When should a business hire a bookkeeper?

It’s a good idea to hire a bookkeeper as soon as possible. In fact, ideally – you should really talk to a bookkeeper before you actually hang out your shingle. Often a small business owner just starting out will approach everything with a “DIY” mentality, finding it either difficult – or impossible – to pay a bookkeeper for help with finances because they feel that they can do it themselves. In addition, with all the new “user-friendly” accounting software available, like QuickBooks, many business owners feel that they really should do it on their own. The truth is that running your own business is hard enough without having to deal with the extensive record keeping that a business – no matter how small it is – always entails. When anyone asks me when they should hire a bookkeeper, I say, “As soon as you open your doors.” It’s much easier to start with a solid financial foundation and a sound system for keeping records than it is to hire a bookkeeper to come in and unsnarl the mess a year or so after you’ve been opened! You don’t have to hire a bookkeeper full time, you can hire a bookkeeper to come in for a certain number of hours a week or a month, and it will save you money in the long run. We’re also happy just to answer a few questions for you if you call, because we enjoy being able to see a business grow in our community. After all, you may be a basement startup today, but you might be our biggest client tomorrow!