A Gallup Poll showed that U.S. small business owners worked an average of 52 hours per week. One in five entrepreneurs won’t even see a proper vacation. Delegating duties helps to alleviate the high demand of your time, but is it worth it?

Sometimes, it can be challenging to make a final determination. Although you can try to calculate how much your time is worth, there are other signs that may indicate your need for bookkeeping help. Hence, we’ve put together a list of these signs that can help you decide if hiring a bookkeeping service is the right move for you.

Always playing catch up

If you routinely find that you need to set aside a block of time to enter a few days (or weeks) at a time to your ledger, there’s probably a better way. In addition to the stress caused by the game of “catch up”, details and transaction nuances can be missed. This seemingly small sacrifice in the quality of your bookkeeping can be problematic and even costly in the future.

Questions and confusion at tax time

Properly kept books should be as easy as a simple hand-off to your tax preparer at tax time. No matter how well you get along with your tax preparer, multiple communication exchanges, such as emails and phone calls shouldn’t be necessary. This also helps to minimize the risk of missed tax write-offs and credits.

The need for frequent cash-flow snapshots

Sometimes, especially during challenging financial times, a business needs to have access to a snapshot of cash flow. A bookkeeping service can provide a snapshot, also known as a cash flow statement, at a moment’s notice.

Investopedia explains, “It’s important to note that the [cash flow statement] is distinct from the income statement and balance sheet because it does not include the amount of future incoming and outgoing cash that has been recorded on credit. Therefore, cash is not the same as net income, which on the income statement includes cash sales and sales made on credit.”

You want to increase profits

Xero shared a survey they conducted of 300 small business owners. It concluded that hiring a bookkeeping professional pays off. The survey showed that small and medium-sized businesses who hire professional bookkeeping services “experienced a 16 percent increase in revenue over businesses that do not work with an accounting professional.”

Choosing the right bookkeeper for your business is like hiring the right employee for a key position in your company. If all goes well, it’ll continue to be a profitable relationship for many years to come.

The important alliance between a business owner and his or her accounting team are most effective when their business habits align. For instance, if the busiest day of your company’s week is on Friday, but the firm who manages your bookkeeping and accounting services is closed on Fridays, it may be worth the effort of considering another firm.

In addition to the compatibility of your business habits, be sure that the firm you choose has experience. Whether you own a big or small business, your bookkeeper should be able to understand the nuances of its nature.

Communication practices should be a critical consideration, as well. If it’s hard for you to get your bookkeeper on the phone and they don’t return your calls, the simple effort of communication becomes time-consuming. This is counter-productive to one of the many chief benefits of retaining bookkeeping services.

Finally, bookkeepers master a variety of basic skills, according to The Balance, including:

• Debits and credits – Recording all incoming and outgoing financial transactions.
• Numeracy – An above-average affinity for working with numbers doesn’t hurt! In fact, it’s imperative.
• Invoicing – Generating and sending invoices to customers.
• Attention to detail – Seemingly small errors, such as missed or transposed numbers during data entry, can create significant headaches later.

We’ve been in the bookkeeping business for over 35 years. We’ve represented clients from all walks of life, and there’s not much we haven’t seen over the last few decades.

Our clients are wealthy and just starting out. They’re celebrities, truck drivers, small business owners, big business owners, real estate agents, healthcare professionals, flight attendants and everything in between. Due to our diverse client base, our experience is broad and we’re confident we can help you maintain organized financial health with your big picture in mind.

We invite you to learn more about us here. If you’d like to review our profile at the Better Business Bureau, you can do so here. You’ll find that we have an A+ rating with no complaints. Contact us by calling 800.518.8964 or you can submit your information to us in the blue box on the right side of this page. We’ll happily reach out to you.

We’ll begin with a free case review. There’s no obligation to hire our firm. During this review, we’ll discuss your case and some realistic options. If you determine that we’re a good fit for your needs, we’ll get started right away. Contact us today and sleep better tonight with expert bookkeeping services on your side.