What’s the most interesting or exciting thing for you about farming? What are your favorite aspects or tasks to do? Is it something you get to do every day, or only at certain times or seasons?

Maybe it’s at the very beginning of planting season, finally going out to check the ground to determine its readiness. Maybe it’s watching the crop grow throughout the season. Maybe it’s the business planning you do as you prepare for a new crop year. Or it’s harvest time – seeing all the results of your hard work.

Every occupation has appealing aspects – and other parts that are less so, or even downright boring or tedious. Part of the way each of us reacts to this depends on our unique personality, and some of it depends on what that particular task is.

Different reactions

What comes to mind when the subject of the farm’s books comes up? Maybe it’s trying to think of a way to avoid them, if you don’t enjoy dealing with them. On the other hand, maybe you like digging into the numbers so you can find out how things turned out.

Or you may have a reaction like: It’s something I don’t particularly enjoy dealing with, but it has to get done. As the farm’s leader, you may or may not be the one who is actually doing day-to-day data entry into the books, but there’s still probably something you do in relation to them – whether it’s answering the bookkeeper’s questions or reviewing the numbers.

The farm’s books may not be the most interesting or intriguing thing, but they do play a huge role in terms of the success your farm can achieve. Why? Because your books are the starting point for your farm’s financial information, in terms of historical data. They are the foundation for knowing how the farm business did the past year – and they can provide a starting point for next year’s projections.

What’s the approach?

The more accurate and up to date your farm’s books are, the better idea you can get of where your farm stands. That can help you make the best possible decisions for your operation – right here, right now – and throughout the whole year.

The books may not be glamorous, but some of the most important information you can get as a leader comes out of them. How much attention or what level of resources are you devoting to your farm’s bookkeeping process?

Does your farm have a clear process and timelines in place for the books – who’s entering data, who’s reviewing, and so forth? Would the person keeping the books benefit from some more training or resources? If that’s the case, you may want to learn more about working with an accounting specialistwho focuses on farm businesses.

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futuresor Farm Progress.