Bookkeeping Doesn’t Have To Be Stressful!

Ah, bookkeeping – the task that makes Campground and RV Park owners cringe.

Why is it such a hated task?

Does it have to do with the fact that most owners simply are not “numbers” people or maybe you dread what the numbers often show you?

Almost every business owner we work with HATES doing their bookkeeping. In fact, many of them hate it so much that they often times simply don’t do it….they let it go until the last possible second.

That usually means sitting down with a huge pile of receipts, invoices and bank statements from the last 6 to 12 months and trying to compile a semi-useful set of financial statements so that their accountant can prepare income tax returns.  I don’t know about you but that definitely doesn’t sound fun to me!

While this system may seem like it works (I mean the taxes get filed, right?) it oftentimes is pretty inaccurate and gives very little real-life, actionable data. How much can we really read into information that is a year or so outdated?

We see this as a HUGE problem in the Campground and RV Park industry.

Most owners prefer to spend their time (and rightfully so) working with their campers. They want to be outside helping families enjoy the property and have a great time. They would much rather be giving tractor rides, opening the pool or managing the store than they would sitting behind a desk entering a long string of numbers into their computer.

We understand your frustrations and agree with your feelings – not because we offer bookkeeping as a service, but rather because we think that the highest and best use of your time is not to spend it behind a desk but instead spend it with people.

At most parks, the owners are a HUGE part of the reason why people come back year-after-year. Sure, the amenities and activities are great, but its you that truly makes all of the difference.  Because of this we think you should focus your time on what is really most important to the success of your business.

So, what options do you have when it comes to your bookkeeping systems?

1. You can simply continue doing everything yourself.

You can continue waiting 6 to 12 months to do your books and hope that when the end of the year comes you are able to remember everything that happened and get it entered correctly.

2.  You could outsource the bookkeeping function to someone local.

This could be either an employee at your park or it could be a contract bookkeeper or local accounting firm. This is a great middle step for many folks as they are able to free up a little bit of their time by having someone else do the bulk of the bookkeeping work. If you are able to find a competent bookkeeper or employee who understands your industry and the nuances involved in the finances for a Campground or RV Park, then this is probably a great option for you.

3. You could outsource your bookkeeping function to an accounting firm like ours who specializes in servicing the Campground and RV Park industry.

When we do bookkeeping for a park, we are not only entering the data into the system so that a tax return can be prepared, we are working directly with the park owner to make sure that their numbers are similar to industry best practices.

We work directly with you to make sure that we are evaluating the numbers so that we can not only know how your business did in the past but also how we can predict what may happen in the future.

4. You could do nothing.

Simply ignore your bookkeeping and hope that no one ever questions anything….good luck with that one!

Oftentimes the bookkeeping function can drain the fun right out of running a business and we encourage you to think about how important this boring, mundane task is to the success of your business.

If you want to talk to someone about your bookkeeping system or if you have tips and tricks you want us to pass on to other Campground and RV Park owners shoot us a note on our Contact Us page!