I recently read this article at Entrepreneur.com and was struck by one of the “flubs” cited by the featured startup. #2 was “Instead of setting up a business account, they used their own money and ended up with an accounting mess.” This is so easy to do when starting a business. You start using your own cash in the very beginning, since you may not have your entity registered yet and can’t open a business account. However, opening your business bank account and setting up your accounting software should happen immediately after you have your entity registered. Don’t wait!

Mingling personal and business funds can cause all kinds of headaches — from not knowing exactly how much you have put into the business, not knowing how much you have spent, and not having accurate records at tax time. If your business is based on a partnership, these headaches are multiplied exponentially…leading to disagreements as to how much each partner has contributed and how much each deserves.

Using a real business accounting software from the beginning helps you keep track of all your income and expenses, all your owner contributions, and makes growth so much easier. We include Peachtree Accounting as a part of the LaunchX System (a complete business startup kit) because getting your finances in order from the beginning is so important, and Peachtree allows for easy, GAAP compliant growth.

Starting a Business? Start Here. Go Far. LaunchX.com