Are you looking to hire QuickBooks bookkeepers help but aren’t confident when it comes to how to go about the process? In this post, we will be discussing the process from before hiring to onboarding. By the end of this post, we are confident that you will be more equipped to make an informed hire.
Let’s begin!
Why Hiring a QuickBooks Bookkeeper is Vital for Your Business
Flexibility / Free up Yourself and Staff
Perhaps when you were just getting business started, it was easier for you to handle the bookkeeping yourself. Maybe you were the one who set aside time and recorded transactions each month or even on a daily basis. Then, slowly but surely, your efforts began to show their fruits and your business started growing. The stream of customers began to pour in at a much quicker rate. The number of transactions that needed to be documented did as well.
If you are in this situation, you may find yourself struggling to balance responsibilities. On the one hand, you need to manage your business. On the other hand, you also need to set aside the hours it could take to balance your books. You could pass this all off to a member of your staff, but chances are, you didn’t hire them for that. It just wouldn’t be fair to dump an unrelated task on anyone.
What a shame it would be if progress slowed progress because the back office was clogging up. That’s what doing business without a bookkeeper can sometimes feel like. Hiring a bookkeeper gives you flexibility. Ironically, this means you and your team don’t need to stretch yourselves. Your time and effort can be freed to accomplish tasks that will help propel your business further forward.
Professional Help
Anyone can manage their own bookkeeping. However, not everyone has the experience and expertise to know how to do it well. You may know the tasks a bookkeeper needs to complete, but you may not have the processes developed to do it efficiently. To hire a professional is not simply employing someone with a title. You are paying for their in-depth knowledge of numbers, reports and analytics, tax law, software, and processes. You will pay more for the time it took for them to become proficient. However, this saves you the time it would take you to learn all the above yourself.
Optimize your Bookkeeping With Software
A bookkeeper without software can run into the same problem as a business without a bookkeeper. Software has opened up so many possibilities for increased efficiency, accuracy, automation, and reports customization. For instance, software like QuickBooks allows for automatic bank reconciliation. Say goodbye to manual data entry and let your QuickBooks bookkeeper set up other useful automation triggers. To hire QuickBooks bookkeeper help means you are hiring someone who knows how to operate tools that can make both of your lives easier.
Cost Savings
Hiring a professional also means more long-term cost savings. A professional is less likely to make errors. This could spare you from costly mistakes that lead to fines and even worse. If mistakes do happen, they know how to catch and fix the mistakes quickly. This means you won’t lose any money while repairing the leaky pipe. Professionals can also provide insights into how you can save money. Through reports and analytics, they can help you create budgets and identify unnecessary costs and reduce expenses.
Key Considerations Before You Hire QuickBooks Bookkeepers
Qualifications
While one does not need to possess a degree in order to perform bookkeeping duties, it does help with credibility. The more training, certification, and education a person possesses, the more trust you can place in the quality of their services.
Experience
You should not only consider how long they’ve been a bookkeeper in general. You also need to check to see if they have industry specific experience. Have they worked with clients who have a similar business to yours in structure, size, and type? Of course, you also need to know how much experience they have with QuickBooks.
Pricing
Are they within your budget? Are all the fees upfront? Nothing hidden? Are they paid per project or hourly? Is it fair compared to other bookkeeper rates?
Compatibility
Not only do you need to find someone at the right price point for you, you also need to find someone who fits into your company values and culture. Can they work well with you and your team? Can they communicate well?
Availability
You also need someone who can work the hours you need them to. They need to be available during key points of the year, like high-sales seasons and tax season. This is especially true if you are hiring from other countries. Do they have someone who will cover for them in the event they get sick, lose power, or are hit by some unforeseeable event like a natural disaster?
Where You Hire
One way to ensure a quality hire is to ask for references. You can also hire from reputable freelance marketplaces.
Flexibility
Can they scale together with you? Are their services and pricing custom fit for your needs? Are you paying extra for a service you aren’t using?
Step-by-Step Process to Hire QuickBooks Bookkeepers Perfect for Your Business
Qualities to Look for in a QuickBooks Bookkeeper
- Organized – A bookkeeper is handling a lot of numbers, transactions, statements, receipts, and documents. They need to be able to help you put your books in order. This way, you can access and retrieve data with ease.
- Trustworthy – One of the most crucial qualities for a bookkeeper is honesty and transparency. You need someone who works with integrity when managing your financials. This person openly shares their process and won’t prevent you from viewing your data.
