In-house vs Contractor
There may come a point in your business where you believe that it is costing too much to pay a contract bookkeeper and you will hire an 'all-rounder' for the office. This 'all-rounder' will do the book-work and many other tasks, and you will be able to pay them less.
This might sound like a great idea, but is it really?
Of course I'm going to say it's not, but here are my reasons why.
Qualifications
Will your all-rounder be qualified in bookkeeping? A professional bookkeeper will have.
Registrations
A BAS Agent must be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board, who hold them accountable.
Membership to a Professional Association
As professional bookkeepers and BAS Agents we must hold membership of a professional association. The benefits of this include:
Regular conferences to update us on changes in legislation
Regular correspondence and webinar also to update us in changes to legislation
Access to support groups and lines to assist with knowledge gaps, or just general bookkeeping queries
Continuing Professional Development
Our Tax Practitioners Board registration and professional associations require us to complete continuing professional development each year, so we are always on top of changes and progress in the industry.
You don't know, what you don't know
An all-rounder may think they have it covered, but how do you know they really do? Are they following best practice bookkeeping procedures? Are they correctly allocating GST, or splitting GST when necessary? Do they know where to locate information if required?
Speed and Efficiency
Will and all-rounder ever be as quick and efficient as a professional bookkeeper whose sole responsibility is to look after the books? We have had years of training and this is all we do. We are specialists.
Accounting Fees and finances
If you have a great accountant, they may pick up on bookkeeping errors made by an all-rounder when they come to prepare your tax return. But, the cost of fixing up these errors may be huge, as may the cost of not realising your financial reports were not correct all along!
So it may seem like an effective solution to hire an all-rounder to do a multitude of tasks, including the bookkeeping. But will it really save you money and help your business grow in the long run?