Why should you hire a bookkeeper when you can do these tasks yourself? You are a capable business owner and you have probably been crunching your own numbers since day one.
Here are 5 very good reasons why you should hire a bookkeeper:
Time
Are you still managing your own financials? Are you still doing your own accounting reporting? How long does this task take out of your work week?
On average, a business owner can spend up to 5 hours a week updating records and making computations. And this is only during the average week, not including end-of-year reports and tax season. Time spend can jump to 10 hours during these important finance events.
What could you do with an extra 5 hours a week? What should you be focusing an extra 10 hours on at year’s end or at the close of your fiscal year?
Doing your own books is taking away valuable time from growing your business. As the business owner, this is what you should be spending time on. You are the great thinker behind the operation, the mastermind who needs to be working on the next big move. Hire a bookkeeper to take care of this operational function to save your time for what you really need to be doing.
Passion
You may be both the brains and the brawn behind your business, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s great to be behind the wheel 100% at this early and sensitive stage.
A business owner will never feel completely comfortable letting other people take over. It’s much like being a parent, never really wanting to hire that sitter, always wondering what’s happening at play dates and sleepovers. But Mom and Dad have to work, have to focus their attention on what ultimately secures their child’s future. Your business is your baby, and you need to make sure that you are taking care of it the best way you can.
Is crunching numbers and composing reports really what you want to be doing for your business?
Most business owners get burned out so fast because they are doing too many things. Many business owners also burn out way too soon because they are forcing themselves to do things that they are really not interested in. This level of dedication and discipline is admirable. It is not, however, an intelligent use of their talents.
Ask yourself what you really love doing. This is what you should be focused on. Then, hire a bookkeeper to take over the financials so you can do it.
Expertise
As you review your talents, also ask yourself if you are a skilled accountant. Do you have a background in finance? Do you have a working knowledge of accounts receivable and payable? Are you an expert at doing taxes? If the answers are “No,” then are you really the best one to be doing this? You could learn to be, of course, but again, you will find that this is not a good use of your time at all at this point. If the answers are “Yes,” then ask yourself this:
Is crunching numbers and composing reports really what your business needs you in particular to be doing for it?
Think about the many different roles that you have taken on in your business. They are all important roles, to be sure. But which ones should you really be doing yourself? Ask yourself what you and no one else can do for your business. Ask yourself what your true talents are, and how you should be applying them.
As expertise goes, an actual bookkeeper has the talents and skills to do professional work. Would you hire a bookkeeper to brainstorm a new business concept? Would you hire a bookkeeper to find your minimum viable product? run your marketing? plan your expansion? You get the point. Do what you are good at and hire a bookkeeper to do what they are good at.
Growth
Starting a business needs your full attention and focus on every single aspect. As you pass your first year and gain some stability, however, you will want to rethink your personal investment. If you are still doing everything, you won’t be able to grow. You need to pull yourself out of the tedious aspects of running your business so you can get into a position to push your business forward.
Growth requires that you focus on your core business needs. Devote yourself to big-picture strategy and don’t get bogged down by the little tasks that will take you away from raising up a strong business. Use your unique business talents to give your business the best care, and hire a bookkeeper to do the small stuff.
Expense
Are you trying to save money by doing your own bookkeeping? This may seem like a smart move, especially in the early years or if you are bootstrapping. When it’s time to level up, however, the tables will turn and you will end up losing more than you thought you could save. Let’s take a look at the factors involved:
- How much is your time worth to your business at this point? As discussed above, your time is invaluable in certain areas.
- How much time do you spend on financials and accounting?
- How much time does this take away from core business needs? Any time spent doing the books is a huge waste when you consider what you are giving up to jot down receipts and expenses.
- How much do you lose due to inexperience? If you are not an expert, you will surely spend more time on these tasks, and make more costly mistakes. Think about missed bills, late payments, tax computation errors.
- If you could put a dollar figure on your time based on how it equates to your profits, what would your hourly rate be? How much would it cost you to hire a bookkeeper do take these tasks off your plate? The hourly rates are going to be vastly different, for sure.
When you put it all together it is easy to see how much more affordable it really is to hire a bookkeeper rather than use your own valuable time to do bookkeeping tasks.
So, Why Should You Hire a Bookkeeper?
You should hire a bookkeeper for your growing business simply because it makes good business sense to do so. They can do these tasks better, and you can do other tasks better. Think about it – what should you be doing with your time?
A bookkeeper’s time is best spend doing what they do best, and so is yours. They love what they do, and you should be doing what you love, too. Be a business owner. Do what business owners do. Lead your company to bigger and better profits and hire a bookkeeper to record your success.
If you’re ready to hire a bookkeeper and don’t quite know how, sign up today and let us help you. Our Online Hiring Resources are also a good source of information on how to avoid common hiring mistakes, what tasks and projects you can outsource, and how you can use FreeUp to make hiring easy.
