How to stop depending on one person as your business grows
Updated
Give each person their own login and only the access their job needs, separate the person who raises a bill from the person who receives the money, keep a record of every change, and look at five numbers every morning. The business then runs on a system, not on one person's memory.
The problem with “ask him, he knows”
Most businesses grow around one or two trusted people. The accountant knows which customer pays late. The store manager knows where the stock is. It works, until that person takes leave, or the business opens a second branch, or the owner wants to step back. Knowledge that lives in one head cannot be checked, cannot be shared and cannot be handed over.
The answer is not to trust less. It is to put the knowledge where everyone who needs it can see it, and to make each step visible.
1. One login for each person
Shared passwords are the first thing to end. When five people use one login, every entry is made by “admin” and nobody is answerable. Give each person their own login, and switch on two-step sign-in for anyone who handles money.
2. Access that fits the job
A counter salesperson needs to make bills, not to see your profit. A storekeeper needs stock, not bank balances. Decide for each role what it can see, create, change and cancel. Keep cancelling invoices, changing prices and editing posted entries with as few people as possible.
3. Two people in every money transaction
- The person who makes the invoice does not record the receipt.
- The person who raises the purchase order does not approve the vendor payment.
- Cash collected at the counter is counted against the day-end summary by someone else.
- The bank is reconciled by someone who does not make the payments.
4. A record of every change
Mistakes are normal. What matters is being able to see what was changed, by whom and when, with the old value kept. An audit trail that nobody can edit turns an argument into a two-minute check.
5. Write down how things are done
Credit periods and limits, who may give a discount and how much, how a return is handled, when a customer is put on hold. A page of rules that everyone has read is worth more than any software setting.
6. Read a short daily summary
Control does not mean checking every entry. It means five numbers each morning, and asking a question when one of them looks odd. Have the reports come to you by email, so that the habit does not depend on remembering to look.
How EaseDesk helps
In EaseDesk every user has their own login and a role: Owner, Admin, Accountant, Staff, a free read-only login for your Chartered Accountant, and roles you define yourself. Every create, change and cancellation is recorded in an audit log that cannot be edited. You can require two-step sign-in for the whole team, lock a period once it is closed, and have any report emailed to you every day, week or month. See access control and audit trail.
Questions
What is the risk of one accountant or manager handling everything?
Two risks. If that person is ill, leaves or is away, work stops because nobody else knows where things stand. And when the same person raises bills, receives cash and writes the books, a mistake or a misuse can go unseen for a long time.
What does separation of duties mean in a small business?
That no single person handles a transaction from start to finish. The one who bills does not record the receipt; the one who orders does not approve the payment. In a small team the owner can be the second person, by approving payments and reading a daily summary.
I trust my staff. Why do I need controls?
Controls protect honest staff as much as the business. When every entry carries a name and a time, nobody is blamed for someone else's mistake, and a question is settled by looking, not by arguing.
Which numbers should an owner look at every day?
Yesterday's sales and collections, the amount overdue from customers, cash and bank balances, payments due to vendors this week, and items below their reorder level. Five minutes with these tells you where to spend your day.
How do I hand over work when someone leaves?
Disable their login on their last day, change any shared passwords, and pass their open tasks to someone else. If each person had their own login from the start, their history stays readable and nothing leaves with them.