How to choose the right bookkeeping company for your business
What is bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping describes the process of recording, classifying, and summarizing financial transactions. In doing so, businesses can get crucial information for making business decisions.
The bookkeeper enters into the accounting system all records of an entity’s transactions. This includes sales receipts, invoices, payment vouchers, and collections. Once these documents are brought into the system, the bookkeeper organizes and classifies them.
After bookkeepers classify all transactions, they will then summarize them in reports. The reports show how much money the business has earned or spent over a period of time. This information is useful to management when making decisions about where to allocate resources.
How to choose the best bookkeeping company:
With that out of the way, let’s now look at how you can pick the best bookkeeping firm to organize your company’s finances. When looking for a bookkeeping service, there are a few factors you need to consider to find the best one for your budget.
Your Bookkeeping Needs
Before finding a bookkeeping company, establish what exactly your business needs from a one. This will help narrow down your options to agencies that can meet your specific requirements. A few things you need to have down pat include:
- The scope of bookkeeping work
- Your budget
- Whether you require any specialized tools
- Your company’s goals
You’ll be better placed to find the right bookkeeping service once you have the above information at hand. So, get all the prerequisite information before you start looking for a bookkeeping firm.
Check the company’s experience
The bookkeeping industry is quite competitive, and new companies are always springing up. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing, you should be wary of working with a bookkeeping company that doesn’t have much experience.
It would be best if you chose a bookkeeping agency with at least five years of industry experience. That way, you can leverage their hands-on bookkeeping experience and benefit from their high-quality bookkeeping services.
It’s worth noting that experience in bookkeeping means a lot more than just the number of years the agency has been in service. It also means how many clients the bookkeeping company has had under its wing. As such, ask to see the company’s portfolio to get a good idea of who you’re dealing with.
Proper understanding of technology stack
Bookkeeping has changed a lot over the years, with technology playing a big role in its transformation. You want to find a bookkeeping company that is up-to-date with the latest bookkeeping technologies. Find a company that has invested a considerable amount into automating as many bookkeeping processes as possible. This not only saves time but also reduces bookkeeping errors. Some of the bookkeeping technologies you should look for include cloud, catchup bookkeeping, mobile bookkeeping, and data analytics. Apart from being up-to-date with the latest bookkeeping technologies, the company should also have a good understanding of your business’s technology stack. They should know how to integrate their bookkeeping software with your company’s existing software. A bookkeeping company that understands and makes use of technology is more likely to offer quality bookkeeping services as compared to one that doesn’t. These professionals will work together to deliver high-quality bookkeeping services. You can check the agency’s website to see the qualifications and experience of their bookkeeping team. A bookkeeping company with a rich team of experts is more likely to offer quality bookkeeping services as compared to one that doesn’t.Find a company you can trust
Although it’s difficult to quantify trust, you need to find a company that you can trust. Schedule an in-person consultation with the company reps and figure out whether they’re people you can trust. You can also tell whether a bookkeeping company is trustworthy based on how long they’ve been in business and the number of clients they have. Chances are that a bookkeeping company that has stayed in business for a long time and has many clients must be doing something right. Also, take note of how the company communicates with you. Are they prompt in replying to queries and do they fulfill their promises? Find a company that you can communicate with seamlessly and lives up to its word.Check their transparency
You want a bookkeeping company that’s transparent with you from the get-go. The bookkeeping company should give you a detailed breakdown of their bookkeeping services and what they entail.
They should also show you how much their bookkeeping services cost, without withholding any hidden charges. The pricing should be in line with the quality of bookkeeping services they offer.
A good bookkeeping company should also give you a clear idea of what to expect from their bookkeeping services. They should set realistic bookkeeping goals and let you know whether they can achieve them. This transparency will go a long way toward helping your company make well-informed decisions about its goals.
Check their turnaround time
A bookkeeping company with a fast turnaround time will help give you the edge over your rivals. That’s because you’ll be able to get critical bookkeeping data and information quickly. You can use it to make informed business decisions faster.
What’s more, a bookkeeping company with a slower turnaround time is more likely to make mistakes. Also, the longer it takes them to complete bookkeeping tasks, the higher your bookkeeping costs will be. When looking for a bookkeeping service, a fast turnaround time is non-negotiable.