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MYOB Training

Accounting Made Easy Part 2 – Accounts Payable Explained

Sophie de Somerville - Wednesday, November 17, 2010

When you start your own business, there are so many things to learn and a whole new way of doing things that you need to get used to. It can be both intimidating and overwhelming, and at times you can feel like you're being required to learn a whole new language. In a way, this is exactly what you need to do. The world of business is full of terms you won't have come across before, or words that mean something different than what they do in day to day life. Nowhere is this more evident than in the world of accounting, which is why it can take some getting used to. If you're using accounting software there are usually some courses you can do, such as MYOB training , which will help you get used to accounting jargon and practices. In the meantime, this article provides some useful tips to understanding one of the first concepts in basic accounting: Accounts Payable

Basic Definition

Your accounts payable are the amounts of money that you owe to your vendors and providers for goods or services. With a business, often instead of going into a store and buying what you need for your business over the counter, you'll have standing orders with your suppliers, which means that you'll get the goods or services in advance and then be sent a bill for it later.

Keeping track

Keeping track of what your business owes to whom is a crucial part of ensuring not only the financial stability of your business, but also more long-term components such as your reputation and credit rating. A business that consistently fails or is slow to pay their accounts will not be looked on favourably by its associates or potential financiers, and flaky behaviour on the part of your business could cost you dearly further on down the track.

Prioritise

Part of successfully managing your accounts payable is prioritising bills and invoices in relation to when they're due, how much they're for and whether or not they offer any discount for early payment. A lot of suppliers, especially energy and water suppliers, will offer a certain discount if payment is received in the first week after it has been issued. Your job is to try and put your business in the strongest financial position possible, so saving money where you can is a significant aspect of this.

You may feel like it's the best practise to simply pay every bill as soon as it comes in, which is certainly a good habit to get into when you have a lot of liquid cash t throw around, but (as is usually the case with small start-up businesses) you've probably got to manage your limited cash flow between a whole range of expenses and running costs, and stretching yourself just to have the bills out of the way isn't always the smartest move. As long as bills are paid well in advance of their due dates there's no need to run to the bank as soon as you receive it--prioritising will ensure you've got cash free at all times for those unexpected expenses that have a nasty habit of creeping up in the running of a small business! learn MYOB  and keep solid tabs on what you owe--soon it'll become second nature to you!

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