If you are self-employed you are probably used to ’having to do the books’ or ’giving the books to the accountant’.

This is usually an activity that is cyclically based around the VAT or Tax return deadline.

Once done, if you are lucky you will see that fleeting set of accounts which will tell you if last quarter or year was a good one. By this time it’s at least a month or so out of date so you really aren’t any the wiser.

News for you: Technology really can help you run your business better.

There are a good selection of reasonably priced (£10 a month or thereabouts) Cloud (internet) based bookkeeping packages designed for the small business owner which are laid out in user friendly format to encourage you to get involved in your business finances.

With every transaction recorded you get a clearer picture instantly, with visuals of monies owed to you/owed by you and your profit year to date.

’I haven’t got time!’ I hear you say.

Well you can now stop entering payments and receipts - they can be brought directly into your accounts by your bank. And the old duplicate or word document for an invoice is easily and quickly replaced by professional invoices that can be emailed to your customers even from your phone as you leave their premises.

VAT returns are magically automated and the books are constantly visible to your accountant if you wish so that the year-end process is virtually seamless and no longer reliant on lugging a big box of paper round to the accountant’s office.

In the UK, HMRC has made this way of working mandatory for small business with their "Making Tax Digital" and after an initial struggle I don’t doubt the businesses will all wonder how they used to manage without this insight into their day to day business. You will find that you keep track of who owes you much more easily which translates to getting paid quicker.

Oh and one more thing - if your laptop dies or your invoice book is eaten by the dog - it doesn’t matter, all your business records are kept securely in the cloud and can be accessed anywhere, on your phone, a desktop computer or tablet. The software even keeps track of compliance with Data Protection Regulations for you and prompts obsolete data removal.

What are you waiting for? Get into the cloud!

Nicola Bowker, Nicola Bowker and Co.