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Ep. 265 The One Bookkeeping Corner You’re Still Cutting Even Though You Think Your Books Are Handled

If it’s been a while since you actually looked at your numbers – not just entered them, but looked at what they mean, you’re not alone, and it’s probably not the discipline problem it feels like. Most of the time, when we’re avoiding our books, we’re avoiding something bigger. We’re avoiding our money. And the tricky part is, you can be “doing” your bookkeeping and still be avoiding it using a spreadsheet, having software you’re not really using, or having a bookkeeper whose numbers you never actually look at.

In this episode, I’m walking through the three specific ways heart-centered entrepreneurs convince themselves their books are handled when there’s still one corner being cut and why that corner is costing more than anyone realizes.

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The One Bookkeeping Corner You’re Still Cutting Even Though You Think Your Books Are Handled

It’s Probably Not a Discipline Problem

If it’s been a while since you actually looked at your numbers — not just entered them, but looked at what they mean — you’re not alone, and you’re probably not as behind as it feels. Most of the time, when we’re avoiding our books, we’re avoiding something bigger. We’re avoiding our money. And the tricky part is, you can be “doing” your bookkeeping and still be avoiding it.

That’s the pattern worth naming: there are three specific ways heart-centered entrepreneurs convince themselves their books are handled when there’s still one corner being cut. And that corner is quietly costing more than most people realize — missed fraud, duplicate subscriptions nobody caught, decisions that never get made because nobody actually knows where the money stands.

Deception #1: The Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet feels like proof you’re on top of it. And there’s nothing wrong with tracking some things in one — plenty of business owners do, including Aimee herself. But a spreadsheet isn’t a bookkeeping system, and it won’t hold up the way real accounting software does. If you’re ever audited, applying for financing, or preparing to sell your business, a spreadsheet doesn’t meet the bar. It’s not about fear-mongering — it’s simply not built for that job.

Running a lean online business is genuinely one of the best parts of this industry. Overhead can be low, and that’s worth celebrating. But low overhead doesn’t mean no professional infrastructure. The legal structure, the privacy policy, the accounting system — these are the cost of taking a business seriously, not corners to cut to save money.

Deception #2: The Software You’re Not Using

Having accounting software is a real first step — genuinely worth acknowledging. But software that isn’t being used, or is being used with transactions that don’t reconcile against the bank, isn’t much better than not having it at all. This isn’t a math problem. Reviewing numbers accurately takes looking at them without emotion attached, which is a skill of its own — separate from knowing that four plus three is seven.

If the bank balance doesn’t match and it feels confusing, that’s not a personal failing. It was never meant to be figured out solo. The software is the tool. Someone still has to know how to use it well.

Deception #3: The Bookkeeper You Don’t Look At

The third deception is subtler: having a bookkeeper — human or AI — but never actually looking at what they report back. Support is a genuinely good thing. But if the numbers are accurate and current and nobody’s looking at them to make decisions, the business still isn’t being run from a place of clarity.

There’s also a common mix-up worth naming here: budgeting tools like YNAB are not bookkeeping software. They’re built for personal expense tracking, not business financials. Having a great personal budget doesn’t mean the business books are professionally handled — and that gap is one of the most common flags that shows up even for people who feel confident in their numbers.

It’s Not About the Numbers

Underneath all three patterns is the same thing: avoiding the money, not the math. And “I’m not a numbers person” is usually fear talking, not a fact. This work was never meant to be done entirely solo — no restaurant runs on one person handling every role, and a business doesn’t need to either.

Bringing in support isn’t a shortcut. It’s what lets a business owner stay involved as the CEO — understanding what the numbers mean and why — without carrying every piece of execution alone.

Where to Go From Here

Bookkeeping avoidance is one of 16 patterns covered in the free Cash Flow Calculator, which surfaces exactly which pattern is worth focusing on first. For anyone who wants a closer, DIY look specifically at where their bookkeeping stands, the Bookkeeping Basics workshop walks through that same three-area check.

Below is the full transcript of the episode, where I walk through this in more depth.

Why We Avoid Our Numbers

Let’s be honest for a second. When’s the last time you actually looked at your numbers? Looked at your bookkeeping — maybe you’ve got it on a spreadsheet, not just, like, you put ’em in, but, like, actually looked at ’em to see what they mean. If it’s been a while, here’s what I want you to know. It’s not necessarily a discipline problem.

