Should You Hire a Bookkeeper?

It is required by law for businesses, whatever the size, to keep a record of financial transactions of the business. Keeping good and accurate records will not only support items on your tax return, but will also help you keep track of expenses and prepare financial statements and tax returns. Keeping good financial records will help you monitor the progress of your business on a regular basis and increase the likelihood of business success.

What is your hourly rate? Not hiring a bookkeeper can cost you more than you realize. Even if you have knowledge of basic accounting and know how to use your financial software, finding the time to record these transactions often takes you away from working on revenue-generating tasks for your business and spending time with family and friends or even relaxing.

Are you ignoring your books? Small business owners often ignore the bookkeeping side of their businesses. Most small businesses do not need a full-time bookkeeper, so outsourcing their bookkeeping can actually save them money over hiring an employee or a CPA to do their bookkeeping.

Do you wait until December 31st to start getting your books in order? When business owners wait until the last minute to get their books in order, they often run the risk of having their CPA (which can cost $125/hour or more) organize their books before preparing their taxes. By hiring a bookkeeper to keep their books in order throughout the year, business owners can save time and money at tax time.

An accurate bookkeeping system will not only help in preparing your federal and state tax returns but also your sales tax and payroll taxes in a timely manner. If you are ignoring your bookkeeping and comingling business and personal funds, you are inviting disaster with the IRS. If you are the owner of a small business, you may want to consider hiring a bookkeeper for your business.

This is a guest post from Jackie Love.  Jackie is a virtual administrative assistant, writer and owner of JL Love & Associates.