Let’s focus on you for a moment.
Before we dive into the article, pause, and ask yourself:
Do I trust my bookkeeper?
What’s stopping me from trusting them?
Do I continue to have preconceived ideas?
Is my bookkeeper’s work not up to scratch?
Are they taking care of my books properly?
All of these thoughts and beyond are valid and deserve your consideration.
We’re about to shed some light on the differences between a regular bookkeeper and a
professional bookkeeper. You may also learn to understand the level of care these associated
professionals take each day to ensure you’re receiving the most thorough services from them.
The traditional definition of a bookkeeper is centuries-old – A person responsible for keeping
the records of the financial affairs of a business.
Anyone can call themselves a bookkeeper. However, it's the qualification, education, and
dedication to excellence that counts. Generally, bookkeeping and accounting tasks are still
largely misunderstood by many business owners. As a result, it can be hard to determine
whether you’ve hired a decent one, especially if you have little to no experience with having
one onboard.
Differences Between the Best and Worst Bookkeepers
If you are in fact questioning your bookkeeper, trust your gut. You shouldn't have doubts in
the first place, so there is likely a good reason for the contemplation regarding giving them the
boot. Below are some actions that speak loudly of bad bookkeepers and a few attributes you
want to be looking for:
A lousy bookkeeper:
o Tends to constantly keep you out of the loop and fails to provide relevant, important
updates.
Lacks care or attention to daily records
Makes frequent mistakes on all scales.
Appears disorganised most of the time.
Has no or minimal strategy, hardly ever offering professional input regarding finances.
Possesses minimal bookkeeping skills and terminology.
An amazing bookkeeper:
Remains regularly in touch and is happy to ask you questions
Offers transparency in their communication
Initiates conversations about strategy and provides expert recommendations where
necessary.
Is a diligent, more than capable multitasker ensuring your business is always in their
best interest.
Demonstrates a heightened level of promptness or urgency in their time management.
Quite simply, a regular bookkeeper does the bare minimum at best. Therefore, if you have a
lacking bookkeeper, it won’t take long to figure it out.
The best bookkeepers are experienced, endorsed, have a solid commitment to professional
development, and be registered agents. In addition, they must act with integrity and honesty
and will perform in the best interest of their clients or employers.
Tasks they should be engaging in for the most comprehensive service include:
Fixing or amending neglected accounts and building systems that prevent you
from falling behind.
Recognising and managing recurring financial issues such as poor cash flow or
mounting debt.
Identifying the things that drive performance in your business and setting up
ways to measure and monitor them.
Points to Ponder When Finding a Bookkeeper You Can Trust
What are your needs?
Do you have particular services you need for your business? Are you lacking in a specific area
and need help fixing errors?
Your business needs to discuss and define your requirements with your bookkeeper to ensure
you will be satisfied with your services. If you can’t tell the bookkeeper what you need, how
can they personalise their services to help you more efficiently?
What size company are you looking for?
You may need a bookkeeper with a personal touch or skills suited to your business, or maybe
you need someone to take care of the numbers and just ‘get it done’.
Your bookkeeper could be from a large corporate company or a small family-owned firm. Who
you hire could determine the types and quality of the services you receive, so it’s wise to
consider the size and skillset of the companies of interest. If you think you’ll eventually need
access to extra personnel, a larger company could be a better option.
Basics or advanced?
This question relates to your needs and considers your specific business. Your business could
be beekeeping, hospitality, civil engineering, or anything else. Regardless, each will have very
different financial obstacles with specific bookkeeping requirements. You will have a range of
bookkeepers to choose from, so you will need to identify to what extent of bookkeeping help
you will need.
This could be advanced services and solutions, or it could simply be taking care of general
bookkeeping. It will take some research and many questions to decide which bookkeeper will
be a good fit. Overall, taking the extra time to find a professional that is suitably skilled to deal
with your business finances is a brilliant investment of your time, leading to fewer
complications as your professional relationship grows.
Online or in-person?
Lastly, would you like a hands-on, face-to-face consultant who will interact directly with you?
Or are you happier with online and remote services?
This is another crucial aspect of your consideration when choosing a bookkeeper you can trust.
Have you got enough time for a person to come in and ask you questions and chat? Or would
you prefer email communications with strictly scheduled online calls?
This may seem like an insignificant part of the equation, but it could make or break your
relationship with your bookkeeper. For example, if you are a person that likes to have
dedicated timelines and be ultra-organised, you may not welcome a bookkeeper popping in
and out of your workplace.
On the other hand, if you enjoy a fluid timeline with room for small talk and face-to-face
meet ups, then an in-house bookkeeper could be the best fit!
At any stage in our businesses, bookkeeping is essential to daily operations. You need to have
a well-suited, educated, accredited, and dedicated person on your team to do the finance-related hard yards.
Conduct some research and get a truer grasp of the person you’re about to hire. They need to
be someone you can trust to do a fantastic job and that will propose forward-thinking
strategies rather than hindering operations.
Good luck seeking your new accounting confidant!
Contact Ironbark Industries Bookkeeping https://www.ironbarkindustriesbookkeeping.com/contact today to discuss our bookkeeping services, your specific requirements, or any other financial management enquiries.
