This question is essential for every small business. Hiring a bookkeeper is often the first hire that many small businesses make, unless the owner enjoys and is confident in their management of the financial books. The short answer to “when to hire a bookkeeper” is – before launching your new business. That’s because it’s easier to get all the financial systems in place before transactions start coming in, than to completely overhaul and clean up after the accounts are flooded and overwhelm sets in. For some start-ups, that isn’t possible. 

So here are some things to consider when trying to decide when to hire a bookkeeper: 

• How efficiently is the financial books management running? 
• Is everything categorized and organized according to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)? 
• Are you facing time constraints where strategic outsourcing may help? 
• Are you tax preparation ready? 
• Are you able to provide accurate financial reporting to creditors?
• Do you have meaningful financial data to provide to potential investors?
• Do you have systems to analyze your financial data for cost-cutting? 
• Have you factored in the scalability of your financial management systems?

Reviewing all of these areas should help you get a clearer picture of your current and future needs to outsource your bookkeeping.

Once you have identified a need to hire a bookkeeper, there are different options to consider: 

• Freelance bookkeepers – contract hires to work hourly as you need their assistance.
• Full-time employee – the most cost-prohibitive option, but necessary if there is a full-time workload to manage your financial books.  
• Bookkeeping services – more specialized assistance and consulting, less time constraints, and may offer fixed rates to control costs.

When reviewing your options, ensure to factor in the tactical application of each option. Bookkeeping services eliminate the need to manage, hire, train, factor in time-off, and turnover. This can be a great starting option for businesses that don’t have enough work for a full-time hire and need a fixed monthly rate so they know what to expect. 

Benefits of hiring a Bookkeeping Service: 

• Clean, organized, and reconciled books every established cycle
• Specialized expertise around your financial systems
• Being tax and audit-ready
• Accurate financial reporting

Source: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/bookkeeping/financial-reporting/

Once you have clean books, you gain the ability to: 

• Complete detailed financial analysis
• Identify areas for cost-cutting
• Create plans to increase profit
• Create budgets and measure budget compliance
• Gather data to improve financial standing

Bookkeepers create order, efficiency, transparency, clean data, and accurate reporting. 

Reach out to Redeemed Bookkeeping to get a custom quote for monthly services or one-time project management to create the systems needed for you to manage your books independently until you reach a point of needing consistent help. We exist to help small businesses thrive in an area that is so crucial to success and yet such an underrated and overlooked consideration when starting and running a small business. We know your vision and unique gifts can be empowered by our work. We look forward to speaking with you and learning more about your “why” and how we can help you get further with us as your trusted partner. 

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”

– Phil Jackson

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

– John Wooden