It might not even be a bookkeeping problem. When we avoid our books, we’re typically avoiding something bigger. We’re avoiding our money. And when you avoid your money, your money avoids you back.

So today, we’re gonna talk about bookkeeping avoidance and why it never stays contained just to your books, how it quietly costs you more than you realize.

There’s three specific ways that we convince ourselves that our books are handled, we’re, got this, we’re done, but it’s actually not. And why, “I’m not a numbers person,” is fear — fear talking, not a fact.

And why doing this alone was never part of the plan. So if you’ve been putting off your numbers because it feels like it’s too much, or maybe you’re doing all the other things and it’s just not clicking the way that you want it to, this one’s gonna be for you. So let’s get to it.

This is Money Simplified, the podcast where I help female entrepreneurs go from stress and struggle to unstoppable with money. Money is more than just budgeting and P&Ls, and we’re gonna take you through all of it. Here, we blend proven financial strategy with mindset work and energetic alignment so you can create unstoppable finances, build an unstoppable business, and truly enjoy your unstoppable life.

It’s Not About The Numbers

It’s time to take my wisdom and my expertise to help you simplify money and go beyond the numbers. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka. Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.

Welcome back to Money Simplified. We are talking about something that has become such a passion for me today, and it’s not necessarily because I love numbers, although I do enjoy numbers. But your books, your numbers, your bookkeeping isn’t necessarily about the numbers, and that’s one of the things we’ve got to land on first, okay?

So, are you somebody who has been avoiding your numbers? You’re probably… Let’s see. One of the most popular ones I hear. First would be, like, I don’t need it yet. I’m not there yet. I’ve gotta hit this amount of revenue before I really need to have my books in place, before I need to do this, okay? Um, a lot of times it’s that $10,000 a month number, right?

Like, I’ve gotta hit $10,000 months before I will be… Before this is necessary. Once this happens, then I’ll tackle it, right? Um, another one is, like, we’re just busy, right? Like, I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off, covering all the things, handling all the plates. Because I’m the CEO, I’ve gotta do it all, right?

And the numbers are not, like, an urgent flashing thing, and so they just keep getting pushed aside and keep getting pushed aside. And it’s not yet, because you know you’re taking care of your expenses, and you’re gonna figure it out, and you know it’s important, and you’re gonna get to it one day, but it’s just not there yet.

The Real Cost of Avoidance

And the last one is kind of interesting. And well, actually, we’ll get to that in a minute, okay? With some of the halfway ways that we do it, and it actually causes more problems. Okay? So here’s the thing, though. When you’re avoiding your numbers, when you’re avoiding the bookkeeping, when you’re avoiding the things that you need to take care of, you’ve got duplicate subscriptions that you don’t even know about, charges for things that you thought you canceled, but they’re still going.

I’ve got, um, I’ve had a client before cancel a program and didn’t realize it because they weren’t up to date on their numbers. We’ve got to prioritize it. What if that was something, like, super vital? Fraud, we’ve got fraud, the duplicate subscriptions. We’ve got softwares. We’ve got things that we weren’t supposed to be charged for anymore that we are being charged for.

We got things that we are supposed to be charged for that we’re not supposed… that we’re not getting charged for. All of those little things get missed, and how can we make decisions about how to scale and what’s working and where do we wanna go further? What do we need? What, what do the numbers even need to look like, right?

You can’t grow what we’re not tracking, and I am very much… Like, we can talk about the energetic side of things and the energetic side of, like, you can, uh, play in the world of magic money and being magnetic, and I- we do all of those things. Yes. Yes, please. More please. Like, all of it, right? But there’s still the tactical strategy piece.

The Pattern Behind the Deception

You’ve gotta wear both hats. You’ve gotta be the goddess, but you also gotta be, like, the boss, too. You’ve gotta do the tactical things. And then we also, we’re gonna get to in a minute, like, talking about it doesn’t have to just be you. Like, this is where you can get the support, and I highly recommend it.

We’re gonna get to that in a minute. Okay? So let’s talk about the three ways that we’re deceived and we think, like, “Hey, I’ve got it handled. I’ve got this. Not a problem. This is a check mark.” Um, actually, in this episode, um, comes, like, one… is one of the patterns that we look at in the cash flow calculator.

Okay? It’s one of the core patterns that I look at in the cash flow calculator because it’s such a needle mover for so many people. Like, if you get this figured out, things move in your business. Okay?

