What to Do When You are Behind in Your Accounting

The biggest challenge we hear about every day is being behind in ongoing accounting activities!
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We hear it over and over, “We’re so behind on _________. I feel like we’re never going to catch up because we just don’t have the people or time to do it all!” You can fill in that blank with almost any bookkeeping or accounting activity and it would describe the kinds of conversations we have with prospective clients. Whether it’s payables, receivables, close, reconciliations, reimbursements, payroll, or reporting, we have heard it all!

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​So, if you’re behind, you’re not alone! In fact, a study from 2023 reveals that 77% of A/R teams are delayed in collecting payments on invoices. And these A/R delays are significant, with 15% of those surveyed indicating that they were weeks behind and 22% indicating that they were months behind. But A/R is certainly not the only area where companies struggle to stay on top of their accounting to-dos, and being behind can have serious implications for business viability and growth. 

So, what can you do when you’re behind on your accounting activities to get back on track? This three-step plan will get you caught up so you can move forward well.

1. Recognize the Problem
Chances are, if you’ve made it this far, you probably already have an inclination that there’s a problem. That’s great because you can’t fix a problem that you don’t know about!

But if you’re reading this resource and you’re still on the fence as to whether you actually have an issue on your hands, dig in deeper to look for the kind of signs that would indicate your accountant needs help or your accounting activities are falling behind schedule. Red flags would include things like:

• Frequent or persistent errors
• Missed deadlines on deliverables
• Outdated, incomplete, or missing financial reports
• Diminished team morale and/or a negative outlook about the company
• Missed work or employee turnover
• Complaints from other employees regarding bookkeeping/accounting staff

Once you recognize that you have a bookkeeping or accounting problem, you will need to analyze how widespread it is before making a game plan to fix it.

2. Analyze the Extent
Determine the extent of the lateness so you know how much help you need to catch up. Depending on where the problem is this may be a quick activity, or a very time-consuming activity.

For instance, if you are missing key financial reports, it’s pretty easy to discover which months you do have and which you don’t. However, if you’re behind on A/R, it can be more difficult to determine what still needs to be done to collect outstanding payments. Similarly, if a cost or revenue source was misclassified and now needs to be fixed as part of an effort to clean up your books, trying to track down when the problem first occurred and making the necessary error correction can be challenging.

For this reason, many organizations will choose to bring in an accounting consultant to undertake this effort so that their in-house accounting staff can spend their time on other ongoing value-add activities.  

3. Face it Head On
Catching up on your accounting can’t happen if you only do steps one and two – it’s simply not enough to recognize that there’s a problem and do the digging to fully understand it. You then need to do something about it.

If you’re thinking that just telling your accountant or accounting team to catch up is going to fix the problem, it isn’t. Why? Because if they could have just caught up on their own, they would have done so already!
Get help by hiring an outsourced project accountant to catch you up and get everything running smoothly again. The best accounting services providers will not only get you back on track but set you up for future success as well by implementing the kinds of processes and systems that allow you to stay on top of everything moving forward. 

Remember, the time to fix it is now! Don’t put it off or you’ll just continue to fall further and further behind. Do something right away, even if it’s just taking small steps in the right direction so you don’t lose any more ground.

When you need a project accountant, we can help! Our team of accounting consultants can come alongside you to provide the support you need. Whether it’s getting through a particularly busy time of the year, finishing up a big project (like a new market expansion), or to provide interim help while you look to hire an accountant, we offer the outsourced accounting services you need. Contact us today to find out more about how we can come alongside your company or nonprofit organization today!