Having a competent bookkeeper could make a difference for you and your business. It can either steer your business towards new heights or spiral it down like a helicopter crash. It doesn’t matter whether your bookkeeper is an accountant who worked for renowned financial organizations or a fresh graduate; they must perform well.
However, for business owners who have a lot on their minds, it’s hard to know whether your bookkeeper is performing well or not. Here are ten signs you need to fire your bookkeeper.
Fail to Provide Helpful Reports
One of the essential roles of a bookkeeper is to provide helpful reports to help to streamline your transactions. An efficient bookkeeper prepares timely reports and doesn’t delay in preparing reports when you ask them; hence, ensuring that your business achieves growth.
Failing to Understand Basic Bookkeeping Terminologies
You can’t have a bookkeeper who’s scrambled in books at the month-end. A good bookkeeper knows how to keep up with the deadlines and meet them consistently. This is a clear indication that your bookkeeper isn’t aware of simple bookkeeping terminologies.
They Keep their Books Hidden
Most of the time, bookkeepers are very secretive about the work they do. This urge of secrecy showcases that they are bad bookkeepers. Since a good bookkeeper will want you to see the progress, they can deliver reports on time.
Passing the blame onto someone else
A good bookkeeper would like things to stay updated and accept their mistakes if they occur. On the other hand, if your bookkeeper is blaming other colleagues for occurring mistakes, then you should get yourself a new bookkeeper asap.
They Don’t Ask Questions
Nobody is perfect! Even if your bookkeeper has two decades of experience, they must ask questions since you never know how transactions vary every month. Moreover, a good bookkeeper also asks questions to understand your business further, to cut costs extensively.
A Constant Hassle
The reason why you hired a bookkeeper is so you can avoid the extra hassle. But, if you have to deal with the mistakes your bookkeeper makes all the time; then, what’s the point of having one? So, a better option is to get a new one!
Lack of Input in Financial Reports
Your bookkeeper needs to provide you feedbacks on your financial reports. If not, feedback should give you some comments through which you can view your business financials.
Unresponsive on Emails
If you’re running your business from elsewhere, you want your bookkeepers to be available for you all the time. Even if you’ve outsourced bookkeeping services, a lack of response to emails can be frustrating and could halt your business outcomes.
Knowledge of both Cash and Accrual
There are many bad bookkeepers out there; but, even some good ones fail to understand the concept between cash and accrual. Your bookkeeper should not only know about both concepts, but they should also know which one to use in what situations.
Lack of Time Management
One of the essential elements which a bad bookkeeper lacks is time management. It is a problem because bookkeeping requires precision; since they usually have to pay invoices and bills. So, having a bookkeeper with no time management skills can make a company hurt – big time.
So, a bookkeeper is mandatory whether you’ve just started in the business world or looking to expand on your business. However, if you’re willing to spend a hefty amount on hiring a bookkeeper, make sure that he doesn’t have the habits mentioned above.
However, you can also outsource your services. Some bookkeepers work with lower charges and have a plethora of experience under their belt as well. On the other hand, hiring an experienced bookkeeper can cost you extra money, which you cannot afford. So, what are you waiting for? Get yourself a bookkeeper right now and make things easier for you and your business!
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