Working with a Bookkeeper - Tulsa, OK

Do you look forward to entering transactions and completing bank reconciliations each month? If not, it may be time to outsource your bookkeeping function. Working with a bookkeeper has more benefits than just freeing up time in your busy schedule.

In fact, the right bookkeeper can help you improve cash flow management and strategically scale your business. Whether you simply don’t have enough hours in the day or aren’t interested in completing bookkeeping tasks, partnering with a qualified bookkeeper might be the solution for your business.

In this article, we will outline 10 different benefits of working with a bookkeeper.

As your business begins to grow, you will start seeing more invoices come in the mail or to your email. Each vendor has different payment terms and methods, leading to potential confusion on due dates. Remitting late payments, or even worse missing the invoice altogether, can lead to poor working relationships with vendors, excluding your business from special discounts and incentives for priority customers.

Working with a bookkeeper ensures you don’t miss these critical deadlines, improving vendor relationships. Are vendors more likely to work with a business that pays every bill on time or one that takes months to pay a single invoice? They are probably going to go with the first customer.

In addition, paying employees timely is important. Not only are there late payment laws that can result in fines of up to 25%, but employee sentiment also relies on timely payments. A qualified bookkeeper can process your payroll according to your pay schedule, leading to on-time payments to your employees.

Partnering with a bookkeeper also gives you the opportunity to collect accounts receivable payments quicker. Payments from customers are the lifeline of your business. Without customer payments, you would have no cash inflows to support operations. This makes it essential that you prioritize collections from customers.

A bookkeeper that regularly updates your accounting system with customer payments gives you insight into which customers still owe you money and who to follow up with. Oftentimes you may find that a customer never received the invoice or a check was lost in the mail. Clear communication between your business and customers promotes timely payments, reducing the risk of bad debt.

Compliance with regulatory agencies is becoming more complex to obtain. As technology continues to automate work and submittals, regulatory agencies can quickly detect if your business missed a sales tax payment or forgot to send in an estimated payment. This increases the likelihood of you receiving fines, penalties, and interest.

Utilizing a bookkeeper helps promote compliance with all regulatory agencies, giving you accurate information to file sales tax returns and complete books to submit year-end tax information.

Most forms submitted to these agencies require precise numbers. Using the best guess on how many sales you had in a state or how much you paid an employee can lead to overpaying on taxes. As the likelihood of an IRS audit and state inquiry letter increases, your bookkeeping practices need to be following suit, generating a benefit of working with a bookkeeper.

You most likely know every aspect of your business, but what about when it comes to growth and internal controls? Can you confidently say that you are effectively managing every detail of your business? The more insights you have into operational efficiency and managing risk, the stronger your business’s financial health will be.

Working with an independent bookkeeper can give you access to insights and information you may have missed. Maybe you realize that you aren’t increasing sales proportionally to cost of goods sold increases or that the employee you are paying is actually an independent contractor.

Uncovering these areas is essential to lay a strong foundation for your business to grow in size and profitability. Qualified bookkeepers are trained to detect items you may have missed. Could you use an extra set of eyes?

Who do you turn to when you have questions about the accounting of your business? Having access to a professional is important when you need help deciphering an accounting issue or need some outside insight into a business decision. These kinds of questions need quick and accurate answers. Waiting days for a random accountant to reach out isn’t ideal.

When you work with a bookkeeper, they have access to your accounting system, meaning they can log in and give you factual information to answer your question or guide you through your issue. In addition, having a regular bookkeeper allows you to build a mutually beneficial relationship, receiving fast and informed answers to any issue that comes your way.

Cash flow management is crucial to meet upcoming obligations and promote the long-term scalability of your business. Effective cash flow management relies on having up-to-date and accurate books, which is done through bookkeeping.

When your bookkeeper reconciles your records on a regular basis, you receive transparency into where your checking balance is and what steps may be needed to ensure you pay suppliers, vendors, and employees on time.

Maybe you find that you are low on cash so you need to draw on a line of credit or you have excess cash and can finally purchase that piece of equipment you’ve been needing. Without clarity into your cash flow, you wouldn’t be able to draw these conclusions and guide your business in the right direction.

Reports are more than just numbers on paper. In fact, they tell you some of the most important information about your business, such as how profitable you are and the average time it takes customers to pay you.

At a minimum, your business should be reviewing the income statement, balance sheet, accounts receivable aging, and accounts payable aging schedules. These reports outline your business’s financial health, profitability, and upcoming obligations and receivables. Without these reports, you would not be able to focus on current issues and develop detailed plans for future operations.

Completing the monthly reconciliations isn’t always the end of the work needed to create accurate reports. In fact, you may have noncash transactions that you need to adjust for, such as depreciation. Your bookkeeper will be able to recognize when these situations occur and properly adjust the financials, giving you precise information to base your decisions on.

Implementing successful budgets involves creating realistic and measurable goals. You shouldn’t just say you want to cut costs by $10,000 and not outline which accounts you want to focus on. In addition, many business owners set reasonable goals, but neglect to track their progress.

A bookkeeper that produces timely reports at the end of each month gives you clarity into how well you are sticking to your budget. Instead of waiting until year-end to see that you overspent, you can implement change throughout the year to see higher success.

Would you be surprised to know that working with a bookkeeper can actually save you money? Instead of paying a part-time or full-time in-house employee, you can outsource the work to a bookkeeper that only charges you for time spent working on your books. In addition, your business can save on payroll taxes when utilizing an outsourced bookkeeper.

Many business owners forget that inaccurate reporting comes with a high cost in penalties and interest from regulatory agencies. Partnering with a bookkeeper helps avoid these unexpected costs, resulting in more money back in your pocket at the end of the year.

Time is money. Spending five hours a week entering transactions takes away from other important areas of your business, such as customer acquisition. As your business begins to grow, you aren’t going to be able to micromanage every detail of your business, and would you really want to?

Bringing on a qualified bookkeeper can ease this burden, allowing you to focus on what truly matters to you. From spending more time with family to reaching out to new customers, having the ability to choose where you spend your time is important to maintain a strong work-life balance.

These are just a few of the benefits that working with a bookkeeper leads to. From flexibility in your day-to-day schedule to tangible growth strategies, the expertise a bookkeeper provides you with shouldn’t be overlooked.

Does it sound like your business can benefit from a bookkeeper? If so, it’s important you find the right candidate to work with. At Better Books Online, we retain a fully staffed team of experts ready to manage your books.

From cleaning up your accounting records for the past few months to working alongside you to develop plans to achieve your goals, our team is there for you every step of the way. Reach out today to learn more.

Entertainment Partners. “Increase in Penalty for Late Payments of Regular Pay Cycle Checks in California.” Entertainment Partners, 18 Feb 2020, https://www.ep.com/legal-and-compliance/Increase-in-Penalty-for-Late-Payments-of-Regular-Pay-Cycle-Checks-in-California/ . Accessed 23 Jan 2023.