Do You Need a bookkeeper? Well, do you? Since I run a bookkeeping business, my answer naturally will be, "Yes, you absolutely need one!" But that question shouldn't come from me. It really needs to come from you—the business owner, the entrepreneur, the person currently wearing way too many hats. As a business owner, you should be asking yourself:
- Am I completely overwhelmed?
- Do I actually know what my bottom line looks like?
- Do I even know what my true business expenses are?
And now, on top of everything else, you are expected to navigate your way around somewhat complicated bookkeeping software like QuickBooks Online (QBO). You are stuck trying to figure out bank feeds, matching transactions, dropped transactions, yup dropped, not there, gone, and then hoping you don't accidentally delete important data. Meanwhile, the mountain of paperwork—er, um, questions—keeps growing. Have the T4s been prepared by the deadline? Oh, and wait—what about T4As (the forgotten T4), T5018s, and T5s? When is my GST due, and which expenses are GST exempt? When are my personal or corporate taxes due? What about PST—how do I know if I must charge that on my sales? What about WorkSafe/Workers' Compensation? Then that CRA audit letter arrives in the mail, and you're thinking, "What must I do with this, for crying out loud?!" Do you see my point? If that isn't enough, you still must worry about accounting rules. What is a chart of accounts? Do I know the difference between an asset and an expense? What about my liabilities? Then there is inventory! And I think someone told me I have leasehold improvements... say what?! At the end of the day, the biggest question is always: Have I made any money? The Reality Check There are about fifteen questions up there (I lost count). If you can answer all of them successfully, then hey, I’ll hire you to work for me! Jokes aside, there is a lot going on in any size of business. You must advertise, find customers, source products, and keep those clients happy. On top of all that, you still want to have a personal life and have some fun too. You started your business to do what you love, not to fight with QBO transaction downloads and their AI categorizations which aren't always accurate. Let a professional handle the numbers so you can get back to growing your business and fit in some fun at the same time!