There are many different things that business owners should consider when hiring Edmonton bookkeeping services for their business. Often, the only consideration that entrepreneurs give is how much money they will be charged. While billing consideration is important, business owners should, more importantly, be focusing on the level of experience and skill the bookkeeper has, because a great bookkeeper can help entrepreneurs succeed. A Jim Collins quote, who is the author of six business books has said “those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any company is not markets, or technology, or competition, or products. It is one thing above all others: the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.”
Therefore, when entrepreneurs are hiring Edmonton bookkeeping services for their business, they should be asking several questions, not just the hourly fee. For example, a great question that business owners should be asking is how much experience they have in their industry? The reason why this is such an important question is that the bookkeeping industry is not regulated, there is no governing body, therefore bookkeepers do not need to have any qualifications in order to call themselves and market themselves as bookkeepers. Even those who have very little to no experience, are able to call themselves bookkeepers. Because of this, business owners need to be extra prudent when hiring bookkeepers in their business in order to get the best business professional they can find.
Another question that entrepreneurs should be asking when interviewing Edmonton bookkeeping services, is are they working towards getting a chartered professional accounting degree. Many CPA students work as bookkeepers, and people who are getting their accounting degrees also need to article, which may include bookkeeping. Because of this, entrepreneurs should make this a routine question. Any bookkeeper they hire who also is obtaining their CPA designation will have an extremely deep knowledge of not only creating balance sheets and income statements but understanding what a business owner needs and all the questions that they should be asking their clients in order to provide great service.
The third question that can be extremely beneficial for entrepreneurs to ask Edmonton bookkeeping services that their thinking of hiring, is if they have any experience working in a public accounting office. The reason why this is a great question is that it speaks to the depth of experience that a bookkeeper has. They have most likely worked very closely with accountants, and not only can provide information that business owners need to operate their business, but are able to provide information organized in such a way that accountants need. This can help entrepreneurs give their own accountant great financial statements that can potentially help them finish their year-end financial statements quicker and more organized.
Ultimately, business owners need to understand that the decision of hiring which Edmonton bookkeeping service to work in their business, is an important one, and one that needs to be considered very seriously. Great bookkeepers can significantly impact the decisions business owners make.
The reason why business owners need to take the decision of which Edmonton bookkeeping service to hire in their business very seriously is that great bookkeepers can help business owners make informed business decisions that can positively impact their business. Industry Canada says that 50% of Canadian businesses fail, and 29% of those failed businesses say that the reason why they fail is that they ran out of money. That same study says that only 11% of entrepreneurs ever seek professional help. By hiring the best bookkeeper they can find, business owners are ensuring that they have the information that they need to avoid running out of money in their business, as well as they have the business professional that can advise them on how to make great business decisions.
Business owners often choose the bookkeeper that they work with based on their low hourly fee. They often do this, because they think that their accountant is far more important, and can catch any errors their bookkeeper makes. However, the reason why this is a poor strategy is that while accountants are able to fix bookkeeping mistakes, bookkeepers actually provide business owners interim financial statements, that they should be using throughout the year, in order to help guide their business decisions.
For example, if entrepreneurs need to know if they have enough money to purchase the necessary asset in their business, they should be consulting their balance sheet and income statement. If they need to hire staff, the issue raises, pay themselves, or even find out if they should be cutting expenses, or generating new revenue, all of the information exists by looking at the balance sheets in the income statement. If a business owner is only waiting until there fiscal year-end in order to see if those decisions were good ones, business owners could be making poor financial decisions in their business and not even be aware of it until their year-end. Or, they end up not making those decisions, and negatively impact their business by either stalling growth, or not being proactive enough.
Hiring the best Edmonton bookkeeping service possible, business owners can ensure that they have the up-to-date balance sheet and income statements, and can easily and confidently make those decisions, that can help them not only avoid running out of money, but help them grow a strong and stable business. Because of the importance of these interim financial statements, business owners need to hire the right Edmonton bookkeeping service that will provide those statements on a regular basis. By asking potential bookkeepers how often they are going to be sending out those interim financial statements, a business owner can decide if that is the bookkeeper that is right for their business.
When hiring Edmonton bookkeeping services for their business, business owners should understand that quality of service is far more important than price, because bookkeepers can help entrepreneurs either avoid financial problems or grow their business.