Any startup without plans for accountability is like sailing a ship without a compass. Running a business without direction, you can imagine, is not only a bad omen, it is the origin of failure in business. Infact, series of project topic in accounting departments of tertiary institutions have established a nexus between business and the need for acquiring accounting skills.

In the first place, the reason an establishment is called business is because it is aimed at generating financial resources for the owner(s). So, you must treat it with some sense of value and accountability. This is exactly what startups should look out for in business irrespective of the industry they belong.

Now, talking about accountability and startups, the world of business is a very sensitive and large market where consumers and producers, buyers and sellers etc. aims to make good returns for the things they buy and sell. You may wonder what a buyer or consumer may want in return; I will tell you. A consumer or buyer has a need for a product or service, that’s why they purchase your product. That aside, have you also wondered why they always want goods and services to be sold to them at a rather lower cost than the marked price? Now you are thinking…

You, as much as I do, aim to make the most of what we have, no matter how little the money or resources we have in hand is, we anticipate to use it for something quite meaningful and resourceful.  Just like a mother who goes to purchase a school bag for the child would bargain prices with the seller, so also should startups thrive to beat time and accountability. The reasons may vary but they are very significant. While the woman needs to have some of the money to add to some other purchases, a startup owner owes his allegiance to building core technical accounting skills that will help this business either now or in the nearest future.

But slow down a bit;

Why is accounting skills very important in business, especially for startups?

For backup information

Sincerely, accounting skills is primarily necessary for record purposes. Infact, it has gone beyond records to becoming a source of reference for business owners. At a startup level of business, the number of sales, purchases, deliveries, equipment, general expenses and income should be accounted for. Do you know why? It’s better and easier to keep records at this basic level than keeping it till the business grows.

Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today because tomorrow has its own package.

Helps you give a business forecast 

Particularly in the world of ICT, startups are encouraged to pitch their products and services. On such events, sponsors, investors and partners keep their heads up to pick the most presentable business outfit.

Surprising enough, your ability to give a detailed and statistically considerable estimate and forecast of your business gives you an edge over other startups that have come to pitch as well. This tells how much accountability you owe to your business. So, how do you keep such catchy statistics? you will see that later.

Budgeting

The skills you acquire for accounting helps you make business budgets. The budget could be annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly or daily. So if you have a budget, you can easily know how much you have, how much you will spend and how much you expect to get in return.

It helps you ascertain your business expansion rate

Keeping records for a length of time, making budgets and other statistical examinations mirrors what your business would look like in the long or short run. You will know if you are actually expanding and making progress, if you need more hands, if you need more money or material resources etc.

It will also open your understanding on your flaws and weakness and the need to sit up.

Now that we have examined the importance of accounting skills let’s move quickly to the meat of the matter.

What accounting skills must startups deploy to make the most of their business?

Be native to current tech innovations

To aide their accountability speed, startups must be willing to deploy necessary tech softwares and hardwares which they can afford. As much as financial constraints may be a case for startups, making investments willingly into your business, tech wise is never a waste. It is relatively cheap, especially in the long run.

When codemintfirst started the mint 300 campaign, we deployed a software that gives an analysis of the number of active participants, the number of mints uploaded daily, the number of clicks, likes and site visitors. I mean, you need to keep records of such little statistics. Sincerely, it helped us with the strategic idea for the latest updates on codemint.

Be accountable yourself

You may not entirely be successful in accounting for your business if you cannot account for yourself. Here is a quick test, how much time do you give to research, how much time do you give to your friends, how about your family, your employees nkoor? Now, that’s just time, how about your level of connections and relationships with people of substance. That’s a food for thought…

Be knowledgeable about and apply the tenets of business

Accountability in business does not end in keeping records of the buying and selling, it goes beyond recording expenses and income. Can I tell you this, business is not just about you, it’s about business itself.

This is the nugget; partnership is an eye opener to accountability. Outsourcing is a kicker. Sponsorship is an inspiration. If you have these levels of support for your startup, don’t you think you will be more careful with records than a bank cashier? The reason is you are dealing with resources from investors and you wouldn’t want to mess up.

Establish cool communication strategy

As a startup, make each of your employees accountable for their day to day activities. I understand that at this level, there may not be a need for departmentalizing the office but you can handle this by assigning responsibilities and requesting for reports daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.

It is advisable to take it weekly, maybe as you progress in business you could take it a little above the weekly intervals.

To wrap up, business is never a bed of roses. The truth is you make the bed yourself and inspire the roses either in your imagination or in reality. Bootstrap as much as you can, leverage on your strength and outsource your weaknesses, get into partnership than depend on investors, be accountable and thank me later, Lol.