Small business owners have a tendency to micromanage. And a reluctance to delegate tasks to others. After all, the business is their child. They envisioned it, they stood it on its feet, and they are responsible for its growth and proper functioning.
This is the right mindset – if you plan to burn out. A burned out person makes mistakes. A burned out person loses the flame of passion that started the whole enterprise in the first place.
Some mistakes are more detrimental than others. A mistake made while filing tax returns can, at best, result in paying more than you have to. At worst, it can bring an IRS auditor knocking at your door.
Hiring a capable, reliable, and honest accountant is easier now more than ever. We’re talking, of course, about a virtual bookkeeper.
Virtual bookkeeper? What do you mean?
Before diving into the benefits a virtual accountant can bring you, let’s first answer the question: What is virtual bookkeeping?
A virtual bookkeeper is a person you hire to keep your books remotely over the internet rather than in person. They use specialized, cloud-based software that ensures high accuracy, transparency, and speed of financial data flow.
The pandemic has reshaped our understanding of how to run a business. Lockdowns have proven that remote work is a viable way to conduct day-to-day processes.
Hiring a virtual bookkeeper can have an immensely positive impact on you and your business.
Read on to find out why you should use one.
Hiring is easier
Keeping an open job post costs money. The interview process can drag out and yield non-optimal results.
Applicants often don’t have the required expertise or training. They require extensive, time and effort consuming onboarding that will delay proper bookkeeping even more.
Reaching out to a virtual staffing company bypasses these obstacles. Their employees are trained, experienced, and ready to jump in at any time.
Get an accountant that’s right for you
After an initial interview, a virtual staffing company will most likely request to see your books and inspect your current business processes.
Virtual staffing companies usually keep a roster of well trained, honed in, and specialized accountants. After the initial assessment, they will suggest accountants that will fit your business like a glove.
A virtual accountant will adhere to your schedule, have training and experience in running books for a business in your particular industry, and onboard in the smallest possible time frame. You just have to make sure to work closely with the virtual staffing company to ensure the accountant assigned to you is just right for your needs.
Pay by the hour
Keeping a full-time, in-house accountant means paying them a full salary and benefits.
You can obtain the same level of expertise, diligence, and commitment by hiring a virtual bookkeeper but pay by the hour of effective work.
Cloud backup
Cloud-based bookkeeping software is commonplace for all virtual accountants. Routine, automated backups of financial data are a major benefit to this approach. These are just some of the perks accountant software grants you and your business.
This type of software also allows you to sector financial data into distinct subsets. That way, you can control the amount and type of information your virtual bookkeeper has access to.
Reliable reporting and information access
A virtual bookkeeper only has one job – maintaining and processing your financial data. They don’t get distracted by other tasks and duties. Hiring one means that you’ll never have to wait for another report again.
Small business owners often do these reports themselves. Why waste valuable time and mental energy on these mundane and repetitive tasks? Virtual accountants specialize in routine financial tasks, like monthly payroll reporting.
Transparency and availability
Every bit of data your virtual bookkeeper processes is logged in the cloud-based software, resulting in absolute transparency of your financial information.
Having access to complete, up to date logs at the drop of a hat means much less downtime and stress. You will always know exactly what’s happening to your money with a virtual accountant.
Honest financial advice
An accountant’s advice should not be taken lightly. They have unique insights into the cash flow of a business.
An in-house bookkeeper can sometimes be too protective of his job. Rather than honestly reporting and giving sound financial advice, they can dish platitudes and further harm your business.
Virtual accountants will always give their honest, objective opinion of your business finances. You are not their job giver. The staffing company is.
Are virtual assistants secure?
They are arguably more secure than traditional bookkeepers and not by a small margin.
Seeing as though most of their business is conducted over the world wide web, virtual staffing companies go to great lengths to protect the data they manage.
They usually achieve a much higher level of encryption for the information they manage than you could ever aspire to on your own network.
Their backups are more frequent and better protected from ransomware.
Finally, and most importantly, their staff usually goes through a higher degree of data and internet safety training than you would afford your own employees.
As long as you choose a company with a good reputation and standing, your financial data is more secure in their hands and in yours.
Delegate before your business start suffering
A business owner must wear many hats. That’s beyond question. He’s the driving force behind each and every aspect of his project.
Sooner or later, though, a human being gets overwhelmed by the myriad of tasks and duties that running a business incurs. That’s where things start crumbling.
A tired, overworked person, with their mind on ten different things, inevitably makes mistakes. A single miscalculation can land you in huge trouble.
Apart from risking a mistake, the additional workload steals energy from the thing that is most important – the passion that made you start your business in the first place.
Hiring a virtual bookkeeper takes a huge part of the load off. Outsource before you burn out.