Why do you need bookkeeping?  If you’ve filed your taxes, you realize how important and valuable good bookkeeping and having organized records can be.  And although keeping good records does help you prepare your tax returns, it serves an even more valuable purpose in providing you with up-to-date accurate information on how well your business is performing and aiding you in your daily business decisions.  Your books should reflect the reality of your current business financial standing.

Review the checklist below.  Owners of well-managed small businesses should be able to answer “yes” to all of the following questions:

•          Do you know how much money you currently have?

•          Do you know how much money you owe, and to whom?

•          Do you know how much money you are expecting to come in, from whom, and when?

•          Do you know what your expenses are?

•          Are they categorized so that you can easily file your taxes at the end of the year?

•          Can you easily identify financial areas that need improvements?

•          Can you easily pull reports that you need?

If you answered “yes” to all those questions, you are a “savvy” business owner!  Maybe you had a couple of “no’s,” it does not mean that you are not savvy.  All it means is that you have to decide how to get the job done.  You have two options, do it yourself, or hire someone to do it for you.  Actually, three options, because if you decide to hire someone to do it for you, you have to decide whether you want to bring someone in-house or to outsource the work.

How do you make that decision?  Here are some factors to consider:

Cost – how much would it cost to hire someone to do it in-house?  Now a days, employing someone means more than just their salary, there are benefits,  insurance, and tax issues to consider.  A typical full-charge, full-time bookkeeper in Orange County will cost you approximately $ 52,000 per year, including salary, bonuses, social security tax, disability insurance, healthcare, pension, time off (number provided by www.salary.com, as of February 2005).

Office space – hiring someone in-house will mean you have to have the office space for them.

Equipment – having someone in-house may also require you providing them with the tools they need to perform their job, software, computer, etc.

Training – you may have to train the person to perform their job, or you may get someone who is already qualified to do their job, but may need training to fit into your company’s environment or culture.

Multi-tasks needed – you may need someone to do more than just bookkeeping, you need a receptionist/bookkeeper, or deliverer, or whatever it is.  It may benefit you to hire someone to fulfill more than just one responsibility.  But if you only need the bookkeeping done, then that may not be a good option for you.

There may be other factors that can affect your decision, but if you’ve answered “no” to most of the issues presented—do don’t want to pay $52,000 a year for a full time bookkeeper, you don’t have the office space for them, you don’t have the equipment or want to train, or need a multi-tasker--outsourcing your bookkeeping needs may be the better choice.  Of course, the decision is totally yours, but we are here if you would like to explore your options.

The three different levels of bookkeeping services we offer are:

•          Full Charge Bookkeeping – we will handle all day to day transactions such as Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Reconciliations, General Ledger Maintenance, and Financial Statements.    Your responsibility will be to provide us with the data and we will do the rest.

•          Partial Bookkeeping – you choose the area you need assistance, and we fill in the gap.   Your responsibility will be to tell us your needs and provide us with the data.

•          Maintenance Bookkeeping – this is where you are pretty confident in your own work and only need us to audit and maintain accuracy.

We want to help you succeed.  Our fee structure will be based on your business structure--Sole Proprietorship, C-Corp, S-Corp, Partnership, etc.—your income level, and the service level you choose.  Typical fees can range from $100 to $600 per month for small businesses.