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Why You Don't Know What Your Bookkeeping Is Missing

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We talk to a lot of business owners on a regular basis. They come to us for various reasons—some exciting, such as running a startup about to take off and desperately in need of professional-level bookkeeping, and others downright terrifying, such as having just been the victims of fraud or embezzlement by their most recent bookkeeper. Regardless of the reasons and paths they take to get to us, nearly every business owner ends up having what we like to call an “Oh Wow!” moment when first viewing a demonstration of our services. Actually, a more accurate count is approximately 7 to 10 “Oh Wow!” moments. Now, we’re pretty proud of our services—but we still wondered a bit why so much of it was such an eye opener to business owners. After all, bookkeeping is bookkeeping, right? Well, turns out maybe it isn’t. So we set about trying to answer why so many revelations occur in our meetings and we realized that a lot of business owners simply don’t even know what is missing in their bookkeeping.

You Didn’t Go in to Business to Be a Bookkeeper

It is a common phrase uttered to and by business owners—you simply did not go into business to focus on your business accounting and bookkeeping. Of course you didn’t. You went in to business to create a product, provide a service or improve an industry. But you also need bookkeeping to keep your company afloat and it needs to be good bookkeeping at that.

The truth is, many business owners often do not know enough about the complexities of business accounting and bookkeeping to personally keep accurate oversight in place in their financial department. Especially in small and growing businesses, this is often an area lacking significant expertise as the cost to scale the accounting department and put in place financial professionals is often too high to absorb at current size. This puts small businesses at the mercy of individual bookkeepers and accountants who may or may not have their best interests at heart and may or may not have the right skill set to really provide the right insights to drive financial management.

You Aren’t Using the Right Accounting Technology Integrations

Accounting technology is not exactly the topic of choice for most business owners. Perhaps you use QuickBooks Online or maybe you bought another platform at the recommendation of your current accountant. Yet, for all intents and purposes, you are not likely to be the person utilizing the day-to-day management of the system and are hoping to rely on the system only for financial reports and updates as needed.

In theory, QuickBooks should work exactly as you’re planning to use it. After all, your bookkeeper will enter in the information as required and you will hit the “Generate Report” button. Simple. Easy. Not So Fast.

For starters, there are plenty of additional technology integrations that turn QuickBooks from a good accounting platform to a system that operates exactly as your business needs it. Do you have complex inventory needs? Time tracking issues? Expense reporting and management needs? You may be amazed to find out that there are plenty of third party accounting applications that integrate seamlessly with QuickBooks and are the answer to your needs.

However, it doesn’t quite stop there. In addition to having the right integrations, you need the right knowledge of how to use and leverage these systems. This means identifying key areas for training, growth and development not only in your systems but in your employees’ knowledge of and use. It also means engaging with accounting professionals to get recommendations and help compare systems and packages. After all, there are dozens and dozens of options for nearly every accounting need you may have—and not all are created equal!

You Haven’t Hired the Right Bookkeeping Staff

It can be difficult to assess whether a given bookkeeping company is better or worse than another. After all, a standard list of bookkeeping services and the assertion that GAAP is followed is pretty much the same across the board. There is very little to help distinguish between a poor bookkeeper, an average bookkeeper and a rock star full-charge bookkeeper. Especially if you are tasked with the sole responsibility of hiring the right bookkeeping professional, do you really know what it is that you’re looking for?

Recommendations can go a long way in choosing the right bookkeeping services. From hiring a tenured, highly recommended bookkeeper to outsourcing to a reputable bookkeeping services provider, starting with referrals and recommendations from trusted advisors and associates can help smooth the path to hiring the right staff. Read testimonials and reviews and be diligent in reviewing training, credentials and capabilities.

In short, many business owners don’t know what their bookkeeping is missing because they were never really supposed to be responsible for this piece of the business. Just as you wouldn’t easily pick up on your doctor overlooking something without the assistance of a medical professional, you aren’t likely to pick up on problems in your bookkeeping until someone else points them out or the problems simply become too large to ignore.

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