Do you really need a bookkeeper? Or is an accountant enough?
I’m crap at bookkeeping. I’m not tidy or organised and I’m easily distracted. My expertise is in tax law and tech. Those are things I can be passionate about – not filing and data entry.
Because I’m crap at bookkeeping I don’t do it. Not for our business or our clients. I use automation to streamline some things. Receipt bank for payables and filing invoices, Xero to make the actual record keeping easier and an administration person to make sure the info goes to the right place. I’m actually banned from dealing with our trust account as invariably I’ll stuff it up.
I know what I’m good at and what I’m not and admin and bookkeeping is not my skill set.
So who needs bookkeepers – tax accountants, plumbers, earthmoving operators, dog trainers, farmers – actually anyone in business who isn’t a bookkeeper.
Although with automation the role a bookkeeper plays is changing. They can help you ensure your systems are in place, that your business information is accurate and timely.
It’s important you choose a properly qualified person to be your business bookkeeper. If you are registered for GST and your bookkeeper isn’t your employee then your bookkeeper needs to be a registered BAS agent. They then have the skills to ensure that your record keeping is complaint for GST. They can also help sort payroll and ensure that you are meeting your obligations as an employer.
This means that your accountant can do more of what they should be doing. Monitoring your business and helping you make sense of the financial information. Instead of sorting the data, often after the fact when the information is old. Believe me this is what I’d much rather be doing than sorting through your shoebox.
So go talk to a bookkeeper – quite possibly one of the best investments your business can make.
