Top Five Things To Look For When Hiring A Bookkeeper For Small Businesses

Bookkeeping is an essential part of having a successful business, as it ensures that a firm is aware of its financial reality. This allows the firm to make informed and sound financial decisions at all times.

Bookkeepers truly are the lifeline of a business firm as the function of bookkeeping could make or break your business, particularly in case of a small business firm. A bookkeeper understands the working of a business firm as they maintain a daily record of all the financial transactions being carried out by the firm.

As maintaining financial records is vital to a firm’s success, it’s imperative to find the right bookkeeper for your business. To help you find one, we’ve compiled a list of the top five things to look for when hiring bookkeeping for a small business.

1. Ease of Communication.

Bookkeeping involves the recording of a firm’s day to day financial transactions, which is why communication between the bookkeeper and the firm is paramount. Professional bookkeepers recognize the need for effective and timely communication. They will make sure to communicate accounting terminologies in layman’s terms and will make themselves available to a firm either in person or at least via email or phone at all times.

2. Industry Experience.

A common misconception made about bookkeeping is that since it involves maintaining daily financial records, any bookkeeper can be a fit for any business. While the fundamental function of bookkeeping remains the same, the process changes for different industries. Depending on the various rules, regulations, and technicalities associated with an industry, each business would require hiring a bookkeeper with knowledge and experience in that specific industry.

3. Software Experience.

A firm needs to take into considerations the fact that all software differs from each other in the functions they offer. A professional and experienced bookkeeper will assess the kind of software that would be best suited to a firm’s business requirements. The type of software a bookkeeper decides to use for a firm’s transactions speaks a lot about his/her level of expertise.

4. Qualifications.

Unlike other areas of expertise, bookkeepers do not require a particular designation. Since there are numerous bookkeeping qualifications, a bookkeeper can be considered to be qualified if he/she has an accounting background. A history of well cared for clients would validate the same.

5. Referrals.

Work ethic is an important factor as a bookkeeper handles firm’s sensitive information. A good way to assess the same is to make sure that the bookkeeper in question is able to provide a list of referrals from previous and existing clients. This helps you find out not only if most of the referrals are positive but also the duration of the working relationship that the bookkeeper had with previous and has with existing clients.

If you are looking for a bookkeeper across Langley, Abbotsford, Surrey, Burnaby, New Westminster, and Vancouver, reach out to Infinite Accounting Solutions. We can help you with not just bookkeeping but various other office services crucial to your firm’s success. We have been in operation since 2008 in the Fraser Valley. We are committed to our every client’s business success and ensure the same through our expert knowledge of accounting software. To learn more about the services we offer, please click here. To get in touch with us, please click here.