Did you know that hiring a bookkeeper for your small business could actually save you money? Making mistakes add up, especially if those mistakes result in an audit or even bankruptcy. Plus, 30 percent of small businesses fail within two years and it’s because their expenses outweigh their profits. Yikes! So it’s clearly important to keep an accurate book—and what better way to do that than by hiring a professional bookkeeper?
There are so many benefits to hiring a bookkeeper for your small business. We’ve listed the top 8 reasons here:
1. Dedicate Your Time To Your Core Business Needs
As the founder of your small business, it’s best to stick with what you’re good at. Unless you’ve founded a small accounting business, chances are your strengths lie in other areas… And those other areas need your full attention.
There’s no better way to free up your time so that you can focus on what you’re best at than by leaving the financials in the hands of a capable bookkeeper. With the time that you aren’t spending floundering on your books, you’ll have time to devote to strategy, marketing, funding, and other key areas that require your focus. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that your books are accurate and real reports to show you your profit and loss and other key reports to help you grow your business.
2. Improve Your Work-Life Balance
As a solopreneur or founder of a small business you’re busy, busy, busy! There’s so much to do and while being a hands-on business owner is crucial to any business’ success, you still need some time at the end of the day or week for yourself and your loved ones. No matter how great of a multitasker you may be, every person needs balance in order to stay healthy and not burn out.
Burn out is a serious risk for entrepreneurs and as much as you may think that you can do it all, at some point the stress will catch up with you and your business will suffer. So if you want to see your business grow, don’t forget to make some “me time” Letting a bookkeeper handle the finances will take a huge load off your shoulders!
3. Two Heads are Better Than One
Of course, you’ve got a handle on your business—you rock and we don’t doubt it! But it never hurts to have a second set of eyes to help catch mistakes, catch things that the first set of eyes might have missed, or to give a fresh perspective on the state of your business.
A bookkeeper won’t just put the financials in order; they’ll also run reports that show how you’re really doing each month, where the funds are going, and how your efforts are paying off. By having a professional crunch those numbers, you’ll be able to get the big picture and ensure the growth of your business.
4. Avoid the Monotony
We’re sure that your business lights a fire in your soul that motivates you every day, but it’s still hard to imagine that the financial aspects of your business are what get you out of bed in the morning. You likely have no passionate feelings about excel spreadsheets full of numbers or keeping track of payroll. That’s ok! Because your bookkeeper actually enjoys those tasks!
It makes sense to hand over your financials to someone who really does get excited about numbers. Not only will you benefit from not being dragged down by a task you don’t like and haven’t been particularly trained for, but you’ll also be able to pump twice as much enthusiasm into your business; your own, uninterrupted enthusiasm plus the energy from your passionate numbers person. It’s definitely win:win.
5. Get Everything Paid on Time
Did you know that if you miss a bill or forget to pay something important, it will significantly impact your business credit? Uh oh! Between meetings with clients, troubleshooting daily issues, and focusing on the future of your startup, it’s quite likely that things fall through the cracks along the way.
Often bills that need to get paid are forgotten. Avoid the stress of late bills by putting a bookkeeper in charge! And what about collections? You don’t want to forget to collect your money, do you? Your business can’t afford to let money matters slip. With the help of a reliable bookkeeper, you can rest assured that everything is paid on time and you can get back to doing what you love—running your small business.
6. Take the Hassle Out of Tax Time
Even if you’ve finally figured out payroll and you’ve got a system down for outstanding invoices, when it comes to filing your business taxes you definitely don’t want to make a mistake. Based on the type of business structure you’ve created for your startup, you’ll have many tax requirements, HST payments, and other filings. This can be a major point of stress for many business owners!
The first great thing about working with a bookkeeper throughout the year is that when it comes to tax season, everything will already be organized. This is HUGE in terms of stress management! Your bookkeeper will have already won most of the battle by keeping your books in tip top order.
Secondly, as for your final tax details, a bookkeeper is a pro; they’ll know what tax credits are available to you and how to optimize your tax filing for the best possible results. It’s ideal to find a bookkeeper who can handle your taxes in addition to payroll and other financial issues for full peace of mind and no headaches.
7. Keep Your Cash Flowing
Late payments are a problem for many small businesses, and that’s true for your own clients who owe you money. This can put a serious damper on your cash flow. Often your clients will have outstanding invoices and these can start to really drag your business down.
Seeing as you’re so busy, you may not realize that there are late payments infringing upon the cash flow you need to keep your startup running smoothly. But having a bookkeeper working for you will help you stay on top of these issues.
Your bookkeeper can send out reminders to make sure your cash flow remains optimal and, bonus, this will look good if you ever decide to seek out funding because you can show a positive cash flow that you might not have been able to show without that financial help.
8. Keep Costs Down
Although it may seem logical to do everything yourself to save money, that’s not actually the truth of most small business dealings. In fact, a professional bookkeeper actually saves you money because there’s a reduced level of risk from human error, lack of knowledge, missed payments, tax obligation due dates, and delayed accounts receivable.
As we’ve all heard before; time is money. You need to be smart about how you choose to use your time. The time you spend on your books could be used instead towards bringing in more clients, delivering excellent customer service, and bringing in the revenue to see the growth you want.
Plus, there are many options for hiring a bookkeeper and rather than bringing someone on payroll full- or part-time, a freelance bookkeeper can be very cost effective. When you outsource your bookkeeping to a professional who is themselves a business owner, you don’t have to pay payroll taxes, sick leave, vacation, etc. that you would have to pay when hiring an in-house employee keeping your costs down even more!
Outsourcing your bookkeeping is quite possibly the smartest step that a small business owner can take towards their overall business success. From saving time and money, to focusing on your expertise, and increasing cash flow, a bookkeeper makes good business sense for your startup.
Here at the Number Works we’re always excited to help out small business owners. We would love to get behind your success. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us today!
