All business owners know there’s not enough hours in the day to do everything yourself. Eventually you have to hire help so you can grow your business, but what areas do you want to outsource? The key is to find areas where someone else can add value and free up your time. This is where it is smart to outsource enabling you to work more on your business, because when it’s done right it will actually increase your profits.
You need to narrow down the areas where outside expertise can add the most value. One of these areas is:
Bookkeeping and payroll
This seems like one of those repetitive tasks that you don’t get a lot of value out of, but bookkeeping can be deceiving. Little mistakes can actually cost you big money. Not only that, there’s a difference between just getting by with your bookkeeping, and being able to use it to help your business grow. Hiring a bookkeeper with expertise in your industry can also help make all your office processes more efficient.
If you’re looking to outsource the majority of your office work you can even have your bookkeeper process your payroll. While it may seem like outsourcing is just another way to spend money on your business, if you do it right, you’ll actually be saving your business money in the long term.
Bookkeeping is a vital service. But how does it differ from accounting? The two services are often compared, but actually they are complementary:
Bookkeepers do the day-to-day work and bring the accounts up to a high standard of detail and accuracy. They can also advise you on issues that might affect you in the near future, such as cashflow problems or late invoice payment.
Accountants will look at the accounts that have been created, often on a quarterly basis. They will make any minor adjustments required. They will use the information in the accounts to file tax returns and other official reports. They will also provide high level business advisory services.
For your business to run smoothly, ideally you need both people. You can hire a bookkeeper to look after the day-to-day work. You then hire an accountant to handle official reporting and high level business advice. They can work seamlessly together to help you in your business.
You can’t actually do everything Yourself
There’s a myth that successful Business owners need to be able to do it all. They need to be experts on everything, have intimate knowledge of tax details, and have instant and detailed knowledge of the inner workings of every part of their company.
In reality however, no successful company can run this way. In the startup phase, many business owners do end up picking up a little bit of everything, but as a company grows and expands, one of the crucial steps that you as the business owner must go through is learning to delegate to other people, so that you can focus on building and growing your company.
Outsourcing bookkeeping services is just one way that a business owner can take a set of tasks off their list, freeing up time for other work. Without accurate bookkeeping, it would be easy for transactions to go unrecorded, left to pile up until the end of a financial period. Mistakes could be made and important details could be lost or forgotten.
That's where bookkeepers come in. They can lighten the load on the business. They can take away the day-to-day recording of receipts, invoices and other transactions.
Improve performance in other areas.
Unless you are actually a bookkeeper or an accountant, most people do not enjoy the process of maintaining their business’s books. Many people find it confusing, and worry that they’re tracking the wrong things, and potentially exposing themselves in the case of an audit or other complication.
When you outsource your bookkeeping services, you gain back not just the time you spend entering and re-entering data, but the time you spend researching, making sure that you’re tracking the right things, and worrying that you’ve got it all wrong.
That time can then be turned around and used for more productive tasks, working on your business instead of in it.
Contact me today to find out more about how I can help you in your business.
