How A Bookkeeping Firm Is Better For Your Business
How A Bookkeeping Firm Is Better For Your Business
Every business needs a bookkeeper. Big or small, your business needs accurate financials to understand how your business is going and where it can improve.
But do you need to employ a bookkeeper?
The answer, surprisingly, is no.
The answer is also not DIY. Tax legislation is incredibly complex, and it’s too easy to code something wrong and miss out on something you’re entitled to.
So, if you don’t need to employ a bookkeeper and you shouldn’t DIY, what should you do?
Hire a bookkeeping firm.
Are you thinking, ‘Surely a bookkeeping firm costs more than one employee?’
It doesn’t.
While it’s nice to have someone on site, working the usual 9 to 5, 5 days a week, you need to weigh up a lot of factors when it comes to employment vs partnering with a bookkeeping firm.
So we weighed them up for you.
No overheads
Employees comes with sick leave, annual leave, superannuation and WorkCover. The same goes for an employed bookkeeper. And those overheads add up quickly.
When you partner with a bookkeeping firm, there are no overheads because there are no employees, which means more money in your business in the long run.
Less tax
What’s one of the biggest pain points when it comes to tax? The amount you have to pay. And if you’re a service-based business, finding ways to minimise your GST payments is a constant struggle.
A good bookkeeping firm will be GST registered (we definitely are), so when you pay them, your GST payable reduces. That’s a great trade off.
Lower risk
If you make a mistake on your tax, you wear the penalty. And those penalties can be hefty.
But if your bookkeeping firm makes a mistake, then they will take the heat. But they need to be BAS registered, otherwise if they’re doing your BAS and IAS, it’s illegal and you will be in much bigger trouble, as will they.
You can check a bookkeeper’s BAS registration by asking for the BAS agent number or searching for it on the TPB Register: https://www.tpb.gov.au/registrations_search
More availability
Ever had a sick employee? Everyone has. And when that person is away, even on leave, sometimes their work stays unfinished because the role is too specialised for anyone else to take it on. That’s your bookkeeper.
Most businesses only have one bookkeeper or someone doing the books. But when it comes to your finances, any time your books aren’t completely up-to-date means you don’t have accurate financial data to make decisions with.
A bookkeeping firm has many bookkeepers, so when your main account manager is away, you’ll never notice they are gone (apart from missing their friendly emails.)
Expert knowledge
Because bookkeeping is the common denominator across all businesses, bookkeepers have to know a lot about the industries they work in, so they can make sure everything is coded correctly, especially GST.
But what’s better than one bookkeeper with a lot of knowledge? More than one.
A bookkeeping firm has many bookkeepers who all have years of knowledge and experience, so you’ll be able to claim for things you didn’t know were worth claiming.
So get the most from your bookkeeping.
Partnering with a bookkeeping firm gives you all the benefits of an onsite bookkeeper, and much more. In fact, as your business grows and your bookkeeping needs change, you won’t need to go hunting for another bookkeeper. You’ll already have them.