Perfect bookkeeping is a vital part of any business’s financial processes. Keeping your accounts in check and accurate is crucial to ensure you have a clear vision of your income and expenses and that you can improve the decisions you make as part of your business strategy.
In today’s blog, we will be looking at how you can compare and evaluate bookkeeping services that will best fit in with your business and your financial goals.
First up, let’s discuss what the signs are that you need a bookkeeper.
Why you should consider hiring a bookkeeper
Although many business owners – especially in the small business space – might feel that they would like to handle bookkeeping tasks themselves, this could take a lot of time away from their schedule that could have been spent on other endeavours and growing their businesses.
Linked to the latter, businesses that are experiencing substantial growth might have more business transactions than when they started. Plus, some business owners might feel unsure about storing financial records and whether their businesses are tax compliant. Also, handing over bookkeeping duties to an accountant is not always ideal due to higher fees.
Therefore, what should you be looking for in booking services?
Choosing services that work for your business needs
Two very big factors that come into play when comparing and evaluating bookkeeping services, is costs and quality.
In terms of costs, some factors that you need to consider include:
- Whether the services you are enquiring about are exclusively bookkeeping services or come with add-ons that could push up fees. Be sure to ask for pricing per component to ensure that you will not be billed for services that you do not need or that you will not be receiving; and
- Whether you could ask for an hourly fee that could work out cheaper and still get you a high-level service to ensure your financials are in order.
Once you’ve covered the above two points, you need to think through the quality of work that you will be receiving. Choosing a premium service will more than likely allow you to have a focused, specialised return on investment, whereas a narrow scope might not allow for a substantial service.
It is clear from the above that choosing a premium service will be in the best interest of your business – and it won’t necessarily mean stretching your budget out above your means.
The benefits that you will receive from hiring a bookkeeper
Using a bookkeeper is more than just adding an extra layer of excellence to your business: it is an investment that your business needs to function optimally. So of the many benefits of hiring a bookkeeper involve the following points.
Hiring a bookkeeper saves you money
When you hire someone with the necessary skills to handle financial reporting, you will not be incurring unnecessary costs that could have been saved,
A bookkeeper can save you time
Most small businesses need to use all their time optimally, and a bookkeeper can take off the financial pressure by taking care of financial matters while you focus on your business.
You will have more accurate record-keeping
Your dedicated bookkeeper will ensure accurate records are kept –up-to-date and with all key information.
Ultimately, hiring a bookkeeper will give you access to up-to-date processes and better business reporting. You will feel more confident in the financial decisions that you make and feel more secure in terms of the expertise that you can consult as needed.
