“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
As a business owner you tend to wear many hats to keep your business going. There are so many responsibilities, from marketing for new customers, following up with leads, quoting the job, then performing the job and finally getting paid. This is all on top of keeping track of your own business and everything that goes along with that. The area that typically gets the most overlooked is the accounting.
If only you had someone to take care of that piece of it, so that you can review reports and use them to make decisions instead of getting into the weeds of how to track everything. Oftentimes because of all that goes into keeping accurate numbers, it is the area of your business that gets left behind. This is the perfect opportunity to delegate this very important task. Give yourself the extra time to work on other areas of your business, to gain new customers or dare I say it, spend time on yourself for a change. When was the last time you were able to get a full 18 holes in?
You may already have a Tax accountant to help with your tax preparation on an annual basis. I would highly encourage you to also add a Bookkeeper to your financial team. You do not have to hire someone full time as there are a ton of remote bookkeepers waiting to help you out. By hiring someone to take care of these functions for you, it will alleviate a lot of the stress of wondering if your numbers are accurate. They will also be able to help you read the financial reports so that you can understand if you need to raise prices or where you need to lower costs.
Leave the numbers to someone who actually enjoys numbers.
You had a dream when you started your business and your dream was not bookkeeping. However, it is the vital most important aspect of running a successful business. Leave it to someone who specializes in it and actually enjoys doing it. This will leave you time to spend growing your business and concentrating on the areas that you excel the most in.
Two brains are better than one
It is always great to have a second set of eyes. Even if you do love handling the books, it is more fun to do things together. By having a bookkeeper on your team you have someone to look at things in a different way then you do. Many bookkeepers offer a quarterly review session to take a look at your financials and spot out any errors they may find. They are also available to answer QuickBooks questions such as “this one transaction keeps popping up every time I click pay checks, how do I get rid of it”. Instead of spending hours waiting on the phone with support it is much quicker to contact your bookkeeper for the answer.
Talk business with someone who understands YOUR business.
Do you wish you had a sounding board instead of deciding everything on your own? Use your bookkeeper to bounce business ideas around as an independent third party. Have you been trying to decide on if you should purchase that new vehicle or not? By discussing these future plans with someone else who understands the business you will get sound advice. There are always new situations that happen in every business so it is comforting to know someone has your back and is only a phone call away.
File your taxes on time.
Be better organized for tax season. If your CPA is filing an extension for your taxes even before you call then it is time to get organized. By having a bookkeeper updating your financial information monthly you will have plenty of time to file your taxes in a timely manner. Think of how much less stress you will feel knowing they are completed in March instead of September.
Make decisions based on figures and not feelings.
Make decisions based on true facts and not numbers made up based on what you believe is true and the balance of your checking account. With accurate financials, decision making will be a lot easier and clearer. You would easily be able to tell if you need to hire someone, or if you need to increase marketing in a certain area based on the reports you are given.
These are just some of the many reasons it is worthwhile for you to delegate your bookkeeping tasks to an outside party. By passing off the task you do not enjoy you not only get peace of mind but oftentimes an asset to your business. If you don’t currently have a bookkeeper and are ready to move forward, call Bright Bookkeeping we would be happy to talk with you.