Bookkeepers and accountants are like the second and third people in an assembly line whose purpose is to manage your finances. You’re the first, as you are the person making these transactions. Then comes the bookkeeper to gather up and organize those transactions. Third is the accountant, who analyzes and makes sure everything is balanced and accurate.
When you first started your business, you made up the entire assembly line. As you grow, however, you might feel too busy to keep your financial records up to date and too overwhelmed to make sure they’re accurate. You might struggle with both of those feelings. (Read about reducing overwhelm by challenging your thinking here.)
Don’t worry though because you’re just one of the many resourceful business owners who could use the help of a bookkeeper, an accountant, or both. Let’s dive into which is right for you.
Financial management begins with the books, where all of your transactions are recorded in one place. This is the job of the bookkeeper. Think of them like a housekeeper. A housekeeper puts every item in its place and a bookkeeper puts every number in its place.
Business owners that find it hard to keep up with all of the financial transactions that go on in their business can benefit from hiring a bookkeeper. They can take care of:
- The receipts piling up, both physical and digital
- Invoices that either haven’t been sent or haven’t gotten a response
- Statements from different places, like a merchant service account
- Bills that need to be paid
With a bookkeeper, you can hand off all of your financial transactions to an objective party instead of having to stress over when you’ll manage to make time for your finances or if you’re organizing them properly. (Read more about healthy money habits you need to create a solid financial foundation for your business here.)
An accountant is who you hire when you need help interpreting and balancing the books. I’ve worked with entrepreneurs who’ve had no problem keeping track of their transactions but find it too stressful to work with their numbers past writing them down. Those women didn’t need a bookkeeper but they did need an accountant.
Accountants take care of:
- Balancing your general ledger and financial statements from other institutions, ensuring they’re accurate in comparison to one another
- Creating financial reports that gather information about your finances and explaining them
- Determining tax exemptions, depending on how familiar they are with tax code
Accountants ease your mind about your numbers once they’re recorded. If they are a Certified Public Accountant, they have a degree from an accredited university. This means they have deep knowledge of the ins and outs of your finances. They are also likely skilled in bookkeeping themselves, which means your bookkeeper and accountant are often the same person.
Whether it’s a bookkeeper or an accountant you need (or both), it pays off to outsource financial matters to the experts. Now you know who you should work with to bring your business to the next level! (Find out how to grow by creating better goals here.)
Mitchell Consulting Service offers bookkeeping and accounting services at several different levels. Learn more about our packages here.
