What Does a Bookkeeper Do for a Small Business?

Because they offer more detailed insights that inform business decisions, you don’t want to hire an accountant to only record income and expenses. You’d pay more for the same service a bookkeeper could do for less and, in the process, underutilize the accountant’s expertise. Simply put, a bookkeeper tracks all your business transactions, inputs them into an accounting software solution, reconciles balances, and produces a set of financial reports each month. They are responsible for ensuring that your accounts and records are up-to-date and complete. An accounting file is like a database for your business finances. It houses all your past transaction data, which allows you to run reports on past numbers and keep records in case the IRS ever comes calling.

At tax time every year, the IRS wants to know how you’re spending your money. They want to see the breakdown of how much a business spends in different categories, including meals, utilities, wages for your employees, and the list goes on. The IRS will ask for the dollar amount for each of those things, and it’s important for business owners to be specific and thorough in their bookkeeping.

So, what does a bookkeeper do all day?

As long as these are observed, your company’s books will be fine. Another misconception is bookkeeping solely involves dedicated data entry work. While at the base level, this can be true, there’s more to bookkeeping than you might think. Expertise Accelerated offers high-quality, affordable offshore professional resources that provide excellence in a range of support services for its valued clients. Sometimes this is a bit confusing because bookkeepers don’t necessarily do taxes because you have to have a special certification and special schooling in order to be a tax preparer.

• Part of being accurate is communicating with colleagues or clients.
• When someone pays you, you need to apply that to the invoice so your client knows it’s paid, and then send some type of receipt to the sender so they know the money was received.
• This will help you avoid mistakes and ensure that your finances are in order.
• If there were only one type of bookkeeper, the question “What does a bookkeeper do?
• An outsourced bookkeeper is a third-party professional who’s been hired to handle your finances.
• The two foundational tasks in small business bookkeeping are data entry and bank reconciliation.
• To speed things up, you should consider a dedicated team that includes a dedicated bookkeeper to handle the bookkeeping work.

If you decide to hire and manage a bookkeeper, you will also have to decide whether the position is part-time or requires a full time, full charge bookkeeper. If you decide to outsource, there are a few ways to go including local bookkeeping services, local CPA firms that offer bookkeeping services and specialized, national outsourced bookkeeping firms. It’s important to stay on top of your bookkeeping and make sure that you have the time set aside to complete it. You may want to consider hiring a dedicated team, including dedicated bookkeepers, who can help get caught up in no time at all. Whether you hire someone or not, be sure that you are keeping good records and that you have a plan to stay organized.

Which Kind of Services Does a Small Business Need?

If you are a small business owner considering catch up bookkeeping services, be sure to speak with a professional accountant or bookkeeper to get an accurate estimate of the cost to make sure it fits your cash flow. They will be able to assess your individual situation and give you a better idea of what to expect. In general, catch up bookkeeping is an important task that all businesses should budget for. A firm must understand all its accounts in detail in order for effective accounting practices to operate.

Bookkeepers have been around as far back as 2600 BC—when records were tracked with a stylus on slabs of clay—making bookkeeping not the oldest profession, but pretty darn close. A bookkeeper is responsible for recording transactions into the system, which is part of the wider and more general practice of accounting. Both bookkeeping and accounting are crucial to the financial wellbeing and overall performance of any business. While bookkeeping refers to the recording of all transactions that a business is involved in, accounting is the analysis for the overall financial health of the business. For this reason, bookkeeping is a preliminary process to accounting.

What is the Difference Between a Bookkeeper and an Accountant?

“Excellent and professional work helping with our business and personal legal and estate planning needs.” Ideally, you want to focus on those who have accounting technology certifications as well as specific competencies in your industry or core compentencies.

No matter what industry you are in, keeping track of your revenues and expenses is key to making smart business decisions. Bookkeeping may not be the most glamorous part of running a company but it is one of the most important aspects. As a business owner, you already have your hands full with other activities, which is where hiring a professional bookkeeper can give you an https://www.bookstime.com/ advantage. Depending on who you ask, the differences between a bookkeeper and an accountant may vary. One assumption is accounting is the umbrella term for all finance-related activities in business, and bookkeeping is one of them. This means all specialized accounting roles — from bookkeepers and auditors to tax and forensic accountants — are, at their core, accountants.

Bookkeepers are responsible for keeping records and managing all your financial information. Accountants need to know how to interpret a company’s financial position based on records, receipts, etc. Looking for professional CPAs and accountants at lower rates? At NarraSoft, we treat your business as though it were ours. So why not partner with our accountants today to accelerate your business growth.Send us what does a bookkeeper do an email at or send us a message on our chat box or contact form. Expertise Accelerated’s bookkeeping services can help US SMEs achieve efficiency and value in their business operations. For entrepreneurs looking to learn more about financial statements, Expertise accelerated publication “The guide to the four basic financial statements” provides an in-depth guide to financial statements for beginners.

However, all of the things we’ve mentioned above don’t necessarily mean you need to outsource to a professional. While it sounds like hard work, it’s quite straightforward when you know what you’re doing. One mistake and a dreaded letter from HMRC can soon be on your way. That’s where bookkeepers come in, as they can help make sure your business stays aligned with the relevant laws. They can also usually take care of some of the tax preparation so that your accountant has less to do . But they won’t be able to help you with tax planning or handling your tax return.