It’s possible to run a business on a checkbook. However, you gain a lot by setting up a simple, appropriate accounting system. The reports an accounting system generates let you do these things much more easily than you can if you just keep a checkbook.

• Find errors. If a transaction is missing or entered wrong, the books will be out of balance.
• Plan for the future. Seeing the gozinta, the gozouta, and what you’ve got, you can figure out what you’re going to need—when to borrow money and what work to do to improve your business.
• Stop fraud and theft. If you know your business and your books, you can find out if people are cheating.
• Get financing. A good set of books impresses bank loan officers and investors.
• Make taxes easy. If you have just a checkbook and shoeboxes full of receipts, tax time can be a nightmare. It can actually cost less to keep good books all year than to clean up the mess just for the IRS