5 Bookkeeping Mistakes That Cost Small Businesses Real Money

## 1. Mixing personal and business accounts Every blended account adds hours of cleanup at tax time and weakens your liability protection. Open a dedicated business checking account today. ## 2. Skipping monthly reconciliation If your books don't match the bank, everything downstream is fiction. Reconcile monthly — duplicates, missed fees, and fraud all surface here. ## 3. Miscategorizing big purchases Equipment belongs on the balance sheet, not in expenses. Getting this wrong distorts both your profit and your taxes. ## 4. DIY payroll Late or wrong payroll filings are the #1 source of small-business penalties we see. A managed payroll service costs less than one penalty. ## 5. Waiting until April Books touched once a year cost 3–5x more to clean up than books maintained monthly — and you fly blind for the other eleven months.