Bookkeeping is just as important as innovating products and ideas. For growing businesses, keeping track of financial records and books of accounts is a crucial job that may hamper growth if not done well.
Failure or mistake in keeping books and records may have legal consequences such as missing to pay taxes due, paying wrong amounts, delays in payments and failing to evaluate the business’ performance on a regular basis. Accuracy is the bread and butter of bookkeeping and choosing the right part-time bookkeeper is also an investment a businessman should look into.
There is a multitude of options in hiring a part-time bookkeeper but the best option is one that is purposely created to provide the best service. Bookkeeping firms like us are committed to making the management of our client’s business more efficient.
Among others, here are some of the reasons why you should outsource a bookkeeping firm than hiring a consultant or an in-house bookkeeping team:
- Efficient and effective management.
Hiring a firm as a part-time bookkeeper is a more efficient and effective management strategy especially when the business is rapidly growing. Efficient bookkeeping ensures prompt payments of liabilities, avoiding unnecessary spending for interests and delays.
As the business grows, the number of transactions also increases, making the management of books much harder. Indeed, even the most expert consultant or in-house bookkeeper can only manage as much. Hiring a firm as a part-time bookkeeper make it their agenda to update their methods and to research for new ones. Firms use software and develop new technologies that will suit the needs of their clients. A hired bookkeeping firm partner can adapt to changes and the clients’ demands without any costs incurred by the latter.
- Saving time and resources.
Good bookkeeping requires accuracy, and it takes time and resources to make the records right. Outsourcing a bookkeeping firm to do the job saves time and resources as well as the losses for every mistake incurred. An independent firm saves the business or the company from facing the risks of suddenly losing an employee. The output stays consistent without the fear of employee retention.
Having a part-time bookkeeper saves the company time to do the bookkeeping by themselves and employees can divert their time in doing other important tasks. Also, paying benefits such as pensions and medical insurances for in-house bookkeepers can be taken off the list.
- Mobility and Remote Access
Working with a part-time bookkeeper will allow you to have remote access to your books ‘beyond the office’. If you’re always on the go, you don’t have to worry about not carrying the records from the business’ on-site location.
- Keeping the focus on the business.
Partnering with a firm as a part-time bookkeeper removes the responsibility of keeping records in your office. This also saves space in the working area and in the employer’s mind. In turn, the business company can focus on innovating new ideas and services alone without struggling with the accounting responsibilities.
- No extra costs.
Employees have to be paid on a regular basis regardless of the amount and type of workload done but having a partner firm as a part-time bookkeeper are only paid for the work done. It saves money than hiring an in-house bookkeeper or consultant where the company is also responsible to provide materials and equipment to get the bookkeeping done. The opportunity of having to unload a part of the intricacies of business cancels out any costs it would spend in hiring a part-time bookkeeper.
- Quality of service.
Bookkeeping firms are committed to providing the best service for their clients. With bookkeeping becoming routine if done for an extended period of time, hired employees such as consultants or in-house bookkeepers can easily lose their enthusiasm and creativity along the way, especially when they feel that they’re doing it alone.
But in the case of a part-time bookkeeper firm, employees are constantly challenged to keep up with the current trends of the bookkeeping industry. Bookkeeping firms regularly update their methods and discover new techniques to stay relevant, and with that shared vision among their employees, productivity follows. Quality is more apparent with firms that anchor their reputation on the quality of services they provide.
The third reason why quality is more assured in a part-time bookkeeper firm is the collaborative environment. With a bookkeeping firm, you are surrounded by people who have the knowledge and expertise on the ins and outs of the industry. This makes collaboration much easier when you need a 3rd-party perspective on a bookkeeping need for a client, a situation that is less likely when only single or two employees of a small business have working knowledge on bookkeeping or accounting.
- Numbers are handled by experts.
Bookkeeping firms hire the bests in the field of accounting and bookkeeping. It is easier for company and business owners to search for the best bookkeeping firms in the country than to screen job applicants or consultants and assess their level of expertise. As a matter of fact, most accountants and bookkeepers who are now working as in-house employees or consultants in a company have previous experience working in a bookkeeping firm.
- Getting more than what is paid for.
When business owners outsource their bookkeeping needs to a part-time bookkeeper, they don’t only pay for the actual bookkeeping services offered by the firm but also the cloud bookkeeping platforms, the assets, the experts and the infrastructures needed to keep the records up-to-date. With the greater incentive for bookkeeping firms to compete across the spectrum and meet the industry standards, you can also expect great service from them.
- Security
One of the additional benefits of outsourcing a part-time bookkeeper is data security. With most in-house bookkeepers using unprotected computer systems and hardware, it’s much more secure to store your data offsite and limit access to your company’s books.
These part-time bookkeepers use cloud applications that are managed from data centres and are tested by several layers of protection, including the latest in the cybersecurity industry.
Most business owners usually underrate the bookkeeping needs of their growing business. However, as the stakes grow higher, numbers slowly go out of control. One can only imagine the loss if bookkeeping is taken for granted, for one can’t manage what he can’t measure.
Hence, it would not hurt if the company frees itself from taking the risk of unnecessary loss of profits, time and resources. Knowing some of the advantages of hiring a part-time bookkeeper is a move in the right direction.
If you’re not convinced how cloud bookkeeping solutions offer a more efficient bookkeeping process for growing small businesses, check out this survey from Blackline that shows how Australian accountants are bracing for the IT revolution of the accounting and bookkeeping industry.