Hire a Bookkeeper?!
Hiring a bookkeeper, even part-time, is essential for any business, no matter how small. This person will help keep your financials on track by processing receipts, coding staff time, and ensuring everything is entered into your accounting software accurately and on time. As the business owner, your time is better spent reviewing the data, not entering it. Whether you hire an employee or independent contractor, a bookkeeper allows you to focus on the big picture while they handle the details. Stay tuned for next week's tips on managing time sheets, receipts, invoices, and P&Ls!
.jpg)
"Bookkeeper?" you may ask. "You mean I have to spend money to hire an additional employee?" Yes, no matter how small the company, hiring a bookkeeper to come in at least part-time is a must. Why is this so important? Because even if they only come in once a week for a few hours, they will keep you on track.
This person will force you to actually turn in your receipts every week. This person will make sure the staff's time is coded properly and turned in on time. Plus, I can't imagine that bookkeeping is exactly your strong suit. I haven't met many entrepreneurs who are jumping up and down dying to process payroll.
You, the big boss, need to be free to "see the forest." You should not be spending three hours a week entering data - it is not worth your time. As the boss, you need those three hours a week to review the data. The bookkeeper will take care of the "trees" by processing receipts and vendor invoices, entering them into accounting software, balancing the company checkbook, sorting the time sheets and expenses and generating your profit & loss statement for YOU to review.
Does he or she need to be an employee? The bookkeeper doesn't necessarily need to be an employee, an independent contractor is probably fine. Talk to your tax professional about that one. Whether you find someone on Craigslist or through a temp service, your bookkeeper is the person who will force you to make sure you're collecting the data, and get it into the system in a timely manner. We can all get it into the system, it's the timeliness part I want you to work on.
Next week I will talk about the procedures for time sheets, receipts, invoices and P&Ls.
Like it? Or love it? Please leave your comments...