Nearly everyone claims that they’re stressed these days, if not in one way, then in another.

The list of stressors is virtually endless: family, co-workers, supervisors, pets, the weather, friends, politics, and their bills.

​As a business owner or manager, you can easily add a host of other stressors to the list, one of which is employee productivity.   

While we don’t have an exact date for the origin of bookkeeping, it is believed that bookkeeping was an established practice as early as 2600 B.C., with Babylonian records providing evidence that financial transactions were indeed recorded. Over the years, the practice of recording the day-to-day economic happenings of a business became commonplace. Today, owners of businesses large and small recognize the value of thorough bookkeeping.

Even with advanced software, the process of managing a business’s financial accounts and affairs--is just as important today as it was when bookkeepers originated. However, because bookkeepers make a living by documenting the financial records of not just one business, but many in a community or city, it is very possible that your business’s bookkeeper also works with your competition. 

​My bookkeeper charges too much - can you recommend a cheaper one?
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​The answer is probably ‘yes’, there is always someone cheaper. On any given weekend you can spot a hand-written postcard on a notice board in the local supermarket, or an ad on Craigslist where someone is offering bookkeeping, including for what seems to be an impossible fee.

Hiring a bookkeeper who will work online requires a similar set of questions as it does for hiring a bookkeeper who will work onsite.

​Whether an onsite bookkeeper is a better alternative depends on your company structure, the routine and complexity of responsibilities, whether the work requires ‘team’, the need for instant communication, amount of office space available and your comfort level for working with someone offsite. 

Bookkeepers usually manage the smaller, day-to-day financial tasks such as accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, and reconciliations.

Unlike in-house hires who go through a process of face to face interviews, reference checks, and corporate screening, the hiring process for professional bookkeeper services or contractors online is quite different.
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The process of hiring an employee can be expensive and time consuming which makes hiring a professional bookkeeper service with a team who can ‘hit the ground running’ very attractive.  

We want to share with you a few pros and cons, questions to consider and ideas about hiring a bookkeeper offsite who will work "in the cloud."

​Often, at a critical decision point, our limited world view puts us into a ‘poor-decision trap’. The belief that “there are five more where you came from begging for work” is not so true.

​It is more important to be objective when evaluating the staff, whether a contractor such as an accountant or bookkeeper or a direct hire.

To help you better understand the general marketplace for accountants, today we will review statistics, typical roles, work environments and future trends. 

As you review this information, it should help you be more objective when evaluating the value of your current or future accountant(s).  ​