Question to ask before hiring a bookkeeper
As a business owner, you have worked for years to set up a business. When it starts blooming, life becomes more hard in managing financial and managerial tasks alone.
You may have heard about bookkeepers in different businesses. Bookkeeper Glasgow, Scotland and others in the UK are demanded in several companies for financial management. But do you know how to hire them?
For most of the business, here are a few questions that you must get cleared from the bookkeeper:
What are the services a bookkeeper provides?
The types of services a bookkeeper provides are different from business to business. So you must research them and ask what they will offer you. Some of their services are:
- Record financial transactions
- Bank reconciliation
- Maintain accounts receivable, account payable, and undertake payroll services.
- They create financial reports regularly.
- Tracks business performance.
How is hiring a bookkeeper beneficial for your business?
It is obvious to feel free and less worried when you have someone to share the burden. Here are some benefits a bookkeeper service offers:
- They let you focus on the core operations like marketing, customer relationship management, production, supply, etc.
- They ensure a business is following the legal regulations of the country. Furthermore, bookkeepers regularly update your financial records.
- You can send invoices to customers and get your payments done in time.
- They maintain the cash flow in a business.
- Bookkeepers have expertise in using accounting and bookkeeping software.
- Owners can remain stress-free during the tax filing. These experts help you save money with tax exemptions.
- They provide a clear view of the business finance structure.
What is their qualification?
It will be best if you ask a bookkeeper about his qualifications. Some may have completed a diploma course, an accounting degree, or a certificate course. The state must register these bookkeepers to continue bookkeeping as a profession. Look if they can show you such documents.
How many years of experience do they have?
Experience in any profession matters a lot. Know the background of these bookkeepers to understand how expert they are in this field. A fresher may not suit your business as they are more about bookish knowledge than real-time observations.
Are they familiar with your business?
Any expert can assist you in managing business finance when they know about your industry or have worked with similar clients. Bookkeepers must have fundamental knowledge about business operations. Put them into problematic situations and see if they can make ways out.
How do they communicate with similar clients?
The primary role of a bookkeeper is to record the daily financial transactions of your business. That means you want a bookkeeper who can have regular communication.
Effective communication with clients maintains a good relationship. Otherwise, it may affect your business pattern and create a mess at the end of the financial year.
What skills do they have?
Bookkeepers gather skills according to their area of expertise and education. Having technical aptitude is not just enough to survive in the market. These bookkeepers should know soft skills like problem-solving, time-management, tech-savvy, etc.
Also, you can go through their resume to look for additional technical skills like a course in advanced Excel or expertise in using the latest technologies like cloud computing and others.
How responsible are they?
A bookkeeper must be responsible as they serve the backbone of the business financial structure. Make sure they are fast at replying to emails and don’t make you wait until the end of the financial year. Ask them what expectations regarding delivery time and response time you can keep for them.
Are you hiring an independent bookkeeper or working with a firm?
An independent bookkeeper is not associated with any firm and can solely help you. But what if he falls ill or meets an accident? Will your work keep piling up? Make sure you ask him solutions for these.
A bookkeeper from a firm has other responsibilities and may not be as flexible as independent ones. However, they can develop a range of solutions to any problem.
Before hiring a bookkeeper, you must determine who is better for your business.
What do they charge?
You need to ask about the fees of a bookkeeper. That doesn’t mean only the general service charge but discovering the hidden costs. A bookkeeper may ask you for extra payment in case of a short deadline, postal fees, using particular accounting software, working overtime, etc.
Final thought!
You must always hire not a good bookkeeper but great ones for your business. They must be responsible and passionate about the job. Ask as many questions as you want before hiring because it may be too late after they start handling your personal business information.
