3 Signs That You Need a Bookkeeper for Your Small Business

As a small business owner, you want to make sure that you have full control over everything going on in your company. This usually means that you have taken on a multitude of roles while managing your team, customers, finances, inventory, and a lot more.

Are you considering hiring a bookkeeper to help your business, so that you can get back to doing the work you love? If you recognize the signs below, it might be time to give us a call or book a free consultation.

1. You are spending too much time doing your own books.

Chances are that you are doing your own bookkeeping. As your business continues to grow, this task can steadily increase in the amount of time and effort it requires. Bookkeeping is such an important part of your business, that you may even be spending more time keeping track of your finances than doing tasks that are critical for success and growth within the business.

Consider the cost of a bookkeeper in comparison to the amount of time you are losing by doing your own books. You cannot hire someone else to take care of your business the way you want it, but you can hire someone to manage your books. If you are spending more time doing your company's books than actually working for your company, it may be time to hire a bookkeeper.

2. Your books are behind, and so is the work you love.

Something that many small business owners don't realize is that accounting and bookkeeping may as well be another language. By not understanding some of the concepts and language, it can be easy to let your company's books fall to the wayside. Unfortunately, by not having someone manage your books regularly, you could find that there are some significant consequences.

• Unclear Financials

It is important for you, as a business owner, to have the ability to make decisions that will help the company to continue to grow and improve. If your books are out of date, it is likely that you don't know how much money you can invest, and you won't have the confidence you need to make high-stakes business decisions.  

A bookkeeper can help you not only by keeping your books up to date but also by advising you on your best options with the money you have.

• Unpredictable Cash Flow

Not being fully aware of the cash flow within your company means that you won't be able to accurately predict incoming and outgoing cash. This makes it easier for you to miss out on important pay dates.

• Difficulties Receiving Payments

By yourself, it is easy to forget about older past-due accounts from customers or clients, and many people will go weeks with forgotten overdue invoices. With a professional bookkeeper keeping an eye on all of your accounts receivable, we will make sure that you get paid on time.

3. Taxes are getting harder for you to do alone.

With tax season coming up soon, you might be feeling stressed out about getting them done correctly. In an ideal world, you would hand over the year's financial statements to your accountant so they can file for you immediately, and you can get your refund fast. Unfortunately, if your books are behind, you might be handing all of your expense reports, invoices, and more to your accountant at the end of the year so that they can manage your books prior to filing your return. This means that you are paying tax filing rates instead of bookkeeping rates, and that can add up quickly!

Without a bookkeeper, you will end up scrambling to collect and get your books in order in time to file, and paying estimated taxes can be a pain when you don't have up-to-date financials.

By joining us at SFR, we can manage your books for you year-round, and file your taxes when the time comes. This will save you time, stress, and money while we help your company to continue to grow. If you think it's time to hire someone, book a free 1-hour consultation and figure out what we can do to help you!