HOW TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT BOOKKEEPING SERVICE
Finding the perfect bookkeeping service:
Finding the perfect bookkeeping service is not easy. It is difficult to hire the best bookkeepers without understanding what a bookkeeper does.This article will explain the bookkeepers duties and give guidelines for hiring a good one.
What a Bookkeeper Does:
Your bookkeeper plays a critical role in your success or failure.This individual must record all of your transactions into a software program like Quickbooks and be responsible for
The perfect bookkeeping service has the following criteria:
Qualifications – Experience and background of the Bookkeeping Service must be of the highest caliber.
Technology Savvy – Your bookkeeping service must be familiar with the latest QuickBooks solutions. The ability to download transactions and import payroll save the business owner time and money.
Bookkeeping payroll solutions that are integrated into the latest software.This saves double entering data and making journal entries to record payroll and taxes correctly.
Communication is the key to success.Your accounting and bookkeeping service must be able to use your financials to guide you to success.
Responsiveness:
A bookkeeping service must be able to take your phone calls and respond to your questions in a timely manner
Friendly:
No-one wants to work with a non-personality. Vending machine service may work for lunch but in the world of bookkeeping, payroll and business coaching services an articulate well mannered professional personality is indispensable.
Tips to Find the Right Bookkeeper from the Pros
Every business should keep a clean record of all its financial transactions. However, most business owners are either not trained to do their own bookkeeping or they don’t have enough time for the task. According to the experts, hiring a bookkeeper to manage your books is something that would benefit most businesses
Hire Someone With Attention to Detail
A good bookkeeper is the one who annoys the heck out of you. If your bookkeeper lets things fall through the cracks and doesn’t follow up on every single line item, then he/she is going to let you and your business down. Bookkeepers have to be hawks – they have to obsess over every single financial line item. They should fuss about being able to account for everything correctly.
Ask for a Referral From a Trusted Source
The best way to find a good bookkeeper is to ask for a referral from someone you trust in your industry. If you already have an accounting firm that you trust, you should see if they offer bookkeeping services or have a relationship with a bookkeeper they can refer you to. You can also find qualified bookkeepers through a professional bookkeeper association like ICBUSA or through your local small business development center.
Hire a Tax Strategist for a Bookkeeper
Hire someone who is a ‘tax strategist’. Taxes have a compounding effect on income over your lifetime, so legally reducing your tax burden is critical to achieving your financial goals faster. Hire a CPA who stays on top of the current laws and court cases, and is well-versed in business set up to provide you with detailed guidance on the most tax-efficient legal structure for your industry.
Hire a Full-Service Accounting Firm
A full-service and experienced company can actually save you money on accounting costs. A full-service firm can provide everything from keeping the books to taking calls from vendors. It can also provide the modern software and can advise you on choosing the best tax year and accounting method for your business. Hiring an accounting firm gives you more confidence as you don’t have to rely on just one person
How to hire the right bookkeeper
Helping you with the numbers
As soon as you start a business, you have to deal with numbers. Every business, no matter how small, must keep a record of its every transaction. That includes sales, expenses, salary payments – in fact every movement of money into and out of your business.
Three reasons why you need a bookkeeper
If you’re just starting out in business, you might think you don’t need someone to look after the books. Perhaps you feel that it’s enough to let your accountant sort out the numbers once a quarter or once a year. But there are good reasons for hiring a bookkeeper
They save you time
Unless you already know a lot about bookkeeping, it’s unwise to take on this work yourself. Processing receipts, expenses and payments is only part of the work. They know how to assign expenses to particular clients. They’ll take all the numbers, enter them into your accounting software, and make sense of them. A good bookkeeper knows how transactions should be treated to provide useful business reports. It’s a skilled job, and your bookkeeper will do it much more efficiently than you can.
They understand your business
Because they deal with the day-to-day accounts, bookkeepers have a deep insight into your company’s finances. By sharing this insight with you, they can help you work out where your business should be going. They can flag any issues in time for you to do something about them. A good bookkeeper watches over your finances and helps you steer clear of trouble
They help manage your cash flow
Accountants provide a valuable service, particularly when it comes to strategic advice, annual returns, and tax issues. But they don’t usually see your accounts every day. A good bookkeeper will keep a close eye on your accounts on a regular basis. This will help keep your cash flow under control, which is vital for business growth.
How to choose the best accounting
Not having a good bookkeeping system in place – that would provide warning signs that the business could run out of cash – is one of the main reasons businesses fail.
You can choose to set up a bookkeeping system manually (using accounting books), electronically (spreadsheets) or use accounting software. Unless you want to get familiar with bookkeeping practices, accounting software is the most efficient choice.
What to consider
Every business will have different requirements from an accounting software.
When choosing an accounting software consider the following questions:
Does the system calculate all payroll requirements (PAYE, annual leave, long service leave etc.)?
Does the system track stock, work in progress, orders, jobs and other task management requirements?
Will the system be able to handle multiple bank accounts?
Does the system need to handle foreign currency?
Does the system track separate financial records for each business or department within the business?
Does the system allow for interface with other computer systems such as online payments?
Does the system keep detailed records on customers including what they buy, how often they buy and when they buy (often referred to as a Customer Relationship Manager system)?
Software options
There are many software packages on the market that allow business managers to successfully control records without an accounting degree. Some of them, such as Free Accounting Software External link (opens in same window), have no cost
Choosing The Right Bookkeeping Service
What Should You Look For In A Bookkeeping Service?
Once you’ve decided that the time has come to hire a bookkeeping service for your business, the next step is to decide whether you want to outsource bookkeeping & accounting services, or if you are looking to hire an employee – or employees – to tackle the tasks.
Look for someone with relevant experience
As a business owner, whether you have one employee or one hundred, you’re going to need someone with experience in the following areas
Talk to government and local business associations
Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, both the state and federal government encourage their growth. Use government and local business associations like the Chamber of Commerce to help you find and decide on the right bookkeeping service for your business.
Tap into your network
When searching for an accounting pro who knows how to balance the books, the ideal solution might be closer than you think. Start by asking any friends & family members who own small businesses if they would recommend the bookkeeping services they use.
Reach out on social media
LinkedIn is a great place to start, it is widely considered the number one social media site for professional networking. You most likely have a profile on LinkedIn already, reach out to your connections and search for bookkeeping professionals that are recommended by your network.