Like Upwork, Fiverr was not designed with bookkeeping in mind but has become a leading contender when it comes to finding freelancers.
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If you’ve decided that outsourcing bookkeeping is the right move for your firm, below is a list of 10 options for how to do it.
There’s no one size fits all answer to this question. Whether you should outsource your firm’s bookkeeping will depend on the size of your team, expectations of your clients, goals for client management, and firm’s profitability targets. The answer to this question will depend on your answers to the previous questions. Should you outsource your firm’s bookkeeping? Having an idea of which services your firm can, and will, provide will help you determine whether outsource bookkeeping makes sense for your firm. If you are sending your client's sensitive financial information to a third-party, you need to ensure that the client is aware that the information is being transmitted and that they are comfortable with the arrangement.ĭoes having in-house bookkeeping allow you to offer other services such as payroll or accounts receivable management?Īre your clients looking for assistance with more than just monthly bank reconciliations? If they want you to be responsible for their accounts payable and accounts receivable, you will already be doing most of the bookkeeping work and it probably makes sense to handle all of the bookkeeping in-house. If the clients believe that you are providing the bookkeeper services, but you have decided to outsource those services to a third-party, you should disclose the relationship to your client. Though some clients have their own bookkeeper that they have sourced themselves, they may ask for recommendations of bookkeeping services. Are your clients comfortable with you outsourcing the bookkeeping? It’s possible that frequent review of the general ledger could yield the same level of knowledge without having to trudge through data entry and reconciliations on a regular basis. That will depend on the client and the thoroughness of your reviews. Regular check-ins with the client will mean that there aren’t any (or at least fewer) surprises at the end of the year.īut could the same intimate knowledge of your client’s books be accomplished in a less time-intensive manner through regular reviews? Perhaps. There is much to be said for doing the data entry yourself, categorizing the transactions, and meeting with the client to discuss any questions that arise during bookkeeping. Does the benefit of having granular knowledge of your clients’ books outweigh the cost? If your clients are looking for a single firm that can handle all of their accounting needs, having bookkeepers on staff will make your accounting services package more attractive. If your bookkeeper is out of the office unexpectedly, will you have to pull resources away from other, more profitable tasks to fill in for the missing bookkeeper? Bookkeeping is often performed at a lower hourly rate than tax or consulting services. Though bookkeeping can be a highly profitable endeavor, you need to consider your firm holistically and see if bookkeeping fits in with your goals for revenue and profit. Does the profit margin on bookkeeping align with your firm’s goals? Additionally, in bookkeeping, having a consistent team member responsible for managing a client’s books can be more efficient as the bookkeeper learns each client’s quirks. If you do not have the staff in place, you need to consider whether you can onboard a new staff member with the necessary skill set to take on the additional work.
While some of the aspects of bookkeeping can be automated through bank feeds and downloaded statements, a lot of time can be consumed by categorizing transactions, tracking down check recipients, and questioning whether expenses are personal or business. Do you have the staff available to handle in-house bookkeeping?įrom the outset, you need to determine whether your team can handle the time-intense job of bookkeeping. There are several questions you should consider when trying to determine whether you should outsource your firm’s books. How to Decide if You Should Outsource Your Firm's Bookkeeping