Frequently Asked Questions
If your question isn't answered below, please don't hesitate to ask me! I know not everyone has the same questions before hiring bookkeeper and I look forward to helping you make the right decision for you and your business.
I’m a Certified Bookkeeper and have been one full-time since 2001. As a certified professional, I’m constantly learning.
"I love the work I do, and I strive to offer the best possible service to my clients."
Based on a solid understanding of accounting, a certified bookkeeper can help you achieve accurate financial statements which results in accurate tax returns.
Bookkeeping professionals can find and correct accounting errors in your company's books.
Unfortunately, being able to maintain a checkbook and an accurate balance does not translate into proper accounting. An accounting professional understands how to properly record loans, loan payments, knows the difference between a fixed asset that needs to be depreciated over time versus an expense. We know how to keep from accidentally creating a taxable event for you. Did you take out a loan and call it Income or Sales? Did you have to invest money back into the business and record it as income.
Outsourcing those things that you are not good at or just plain don't like to do allows you to focus on what you, the business owner does best.
Let your employees focus on the job you hired them to do! If your receptionist is also your bookkeeper, and the phone comes first, guess what the end result is? Your books deserve the attention of a professional.
As a bookkeeper, I’m on the front lines with you. My job is to make sure all of your bookkeeping entries are accurate and correct before they go to the accountant. It doesn’t matter whether you are doing your own bookkeeping or hiring a professional. Often times my clients do all the entries during the month and I then reconcile all the accounts and perform a detailed review. That way, any errors in accounting are discovered and fixed. A monthly review is optimal because if there are any issues, it’s easier to remember the transaction, circumstance, etc.
As a bookkeeper, Cindy is on the front lines with you. Her job is to make sure all of your bookkeeping entries are accurate and correct before they go to the accountant. It doesn’t matter whether you are doing your own bookkeeping or hiring a professional.
Often times clients do all the entries during the month and Cindy then reconciles all the accounts and performs a detailed review. That way, any errors in accounting are discovered and fixed. Monthly review is optimal because, if there are any issues, it’s easier to remember the transaction, circumstance, etc.
The CPA should be used for what they do best: tax planning and tax preparation.
If a CPA sets up your books, it is usually done with tax preparation in mind. When I help business owners set up or change a chart of accounts (categories), it is in order to give you, the business owner, the information you need to make the best decisions regarding your business.
Before you outsource your bookkeeping, make sure you interview or get a good, verifiable background on the person you are hiring. Do they have any accounting or bookkeeping education? Do they truly know how to use QuickBooks? I have done a LOT of clean up work because the “bookkeeper” knew zero about accounting. They had, however, passed the multiple-choice QB tests to become a QB Proadvisor. A great website does not equate with a great bookkeeper.
My job, as your advocate and intermediary, is to set up the books in a way that gives you the information you need. This means making it easy to see where your money is coming from and where it is going. If you need to understand reports, I can help train you for everyday feedback on your business income/expenses. Many people believe that their CPA will do or is doing their bookkeeping. In most cases, a CPA is delegating the bookkeeping to a bookkeeper and charging CPA rates. If your CPA is doing your bookkeeping, be sure to ask if he/she is actually doing it or is it being delegated or outsourced.
The answer to that is “It Depends”. As you know, since you are asking this question, is that it has gotten crazy since the “Wayfair” decision. If you are a brick and mortar retailer, selling out of that location only, I will be more than happy to help with sales tax. If your sales tax is complicated, my recommendation is that you use Avalara. Check them out at www.avalara.com. I’m happy to help you set that up.
Some of my clients are charged on an hourly basis and some are at value or flat rate pricing. The complexity of the books and the quantity of transactions are part of the pricing equation. If the volume of work is pretty consistent, the flat rate is great. If your business has big seasonal swings, cyclical, the hourly rate is probably best for you. Just call and we will come to a solution.
My client list includes simple one owner service businesses up to and including multi-store S-Corps with inventory.
You are never too small to hire a professional bookkeeper, especially for the initial set up. Even if you think you can handle your own bookkeeping for a while, get the set-up done by a professional. You will save yourself tons of heartache, stress and probably money in the long term.
Back to the question- I have several one-person businesses that outsource the bookkeeping to me. The largest has about 25 employees. At a certain point, some businesses want someone in house to handle the bookkeeping. You’ve noticed the revenue amount is not part of the answer. That’s because a $100K annual revenue business may have more transactions than a $10M business. My clients are within that range.