How to Hire a Bookkeeper: Considerations + Free Job Template

Meaning that, if you’re doing your bookkeeping on your home computer, there’s a good chance someone else has (or will eventually have) access to your business’s financial info. With a proper bookkeeping solution in place, you can get updates on your cash flow every month. Whatever bookkeeping solution you choose should offer you up-to-date books on a regular basis, an affordable rate, and detailed records. First, start tracking how much time you spend per week on bookkeeping.

Bookkeeper vs Accountant

You no longer need to worry about entering the double-entry data into two accounts. Since the information gathered in bookkeeping is used by accountants and business owners, it is the basis of all the financial statements generated. Most accounting software allows you to automatically run common financial statements such as an income and expense statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement.

How to hire a bookkeeper: Tips and key considerations to find the best fit

1. Companies often outsource the organization of their finances to independent professionals, then hire accountants for more complex issues and tax filing.
2. Open-ended questions and icebreakers are great ways to start a conversation with an applicant.
3. The effect of incorrect books could range from misinformed business decisions on your part, to misreported taxes (and the resulting IRS penalties) on the part of your business.
4. Topical articles and news from top pros and Intuit product experts.
5. When first starting out, market yourself as a professional who is well-versed in managing accounts, reconciling transactions, providing financial overviews and balancing budgets.
6. Merchant processors, loans, and lines of credit may also be taken into account.

Spreadsheets, such as Microsoft Excel, can be used for simple bookkeeping. More commonly, entrepreneurs use comprehensive accounting software like QuickBooks that can handle a larger volume of transactions and provide a deeper analysis. QuickBooks Live Expert Assisted can help you streamline your workflow, generate reports, and answer questions related to your business along the way. The accrual accounting method records financial transactions when they occur rather than when cash exchanges hands. An accounting ledger is a book or system you use for recording and classifying financial transactions. Bookkeepers offer support to several organizations, including small businesses, nonprofits, and corporations.

Take advantage of books that are 100% accurate from bookkeepers with over 10 years of experience for confidence and peace of mind. If you’re racing to get your books prepared for tax season and you feel generally behind on your taxes, you may want to hire a bookkeeper to handle that for you. If you don’t have your books clean and your financial records how to understand the basics of annuities organized, you’ll have a harder time filing your taxes.

Accountants are usually more skilled and in a more advanced position than bookkeepers. Being an accountant usually involves a higher level of interpreting and forecasting numbers than bookkeepers, who mainly just keep the records. If the prospective bookkeeper operates in a firm with multiple employees, there will be more hands on the day-to-day processes.

Make sure that you get the best out of your business by hiring a bookkeeper to help you along your journey. You should consider hiring an accountant when you require expertise in complex financial matters, tax compliance, or strategic financial guidance. If you’re interested in hiring a contract bookkeeper, consider Bench, a virtual accounting service provider. When you sign up, you’ll be paired with a dedicated bookkeeper who acts as your in-house accounting team. A small business can likely do all its own bookkeeping using accounting software.

It serves as a road map to ensure you correctly record and report  all necessary financial transactions are recorded and reported correctly. To set up a budget, gather your financial data, such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. This will give you a clear picture of your business’s past financial performance additional paid in capital and help you make realistic projections for the future. After you have a bookkeeping system in mind, the next step is to pick an accounting software.

Finding a good freelancer

While a bookkeeper’s duties may overlap with that of an accountant, bookkeepers do not need a college degree. However employers may prefer some college courses in accounting and finance or a bookkeeping certificate. In fact a good bookkeeper is your partner in keeping things running smoothly within your business. Having a bookkeeper that matches your needs will eliminate the stress and anxiety of doing this work yourself or having someone else do it who may not have the skills necessary.

We do your books, so you can get back to business

Accrual accounting provides a more accurate picture of a business’s financial health than cash accounting, as it considers all of the financial transactions for a given period. This accounting method is useful for businesses with inventory or accounts payable break-even analysis one hundred and one: how to calculate bep and apply it to your business and receivable. Broadly, a bookkeeper’s job is to manage the books by keeping track of day-to-day business finances. Bookkeeping professionals have their own expertise based on the types of businesses and industries they serve.