Bookkeeping! For most people, the word alone can be stressful. Many business owners take two common approaches to tackling the issue of bookkeeping.
- They try to do it themselves – which is time-consuming and can lead to costly mistakes
- They pay large firms to do it – which is just too expensive
So what is the alternative?
Outsource!
Outsource?
Yes – it definitely makes sense to outsource your bookkeeping work to a professional bookkeeper with the skills and experience to do the job right.
Outsourcing itself is not a new business concept and companies have been doing it for years. However, many companies are not familiar with the growing area of outsourcing their bookkeeping work. As companies look for ways to survive tough economic times, outsourcing looks to be the most practical way to help streamline cost and effectively allocate money where it is needed.
How Does it Work?
Start by gathering all the documents that are needed such as invoices, receipts, deposit slips, bills, etc. Then once a week or so send them off to your bookkeeper via fax, email, UPS or regular mail.
Through an online system which you can access from your computer, your professional bookkeeper is able to enter your transactions, reconcile your accounts, set your bills up for easy payment and generate regular, easy to read reports. In a properly designed system, a bookkeeper only takes over the process of tracking transactions such as sales, accounts payable and balancing the books. Only the business owner makes management decisions. With online bill pay, the owner has the final word on who gets paid and when.
Suddenly your bookkeeping gets done faster, more efficiently and with less expense than ever before and you now have complete and up to date books with reports of sales, profits and cash on hand right at your fingertips. But best of all, this can all be done for about half of what a bookkeeper costs as a full-time employee.
Now you can focus on your business and not on work you shouldn’t be doing.
What are the Advantages?
There are many advantages to outsourcing your bookkeeping work. Here a just a few…
- Save Money – The number one benefit is the cost savings involved with outsourcing. During times of economic stress, everyone is looking for ways to save money. Did you know that outsourcing your bookkeeping can save you over 50% of the cost of hiring and training a full-time employee? When you outsource your finance needs you work with trained professionals for a lower cost while not worrying about increased costs involved with employee benefits and insurance. Small business owners and professionals are discovering that outsourcing bookkeeping saves payroll and overhead costs and it’s a giant step in freeing up valuable time.
- Save Time – Bookkeeping is a time consuming and tedious job and it’s not for everyone. As a business person, your time is better spent on important matters that will save your company money and bring in profits. Outsourcing this side of work will provide the most efficient use of your company’s time. For many business owners just the effort of hiring, training and managing a bookkeeper can take many hours – and if you’re doing the books yourself the number of hours is even greater. As a business owner, your time is best spent doing what you do well – working with customers.
- More Marketing – The amount that you save with outsourcing your bookkeeping work can be put into marketing your business to gain more customers and more visibility in your market. Getting exposure is the most important and sometimes the most costly part of any business. So why spend money where you don’t have to?
- Best Tools – Best Talent – Bookkeeping outsourcing companies already have technology and tools in place that can be costly to a business owner. Outsourcing gives you the advantage of having these premium tools for your business while paying a lot less. You also have access to a higher caliber skill level and knowledge base than you might be able to afford in an employee – not to mention the cost of training.
- Extra Help When Needed – During peak times of tax and company financial reporting things can get very busy. When you feel like you need more people, having a bookkeeping partner is a great resource. Outsourcing firms can add employees to your account without any operational costs to you.
The Bottom Line
Books that are inaccurate or do not reflect the true health of your business provide no real clue to managing your business. Being clueless at any level about where you are making money or who is a good customer is not being in control.
Making the decision to outsource is an easy one. If an individual or company can do the work better, faster, and with less cost to you then that work should not remain in-house. Outsourcing has become a universally accepted business tool.
By turning this side of your business over to a company that considers this its core competency, you now have the ability to become more profitable, more efficient and far more competitive by focusing on more important tasks.