Do You Need a Bookkeeper Even if You Have QuickBooks? (2024)

March 24, 2023

As a small business owner, controlling your expenses is crucial. Particularly when your business is young, it’s extremely important to make sure that you aren’t accruing unnecessary expenses that are cutting into your revenues. So, many small business owners try to keep their accounting expenses low by refusing to hire a bookkeeper to help them with QuickBooks, believing that the software alone is enough to allow them to effectively manage their books. However, doing so may actually be costing your business more than it’s saving.

The fact of the matter is that most small business owners have little if any experience with bookkeeping, meaning that they’re going to be more prone to making mistakes when keeping their own books. These mistakes can be very costly as they could lead to you missing out on deductions, spending lots of unnecessary time and possibly even getting audited.

Bookkeepers play a vital role in the success of a business, but very few people understand exactly what they do or the amount of value that they provide. In this article, we’re going to cover the basic role of a bookkeeper and why hiring a bookkeeper is generally a better decision than trying to manage your finances with QuickBooks alone.

What Does A Bookkeeper Do?

The role of a bookkeeper is wide and diverse; however, in a broad sense, their job consists of helping businesses and other organizations keep their finances in order. They’re often involved in managing account ledgers, recording transactions, and generating and interpreting financial statements.

The responsibilities of a bookkeeper will depend on the specific needs of your business.. For instance, a retail business might need to consistently order inventory and restock when needed. In this case, the bookkeeper would collect the receipt after you’ve received your inventory, enter the transaction into a general ledger, and file the record of that transaction into a financial database (such as QuickBooks).

To illustrate further, let’s say that you have a plumbing company that collects payment after the job has been completed in full, meaning you often have a large accounts receivable balance. In this case, your bookkeeper may be involved in generating invoices, collecting payments, entering transactions into a general ledger, and recording any paid invoices.

In both of the previous examples, mismanagement could lead to serious problems. If you don’t manage your inventory properly, it could lead to an unwanted surplus or missed sales opportunities. If you don’t manage your accounts receivable, you might forget to collect your hard-earned money or request money twice for the same job, possibly putting a strain on your client relationship.

Why You Need a Bookkeeper (Even if You Have QuickBooks)

Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking that a QuickBooks subscription is all they need to effectively manage their finances even if they have zero experience with bookkeeping. However, this decision could be costing you thousands of dollars.

Let’s take a look at a few of the many reasons why you should still hire a bookkeeper even if you have QuickBooks.

1. QuickBooks Tech Support Is Not a Bookkeeper

First and foremost, a lot of not-so-savvy small business owners believe that they can avoid paying for an experienced bookkeeper by troubleshooting their bookkeeping needs through the QuickBooks support team. But, this is far from the truth. The QuickBooks support team is composed of individuals who know the QuickBooks program inside and out; however, when it comes to proper bookkeeping practices and the way that money flows through a business, these people aren’t much more knowledgeable than your average person.

Yes, chatting or calling a QuickBooks support team member can help you learn how to navigate the QuickBooks program and correct any technical issues, it’s no replacement for a bookkeeper who’s going to understand the ins and outs of your business and help you streamline your finances.

For instance, a QuickBooks support team member might be able to tell you where to input your business’s expenses into the program but they’re not going to monitor your transactions and tell you if your expense reporting is accurate (as a bookkeeper would). This is a very serious issue because improper expense reporting could lead to your business being audited, which can be time-consuming and costly.

If you are not in a position to hire a bookkeeper, hiring someone who understands accounting to help you navigate the software can be an invaluable resource.

2. Bookkeepers Can Offer Suggestions

As a business owner, you’re responsible for seeing your business from all angles at once. You need to be on top of your marketing strategy, managing any employees that you might have, making sure your finances are in order, and so much more. So, having a human bookkeeper by your side that can hone in on your finances and make suggestions for your business based on financial data is a huge asset.

QuickBooks does generate financial data for you but, unlike a bookkeeper, it can’t interpret that data based on years of industry experience and make suggestions to help your business flourish. A good bookkeeper may make recommendations on how to find more investors, which risky moves are worth making and which aren’t, and other businesses that you may want to consider partnering with. These are benefits that you won’t find even with QuickBooks’s premium products.

3. Bookkeepers May File Your City/State Excise and Sales Taxes for You

Tax season is just about the most dreaded time of the year, especially if you’re a small business owner. Filing your taxes on your own can take hours upon hours and there’s always the lingering fear that you’re doing something wrong, which could lead to you paying more taxes than you need to or, even worse, getting audited. On top of that, tax laws change nearly every year, and keeping up with those changes on your own is nearly impossible.

Bookkeepers can offer a much-needed helping hand during tax season, making sure that you’ve filed all of your tax forms correctly, that you’re receiving all of the deductions you’re entitled to, and that you won’t come under scrutiny from your local tax agency.

Attempting to do your taxes entirely on your own could take up a ton of your time and could result in you missing out on certain deductions. By hiring a professional to file your taxes, you can save yourself a ton of time and rest assured knowing that you’ll receive all of the deductions you're entitled to.

4. Delegate Some Responsibilities

Of course, as a small business owner, you’re trying to cut back on expenses wherever possible. But, a smart business owner knows that delegating responsibility can sometimes be the best move. Why spend endless hours trying to learn how to manage your own accounting through QuickBooks when you can hire an expert who will do all of your accounting for you and offer invaluable suggestions on how to improve your business?

There are a ton of things that go into running a business. And, by hiring a bookkeeper and outsourcing the accounting facet of your business, you’ll free up more time to focus on other aspects. Plus, you might actually get some sleep for once.

The Bottom Line

While some small business owners believe that they can cut back on expenses by managing their own finances through QuickBooks, this decision may be costing them thousands of dollars. Since most small business owners aren’t experienced in bookkeeping, they could be spending countless unnecessary hours trying to manage their books, missing out on valuable tax deductions, and possibly even making mistakes that could lead to an IRS audit. These are all things that can be avoided by hiring a bookkeeper.

QuickBooks is a great asset for business owners but, if you don’t have a bookkeeper to help you, then you probably aren’t unlocking QuickBooks’s full potential. Plus, bookkeepers provide benefits that computer programs can’t, such as offering real-world advice on how to better manage your business.

BIO:

"Rachel Barnett has been a QuickBooks user since 1995 and has been a QuickBooks ProAdvisor since 2012. Her passion is to provide behind-the-scenes support for other professionals. She started Gentle Frog to support businesses that employed an in-house bookkeeper or owners who chose the DIY route for their bookkeeping. She also enjoys actively participating in the QuickSource accounting community and she volunteers regularly to teach Introduction to QuickBooks Online workshops for the Greater Seattle SCORE office."