There could be many reasons you need to hire a bookkeeping or business accounting expert, and finding the right bookkeeper can make all the difference for your small business. Every business should keep a clean record of all its financial transactions. However, most business owners are either not adequately trained to do their own bookkeeping or they don’t have enough time for the task.
According to experts, outsourced bookkeeping services is something that would benefit most businesses. A great bookkeeper can have a positive impact on how you feel about the financial aspects of your business. If you get the right person and processes in place, you get the right information.
Here is what your small business needs to know when looking for outsourced bookkeeping services.
It’s not just skills
Of course, you need someone with basic skills. Some bookkeepers have experience in the corporate world, where they usually become good at one thing, such as matching and processing accounts-payable transactions. Other bookkeepers have maintained books for small businesses and gained experience in all areas of bookkeeping. Whatever their experience may be, your next bookkeeper or accountant should know how to:
• Add vendors and customers to your books
• Be proficient in QuickBooks®
• Know how to pay payroll taxes online
• Reconcile bank statements and credit card statements
• Analyze your books for errors
• Manage accounts payable and receivable
Most professional accountants out there should have these basic skills. So what else should you look for?
It’s behavior
Although you can teach skills, you cannot teach behavior. The world’s most skilled bookkeeper would be of no value to your small business if he isn’t able to communicate his findings to you and other members of your team. The most experienced accountant cannot help you if she is unable to spot financial trends and suggest changes to boost your numbers. 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.
Behaviors to look for
1. Good Communication
The most important use of accounting data is to communicate meaningful information, allowing management to make good decisions. To be effective, accounting information must make sense and be understood.; or else, it is just a list of numbers with no real significance. You want your accountant or bookkeeper to be a number cruncher as well as a detective. The person you decide to hire should be asking questions such as where is this bill? Why wasn’t this expense signed off by the department manager and should it be applied to a billable job? If you have the best accountant who isn’t comfortable reaching out to to the rest of your team to track down questions, you have a number cruncher who may overlook an entry that should be flagged and questioned.
2. Innovation
From blockchain to smart automation to artificial intelligence, accountants today can work smarter than ever. How does that work? Today, we can all benefit from these tools to save time on tedious administrative work and focus more on up-leveling our client services. Additionally, the Cloud has completely changed the accounting industry. Data is now readily available on the Internet instead of in-house servers, and your accountant has the ability to automatically download transactions into Quickbooks and automate complex and time-consuming job costing process from electronic time sheets. It is essential you find an accountant who embraces these technological changes and has a continual learning mindset to implement best practices.
3. Problem Solving Abilities
Accounting and finance professionals regularly mine data to identify historical trends and make projections based on those findings. They also can uncover potential areas for concern and put their problem-solving skills to work in the process. Your accountants should be asking and answering questions such as why didn’t these numbers reconcile? What account should this expense fall under? Rather than skipping or glossing over a problem, an excellent bookkeeper will analyze the options, gather information and develop solutions to fix it.
Do Your Research
A bookkeeper is a vital part of a growing small business, but hiring the wrong bookkeeper can hinder your operations and eat up much-needed cash flow. You’ll find that looking for behaviors rather than skills will help you find people who not only fit the job but are more apt to fit your company and your professional expectations.
Limitless Investment and Capital’s Small Business Bookkeeping Services
As a business owner, you are more efficient in making business decisions when you have access to your Profit and Loss and financial statements (AR’s and AP’s) in real-time. Limitless Investment and Capital’s certified professional advisors will make sure you have this information in the palm of your hand and kept up to date. Whether you need to prepare for tax time, a financial review or you just need to clean up some problem areas, Limitless Investment and Capital’s bookkeeping services is a smart and affordable way to get a handle on your books. Get in touch today!