As a small business owner, you devote most of your time to managing your company’s day-to-day activities. You probably take pride in doing most tasks yourself, including your bookkeeping.
But at the end of a hectic day, crunching the business’s financial numbers may be the last thing you want to tackle. In addition to the daily bookkeeping tasks, there are the monthly bank reconciliations and reports to run. Combine these responsibilities with looming tax filing deadlines, and you can soon find yourself overwhelmed. When this happens, it’s time to look for a new bookkeeping solution.
Why you should outsource your bookkeeping
When business gets busy, many small business owners turn to outside experts to relieve their administrative burden. Here’s what you can gain by outsourcing your bookkeeping:
1. Save staffing and payroll costs
Adding a bookkeeper to your payroll will end up costing you more in insurance, benefits, and training expenses. Even if your in-house bookkeeper works part-time, your payroll costs will be high since you still have to cover the cost of employment taxes.
2. Access a pool of experts and resources
An in-house bookkeeper often operates solo, which means they can run into unforeseen delays or problems without the resources to consult for assistance. They may also lack the necessary experience to adapt bookkeeping systems that support changes and expansions you make in your business.
3. More time to focus on your business
Many small business owners discover the hard way that bookkeeping is a tedious and time-consuming task. In fact, the average small business owner spends eight hours a month completing their books—that’s a full day of work!
4. Enjoy a stress-free tax season
An outsourced bookkeeper is an invaluable resource when tax time rolls around since up-to-date financials are essential when you need to file your taxes. Your bookkeeper can provide you or your accountant with the information necessary to prepare your taxes accurately and quickly.
5. Take advantage of the latest technology
An outsourced bookkeeper’s livelihood depends on maintaining efficient processes, which means they’re more likely to invest in technology to streamline their work and keep your information accurate.
6. Scale your books with your business
As your business grows, so does the need for additional bookkeeping support. But what happens when your in-house bookkeeper can’t keep up with the increased workload? Hiring and training another bookkeeper adds substantial payroll costs and cuts into your profit margins.
7. Reduce the likelihood of errors
When you hire an in-house bookkeeper, you’ll need to vet their experience and expertise carefully. Once hired, they will need training and time to adjust to your business’s requirements and are more prone to making errors during this transition period.
8. Guaranteed privacy and confidentiality
Your bookkeeper handles sensitive financial data, so you should be able to trust that your financial records are always secure. Hiring an in-house bookkeeper means placing a significant amount of trust in one person while maintaining an ongoing professional relationship with them.
