08/31/2026
If you’re doing your own bookkeeping, one thing that can trip you up pretty quickly is assuming that every deposit is income and every withdrawal is an expense. Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes it definitely isn’t.
Maybe you moved some personal money into the business to cover expenses. That’s probably an owner contribution, not income. Maybe you transferred money from checking to savings. That’s just money moving from one pocket to another. Maybe you paid yourself, reimbursed yourself, or accidentally used the business card for something personal. Those transactions all need to be treated differently.
The best habit you can build is to stop and ask, “What actually happened here?” before you categorize the transaction. Add a memo when something isn’t obvious, keep the receipt, and don’t automatically trust whatever category your bank feed or bookkeeping software suggests. Automation is helpful, but it’s not psychic.
Your software knows that money moved. You know why it moved. Keeping those two things connected is what makes your books actually useful.