Most small business owners go one of two ways when it comes to bookkeeping. They completely avoid it, or half-heartedly handle it, and when it comes to tax time they are either in big trouble or on the hook for hugely expensive accountant fees. On the other hand, some small businesses far overestimate their daily bookkeeping needs, and may end up paying a full-time employee without really needing one.
This is why many small businesses decide that outsourcing their bookkeeping is the best way to make sure finances are always in line, and to reduce the headaches and expenses of huge tax bills at the end of the year. Furthermore, since a professional bookkeeper will easily be an expert in handling both the minutia and big picture of your finances, by outsourcing your work you will be sure that you are only paying what you need to.
There are a number of ways to find professionals who will handle your bookkeeping needs. One of the most popular ones in recent years is finding a site dedicated to providing these services to businesses like yours. These sometimes have the option of paying monthly subscription fees or of upgrading to more in-depth services like a dedicated monthly bookkeeper. Usually these companies will do all the legwork in checking out the contractors that they work with, making sure that you are working with a legitimate finance professional.
There are also sites that work as a marketplace to connect pre-approved bookkeeping professionals with small businesses. As opposed to larger outsourcing operations, these may allow you more direct contact with prospective bookkeepers, and will typically leave more room for negotiating rates.
Another way to find bookkeepers to outsource your needs to is to sign-up for sites that provide work for a variety of freelancers, where you can post a job description and solicit bids from contractors around the world. While this often gives you the cheapest prices available, in most cases you will be responsible for fully researching the individual to make sure they can do the job right.
When you are outsourcing your bookkeeping needs it is always a good idea to get the history of the person or company you are considering hiring. While some of the tasks required for bookkeeping are simple and mundane, you’ll often get what you pay for, and bad bookkeeping is just as harmful as not doing it at all. Fully research prospective contractors as you would when hiring employees.