How to Save Money on Bookkeeping

 

Bookkeeping costs can add up quickly, and it doesn’t take long before it becomes overwhelming. This leads to business owners deciding that professional bookkeeping isn’t worth the cost. They may start looking for a bookkeeper on Kijiji who can do their books for cheap. However, like most things in life, you get what you pay for. Professional bookkeeping is worth the cost to the business owner. This may sound biased on a bookkeeping website, but it is the truth. Professional bookkeeping companies offer many advantages over a stand alone person you may find on Kijiji. While the costs are higher to use a professional bookkeeper, there are ways to help save you money. Four of these are all detailed below.

 

Keep it Business Only

 

When you have a business bank and credit card, they should be just that, business. When you start purchasing personal items with your business accounts the cost of bookkeeping starts to climb. There are multiple reasons for this. The first reason is that the number of transactions the bookkeeper has to enter has now increased. Another reason for the increased cost, is now the bookkeeper must determine if that transaction is business or personal. This may seem simple from the onset, however places like Wal-Mart can easily be a personal or business purchase. Both of these mean more time is spent on your account and this will be charged back to you.

 

Organization

 

If you bring your bookkeeper a grocery bag of crumpled up receipts, they will be happy to sort through them and organize your paperwork for you. However, they will not do this for free, your cost of bookkeeping can increase significantly based off how disorganized you are. If have a discussion with your bookkeeper about how they would like to see your paperwork, you can get it organized before stepping foot in their office. This will save you money because they can start working on it immediately.

 

Another aspect of organization, is to make sure you have everything when you bring in your work. If you are missing statements or receipts, this can slow down the process because now your work needs to be stopped and picked up at a later time.

 

Answer Questions Quickly

 

It is unavoidable, your bookkeeper will have questions for you. The quicker you are able to respond to their inquiries and provide the information needed, the less money it will cost you. This is because the longer a bookkeeper is away from your books, the more time they will need to get back into the rhythm of your company. Therefore answering questions quickly will benefit your wallet because the bookkeeper will be able to quickly and efficiently finish off your work.

 

Know your limitations

 

You are great at what you do, that is why you have started a business. However, bookkeeping is not always a skill that business owners have. In the quest to save money, you may decide that you can do it yourself. If you do not have any bookkeeping experience or training, this can lead to many costly mistakes. Having a professional bookkeeper fix these mistakes can cost thousands of dollars. If you know your limitations from the beginning you can eliminate the cost of fixing.

 

This is not to say that you can’t do some things yourself to save money on bookkeeping. Many companies are flexible to letting you do some of your own bookkeeping. For example, you can do your own invoicing in a system that works with an accounting program or you can share a file with your bookkeeper. Invoicing is something that you will most likely be doing yourself, working with your bookkeeper to find a process will save you money on your monthly bookkeeping fees, while allowing your bookkeeper to do the things you aren’t comfortable with.

 

Professional bookkeeping can be affordable, especially if you follow all of the tips above. Investing in professional bookkeeping will also save you money on your tax return and accountants bills. It is the right choice for both your wallet and your stress levels!