What can a bookkeeper do for you?
In my previous blogs I have covered many topics such as what is a bookkeeper? How bookkeeping ties into management accounting and bookkeeping and depreciation. However, I have not covered why you and your business needs one. Surprisingly this is a very common question, along with what bookkeepers can do for you?
In the simplest of terms, all businesses are individuals just like you and me. Each varies in their goals, needs, wants and achievements. Therefore, what bookkeepers can do for you can vary in terms of goals, needs, wants and achievements. Experienced bookkeepers are able analyse your businesses current policies and procedures, can offer advice and monitor your accounts, helping you and your business achieve a great accounts system to assist with your business’s wants and needs!
When your business first started out you probably had time to do all the bookkeeping tasks that your business required, however as the business has grown you have less and less time to work on the books, while more information is needed to be tracked and more regulatory and financial complexities arise.
When these changes to your business occur, you may find that your business is no longer able to keep up with all the transactions, data management and record keeping that are key to keeping your accounts up to date. You may find instead of recording this information in a accurate and timely fashion, you are rushing, mistakes are occuring, and spending hours trying to sift through months of transactions in time for your BAS, taxation return or other financial reporting requirements.
So why do you need one?
If you are like most business owners that have grown, you may find you no longer have the time, experience, understanding or the interest to record each transaction. It some cases your business’ growth may have caused complexities to your businesses regulation requirements and financial requirements which means further complex financial calculations and entries and keeping up with changes to regulations/obligations that may affect your business.
Without accurate timely entries, you may find that financial issues have not been identified early enough and may even have gotten out of hand, mistakes may occur causing an imbalance in your accounts, transactions may go missing or necessary details could be lost. Using a qualified bookkeeper can have various positive impacts on your business such as freeing up your time, performing financial calculations and accounts entries, keeping your business up to date with regulations, keeping your accounts up-to-date, training, rescue work/fixing mistakes, payroll, monitoring of cash flow, monitoring of payables and receivables and much more.
Okay, but my accountant does this for me?
Yes, accountants and bookkeepers can overlap in terms of duties, but more often they are complimentary. While accountants are more qualified in speciality areas than a bookkeeper – they often charge higher fees for their services even if they are considered bookkeeping tasks. By using an accountant for services such as day to day transaction recording/updating of financial records or preparing your BAS, there is a good chance you could be using a qualified and experienced bookkeeper for a lower price!
Bookkeepers can also give you peace of mind that your accounts records are correct and can free up a lot of your time so that you can focus on other areas of the business. If you are unsure that now is the time to outsource your bookkeeping requirements, Contact us today! McGregor Bookkeeping offers a free initial consultation face to face or via teleconference, we are more than happy to discuss your businesses bookkeeping needs and help you and your business find your accounts balance!!!
