have looked at the N/C he has asked me to use, and it looks like he adds the receipts to the account, then clears it at year end??? I think?
I apologise for this, but I'm past 40 and never done anything like this before. Enjoying it, but feeling pretty stupid considering I have done AAT level 2. I feel like I know nothing :(
You have nothing to apologise for or anything to feel stupid about. We all have things to learn and experience to gain. Keep on enjoying it, the forum is here to help and guide as there are a lot of members on here with a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer.
I apologise for this, but I'm past 40 and never done anything like this before. Enjoying it, but feeling pretty stupid considering I have done AAT level 2. I feel like I know nothing :(
Hi Dave,
I think that Angela has sorted you out on this one so my response is not to your question but rather the above statement that I feel speaks volumes.
You are feeling out of your depth and such is made worse by a boss telling you what to do which at times is going to be at odds with your training.
There is an issue that people telling bookkeepers what to do are not always right and as your confidence grows you will find yourself in a position to disagree with what you ar being told to do. (that is not a comment about the scenario you paint in this thread).
You say that your past 40 which means that you will fit in perfectly here as many of us are in our 40's, 50, 60's and even 70's.
Age is just a state of mind. I personally was 42 before I started down this route.
Bookkeeping is not just a job, it's a different way of thinking that people pay you for.
And Sage is not Bookkeeping, it is just a bit of software that is supposed to make bookkeeping simpler (debatable point there!).
To be a good bookkeeper you need clarity of purpose. You should not just be looking at where you are putting data elements but thinking about where they will end up in the accounts and the effects that they will have upon the various elements of the accounts.
Your boss may tell you what to do but they will also blame you for doing it when the accountant is giving them a hard time for shoddy books full of mispostings... And it's never a good idea to tell the accountant that your boss told you to do it as first you'll get grief from the accountant and then you'll get fired
I think that when you have completed AAT level III things should start to slot into place a lot better for you and give you the confidence to discuss matters with your employer which I feel is where you are really uncomfortable at the moment and it must be making the job a bit of a nightmare.
It won't always be that way but just be careful not to step into any minefields whilst trying to get on top of the current role.
Good luck moving forwards, remember that we're all here to support you (go Dave, Go Dave).
I personally don't answer Sage queries but sure that we'll chat about bookkeeping and accounting matters in the coming months,
kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Congratulations on your new job & I've also been finding my feet this last year so I know how it feels!
We are a small business and I use Sage Instant Accounts. The advice you have already been given is spot on and I use Angela's first suggestions which is to setup petty cash 1230 as I find having this seperate from the main business account allows me to keep track of receipts much easier and often the staff save them up and then give me then in a lump so I find it makes it easier to process and allocate against the correct N/C. Some of our customers like to pay us cash upon collection and therefore I use 1230 for both receiving payments from customers and also for payment of small business items such as milk, coffee, USB pen drives, royal mail postage etc. As it would cost us to pay cash into our business account we sometimes accumulate quite a bit of cash and I use this to pay our local smaller suppliers who don't use Bacs and therefore instead of writing a cheque which incurs business fee's to process, stamp & time, I sometimes pay their invoices using cash if I know they will be popping in soon to pick up a job. This may not be relevant to you if your business does not receive cash in but I personally find it useful to have a small float for when the essential things run out like toilet roll & someone has to nip to the shop!
I just want to say thank you for all your kind words, support and wisdom!!
The boss worked in a chartered accountants office for 20 years, so does know a fair bit about accounting, although he freely admits to not knowing a lot about SAGE.
He is very supportive, having taken me on knowing I have no experience, but I do feel very awkward asking how to do what must appear to be very simple tasks.
I seem to get stuck and a little muddled on even the basics sometimes.
Regarding the advice on the cash receipts, I'll have to run that past him first as he overseas everything in the business (can't blame him checking on me at the moment, lol). Thank you for the pointers though.
Nothing has been done on sage since mid May and I started just short of 3 weeks ago. My main problem is trying to complete a bank reconciliation for May. I am roughly £8500 different. I can account for approx £7200 but unsure where to start to find the rest. Roughly £3000 is from payments received 2 years ago!! Now that is going to be interesting clearing them!!
I think if the system was up to date and fairly straight, I'd be a bit less stressed, but some of the accounts are in a bit of a mess and I'm trying to figure out how he works his finances......
On a good note though, I am really enjoying the change of scenery. After 25 years of one thing, this is quite refreshing AND my first job where I don't work shifts, yippeeeeee.
Thank you all again and get ready to be inundated with questions :)