All right. If this is landing for you, bookkeeping is actually just one of the 16 patterns that we look at inside a free tool I built called the Cash Flow Calculator. You can grab it, https://aimeecerka.com/cashflow. Link is also gonna be in the show notes. And let’s uncover which pattern you need to actually shift to truly unlock your cash flow. Now back to the episode.

And there’s like a sub-question, depending on what you ask in your bookkeeping, that you get the sub-question because this, we think we’ve got it handled and we actually don’t, is one of the things that I see the most, especially with the, like heart-centered entrepreneurs. Like, you know, we’re, we’re action takers.

Deception #1: The Spreadsheet

We do the things, right? Like, we’ve got this in place, but it’s not, it’s not actually working for you yet, and it’s causing friction in your business. Okay? So three ways that we are deceived into thinking that we have our numbers, our bookkeeping handled, and it’s not. Okay? First one, you’re using a spreadsheet — I love a good Excel spreadsheet, uh, Google Sheets, whatever software you wanna be using, right?

Love a good spreadsheet, and there is still data that I track in a spreadsheet because I like to see a spreadsheet. You are a business owner. And we live in an amazing world where we can run an online business, and I can sit here in my house, and if we look at the cost of what it costs me, overhead, right, to run my business, it’s low.

It’s, like, insanely low, and that is phenomenal. It’s amazing that I have so many clients. Like, we work off of our phones, right? We have pocket coaching. It’s like having me in your pocket, right? Voice clips. I’ve got a voice clip right now I saw it come in from my coach. Like, that is phenomenal. I love that we have that ability, but we can’t shortcut everything.

And as a CEO, as a business owner taking your business seriously, a spreadsheet is not gonna cut it. And we can get into, like, the tactical reasons here. If you were ever to be audited, if you’re in the US IRS, a spreadsheet’s not gonna work. You’ve gotta have the accounting data. And this is not about scaring you, it’s just, it’s…

Building a Professional Storefront

These are the facts, right? If you ever want to sell your business, if you ever want to get capital, financing, all of those things, you have to have the professional storefront. So we can run things in amazing fashions, right? Like, it’s crazy. The expense that we have is, like, so minuscule compared to a brick-and-mortar business, and it gives us so much more room for profit.

But it’s not the system. It’s not taking your business seriously, right? We have the legal aspect in place, hopefully, right? You’ve got an LLC or a DBA. You’ve got some structure for your storefront. You are taking this serious. You’ve got your, um, disclaimer, your contact page, um, privacy policy website.

Oh my goodness. Disclaimer. All of the privacy policy, like, those things. There are certain things that are just a cost of doing a business. Taking money through a payment processor. Yes, all the payment processors take a chunk. But as a business owner, this is the cost of doing business, and if we wanna operate from a professional standpoint, this is where we’re at.

And not to mention, like, the merchant fees are deductible, so you’re good there. When we are trying to cut corners and look for the cheapest way out every time, that is the energy that you are putting out into the world. Is that the energy that you want to return to you? And we kind of talked about this last week.

Deception #2: The Unused Software

It’s like the service that we’re providing. But this is more about our storefront. And we have to see the importance of this. This is like your financial foundation. It’s like getting your legal things set up and your numbers. The second way that we’re deceived into thinking we’ve got it handled, you’ve got the accounting software.

You’re like, “Check. Did that. I’m not using a spreadsheet. We’re good.” So accounting software… Actually, I just thought of a fourth one we need to add in here. Um, okay, got the accounting software, but it’s not, you’re not using it, right? You’re not entering the transactions, or you’re entering the transactions but the bank balances don’t match and you don’t know what it means, and it’s like, “Why is this off?

I can’t fix it. I can’t figure it out.” Because it was never yours to figure out. And a lot of times we put this pressure on ourselves, like we need to be able to do the numbers. Because, like, you know, it, it seems simple, right? Your numbers like this, this part is not just math. It’s not. That’s not the way it works.

Yes, four plus three is seven, so you feel like you should be able to do this because it should be simple. This is not that. Reviewing the numbers, which is what we’re gonna get to in a minute, that’s where the math comes in. That’s where you can handle it, and it’s not even really math. It’s like looking at it, and looking at it without the emotion.

Deception #3: The Bookkeeper You Don’t Look At

We’re gonna do that. Again, I’m gonna get to that in a second. But if you’ve got the software and you’re not actually using it, it’s almost just as bad as not having it. Like, you’ve taken the first step, and I’m, like, congratulating you for that. I am so proud of you. You took the first step, right? But, uh, we gotta actually use it.

