Books Are Such A Mess, Where Do I Start?
Most small business owners understand the importance of good bookkeeping practices, but they often become pulled in so many directions that the bookkeeping takes a back seat. The result of the complacency will be missed opportunities to minimize tax liabilities, missed deadlines that result in penalties and interest charges, lack of insight into the health of the business, constraints to cashflow, and a business that fails to truly launch.
At Freestone Associates we want to support your business growth. We can offer solutions to four of the most common problems business owners face when it comes to their bookkeeping.
1. Present bookkeeper doesn’t communicate
The present bookkeeper doesn’t communicate much, and no reports have been generated. This could be due to a lack of information required to make the bookkeeping accurate, and perhaps the current bookkeeper lacks the experience to truly understand how critical the reporting is to the lifeblood of a business. The solution is to hire a professional bookkeeper with the expertise to review the situation and report back quickly, and then implement steps to ensure the books are comprehensive, accurate and useful toward critical decision making.
2. Business has limited capital
A new business owner who is bootstrapping may underestimate the value of an experienced bookkeeper, as they consider bookkeeping to be another overhead expense to be minimized. But a professional bookkeeper with depth of experience will bring more value to the table than their cost because they can quickly create a system with automation and efficiency, all while ferreting out and stopping money bleeds, avoiding expensive pitfalls, and ensuring optimal cashflow. By hiring a professional bookkeeper with depth of experience, the system gets set up properly in half the time, with minimal cost, and efficient routines.
3. Books need cleaning up fast
The year end tax accountant informs the business owner that the books are so messy that they cannot continue with the preparation of the corporate tax return, and the bank is putting on pressure to send the financial statements as soon as possible.
The entrepreneur needs to hire an experienced bookkeeper quickly or pay the accountant three times as much to do a basic, one time quick clean up with no lasting system. The professional bookkeeper will know what to do and communicate professionally with the CPA and the bank, while implementing an effective system for going forward.
4. Something is wrong with the books
The business owner has posted all the transactions, but has a gut instinct that something is wrong, they can feel it, but they don’t quite know what the issue is or how to fix it. The owner needs to hire a professional bookkeeper with considerable experience as only they can quickly determine the problem and the quickest way to fix it without redoing it, and then set the system right for the way forward.
We hope we have shed light on how a professional bookkeeper with depth of experience can bring solutions to your business. To learn more about how we will add value to your business, reach out to Freestone Associates. We strive to provide the most cost effective and accurate bookkeeping services for corporations and charities in the Greater Toronto area. We work with QuickBooks online to set-up customized systems, training, and support to ensure small businesses operate with the most efficient system possible.
To learn more about our services, please click here or get in touch with us by clicking here.