Why You Should Hire a Bookkeeper for Your Business

Small business owners may not consider a bookkeeper a necessity. Perhaps they are something to add later once the business has reached a certain size and level of success. Now, you may be keeping your books yourself, but that isn’t why you started your business, is it?

Bookkeeping, if it is to be done well, requires a specialist. Additionally, your business would do well to have you doing what you started it to do, rather than trying to manage the numbers yourself. A bookkeeper will free you up to work on your business while they maintain your financial records, transactions, and the money that is coming and going. They will not only help you with what’s happening right now with your business, but also help you prepare for the future.

One of the primary tasks of a good bookkeeper is to maintain a general ledger, recording sales, and expense receipts. They are also adept at dealing with late payments and issues with customers regarding invoices. Some other duties include collecting, organizing, and disseminating the financials of your business. Their understanding of the Income Act and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) rules and regulations is invaluable.

A bookkeeper spends a good portion of their time simply keeping up to date on the latest trends, policies, and necessary software because the work they do affects every facet of your business,

How Does a Bookkeeper Differ From an Accountant?

An accountant’s job is more than record-keeping. Rather, they analyze your financials to formulate projections on where your business is going. They can build business plans, budgets, and cash flow models. They will do strategic tax planning, file your tax returns, and collect information to create a financial model. While an accountant may seem similar to a bookkeeper on the surface, their duties and goals are quite different.

How Do You Benefit From Hiring an Outside Bookkeeping Firm?

An outside bookkeeping firm comes without the extra expenses that you would pay with an in-house bookkeeper, such as Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, WSIB coverage, hardware, software, and ongoing training.

Most good bookkeeping and accounting firms will offer a fixed-price billing model, making it far easier to budget. They keep up to date with technology, making them a secure and efficient option. Should something go wrong, they have their own liability insurance.

Additionally, if you turn to an outside accounting firm to manage your taxes, they should appreciate having all your company’s financials provided to them in a neat, organized manner, and could possibly charge you less.

What if You Have QuickBooks Online?

Even if you have an automated system for your bookkeeping, someone still needs to set it up for you and ensure that the financial transactions are entered properly. Once this is done, you can learn to use QuickBooks to handle recurring, unchanging transactions, but you will still need professional assistance for matters that require a judgment call.

What to Look For in a Bookkeeper

Ideally, a bookkeeper should have experience serving multiple businesses at once, which will result in them learning multiple systems and ways of doing things, resulting in greater flexibility. They should also have taken courses such as accounting basics, various computer applications, and payroll administration.

Ensure that any bookkeeper you are considering is a member of the Institute of Professional Bookkeepers of Canada, which will signify that they have the education, knowledge, and skills to properly oversee their bookkeeping duties.

A good bookkeeper will operate ethically, complying with the profession’s standards of practice. They should also align well with your values and ethics and hold regular reviews with you to evaluate your company’s financial health.

Although it is always tempting to try to do things yourself, your bookkeeper will ultimately save you time and money, allowing you to work on the parts of your business that prompted you to start it in the first place.

Need help with your bookkeeping? Reach out to BCJ Group.

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