Get our tips on sourcing and hiring a bookkeeper or accountant to help scale your business — and do it in a compliant manner with Liquid.
As small businesses grow, it becomes essential to have dedicated support to manage bookkeeping. A bookkeeper will ensure accurate, up-to-date books and make tax time easier. And an accountant can provide financial analyses and advice. Our tips will help you outsource your financial processes, so you can focus on growing your business.
Services offered by freelance bookkeepers and accountants
A freelance or outsourced bookkeeper works with your company to keep your books up-to-date, handling day-to-day financial transactions. Bookkeepers handle recording financial transactions in a company’s general ledger. So they’ll keep track of accounts payable and accounts receivable as well as logging receipts and expenditures. They can also handle payroll processing and preparing financial statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and other financial reports.
A freelance or outsourced accountant will conduct quarterly reviews of financial records, double-checking and making adjustments if required. An accountant can help with in-depth analysis and financial strategy. They’ll also file official reports, including business income tax returns. Accountants differ from bookkeepers in that they must have an accounting degree and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license.
For small businesses, typically, a bookkeeper will provide sufficient financial support. But as businesses scale, ultimately, they need the support of both a bookkeeper and an accountant to support their operations.
Benefits of outsourcing bookkeeping and accounting
“DIY bookkeeping” takes away from the time owners and founders need to grow and run their businesses. Once these financial record-keeping tasks become too time-consuming, it’s time to find a bookkeeper to take on these tasks. By outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting, you can get the financial record keeping and accounting support you need at a lower cost than hiring new full-time employees. An average in-house bookkeeper will cost a company around $50,000, while companies will pay an in-house accountant $65,000 or more. The cost of outsourcing bookkeeping ranges on average from $500 to $2,500 per month.
The pricing structure for outsourced bookkeeping support varies and will depend on what level of support your business needs. The rate structure may be hourly or fixed by period. Alternatively, the rate may be tied to volume. For example, the fee may vary depending on the average number of deposits, invoices, checks written, etc.
How to find an outsourced bookkeeper or accountants
Paying Freelancers and Vendors?
Our customers report that using Liquid allows them to put off hiring an Operations Manager and/or Bookkeeper.
The best way to find an outsourced bookkeeper or accountant is through referrals from your network, posting on online job sites, or searching on LinkedIn. In addition, some businesses specialize in outsourced bookkeeping or accounting services.
What to look for when hiring an outsourced bookkeeper or accountant
When considering freelance bookkeepers or accountants, you’ll want to evaluate the following areas:
What size companies have they worked with? Do they have specific specialties?
Do their skill sets match the specific financial services that your company needs?
What accounting tools and technologies do they have experience with?
Which licenses and certifications do they have?
What ongoing support will be provided? Will they be readily available?
How strong are their analytical skills?
What’s their communication style? What’s their average turnaround time for communications?
What client references do they have? What feedback do their clients have to share with you?
Get the bookkeeping and accounting expertise you need
An outsourced bookkeeper or accountant can be the ideal solution to support financial record-keeping and reporting. So your company will get the financial and accounting expertise that it needs within a budget it can afford. And Liquid makes it easy to contract and pay your outsourced talent while helping you with contractor compliance.
Managing Freelancers and Vendors?
Our customers report saving 20 hours per month (on average) when they use Liquid’s complete contractor and vendor management system.
Ready to boost your cash flow by saving time and money? Try Liquid today.
