Bookkeeping Tips for Horse Property Owners

Owning a horse property may be rooted in your love for horses and will one way or another entail some sort of bookkeeping. You could be running a boarding stable, a riding school, or a breeding farm and you may be manually keeping track of expenses in a record book or just saving receipts and invoices in a folder, but there are other more effective and efficient ways to keep track of your financial transactions

Bookkeeping involves recording and keeping track of financial transactions such as revenue, taxes, operational expenses, payroll, and loans, and focuses on recording daily transactions of a business or a property. Regardless of whether your horse property is for personal riding or for running a business, having a good bookkeeping system in place can ensure operations on your property run smoothly and make sure that enough resources are allocated not only to care for your property but to your horses as well. Here are a few bookkeeping tips for horse property owners.

Keep your personal and property expenses separate

Having the same account for personal use and for your property will eventually cause confusion but keeping separate accounts can prevent that from happening early on. Maintaining a separate account for your property will not only help you keep finances organized but can also help your property build its own credit score.

Go paperless and use cloud-based software

Manually balancing data saved on spreadsheets can prove to be a tedious task but opting to use cloud-based property management software can not only help with your bookkeeping but also give you access to your data from anywhere, even on the go. Transitioning from traditional bookkeeping methods to cloud-based management for property owners can also combine other management tasks like rent payment for boarders, tenant screening, barn maintenance, budgeting, and accounting, and can also reduce paper needs to curb the carbon emission of your property. 

Other cloud-based software options can help you track breeding management, horse and client databases, boarding, stable activities, horse care and management, medical records, and farrier, among others. There are also cloud-based software options for payroll and time-tracking if you have employees working with you on your property. Shifting to cloud-based software can also sync with your bank account for easier real-time billing updates and give you the ease of accessing your data from any device as long as you’re connected to the internet.

Ask a professional

If you’re unsure of how to set up your bookkeeping system or would like help to customize your bookkeeping software, you can always talk to or hire a professional for help. Besides teaching you how to handle your records, they can also help you correct any mistakes, and answer any questions you may have. Your accountant can also help you review your books at the end of every quarter and help you look for trends in expenses or revenue and provide insight for future equipment purchases, moving, or other major financial decisions.

Keep an eye on your bills and stay ahead of deadlines

Late and unpaid bills will have an impact on your credit score and may delay your other payables as well if not managed correctly. Keep your invoices organized and track other dues as well to avoid late fines and other consequences. You can also plan ahead and set aside money not only for expected expenses but also for unforeseen ones, and sync the IRS tax calendar for businesses with your own calendar to remind you of deadlines and help you stay ahead of these.

Set aside time to regularly review records

Going over inventory and records weekly can help make sure everything runs smoothly on your property. Doing so can help avoid duplicate purchases of materials you may already have and avoid unnecessary expenses or even help you allocate funds for other property needs like maintenance and upkeep. Going over your records regularly can also help you stay on top of billing clients or boarders if you have any, and maintain a steady income flow. 

Having an effective bookkeeping system in place will have you spending less time maintaining records and worrying about finances, and more time to enjoy what your property has to offer and possibly grow your business as well.

Katreena is a scientist and a life hack specialist. She’s authored scientific journals on biotechnology and molecular biology. To take a break from scientific journals, she puts her mind into writing about lifestyle, health, and sustainability. She strongly believes that kindness makes the world go round.