- Knowledgeable – In order to execute their duties properly, they need to be someone willing to learn constantly. They are someone who is continually updating their knowledge on the best bookkeeping practices or changes in regulations. Reporting also requires sufficient knowledge of what metrics are essential to a particular business.
- Proficient in Software – When looking to hire a QuickBooks bookkeeper, you naturally want someone who is an expert at that software. Not only do they know the ins-and-outs, but they are also committed to staying updated on any changes or additions.
- Detail-Oriented – Your bookkeeper needs to be able to spot mistakes or discrepancies quickly. They need to make sure that not a single cent is misplaced.
- Good Communicator – Communication is more than just providing updates or presenting financial reports. Your bookkeeper should also be able to help you understand what your numbers mean. Your bookkeeper should be a partner that helps you make informed business decisions.
Questions to Ask When Interviewing QuickBooks Bookkeepers
In the past, we’ve covered in depth the best interview questions to ask bookkeepers. One of our favorite questions to ask is whether they value money or growth and stability. This can reveal a lot about their personality and priorities. Many of the questions covered in that post can help you tremendously, so we suggest you dive into that and come back here when you’re done.
Navigating Pricing and Contracts with QuickBooks Bookkeepers
Before committing to a bookkeeper, it’s essential that you canvass rates beforehand. You want to make sure you are paying fair compensation. You need to consider payment terms, payment channels, and basis of payments (hourly or per project), too.
Also, you want to make sure that there aren’t any hidden fees when signing contracts with bookkeepers. Make sure to read the fine print so you don’t get locked into a deal that you didn’t think you were signing up for.
Tips for Onboarding and Managing Your QuickBooks Bookkeeper
We at EcomBalance believe that onboarding is such a crucial part of the hiring process. We recommend developing or adopting one before you hire QuickBooks bookkeeper help.
The remote onboarding process involves a few key practices.
- Introducing your business, what industry you are in, what products you sell, and what services you offer
- Introducing the values, culture, goals, and objectives of your business
- Providing a rundown of the tasks that need to be accomplished, whether you are hiring for regular bookkeeping, catch-up bookkeeping, or something else
- Agreeing on work schedule, number of hours, and basis and method of payment
- Connecting them to any apps or software you use to communicate or manage teams
- Introducing them to team members
- Finalizing other details like meeting schedules and frequency of updates.
Outsourcing vs. In-House: Choosing the Right Bookkeeping Solution
A main difference of outsourced vs in-house hiring is the cost. An in-house bookkeeper will typically cost you more if you add taxes, salaries, benefits, and overheads. Conversely, a remote bookkeeper typically has lower rates.
You can work closer with an in-house bookkeeper, comparatively. However, you can set up systems to compensate. A remote bookkeeper is also more incentivized to perform well because of the contractual nature of the relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What does a QuickBooks bookkeeper do?
A QuickBooks bookkeeper is someone who conducts bookkeeping with the help of QuickBooks software. They are proficient with this tool and make the most out of its features to provide the best bookkeeping solution.
2. Can I do my own bookkeeping?
Absolutely! Anyone can do bookkeeping and obtain QuickBooks training and certification. However, there are many benefits and reasons to hire a bookkeeper.
3. Is QuickBooks bookkeeping guided setup worth it?
Since their guided setup is completely free, there really is little to no downside if you want to set up your account yourself. Otherwise, a QuickBooks bookkeeper can also do it for you.
What Is EcomBalance?
EcomBalance is a monthly bookkeeping service specialized for eCommerce companies selling on Amazon, Shopify, Ebay, Etsy, WooCommerce, & other eCommerce channels.
We take monthly bookkeeping off your plate and deliver you your financial statements by the 15th or 20th of each month.
You’ll have your Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement ready for analysis each month so you and your business partners can make better business decisions.
Interested in learning more? Schedule a call with our CEO, Nathan Hirsch.
And here’s some free resources:
- Monthly Finance Meeting Agenda
- 9 Steps to Master Your Ecommerce Bookkeeping Checklist
- The Ultimate Guide on Finding an Ecommerce Virtual Bookkeeping Service
- 6 Reasons Accurate Ecommerce Accounting is Crucial for Your Business
- Accounting Basics 101: What Small Business Owners Must Know
- Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) Cheat Sheet
- How to Read a Balance Sheet & Truly Understand It
Final Thoughts on How to Hire Quickbooks Bookkeepers
We know how confusing it can be to get started looking for a bookkeeper. We also know how detrimental it can be to make a bad hire. So hopefully, our guide on how to hire a QuickBooks bookkeeper gave you the knowledge you need to begin canvassing.
If you’re curious about QuickBooks pricing, plans, and offers, you can head over to that right now.
