Outsourced Bookkeeping – How to find the right bookkeeper

If you’re ready to move bookkeeping off your plate, outsourced bookkeeping can be a good option, but it can also open up a lot of questions. What tasks can a bookkeeper actually handle for you? Can you get away with just using bookkeeping software alone?

To help figure out the best bookkeeping solution for your needs, we will briefly discuss:

• The benefits of outsourcing your bookkeeping, versus using a bookkeeping software or hiring a bookkeeper in-house
• What tasks a bookkeeping service can cover

In other words, we’ll cover everything you need in order to make key decisions about outsourcing your bookkeeping.

Does outsourcing your books make sense for your business?

If you’ve already decided to move bookkeeping off your place and on to someone elses, then the benefits are obvious. For starters:

• You don’t have to do it yourself, which means your time and patience are spent on growing the business;
• You don’t need to worry about inaccuracies or falling behind on your books when a pro has it covered;
• When it’s time to raise money or lodge your tax return, you know your books will be professional, complete and ready to go

But outsourcing your bookkeeping to another company isn’t the only option you have to off load your books. You can also hire an in-house bookkeeper. So what are some of the benefits of outsourcing your books instead of hiring in-house?

• Outsourced bookkeeping is more flexible, allowing you to scale your service up or down as your business needs evolve;
• Many outsourced bookkeeping services are more cost effective (sometime substantially) than paying a full-time bookkeeper’s salary plus benefits;
• Someone else handles teh vetting adn hiring of qualified, professional bookkeepers

At iKeep, we offer an additional advantage that many bookkeeping services don’t have. On top of Xero we use powerful software like Receipt Bank to automate the most repetitive and error-prone aspects of bookkeeping. Combined with our expert bookkeepers, you’ll always get a first-class experience – and keep great books.

Tasks an Outsourced Bookkeeping Service can handle for you

As it turns out, there’s a lot of blurred area between bookkeeping, accounting, admin and taxes. The specific set of tasks your bookkeeper performs can vary from person to person. So if you decide to outsource your bookkeeping, what does that actually cover?

An outsourced bookkeeper or bookkeeping service can generally handle and and all of these tasks:

• Importing financial information from your bank statements, credit card statements, payroll records, invoices and more (with iKeep, this is generally done automatically by connecting your accounting software to source data via an API);
• Categorising and reconciling those transactions to ensure that everything has been accounted for;
• Tracking bills and income yet to be recognised (which is otherwise known as Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable management);
• Ensuring your books are always up to date and accurate
• Providing you accurate financial statements at month-end. This generally includes Profit & Loss Statements, a Balance Sheet and a Statement of Cash Flows.
• Explaining those financial statements and other aspects of your bookkeeping in terms you can understand;
• Handling complete and accurate financial reporting over to investors, tax agents, shareholders, and anyone else who may need access

You’ll have to hash out the details with the person or service that you choose. It’s worth asking questions up front and making sure your expectations are aligned with their offerings before signing up.

Accurate and up to date financial records are a must have for every business – but managing them doesn’t have to eat up your valuable time and patience. If bookkeeping is taking up time you could be spending on growing your business, it’s worth the investment to move the back office off your plate.

That way, you can be confident in the accuracy of your books and get back to doing what you do best.

At iKeep, we have a team of expert bookkeepers, certified in Xero, MYOB and QBO. Let us take the bookkeeping burden off your plate.

Check out our recent blog for more info on topics like

• How much does it cost to outsource payroll
• How to outsource bookkeeping
• Outsource bookkeeping for small business