Thursday, August 19, 2010

Thinking to outsource bookkeeping? Take care of these aspects

 The decision to outsource bookkeeping is in the best interest of your business as it saves a lot in costs. When you outsource bookkeeping, you ensure that your books are being taken care of by an expert, so that you can finally focus totally on business activities. However, outsourcing bookkeeping services to the right firm is of utmost importance if you want to reap benefits of outsourcing. You need to check the credentials of the bookkeeping firm properly to ensure that its bookkeeping services suit your requirements perfectly. Be sure to check for the following aspects when you outsource bookkeeping:

Is the bookkeeping firm experienced?
Experience of the firm you outsource bookkeeping to is the most important factor. You need to ask relevant questions to the bookkeeping firm and know about the experience it has. This will give you an idea of whether it will be able to fulfill your business requirements or not. If possible, get references of past clients you can speak to, so you can know the quality of outsourced bookkeeping of the firm in question. There are also some industry-specific companies for outsourcing bookkeeping services that you can inquire about.

Are the bookkeepers qualified?
Your decision to outsource bookkeeping is made on the assumption that your books will be taken care of well. For that to happen, the bookkeeping firm needs to have expert bookkeeping professionals on their payroll. While inquiring about a specific firm for outsourcing bookkeeping services, check about the kind of professionals working there. An experienced bookkeeper working on your books will ensure that your finances will be well maintained and updated at all times.

Which services will be included? Is there enough flexibility?
Is the outsourced bookkeeping package you are availing flexible enough for your business? Your bookkeeping firm may provide services like payable management, accounts receivable management, bank reconciliations, inventory management, recording and reconciling payroll transactions, revenue reconciliation with bank deposits etc. Most firms are also offering flexible services to suit business requirements today, so you need to check the details and determine if you can scale your requirements up or down at any time. Once you ensure that the package is flexible enough, you can go ahead and outsource bookkeeping to that firm.

Is it within your bookkeeping budget?
By outsourcing bookkeeping services, you can save from 40 to 50% in costs; that is the most important objective when you outsource bookkeeping. But you still need to make the most of the package the bookkeeping firm offers you. Have a budget in mind so that you can save the most from your bookkeeping package. You would do well to also negotiate with other bookkeeping firms so that you know the best rate being offered.

The decision to outsource bookkeeping will help your business only if you select the right firm to partner with. So while outsourcing bookkeeping services, take note of the above-mentioned points to ensure you hire the right bookkeeping firm.