How to Work Best with Your Bookkeeper
Many small businesses struggle to get the most out of their bookkeeping services. Miscommunication, missing documents, and lack of clear expectations can lead to errors, delays, and a strained relationship with the person handling your books. These inefficiencies can lead to missed opportunities and penalties.
Working well with a bookkeeper provides more than just organized finances. The aim should be to gain insights from your business finances, make more informed decisions, and create a solid foundation for growth. A strong working relationship and trust in your bookkeeper should free up your time, improve cashflow, and help achieve your business goals.
Here are some ways you can become your bookkeepers #1 client.
Set Clear Expectations
When you officially formalize your relationship, you should have signed an Engagement Letter, where you defined the scope of work, deliverables, and deadlines to ensure both you and your bookkeeper are in alignment. Make sure you've agreed on who handles which specific tasks, such as payroll or bill payments, to avoid confusion.
Tip: Make sure to review the scope of work before signing and ensure everyone is clear on their responsibilities and commitments.
Establish a Communication Plan
Consistent communication is the backbone of a strong partnership. Decide how and when you’ll communicate, whether through email, text, phone call, or if you need to schedule regular check-ins. Answer questions promptly to keep the process efficient and make sure you don't miss deadlines. Always provide feedback to help foster improvements.
Tip: Mutually decide on reasonable response times for certain issues and the best form of communication, especially for urgent matters. Also set quarterly reminders to review the process and provide feedback.
Grant Proper Access to Tools and Information
Provide your bookkeeper with access to essential financial tools to ensure they have accurate and up-to-date information. You'll also want to provide or upload documents like receipts and statements as soon as possible to make sure you're not missing deadlines or picking up on errors too late.
Tip: Review all access permissions and make sure your bookkeeper can access everything they need to do their job effectively.
Organize Your Financial Documentation
Additionally, keeping your financial records organized in a central repository is important. You want to do this particularly with the ones generated outside of your bookkeeping software. This includes receipts, invoices, and statements. This helps your bookkeeper do their job efficiently and avoids unnecessary delays.
Tip: Create separate folders (preferably digital) for receipts, invoices, and statements to easily categorize and locate documents.
Be Transparent About Finances
Sharing information about your financial health, including any challenges or unusual transactions, helps your bookkeeper provide the best support. The last thing you want to do is keep pertinent information from your bookkeeper that could affect your cashflow, taxation or budgeting. Transparency leads to more accurate and insightful bookkeeping.
Tip: Make a list of any upcoming expenses or challenges and share it with your bookkeeper.
Share Your Financial Goals
Whether it’s your budget (which you can work on with your bookkeeper), your desire to cut costs, or your goal to grow revenue and expand your business, sharing your business goals could help your bookkeeper to tailor their work to help you achieve these objectives. This might
Tip: Write down your top three business goals and discuss them with your bookkeeper so they can align their work with your vision.
Avoid Last-Minute Requests
To ensure accuracy and reduce stress, plan ahead and give your bookkeeper adequate time for tasks. This is particularly important during busy periods like tax season.
Tip: Anticipate upcoming needs, like reports or tax preparations, and communicate them well in advance.
Trust Your Bookkeeper’s Expertise
Treat your bookkeeper as a trusted partner and value their input. Their role goes beyond data entry; they can provide strategic guidance that can positively impact your business. If you feel that level of trust is lacking, it may be time to consider finding a better fit.
Tip: Ask your bookkeeper for their insights on your latest financial report—you might be surprised at their valuable perspective.
Need Help?
If your goal is financial clarity, better decision-making, and greater peace of mind you need to work with the right bookkeeper could be a game changer for your business. Start applying these tips today to get the most out of this essential partnership.
Ready to take your bookkeeping to the next level? Contact us and let’s build a strong foundation for your business’s success.
