Bookkeeping is an essential element of any business. Tracking your accounts (payables and receivables), cash flow, and everything else important to the day-to-day operations of a business is just as important to the success of a farm as it is for any other business. Luckily, there are software providers that help with this. A few common software products include:
- QuickBooks Desktop or Online
- Xero
- FreshBooks
- lWave
To get started in the bookkeeping world while farming, a good introductory series of free trainings has been prepared by the University of Vermont for farmers:
Bookkeeping Basics: Part 1, Overview
Bookkeeping Basics: Part 2, Organizing your system
Bookkeeping Basics: Part 3, Quick Books Overview
Quickbooks (Online or Desktop versions) is used by the majority of small business owners, and has many online training resources and forums to get support when needed. While other software products can also accomplish a farmer's bookkeeping needs, the shared experiences with Quickbooks from many users may make it easier to get peer help with questions. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension has produced a good reference document to help farmers decide on which bookkeeping approach is for their operations, and how to get started: Bulletin #3020, Using QuickBooks™ for Farm Recordkeeping: Considerations for Getting Started
California Farmlink has a video series for the farmer or rancher who is new to Quickbokks. You can signup to these video trainings by clicking here. A good Quickbooks training example for farmers is the excellent series available for free on Youtube and produced by the Farm and Agribusiness Management Team of the Auburn University and the Alabama Cooperative Extension. In this sequence of trainings, the Team present the ten most common bookkeeping entries farmers may need, and explain how and why to do these sample entries. These modules are about 15 minutes to 50 minutes in length, depending on the lesson:
Quickbooks for Farmers: Farm Accounting 101 Lesson 1 (Introduction and Sample Entries 1 and 2)
Quickbooks for Farmers: Farm Accounting 101 Lesson 2 (Sample Entries 3 and 4)
Quickbooks for Farmers: Farm Accounting 101 Lesson 3 (Sample Entries 5 and 6)
Quickbooks for Farmers: Farm Accounting 101 Lesson 4 (Sample Entries 7 and 8)
Quickbooks for Farmers: Farm Accounting 101 Lesson 5 (Sample Entries 9 and 10)
Quickbooks for Farmers: Farm Accounting 101 Lesson 6 (Monthly Routine & Year End Closings)
