So, should you hire a bookkeeper in your business? The answer is “absolutely yes.” To go from owning a job to owning a business, you have to take that next step, release responsibility, and put the right people in place. We’re going to share some things that you should consider when looking to bring on a bookkeeper.
Don’t Do Your Own Books
The truth is you can’t be wrapped up in your business, doing the books. The reality is you probably aren’t even good at doing the books. You probably hate doing the books, and you’re probably so much better at doing other income-generating things in your business. And that’s where your focus needs to be. There comes the point in every interaction. We need to start putting people in place and making those next steps. Bookkeeping is usually one of the biggest ones. The reason is so many people are scared to release that sort of responsibility to a professional.
Modern technology makes having a bookkeeper so much easier for small businesses. For example, you give people read-only access to your bank account. So they can’t move money around. You can even provide them with the ability to move money around, but you have to click off and approve each transaction, which is excellent.
Bookkeepers Are Not A Major Expense
You don’t necessarily have to take on a considerable expense today and hire someone full-time because I’m sure that’s what you’re thinking. You’re probably wondering, “what’s this going to cost?” I have to bring on a full time. I have to find someone to interview. That can be frustrating.
It’s great you give them view-only access. They can connect to your bank, account your QuickBooks. They can get everything in there, and they can do that all remotely. So they don’t even need to take up real estate in your business. It’s a great thing. It would help if you considered whether it would be an outsource bookkeeper or an in-house bookkeeper.
They Should Be Quickbooks Certified
First off is they need to be QuickBooks certified. You want to make sure that they’re certified in QuickBooks and understand how to utilize QuickBooks. You can make sure that they’re inputting all the information into your QuickBooks correctly. It can spit out profit loss, balance sheets, account receivable, and account payable reports that are accurate.
Don’t confuse a bookkeeper with an accountant. They’re two separate things. Although your bookkeeper should communicate with your Seattle accountant, they should work hand in hand. That’s especially true when it gets down to tax season.
Use A Bank With Online Tools
Another important thing is making sure that you’re working with a national bank with an excellent online platform. Chase, Bank of America, Capital One all have ideal online platforms. You can give read-only access. There are many cool things that you can utilize to lock down your security and access while using a third-party bookkeeper.
Lastly, it makes sense to put all of your bills, any of your statements on reoccurring, put them on reoccurring. If you can get everything on and into one place into a business credit card, that always makes sense. You’ll get the points, which is excellent. Those things add up. You can put everything into one simple statement, and then your bookkeeper can work off that statement.
Try To Use One Account For Your Business
If you’re not able to put specific bills on credit cards, that’s fine. Do everything out of one bank account with a company by one credit card. Then your bookkeeper can log into one or two simple places to account for everything going on in your business. They won’t have to bounce around from all different accounts and all different credit cards. That makes a big difference. It also saves time. Usually, you get charged for the amount of time used through most outsource bookkeeping services.
Suppose you’re not going to outsource your bookkeeping, which I do highly recommend, especially in the beginning. If you are going to look to hire someone, make sure that you do a background check. Make sure you get some references and make sure that this person is good. That’s important when you’re bringing someone like this to be involved at that level in your business. You can be having a bookkeeper rock and roll and in your business in a matter of days. At Aldaris CPA Group, we wish you nothing but success in growing your business and moving from owning a job to owning a business.