Why do I need a bookkeeper?

Stack of Money cut in half

Do you need a bookkeeper?  Well, we have an interesting answer.

I had an interesting conversation with a client this week and I wanted to share his perspective.

He is a small consultant, with no employees.

As we discussed his books we talked about his financial health and he asked me, “Do I really need a bookkeeper?”

It took me by surprise and when I asked him to clarify he explained, “Well I talked with some friends and they don’t spend nearly as much money on bookkeeping.”

It’s one of the first questions every small business owner asks themselves.  Do I really need a bookkeeper? It was really interesting to explain to him why he needs bookkeeping when I realized that he doesn’t really understand what all we’re giving him as a bookkeeping service and all he sees is the expense.

I think that I think this it’s actually quite important, especially to first time business owners. So, where’s the value?

 

Number 1:

When you have a good bookkeeper in place, the books are done properly and they’re done correctly.  This means when your tax return is done, you likely will end up paying less taxes.  So when you hear your friend saying they don’t pay that much money in bookkeeping, I would challenge them and ask how much their friend saved on their taxes last year.  Unless they had proper bookkeeping done, they may not have an answer.

 

Number 2:

Bookkeeping is about more than entering your receipts in the right columns. It’s about making sure you’re claiming all the right things, and all the costs are accounted for. If you only bring in eight cellphone bills, your bookkeeper should be asking where the other four are. We see an awful lot of clients forgetting to claim their insurance as an expense because they’ve set up automatic withdrawals, so without a hardcopy receipt it’s easy to miss. These are really common, and your bookkeeper should be asking you for all of those receipts, to make certain nothing is missed.

 

Number 3:

Your bookkeeper will know exactly what’s going on with your books and what you can and cannot write off. Just because you kept your receipt, doesn’t mean you’re entitled to a tax break. Bookkeepers know the ins and outs, and what to claim to get you the most bang for your buck.

 

And probably most importantly, we help other people in your industry. We often compare your books to the status quo, to see what’s going on and where any extras can be found.