Hiring a bookkeeper

Hiring a Bookkeeper Who Knows QuickBooks Near Charlotte, NC

Imagine you hire the first bookkeeper you find, but things start to go downhill with your business. The bookkeeper doesn’t know what they’re doing, so your financial reports aren’t accurate.

If you want to avoid that nightmare, you need to focus on hiring a bookkeeper near you who will do the job well. That way, you can make sure your business grows instead of fails.

Read on to learn more.

Verify What You Need

Before hiring a bookkeeper, you should consider why you want to hire one and what you need from them. For example, if you want to hire someone who specializes in bookkeeping, you can eliminate full-service accounting firms.

You’ll also want to hire someone who is a bookkeeper rather than an accountant. Make sure you know how the two roles differ so that you can research people who will offer the services you need.

Consider if you need any other small business services, such as payroll management. No matter what you need, make sure you can get it all in one place.

Whether you just need bookkeeping help or other services, you should know that up front. Then, you may be able to save money and time by hiring someone who can do various things for you.

Look for Experience

You may be able to take a chance and hire a new bookkeeper. However, start by looking at people with bookkeeping experience in general and who have experience using QuickBooks.

Another thing to consider is if the bookkeeper you want to hire has worked with similar businesses. Odds are, you’ll have a lot of the same expenses as other businesses in your industry.

If a bookkeeper has worked with those companies, they might know what you’ll want them to work on. Then, you can both save time after you hire the bookkeeper.

Read Testimonials

Be sure to do some research on a few candidates before hiring a bookkeeper. Check out their websites or other sites that compile reviews of local service providers.

Read through some testimonials and reviews to get an idea of what different bookkeepers are like to work with. If you see a negative pattern, such as a long response time, you may want to look elsewhere.

Then, you can save yourself some time and frustration. You will be able to focus on hiring a bookkeeper who will be a good fit for you and your business.

Ask Questions

If possible, meet the bookkeeper before you decide to hire them. Then, you can ask them questions about their expertise and why you should hire them.

On the other hand, meeting with a bookkeeper allows you to see what questions they will ask about your business. If they don’t have experience bookkeeping for a business in your industry, they may want to ask a lot of questions.

That can seem annoying, but it means that the bookkeeper wants to do a good job. Consider what the bookkeeper asks you before and after you hire them to make sure they understand what you need.

Consider Accuracy

One excellent question to ask a bookkeeper is about their process and accuracy. Figure out if they’re detail-oriented and if they make mistakes rarely or frequently.

You want to make sure to hire someone who will do the work to track transactions accurately. If the bookkeeper has small errors, you can think you’re doing a lot better than you are.

When that happens, your business may suffer if you put the excess money into an expense. While you should review the books to stay on top of your business finances, you need to trust the bookkeeper.

Stick to Local

Hiring a bookkeeper in your local area provides a lot of benefits over hiring someone remote. Sure, you may save money if you hire someone who lives somewhere with a lower cost of living.

However, you wouldn’t be able to have in-person meetings to discuss your business finances. If you hire someone local, you’ll be able to meet up and ask questions about the books.

The closer the bookkeeper is, the easier it will be to meet them in person. Then, you don’t have to rely on a computer and internet connection to have a productive meeting.

Outsource

Another thing to think about when hiring a bookkeeper is if you want to outsource the work or hire an employee. While having an employee means they will be in your office, it can be expensive.

On the other hand, outsourcing the work to a bookkeeping or accounting firm can be more cost-effective. You’ll still get the bookkeeping services that you need, but you only have to pay for when you need the work done.

Hiring a bookkeeper with their own company also means you can hire employees who have to work for you full-time. Then, you can make the most of your business finances.

If you have an employee, you’d have to keep them busy all of the time. Unless they can perform tasks outside of bookkeeping, they will have a lot of downtime, and you’ll waste a lot of money on their salary and benefits.

Compare Price and Value

When looking at various small business services, it can be tempting to choose the cheapest option. You may find a local bookkeeper who just started their business and is charging low rates.

However, that doesn’t mean that bookkeeper is the best choice for your business. Instead, you need to compare the price with the value that bookkeeper can provide.

If you have a relatively simple business, you may not need someone with a lot of experience. But hiring a bookkeeper with experience means they will be able to help you as your business grows and the finances get more complex.

Be sure to consider your business budget to make sure you can afford to hire someone. Then, you can research bookkeepers with the right experience who charge what you can spend.

Hiring a Bookkeeper Is Easy

Hiring a bookkeeper can be a stressful decision for any small business owner. But at some point, you won’t be able to manage your finances alone.

Be sure to look for someone local and who has the experience necessary to manage your finances wisely. Then, you’ll be able to focus on other tasks in your business to help it grow.

Are you ready to hire a local bookkeeper? View our services to learn how we can help.

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