How many times have you bought, like, a treadmill or something, workout equipment or a gym membership, and then you’re not using it, right? Like, you’re not losing the weight because you’re not using it. Let’s use it.

Okay. Third one, you’ve got a bookkeeper. You’ve got somebody that, like… Maybe it’s AI. You’ve… I know there’s so many things showing up right now with AI, and that’s a little scary for me because I’ve not had an instance where AI doesn’t get something wrong. And again, then we go back to all of the avoidance. It’s just another way to avoid it. AI is fantastic. I use it all the time. It’s not to the point yet that it would completely replace us, okay?

Anyways, so you got a bookkeeper. You’ve got somebody. But you’re not actually looking at the numbers. You can’t tell me where you stand. It’s like this is done, it’s handled, which is fantastic. I’m glad you’re getting support. I’m glad it’s handled and it’s done accurately and correctly, and you’ve got the business storefront foundational piece.

Budgets vs. Bookkeeping Software

But if you don’t know what they say, how are you going to make decisions to grow your business, to do those things if you’re still avoiding it? Okay? And then like, I guess it’s gonna be like 3B — really goes in line with number one. You need to be using an accounting software. Budgets and accounting software are two different things.

So if you’ve got like YNAB set up for your personal finances, amazing. YNAB is not your bookkeeping software. That’s not what they’re designed for. And if you don’t know what YNAB is, it’s You Need A Budget. Um, it’s an expense tracking system, which is great, but again, professional storefront. Okay? Um, I had a coach of mine, went through the cash flow calculator for me as I just updated it, I’m gonna give you all the information on it in just a minute, as a test run, and she is genuinely on top of her numbers.

And her first flag back was bookkeeping. Like, she’s got things in place, but it still flagged bookkeeping because I know the difference between having these things handled and having it with the storefront professionally. Like, there is a difference there, and it’s insane. It doesn’t feel like it would make a difference, right?

You’re like, “I’m actually doing my numbers. I’m not avoiding it. I’m doing this.” We’re still trying to cut corners, and that energetically shows up. Okay? We gotta take our businesses seriously. If you’ve got a restaurant, you’re gonna have plates. You’re gonna have, like, the things in place. You’re gonna hire people.

Hobby Energy vs. CEO Energy

You gotta have electricity. Like, we don’t have to have that many things, right? Again, online business industry is absolutely amazing and, like, love working from home, all of those things, but we still have things that we can’t cut. You’re a business. It’s an investment. Let’s take it seriously. Let’s operate as the CEO, and I think that’s probably the difference.

We’ve… As the online business industry has grown, we have, like, the hobby world and the CEO small business world. I want you to move out of the hobby world and to take it truly seriously as a small business so you can see it grow as a small business. And we kind of talked about this a little bit, like, the energy leak that shows up, people can feel it.

They can’t name it. They don’t know why, but they’re like, “Ah, not quite.” Right?

Again, it’s not about the bookkeeping. It’s not about that. It’s about the avoiding the money. And when you avoid your money, your money avoids you back.

Future Aimee here. I forgot to mention this when I was recording. One more thing, okay? If you’re like, “I don’t know if I’m falling into one of those three areas of deceiving myself,” I’ve got a workshop that I’ve recorded, and it’s called Bookkeeping Basics, and essentially what it’s designed to do is help you see where, “Okay, hey, I’ve actually got this in place. This is right. I’m using this.”

Where to Start: Bookkeeping Basics

And where, “Oh, snap, I need to shift this. It’s not in line.” Okay? So what this workshop is, I call it the DIY solution, right? Because it helps you check where you’re actually at when it comes to your bookkeeping and your numbers, and are you actually on track? Are you doing the things that we need to, or is this actually an area that you need to shift?

So you can go to that workshop, https://aimeecerka.com/bookkeepingbasics. I’ll also put that link in the show notes for you. All right.

So if you’re listening to this, you’re like, “But I’m not a numbers person, I don’t wanna do it.” Okay. If we go back to like the restaurant analogy, it’s not one person running the entire restaurant, right? They have different people and different expertise. We were never meant to do everything all by ourselves.

