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Know your reasons to hire a bookkeeper! Get that money!
A few common reasons a design firm will hire a bookkeeper is to simply have someone categorize transactions, “fix mistakes”, or complete tedious data entry. What most people may not realize is that a good bookkeeper should be capable of much more when given the opportunity to work closely with the firm’s team. Yes, a bookkeeper should be able to do all those things while simultaneously saving the company a great deal of money by identifying tax deductions or catching vendors overages that might have gone unnoticed. The main reason a business should hire a bookkeeper is to produce accurate key figures needed to make better financial decisions and ultimately increase the design firm’s bottom line.
Proactive Approach, there is no “I” in “TEAM”
Increasing your design firm’s bottom line requires a proactive approach to success. Bookkeepers can take a great deal of tedious work off your plate and reduce the anxiety of looming back office stress which can in turn yield more time for a firm’s staff to focus on their individual strengths. One common misconception is that office work completely ends when you hire a bookkeeper when the reality is that more of management’s time is freed up.
This additional time should be used efficiently and effectively by management to focus on what they do best and further derive benefit from their hiring a bookkeeper. An increase in a firm’s bottom line is directly related to the amount of input a firm’s internal staff is willing to deliver while working with the financial team or advisors. No one wants to work on posting vendor payments when they could be dreaming up beautiful designs, but in reality, firms do not always grow on talent alone.
It is important to remember that bookkeepers are not wizards that a company’s team needs to work together to make the bottom line increase. While bookkeepers can implement knowledge power, it might be cause for concern if they can magically make that bottom line grow overnight by themselves.
Importance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)
Prosperity is not generally possible without SOP’s. A good accounting firm will offer advice on best practices for your industry. Let’s face it, good bookkeepers are not cheap so firms should utilize a bookkeeper’s time effectively to save money and ultimately increase their bottom line. Firms should not have a bookkeeper spending all their time fixing and booking entries. In this age of technology, modern advances in accounting programs make it possible for bookkeepers to transcend from their previous roles as bean counters and hopefully allow them to devote more time to your account on the advisory side.
Good bookkeepers can offer business coaching to better your firm’s bottom line. Sometimes people choose not to follow the advice given by their accounting professional because they are unsure if it is sound advice. Choose a reputable bookkeeper and make sure they know your industry. Remember that an industry-specific bookkeeper has the inside scoop into other firms’ success and failures, so it might be wise to take some advice on what works. Having an efficient SOP practice along with the right guidance of effective industry standards could be a game-changer for your bottom line.
Reports, Reports, Reports
It’s all in the financials! The financial statements a bookkeeper produces are the lifeblood for any business. It is virtually impossible for a firm to make sound financial decisions about its future without these reports. It’s all about form and function on the financials. I’m sure our dear friend Mr. Wright wasn’t talking about accounting when he said “Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union”, but we like to think he was!
Although it is sometimes difficult for people to understand, financial reports are a bookkeeper’s work of art. They are not a monochrome compilation of digits, but in the mind and heart of a bookkeeper, they are a colorful tapestry of beautiful results brought to fruition. As previously discussed, these reports are compiled from a great deal of work from both the business owners and accountants. We love when firms ask reasonable questions about their financial statements. It shows that they are taking a serious interest in their firm’s growth. These reports are critical when trying to decide when to hire and fire, when to purchase inventory, what operating expenses and overhead to budget, when to convert your entity or restructure your business to drastically save on taxes, etc.
*Remember, bottom lines don’t increase overnight! It can take time for the results of your bottom line to change so choose a bookkeeper you can trust to guide you and your business into the profitable future.
Check out our original post on Ivy’s Blog!
