Collections and Medical invoice double-billing can be the result of a straightforward bookkeeper error or just one of the worst invoice errors a bookkeeper can make. The best way to avoid double-billing errors would be to just follow and remember this essential rule: “Never pay out the invoice; the bill has to be paid.” To make this method as simple as possible, double-billing errors should be avoided in the early stages. For that to be true, as a bookkeeper you need to be aware of every detail and every expense, so you can always pay an invoice instead of letting it to wait. Always read carefully and thoroughly every detail and every field of the invoice for errors. If you’re reading and double-checking the invoice, then there will be less chances of the double-billing error. If you don’t want to take care of every expense detail and every invoice detail, then you could choose to outsource this responsibility to your accountant or bookkeeper. However, the onus should always be on you to ensure that there are no mistakes in the bookkeeping. The second step in avoiding double-billing errors is to keep track of your payment. The payment journal serves as an organized record of the invoices you have paid out in any particular period. So make sure to record every payment you’ve made, because this will help you avoid double-billing errors in the future. Also, note that in case of an unexpected event or expense, you should always use your backup plan, which will be your payment journal. Also, it is very important to remember the importance of recording every payment. Most businesses are using cashless methods for payments nowadays, so if you’re not recording all payments you make, it’s easy to miss the receipt and forget about the payment altogether, especially if you did not keep any receipts of your expenses and invoices from your business. So keep a record of your payments for at least the last three years and every month you can keep a separate notebook. Once you receive the payment, make sure to record it in your payment journal as well, so you can easily check for double-billing errors later. The final step in avoiding double-billing errors is to always keep track of the balance of your bank accounts. Keeping this information organized in an account statement and a separate book is a good practice to avoid double-billing errors. This book should have a record of every bank account you have and a record of the balance of your accounts after each transaction. The balance could be positive or negative. Now that you have kept track of the balance of your bank accounts and the record of your transactions, you could immediately check for any mistakes in the accounting. Also, keep in mind that all transactions you do, you should make sure that you’re not double-billing. In the end, double-billing errors can be minimized by simply paying attention and working on how to avoid the double-billing error. If you have any questions about getting better control of your bookkeeping, or if you want to learn more about how to manage better your financial books, contact us for help. We offer bookkeeping services that will help you manage your bookkeeping books more efficiently and more accurately. You can find out more about our bookkeeping services on our website. Have any other tips about how to avoid double-billing errors? Let us know in the comment section! If you need help with improving the efficiency of your bookkeeping, please visit http://www.hbsbookkeeping.com. We are offering bookkeeping services and providing advice to small business owners. We work with firms from every industry and every type of business. We can help you with everything from the bookkeeping setup to the daily bookkeeping, or you can hire us to take care of the bookkeeping entirely. Contact us today for a free consultation. We offer services in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. You may have noticed that many companies in the software industry and in other industries use accounting systems such as Microsoft® Accounting or QuickBooks® that are available for download and installation. Because it’s easy to install and to create accounts, many small business owners start using them. It’s the best solution for new companies that don’t have a complex bookkeeping, yet they need to record daily expenses, sales, and purchase of inventory. The good news is that the small business owners have realized the benefits of using such accounting system, and also the bad news is that most small business owners don’t keep their books as they should. As a result, the small business owners spend more time managing their accounts, and because of this, they lose some opportunities to grow their business. However, by managing your bookkeeping effectively, you can take your business to a whole new level and avoid double-billing errors. Even though you’re using an accounting software system, you need to double-check the data you entered in the system because errors in this software will result in accounting mistakes. You should be aware that when it comes to accounting software, some of these systems have the capability of creating double-entries in your data. You can avoid double-billing errors by implementing this in the following steps: Enter all transactions into the software and all relevant costs in the same financial period or transaction. Make sure you can easily recognize which transaction is an expense and which is an income, and make sure the transaction is entered into the correct expense category. Keep track of all transactions with different account codes for each account and different time period and make sure the transactions you entered in your accounting system are in line with your double-entry. If you see that there are double-entries, double check everything and make sure you are doing the transactions in the correct order, so there is no mistake in your double-entry. Make sure that all the transactions you’ve recorded are relevant, correct, and are related to each other. Even though these steps may seem like common sense and obvious, the results can be devastating. The problem with software such as Microsoft or QuickBooks is that many users don’t understand the basic principle of double-entry bookkeeping. The majority of bookkeepers and accountants are very familiar with double-entry accounting. It’s a system that helps avoid bookkeeping mistakes, which will help the small business owner to avoid double-billing errors. Double-entry bookkeeping is a unique and complicated method of recording business transactions, which ensures that every transaction is entered accurately. There are only two ways to enter an expense, income, or a transaction, as seen in the picture below: The right side of the picture shows how a double-entry is set up. On the right side is how the bookkeeper records an expense and adds a debit (red arrow) on an asset account, and on the left side is how the accountant records an expense, adds a debit (red arrow), and then a credit (green arrow) on a different asset account. This accounting system protects the bookkeeper and the accountant against errors. The accountant can look at the income side of the balance sheet and confirm that there is no error in the expense, and the bookkeeper can look at the balance sheet and see that the account has a debit, and that there is no double-entry error. If you use a software system, make sure you take some time to understand the basics of double-entry bookkeeping. This will help you keep track of your accounts and ensure your accounting records are accurate. Have any other tips on how to avoid double-billing errors in your accounting software? Let us know in the comment section! If you need help with improving the efficiency of your bookkeeping, please visit www.financialbookkeeping.com. We are offering bookkeeping services and providing advice to small business owners. We work with firms from every industry and every type of business. We can help you with everything from the bookkeeping setup to the daily bookkeeping, or you can hire us to take care of the bookkeeping entirely. Contact us today for a free consultation. We offer services in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. It’s very difficult to ignore the importance of accounting. When a small business owner considers hiring a bookkeeper or an accountant, one of the first questions on their minds is about the cost of accounting. It’