What to Expect When Working With a Bookkeeper

Money is an emotional, stressful topic for many—especially when trying to grow a profitable business. And because most states don’t require high school graduates to get a financial education (even while requiring sex ed), entrepreneurs are stuck. They struggle with organizing their finances and figuring out how to report their income to the IRS because they never learned how to do it.

As a business grows, business owners tend to outsource essential tasks to employees or contractors. And because keeping the books is so frustrating, hiring a bookkeeper is often top on the list.

But it’s scary to turn the books (and passwords associated with bank accounts—yikes!) over to someone else. How hands-off can I be? How far will the bookkeeper dive into my finances? How can a bookkeeper help to grow my business? Essentially: What can I expect when working with a bookkeeper?

You’ll be involved in the process.

No (ethical) bookkeeper will take hold of your financial situation and run with it. As the business owner, you’re a vital key to your business’s financial puzzle. Any bookkeeper worth her rate will involve you in an onboarding process that includes finding out what systems you’ve used in the past, what worked and what didn’t. Together you’ll develop new systems that are simple for you but allow your bookkeeper access to the information she needs. And you’ll continue to communicate as long as you’re working with her too.

You’ll get organized. (Really.)

Bookkeepers are highly organized and systems-oriented. And I guarantee that some of that organization will rub off on you. Because you’ll need to provide information and receipts to your bookkeeper on a regular basis, she will provide you some of the tools you need to do so efficiently. And when you don’t use those tools, bookkeeping services can cost a bit more. So you’ll want to stay organized!

Your business will grow.

Outsourcing is the key to business growth. Whether it’s bookkeeping, content creation, sales or administrative tasks, as soon as you outsource a piece of your business you have more time to spend doing the things you love in your business. And when you can work on your business (instead of in it), it grows!

Your taxes will be a cinch!

Not all bookkeepers do taxes (just like not all doctors treat children). But they do know how taxes work and how to make them as simple as possible. Working with a bookkeeper keeps all your business finances organized for the fiscal year, allowing you to turn over your profit and loss statement and balance sheet, as well as other information for your personal taxes—without having to do all the clean-up work that you’ve had to do every year since…forever. Why? It’s already done, thanks to your bookkeeper!

You’ll save money.

It’s true, outsourcing is not free. But when you have someone with a finance background working on your books every month, they can easily spot areas where you’re overspending. For example, a bookkeeper will help re-categorize business expenses so you’re set up to write off as much as possible. And she’ll reconcile your accounts for you, watching out for duplicate transactions and services you no longer use. In the long run, all this cross-checking will save you money.

If you’ve been holding off on outsourcing your bookkeeping, now’s the perfect time of year to get going. You’ll get your books cleaned up in time for year-end statements and be able to spend more time growing your business—putting you in a great spot for 2017. Spend more time doing what you love in your business and leave the numbers to a pro!