Video Length: 2:47
Systems and procedures save you time
Melissa Lange, Business Advisor & Bookkeeper
Western Australia
Melissa says, “It’s important to set up systems and procedures at the beginning of your business. As your business grows, update and adapt your procedures.”
Stay Organised
Systems and Procedures help you to stay organised instead of wasting your valuable time.
When you hire staff it’s good to have systems and procedures in place so they know exactly what they need to do and how it needs to be done. They’ll know what’s expected of them.
It’s also really important to get staff involved in setting up new procedures. It makes them feel a more valuable part of the team.
Example 1 – Invoicing
How do you invoice?
Are your terms 14 days, 30 days or end of the month?
Do you invoice at the end of the job? At the end of each week? Or at the end of each month?
It’s good to have a clear understanding of how you’re going to invoice rather than using an ad hoc approach. If you don’t know when you’re going to invoice you don’t know when you’re going to have that money coming in.
Example 2 – Bills
How do you handle your bills?
When they arrive do you print them off? Do you enter them into your accounting system?
Or are you a paperless office? In that case do you send them to your accounting system?
When do you pay your bills?
How do you pay your bills? By credit card? By EFT?
Who is responsible for handling all of these tasks?
Ensure your systems and procedures answer all of these questions.
Example 3 – Hiring Procedure
What about when you employ people?
Do you have systems in place so you know how to handle all the steps?
- How and where you advertise
- Who you want
- The interview process
- Regulation forms required
- Job description
It’s important to have a clear job description so staff know what’s expected of them and how to do it. This also gives you something to refer back to when you do a 3 month review.
Save Time
Setting up systems and procedures means you don’t have to work things out from scratch every time. This saves a significant amount of time in your business.
Melissa recently had an example where a client was able to save half a day a week by getting properly organised.
She says, “What would you do if you could free up half a day a week? Would you go and do something you love? Catch up with a friend? Or work on growing your business?”
Melissa is preparing to hire
Melissa says, “At the moment I’m doing a review of all my systems in preparation for hiring someone. I’m making sure I have my own systems in place so that when my new staff members starts he/she will know what they have to do, and how to do it.”
Visit Melissa’s website.