Secret Hacks to Finding the Bookkeeper of Your Dreams
It can be very difficult find the right bookkeeper for your company. Your should not provide bookkeeping services or do your own bookkeeping if you are unqualified or inexperienced. Accountants complete their work mostly at EOFY. At June 30th many mistakes may be unveiled. This is very costly to fix. It is best to hire a qualified bookkeeper to complete the day to day accounting. Before engaging in a service you may want to consider these few tips.
Know What You Want
Before you hire a bookkeeping service it’s very important to understand what your company actually needs. A bookkeeper can provide many accounting services so before you have an initial meeting or contact a company be clear as to what you will need your bookkeeper to achieve. Normally a new business will need to process all invoices (incoming and outgoing) as well as reconcile their bank accounts and credit cards. The GST on all transactions will need to be coded correctly to ensure tax obligations are met. If your company has employee’s, payroll will need to be processed and paid. Superannuation will need to be calculated, paid and lodged correctly. These are all basic bookkeeping duties and going forward our bookkeepers at Accountable Bookkeeping can steer you in the right direction with the companies’ taxation and reporting needs.
Consider the Quality
Are you willing to hire a junior accounts clerk here in Perth or risk it with an amateur offshore? There are many ‘pitchers’ with no knowledge that want to spend hours on your books for a very low fee. If you are passionate and protective when it comes to your company, we strongly advise not to trust these “snake in the grass” types with your financials. Hiring someone unqualified is not a wise move and when it comes to your books this is not the place to be cutting corners. It’s better to bite the bullet and hire a professional. As the saying goes – you get what you pay for and here at Accountable Bookkeeping we have done many recovery jobs that have left us wondering what were people thinking??
Research the accounting programs available
Before you hire a bookkeeping service, It is necessary to know the type of accounting programs they are proficient and experienced in. Some companies have partnerships and can get special deals and add extensions for you. Is your bookkeeper experienced in the software you use? Bookkeepers can advise the software that should be used for your business or industry if you are just starting out. If they are certified or a partner with a program take this this is good sign! Talk to other companies about what accounting programs they use and may be suited to your industry.
Consider the security of your information
Before you hire an online bookkeeping service, you also need to know what security measure they use. Bookkeepers must protect your data and information. Employee files are highly confidential. Be active when finding out where your information is being held. Confidential information should be kept under lock and key if stored in an office. If it is on a computer, zip folders should be used. The company must have active anti virus protection. There are so many virus’s and hackers out there and your important financial information must be kept under strict securities.
Read your contract
Your bookkeeper should give you an agreement, letter of engagement or contract to sign before commencing work. Examine this contract before signing. It should outline a lot of aspects such as service commitment, data protection, liability, reliability, accounting processes and fees.
After considering these points your mind should be at ease. Trust your instincts. Take extra precaution to ask for references. See if you can contact people that can vouch for the bookkeeper’s quality of work. Most bookkeepers are fun and friendly people. Here at Accountable Bookkeeping we take our jobs seriously but do like to have fun along the way.th
– Jasmine Schneider