Many people dream of owning and operating a small business in the Gold Coast, and a minority of people actually do it. If that’s you, congratulations! You are a part of the exciting business ecosystem that makes up this dynamic city. As your business grows, you have no doubt thought about improving your systems to grow with it. If you’re trying to work out how much bookkeeping rates in the Gold Coast should be, and how bookkeepers can make small businesses thrive, then look no further.
Gold Coast small businesses face new challenges each quarter. As far as bookkeeping goes, there are reporting requirements to fulfil and an array of things to stay on top of if you want to stay ahead. You want to have your bookkeeping in order for when the ATO comes around, so having a qualified and experienced bookkeeper is a great investment.
What Level of Bookkeeping Service Do You Need?
Before we get into the nitty gritty of how much bookkeeping rates are in the Gold Coast, we must first break down what support you’ll need from your bookkeeper. When you’re deciding whether a bookkeeping service is right for you, it’s important to take into account your business’s needs. Let’s examine a few of those factors and try to zero in on just what constitutes a reasonable rate for a Gold Coast bookkeeper.
Data Entry Only
This level is self-explanatory. If you only need someone to enter your figures, then you don’t necessarily need to hire the most expensive bookkeeper in the Gold Coast. You may be able to get someone on the lowest level in your business to support with this.
Daily Transactions
This level of bookkeeping service is a little more involved. In order to hire someone for this type of bookkeeping, you’ll need to look for someone with more in-depth knowledge of your business’s inner workings. This person will probably have to follow up on accounts receivable and handle the creation of invoices and purchases.
End of Period
When it comes to finding a bookkeeper to handle end-of-period (end of financial year, end of month, etc.) procedures, you will need someone who you can trust with sensitive company data. This bookkeeper could perform payroll functions as well as journal entries for depreciation. They could also be tasked with taking care of intercompany transfers and other more complicated bookkeeping tasks.
Registered BAS Agent
This bookkeeper can do any and all bookkeeping for small businesses. They are certified professionals and will have the knowledge necessary to take care of whatever tasks they are given. If you need a true professional, a Gold Coast BAS Agent is the right choice.
What Services Can a Bookkeeper Provide
As a small business owner, you’re an expert at providing the goods or services that your business specialises in. It can be hard to know what skills a good bookkeeper should have if you’ve never worked with one. The more skilled your bookkeeper is, the more services they will be able to support with. Here is a list of some of the services that a great bookkeeper should be able to provide with no issue:
Bookkeeping Setup
Whatever system your small business currently uses, a good bookkeeper will be able to adapt and properly set up the accounting system so that it uses best practices, is efficient for the bookkeeper and easy to view for the owner.
Data Entry
This is a time-consuming task for small business owners but is vital to the success of the business. Properly arranging the data is essential to keeping sound books. You wouldn’t want the payroll figures to fall into accounts payable, for example. A proper bookkeeper will be able to sift through the figures and properly organise the data.
Accounts Receivable
Accounts receivable is also a difficult set of books to track since it can sometimes mean literally tracking the people or entities who have yet to pay for services rendered. With a good bookkeeper on staff, you’ll be able to sort out invoices and get paid.
End-of-Period Reconciliation
With a good bookkeeper on hand, ensuring the entered data and the bank statements match up is a breeze. A proper bookkeeper will easily be able to identify incorrect amounts, reconcile BAS reports, take care of unreconciled transactions and even perform a pre-submission audit of sorts.
Payroll
You want to keep your staff happy and paid on time. Having a bookkeeper to keep an eye on the payroll side of things is another great use of their abilities.
BAS Preparation
As long as your bookkeeper has skilfully entered the data correctly, your BAS preparation won’t take very long. It’s still an essential part of the bookkeeping process for small business owners, so you’ll want this handled with as much care as the rest of the bookkeeping duties.
So … How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost?
Considering all the factors mentioned above, you need to decide how much bookkeeping you need and at what level before you can assess what constitutes reasonable bookkeeping rates. If you only need data entry or daily transactions to be handled, you may be able to negotiate a better service rate for a bookkeeper. If you need end-of-period reconciliation or BAS preparations made in addition to the data entry, you could be looking at fees of anywhere between $50-$90 an hour for bookkeeping on the Gold Coast on average.
In the end, it comes down to the quality of work you want to pay for. For instance, would you rather pay $20 an hour for an unqualified bookkeeper to spend 4 hours on a job or pay $50 or more an hour for a professional bookkeeper to handle the task with fewer mistakes and in half the time? It’s a question of value for money that small business owners will have to consider.
How Can a Bookkeeper Save You Money?
Hiring a bookkeeper may feel like an unnecessary expense when you start out. However, your investment will be worthwhile when you consider how they can save you money. A qualified and experienced bookkeeper knows the ropes, and can support your business by:
- Freeing you up to work more on expanding your business
- Helping you avoid fines for any potential non-compliance with the ATO
- Chasing up debtors on your behalf to help you get paid
- Quickly identifying any inefficiencies in your books/systems that could be wasting money
In addition, an outsourced bookkeeper can save you the extra expenses of hiring an employee. With a remote bookkeeper, you only pay for the services you get.
Affordable Bookkeeping in the Gold Coast
If you want a truly affordable bookkeeping firm to take care of your books for you, then give Darcy Bookkeeping a ring at 1300 728 875. Our bookkeeping rates start at $33/hour for qualified and experienced bookkeeping experts. Darcy Bookkeepers are proficient with most accounting software packages and will be able to provide you with excellent bookkeeping at a price that’s more than fair.
Our bookkeepers are experts in Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks, Saasu and Reckon. We can give you a fixed-rate package based on your needs, or we can use our hourly rate.