Signs It’s Time You Hired a Bookkeeper

Bookkeeping admin requirements can be complex and time-consuming. With the technological and outsourcing options available today, however, you can focus on what really matters, writes JOSH SMITHURST from our accounts department.

As a business owner, there are many different administrative tasks involved in

running the business that you will find take up your time and distract you from your core activities.

When you initially start your venture, you might decide to do your own bookkeeping. But as your business grows and your time becomes more limited, you may get to the stage where you consider whether it is worth passing the work over to an expert. By continuing to do your own bookkeeping, you could be at a disadvantage.

These are some of the top signs that it is time to hire a bookkeeper:

• Doing your bookkeeping is taking up a lot of your time and is preventing you from focusing on other important tasks that have an impact on your revenue.
• You have to spend time researching information about your bookkeeping requirements because you are unsure of the tax regulations or whether there have been any changes to rules.
• You are using outdated bookkeeping systems instead of the latest bookkeeping software to make the process faster and paperless.
• You are unaware of tax reliefs that you may be entitled to, that a business accountant would be able to ensure you receive.
• Due to how busy you are, your invoices are not getting sent quickly enough or are maybe even missed completely – impacting your cashflow.
• Your business has grown and bookkeeping has become more complicated. For example you start employing sub-contractors or a new tax rule has been introduced that you do not fully understand.
• You miss a HMRC tax deadline and are facing a fine for late payments.

These are just some of the most obvious signs that indicate that you should be looking at hiring a bookkeeper to support your business. A common misconception is that paying for an accountant to do your bookkeeping will cost much more than doing it yourself.

Even though you can save money by not paying an expert for your bookkeeping, it is likely that you will be losing money by doing it yourself. Firstly, all the time that it takes you to prepare your books is time that you could be spending on activities that generate money. As a non-expert, it will also take you much longer to complete bookkeeping activities than it would take a qualified professional, who does this type of work every day.

Secondly, you could be missing out on tax reliefs and other financial benefits due to lack of knowledge about what tax is available and whether your business is eligible. In many cases, with the money you spend on hiring a bookkeeper, you can actually save through the tax reliefs they can find and the efficiencies they can introduce.

Business accounting experts can recommend the most suitable software to make your bookkeeping faster and more streamlined, integrating with other systems that you use. If you are using outdated systems, your bookkeeping will be taking much longer than necessary, and you will not be benefitting from the smart features of modern technology.

The latest software can deliver a wide range of advantages to your business, speeding up processes, automating tasks and using digital features to make tasks such as invoicing quick and easy, so you can focus more of your time on important activities.

If you want some expert guidance on how to make the best use of technology or take advantage of our bookkeeping service, please call us on 0115 955 5500 or email enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk