Ready to hire a bookkeeper but aren’t sure exactly what you should be looking for?

It’s important to get a good feel for the personality of your bookkeeper, but how do you know that they know what they’re doing?

Ask your bookkeeper about these nine areas and chances are you’ll pick a great bookkeeper who is in your corner and will save you precious time and money!

Credentials

While a bookkeeper doesn’t necessarily have to have a license or a degree it’s important to know that your bookkeeper knows what they’re doing. 

It’s a good idea to ask about their prior experience, training or education.

A good bookkeeper should be more than willing to share their qualifications with you!

Interaction

Find out how your bookkeeper likes to interact with her clients.

Perhaps you just want it all done for you and you don’t care to know much about it, consider finding a bookkeeper who just likes to put her head down and get it done.

If you want to know what’s going on with your business books, and you want someone to walk you through the numbers in plain English, consider finding a bookkeeper who likes to stay in contact and has the heart of a teacher.

Find a bookkeeper with a communication style similar to yours.

The scope of work

What does your bookkeeper actually do?

Some bookkeepers do everything from invoicing your clients, to making payments for you, to keeping your records.

Some bookkeepers want you to run your business, where you to maintain control of your cash while they simply record the transactions.

Find someone who offers the services that align with the help that you need. 

And remember, if they can make payments and invoice clients on your behalf, you must be checking your records.

Don’t allow someone to control your cash with no oversight, you’re just asking to be stolen from.

How often do they work on your business books

Is your bookkeeper going to reconcile your transactions throughout the month, or will they wait until the end of the month and get it all done at once.

Find out how they like to keep up with their client work and determine if that works with how frequently you want information on your business.

Who is doing the work

Are you going to be working with the person you’re speaking with or is someone else going to be doing the work? 

Some bookkeepers work by themselves, some hire the work out to others (to either an in-house or out-of-house team) and some work for a larger corporation where your account could be shuffled around to many different bookkeepers through the years.

There isn’t necessarily one situation that is better than the other, it’s just important to know exactly who you’re working with.

How do they price their services

Bookkeeping services can be priced many different ways, but there are two main methods.

There can be a straight hourly fee, no matter what type of task is being worked on, and there’s the flat monthly fee. 

With hourly, you know exactly how much time someone is spending on your books, but your cost could vary drastically each month.

With a flat monthly fee, you always know exactly how much bookkeeping services will cost you., there are no surprises.

Both methods are great, it's up to you as to whether you prefer a steady cost each month, or if you want to pay specifically for the work being done at an agreed upon rate.

Which programs are they familiar with

There are several great bookkeeping software options out there so it’s important to make sure that your bookkeeper is an expert at the software being used. 

Maybe that means you find someone who knows your software, or maybe you trust an expert to select the best software.

Either way, make sure they know their stuff. Several software programs provide certification programs, so look for that credential.

Why are they a bookkeeper

Above all it’s important to know why your bookkeeper decided to go into this field?

Are they good with numbers and just looking for a quick buck?

Or are they obsessed with small business, helping others, and also love numbers?

Knowing someone’s motivation can help you assess how much they will be in your corner, helping you with every aspect of the financial side of your business.

Additionally, it can be a great conversation starter for your discussion with a potential bookkeeper.

​There you have it! Nine areas to chat about with your bookkeeper. Make these part of your discussion and you’re sure to hire a great bookkeeper!

Want to ask me these questions?

Click here to schedule a free, no obligation bookkeeping consultation. 

We’ll chat about my monthly bookkeeping services and see if I’m a good fit to take your business bookkeeping off your hands!