5 Signs you Might Need a Bookkeeper

How to recognize when it's time to get help with your bookkeeping

Running a business is demanding and bookkeeping often gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. You don’t need to be a QuickBooks expert to succeed. If you find yourself overwhelmed by numerous issues, or if you simply wish to free up time from managing your business’s finances, consider the following five common signs that indicate it might be time to seek from a professional bookkeeper.
None of these signs mean you've done anything wrong. They're simply some of the most common reasons business owners reach out to me for help.

Your bank, credit card, and loan accounts won't reconcileReconciliation isn't just for your bank accounts. Credit cards, loans, lines of credit, and other liability accounts should also be reconciled regularly.What to look out for:

  • You're entering adjustments just to make it balance.

  • Old reconciliation differences keep appearing.

  • You have old transactions showing as unreconciled that you keep meaning to look into...but never quite get around to.

  • Your credit card or loan balance in QuickBooks doesn't match your monthly statement.

  • You're no longer confident which transactions have already been reconciled.

  • You aren't sure what reconciling means, or you've never reconciled your accounts.

Your numbers don't make senseYour financial reports should help you make decisions with confidence. If you're second-guessing your Profit & Loss or Balance Sheet, it's time to take a closer look.What to look out for:

  • You know your business is making money, but your P&L says otherwise...or vice versa.

  • Your Balance Sheet doesn't seem to "balance," or the numbers simply don't make sense.

  • You have old customer invoices or vendor bills that should have been cleared years ago.

  • You think your income may be doubled or highly inflated and you don’t know why.

  • Your CPA has to ask a lot of questions every tax season before they can prepare your return.

  • You keep separate spreadsheets because you don't trust the numbers in QuickBooks.

  • You avoid looking at your financial reports because you're not sure you can trust them.

You're always trying to catch upFalling behind happens to almost every business owner at some point. Whether you're a few months behind or a few years behind, it can almost always be fixed.What to look out for:

  • You haven't added transactions from your bank or credit card accounts in months...or longer.

  • Every month you tell yourself you'll catch up next month.

  • You don't have current financial statements when your CPA or banker asks for them.

  • Tax season has become a scramble to pull everything together.

  • You're making business decisions without current financial information.

  • You don't know exactly where to start, so you keep putting it off.

Your business has grown, but your bookkeeping hasn'tThe bookkeeping process that worked when you first started may no longer be the most efficient or accurate. As your business grows, your systems should grow with it.What to look out for:

  • You've started using a new sales platform or added additional sales channels.

  • You're spending hours manually entering transactions.

  • You’re entering the same information in multiple places or downloading spreadsheets to enter data into QuickBooks Online.

  • You find yourself thinking, "There has to be an easier way." (There usually is.)

  • You're unsure how to get your systems to work together.

  • You've created workarounds to accomplish something you don't think QuickBooks Online can do.

  • You're recording deposits from your bank as sales instead of recording the individual sales, fees, refunds, and adjustments.

  • Your 1099-K doesn't even remotely match the income reported in QuickBooks Online.

You wish your financial reports would just magically appear every monthOkay...maybe not magically.
At some point, many business owners realize they'd rather spend their time running their business than doing the bookkeeping.What to look out for:

  • Bookkeeping is always the last thing on your to-do list and keeps getting pushed to next week...then next month.

  • You'd rather spend your time serving customers or growing your business.

  • You'd rather review your financial reports than create them.

  • You want confidence that your books are accurate without having to become a QuickBooks expert.

Final ThoughtsIf you recognized yourself in any of these sections, you're not alone. These are some of the most common issues I see when working with small businesses, and the good news is they're all fixable.
Whether you need to catch up, clean up, improve your workflow, or simply take bookkeeping off your plate, I'd love to help!Warmly,
Isabel Squire