5 Signs Your Small Business Needs a Bookkeeper
Running a small business means wearing a lot of hats. You’re managing customers, providing services, answering emails, marketing your business, paying bills, planning for growth—and somewhere in between all of that, you’re supposed to keep your financial records organized too.
In the beginning, handling your own bookkeeping may make sense. But as your business grows, so does the amount of financial administration that comes with it. At some point, doing everything yourself can start costing you something just as valuable as money: your time. So how do you know when it might be time to get some bookkeeping support? Here are five signs to watch for.
1. You’re Always Playing Catch-Up
You tell yourself you’ll update your books this week. Then a customer calls. A project runs late. Something more urgent comes up. Suddenly, one week of bookkeeping becomes a month—or several months.
Falling behind occasionally happens to almost every business owner. But when playing catch-up becomes your normal bookkeeping routine, it can become increasingly difficult to know exactly where your business stands. Transactions may be harder to remember, receipts can disappear, accounts may not be reconciled, and mistakes can become more difficult to identify.
Why It Matters
Regular bookkeeping helps ensure your financial information reflects what is actually happening in your business. Instead of spending hours trying to reconstruct months of activity, consistent bookkeeping keeps your records organized throughout the year. If your books are constantly falling behind because you simply don’t have the time to maintain them, that may be a good indication that it’s time for some help.
2. Your Receipts Are Everywhere
Your truck? Your wallet? Your desk? Your email inbox? Maybe even the bottom of a work bag you haven’t opened in three months? If this sounds familiar, you’re definitely not alone.
Receipts and supporting documents can quickly become difficult to manage, especially when you’re busy running a business. But good record keeping is an important part of maintaining accurate books. Your receipts provide supporting documentation for business purchases and help ensure expenses are recorded correctly.
A Better System
A bookkeeper can help establish a consistent process for collecting, organizing, and recording your financial information. Instead of searching for receipts when GST or year-end rolls around, you can have an organized system in place throughout the year. The goal isn’t to create more paperwork—it’s to make the paperwork you already have easier to manage.
3. GST Deadlines Make You Anxious
GST filing deadlines shouldn’t come as a surprise, but they can certainly feel that way when your bookkeeping isn’t current. You may find yourself wondering:
Have all my sales been recorded?
Did I enter all my business expenses?
Are my accounts reconciled?
How much GST should I expect to remit?
When your books are maintained regularly, GST preparation becomes much more manageable because the information needed for your return is already being organized throughout the reporting period.
Stay Ahead Instead of Catching Up
A bookkeeper can help keep transactions categorized, accounts reconciled, and records organized so you aren’t scrambling when a filing deadline approaches. Instead of GST becoming a stressful event every reporting period, it becomes part of a regular financial routine.
4. You Don’t Know Where Your Business Stands Financially
Your bank account balance only tells you how much money is currently in your account.
It doesn’t necessarily tell you how profitable your business is.
If someone asked you:
How much profit did your business make last month?
Would you know?
What about your largest expense categories?
Outstanding customer invoices?
Upcoming bills?
How this year compares with last year?
Accurate bookkeeping gives you access to financial reports that can help answer these questions.
Your Numbers Should Help You Make Decisions
Up-to-date financial information can help you understand your:
- Revenue
- Expenses
- Profitability
- Cash flow
- Accounts receivable
- Accounts payable
- Financial trends
These numbers can provide valuable information when you’re deciding whether to increase prices, make a major purchase, reduce expenses, hire someone, or invest in growing your business.
Bookkeeping shouldn’t just tell you what happened last year. It should help you understand what’s happening in your business right now.
5. You’re Spending Evenings and Weekends Doing Paperwork
You started your business because you’re good at what you do—not because you wanted to spend Saturday night categorizing transactions and reconciling bank accounts. Your time has value.
Every hour you spend doing administrative work is an hour you aren’t spending serving customers, developing your business, finding new opportunities, or simply enjoying some well-earned time away from work. There comes a point where outsourcing bookkeeping isn’t simply another business expense.
It can be a way of buying back your time.
A professional bookkeeper can take recurring financial administration off your plate while helping ensure your records remain organized and current.
