For Better Records by Shannon Linderoth Posted with permission of the Dairy Producer K eeping and maintaining farm records are tasks many managers love to hate. Along with good production information, financial records can help you maximize the return on time you and your team invest in developing and using them. F ollowing is a checklist of 10 examination areas for your farm's record keeping practices. These suggestions can help improve your financial effectiveness, and maybe even change your mind about those columns of numbers. The recommendations have been split into five areas to avoid and five areas to pursue.
Accrual systems are best, followed by cash record keeping systems with accrual adjustments.
You must know your cost of production so you can get on top of problems early. If you don't maintain records you can't even begin to do this. Put someone in charge of bookkeeping, preferably someone who likes to work with financial records, and give them the right tools and dedicated space they need to do the job. If no one at your operation has a numbers aptitude or is interested in developing this ability, hire this task done. Maintain an adequate inventory of resources.