It’s similar to a bookkeeping firm, except more affordable, since automation cuts the bulk of manual work. This is a great choice for most small businesses that don’t have cash-heavy transactions. In its simplest form, they’re responsible for maintaining financial records. This can include anything from creating and filing invoices to tracking expenditures and reconciling bank statements.
- When you sign up, you’ll be paired with a dedicated bookkeeper who acts as your in-house accounting team.
- Bookkeepers are a necessity for any business today, and prudent business owners consider hiring one when their company reaches a certain size.
- Post your job description to start attracting freelance bookkeepers to your organization.
In this case, it’s important to see what the firm’s internal review and quality control procedures are. Bookkeeping covers many different industries, so it’s important to make sure that the person you hire is familiar with the industry your business operates in. Look into the industry-specific expertise they have to get a better idea. You may also want to see if they’ve handled bookkeeping for other businesses that are around the same size and structure as yours. This may vary depending on if the prospective bookkeeper is working solo or with a bookkeeping firm.
How can you identify the best candidates?
You may know that payments will come from your clients or whomever you’re working with, but you don’t have a clear idea of when or how much it will be. Hiring a bookkeeper will allow you to become more organized with your cash flow statements to get a better view of your financial situation. Seeking the services of Business Process Outsourcing or BPO companies would be a convenient way to outsource your new bookkeeper. Like online hiring platforms, BPO companies can also connect you with a talented pool of qualified professionals looking to get hired.
So even if you don’t hire a bookkeeper for the long-term, a short-term arrangement can equip you with the basic, yet essential tools you need. Quickbooks offers its own certified bookkeepers who will update, take care of your current financials, and create a budget for the future. Divvy creates free software that tracks expenses, manages budgets, and increases visibility of every penny of your business. The most efficient gym software is user-friendly, streamlined, and allows your employees to easily learn its functionality. Information created by third parties that we may link out to or feature on our site is not endorsed by us and remains the responsibility of such third parties. Mindbody assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the content.
Step 1: Prepare a List of Questions to Ask During the Interview
We recommend one type of attention to detail test when hiring a bookkeeper – the textual attention to detail test. Using this test will help you understand whether your candidates can use analytical skills to deal with complex processes. Find out whether your bookkeeper will be successful in the role and avoid any financial miscalculations with the attention to detail test. Having started attracting good bookkeeper candidates to your vacancy, you might be wondering how you’re going to assess your candidates.
The background check performed on an employee must be related to the duties of the job. For a receptionist, for example, you could run a simple seven-year criminal background check. However, for a bookkeeper, I recommend you include a financial background check.
The financial information that a bookkeeper gathers must be accurate and up-to-date to ensure that the business they work for makes the right financial decisions. It’s common for bookkeepers to take part in strategy development and tax preparation. If you’re looking to expand, hiring employees, and doing payroll, a CPA can help with big decisions.
Unpredictable cash flow
The test is unique to your organization as you can customize it for your company. Use the test to determine whether your bookkeeper candidates’ interests align with the values of your organization. Drawing in professional bookkeepers to your vacancy is straightforward with Freelancer.com.
- Take time to research compensation trends for bookkeepers before you launch a job candidate search.
- However, if you’re hiring a freelance bookkeeper, you may not have to consider such compliance laws—more often than not, these only apply when hiring an employee.
- Charlette Beasley is a writer and editor at Fit Small Business focusing on payroll.
- Small businesses have an even more difficult time deciding if it’s best to make or buy something, as they have limited resources in both time and money.
- But the amount you spend on a bookkeeper will vary depending on various factors.
Bookkeepers are responsible for preparing the company’s financial statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and more. Additionally, they can review your source documents and post entries into your accounting software. Regardless of the type of business you run, this business will undoubtedly earn and spend a certain amount of money every year. If you want to be certain that your finances are accurately recorded and that any financial decisions you make are sound, you’ll likely want to hire a bookkeeper. The following takes a more in-depth look at what a bookkeeper is and the pros and cons of hiring one.
If you’re interested in hiring a contract bookkeeper, consider Bench, a virtual accounting service provider. Bench offers bookkeeping and tax support for businesses and self-employed individuals. When you sign up, you’ll be paired with a dedicated bookkeeper who acts as your in-house accounting team.
Hire the best candidates with TestGorilla.
It’s important to accurately maintain your finances because they’ll help make tax time easier and give you a real insight into your business. Investors and lenders will also often ask to see certain reports before doing business with you. A bookkeeper can give you peace of mind knowing your reports are correct and improve your chances of securing funding. A bookkeeper can review your business finances, check for discrepancies (if any), and share insights that will help you make better business decisions. They can also streamline the bookkeeping process so that you don’t face any issues during the tax season. The question of whether to hire a bookkeeper or not has undoubtedly come into your mind as a business owner.
Unlike certified public accountants, bookkeepers do not need professional qualifications. In fact, there’s no requirement for any formal training, with many bookkeepers learning their craft on the job. The duties assigned to a bookkeeper will vary from business to business. If you’re a small company, they may essentially cover all financial requirements, using an external accounting firm where necessary – such as for preparing and filing your tax return. Robert Half has years of experience placing bookkeepers with clients on both a temporary and full-time basis.
As a small business grows and carefully expands its operations, the more it realizes the need to delegate other important responsibilities to new hires. You should consider your business’ needs, transaction volume and budget before you hire a bookkeeper. A bookkeeper can make it easier to do your taxes and give you more time to run your business — but they can cost more and take time to get used to. Not every business has a dedicated bookkeeper, but every business should be doing bookkeeping. If you fall behind on your books, that could cause you a lot of stress — and even penalties — during tax season. See the pros and cons of hiring a bookkeeper below to see if it’s right for you and your business.
If you already have the resumes of candidates in hand, start by looking at their qualifications. Add any other questions that are important to you, and keep notes of the candidate’s answers during your interviews. One of the easiest and most reliable ways to hire a bookkeeper is to ask around in your network.
Other options may include having a someone from the firm come by your business to pick up paperwork, or dropping off paperwork at the firm’s office yourself. Also, if you have catch-up bookkeeping for them to complete, that will be an additional, one-time project that they need to handle. According to Contingent Asset: Overview and Consideration accounting.com, the short answer to this question is that bookkeepers earn approximately $40,240 per year – or an hourly rate of $19.35. But the amount you spend on a bookkeeper will vary depending on various factors. Look out for candidates who can explain in detail what a general ledger account is.
When a bookkeeper is experienced with businesses in your industry, they understand common expenses—and can let you know which business expenses are tax deductible. If you’re unsure whether you’re ready to hire a bookkeeper, consider these major benefits and how they can positively affect your work days and business success. If your business is new and your bookkeeping is minimal, you may be able to do your own bookkeeping with a simple spreadsheet.
But if you’re like most business owners, you’re not so interested in recording all the details of every financial transaction. In that case, it is important to ensure that they are qualified and have the relevant experience to meet the specific needs of your business. First, performing your own bookkeeping can definitely teach you new business skills in accounting and finance.
