With so many small businesses failing in the first five years, finding the right bookkeeper can be instrumental for long-term success. Many SME’s fall into the trap of thinking they either need an internal OR an outsourced bookkeeper. But here’s an idea… why not have both?
The role of an internal bookkeeper
Typically, the role of a bookkeeper is to help your business with day-to-day accounts, i.e. recording sales and other transactions. Many businesses prefer to hire an internal bookkeeper, as they can be kept accountable and are accessible 24/7. Typical tasks for a bookkeeper would include:
- Recording and tracking sales, purchases, payment and receipts
- Collating and organising financial data on a day-to-day basis
- Liaising with your accountant
- Maintaining business processes
Hiring an external bookkeeper
The alternative is hiring an external bookkeeper, an option with a range of associated benefits:
- Lower costs – as there is no annual salary, superannuation, training, annual leave, sick leave, etc
- Access to additional expertise – external bookkeepers have often worked with a large client base in a range of industries.
- Outside perspective – an external bookkeeper offers neutral advice on your business
- Free up your time – hiring an external bookkeeper allows you to focus your time on what you love to do.
The benefits of bookkeeping firm who compliments the work of your internal bookkeeper
It is kind of like having your cake and eating it too. You have a great internal bookkeeper who is an asset to your business AND you benefit from the additional expertise and experience an external bookkeeper provides your business.
Your internal bookkeeper would be accountable for data entry, bank reconciliations, issuing invoices, paying bills, and answering telephone enquiries. Whereas your external bookkeeper can help with high-end business strategy advice and provide cost effective bookkeeping support and assurance.
Here at Carbon Group we liaise with a range of business owners on a daily basis, and understand the advantages of using both an internal and external bookkeeper. To give you an example, what we provide as an external bookkeeper includes anything from:
- Preparation and lodgement of business activity statements
- Preparation and lodgement of PAYG payment summaries
- Review your internal bookkeepers’ work each quarter by a CPA/CA
- As a registered bookkeeping firm, we’re granted an extra four weeks to lodge and pay your activity statements, removing some deadline pressure and assisting with cashflow
- We’re Xero experts, and receive discount which we can pass on to you
Sometimes all you need is a little outside perspective to help you make the big decisions for your business. Now that you know the difference between an internal and external bookkeeper, and the potential benefits of combining the two... you can go forth and conquor.