Now, I know there are quite a few of us out there that are resourceful. We’re like, “I’ll figure it out. I’ll do the thing.” I’m definitely one of them, right? Like, we built the website. We’ve done that. I can do the coding. I can do this piece. Like, should I be doing it all? Absolutely not. But if you’re sitting there saying, “I’m not a numbers person” —

That again, this isn’t about the numbers, but that is truly a story. And get the support that you need. 98% of people that I see, you should not be doing your own numbers. It’s just not… The amount of time that you can sit there, you can absolutely learn it. I totally believe in you. Again, it’s not about the numbers, it’s a different type of system.

Learning It Yourself

It’s more of like a, I don’t wanna say like IT system, but it’s, it’s system mindset, not numbers mindset that you’ve gotta learn to be able to do this, okay? You can absolutely learn it, and I can teach you how to do it. I’ve got the course. We have all of that support. It’s all there. Bookkeeping Simplified, I’ll make sure to include that if you are like, “I wanna learn how to do my books myself,” there you go, step by step.

There are so many videos in there that was, uh, it became a much bigger course than I originally anticipated it was. But there’s so much there. You can absolutely learn it. But it’s not that. How much time are you gonna spend trying to figure this out yourself? Kinda going back to what we talked about last week, and I’ll link that episode in the show notes if you missed it.

How much time are you going to spend trying to figure this out on your own? Trying to do it on a monthly basis? Think about your hourly rate, right? I think in the coaching industry, I don’t know that I know of anybody that’s charging less than $100 an hour as a coach. Okay? How many hours upon hours upon hours are you spending trying to figure it out?

The Real Cost of Doing It Alone

And then we’ve got the mental, like, you’re thinking about it. You’re not taking action, but you’re thinking about this thing that you’ve got to figure out. And you’re spending so much time here. But if you bring in an expert, somebody who knows what they’re doing, the cost exchange is, like, minimal. The amount of time that you’re gonna get back just from the time that you think about it all the time is, it’s astronomical.

I don’t have, like, an exact number in front of me. The last study that I pulled up was about 20 hours a week that we spend worrying about our money. Not even doing something with it, just worrying about it. All of that mental exhaustion. How much are you gonna get back because you’ve got an expert, you’ve got the cook in place, right?

It’s not a skill that you’re missing. Yes, if you work with me, we absolutely set you up. You’re gonna know what we need to do. We’re gonna talk about the basics. Like, you’re gonna understand what these numbers mean, why these things occur, because I don’t want you to fall into that third level of deception, right?

Where you’ve got it handled and then it’s like hands off, “I don’t know what’s going on.” No, you’re gonna be involved, but you’re gonna be involved as the CEO, not as you’ve gotta do all the grunt work yourself. Okay? So remember, this is the first pattern of 16 that I go through inside my cash flow calculator.

Unlocking Your Cash Flow

It’s absolutely free, so if you’re like, “Oh, this is kind of interesting,” go take the cash flow calculator ’cause it’s gonna show you exactly what you need to focus on first, whether that is your books or maybe it’s something else entirely. But shift this pattern and it unlocks the cash flow that you’re looking for in your business.

Simply go to https://aimeecerka.com/cashflow to grab the cash flow calculator. There’s a cool little thing at the end of it, too, that you can send me your results and we can talk through it, ’cause maybe you’re like, “But I don’t think that that’s my problem.” We’ll talk about the mindset behind it, right? Um, link is also gonna be in the show notes.

Remember, you don’t have to do this alone. Okay? You’ve got this, and I’ve got you. We’ll see you next time. Bye for now.

Thank you so much for listening to Money Simplified. My favorite place to hang out is on Instagram. You can find me @AimeeCerka to catch all the behind the scenes of my stories. Send me a message to share your biggest takeaway or just to say hi. I love hearing from podcast listeners. When you’re ready to take action on your mindset, your money, or the systems behind it all, I’m here for you.

Whether you’re snagging a free resource, exploring a mini course, diving into the fundamentals with Money Mastery Academy, getting in-depth support inside the Unstoppable Experience, or scheduling a complimentary bookkeeping consult to finally get hands-on help with your books, your next step is waiting for you.

https://aimeecerka.com/podcastlinks has all the information, and of course, that link is hanging out in the show notes for you. We’ll see you next time.

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Aimee Cerka
Aimee Cerka

Money Confidence Coach - I make money simple for female business owners. By blending together simple strategies, and mindset work to simplify your money so that you can step into your unstoppable life. It's time to go beyond the numbers, so you can finally embody your ideal life. Click Here to Learn More

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