Choosing a good bookeeper for your bookkeeping can be like choosing a good dentist. Where do you find a good bookkeeper?
How do you select the right book keeper for your needs?
Most people ask their friends or business associates (if they know any bookkeepers) around for recommendations.
“We outsourced our bookkeeping as it took us too much time and energy away from our focus on growing the business.
Our trouble was it took us 4 book keepers till we found a great one”Leanne, Southport
“As a chartered accountant we see the good and the bad of the bookkeeping industry. We use a number of bookkeepers as preferred suppliers to our clients”
What To Look For in a Bookkeeper
If you haven’t yet employed a bookkeeper, or you have one that you are not satisfied with, here are some points you should look for:
- To be successful, independent bookkeepers need to be thorough, dependable and accurate as well as skilled in using accounting and sometime spreadsheet software.
- What business types does the bookkeeping service specialise in?
- What type of businesses does the bookkeeper work for at the moment?
- They must enjoy paying attention to details
- Honesty and integrity and client confidentiality are crucial. What security and privacy measures do you have to ensure that no one gets hold of confidential financial information? Is this guaranteed?
- What type of relationship does the bookkeeper want to have with my accountant?
- Does the bookkeeping service have any procedures for checking the work before it ‘goes out’?
- Is your bookkeeper registered to legitimately undertake BAS submissions to the ATO
- Does the bookkeeping service do payroll, superannuation, BAS etc¦
- What training does the bookkeeping service have?
- Does the bookkeeper have any on going training?
- I don’t understand all this accounting stuff will you help me?
- Is there any way I can reduce my bookkeeping costs?
- If your bookkeeper gets sick or goes on holidays who will take over the processing of the work? The last thing you need is for your bookkeeper to get sick, be unable to process the work and your BAS is late. A worse scenario is that your bookkeeper decides to leave the industry and you have to go through the whole selection process again.
- How much do you charge? What does this include?
- Most independent bookkeepers charge between $25 and $60 an hour. How much they charge depends on location and the level of work involved, ranging from minimal record keeping to virtually all the tasks leading up to preparation of financial statements.
- Some bookkeepers also prepare financial statements and do tax work as well.
An efficient bookkeeping system will save you time and money ………. contact us today