Latest / Your Money, Your Rules | Financial Mastery, Wealth Mindset, Leadership Principles, Intuitive Decision-Making, Human Design / 105 | 5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Bookkeeper (and Avoid Costly Mistakes)
Transcript
- 0:00Erin Gray: On today's podcast, we're going to be talking about hiring a bookkeeper, specifically, the five essential questions I think you need to be asking before bringing someone onto your team.
- 0:10Erin Gray: Whether you're hiring your first bookkeeper or you're looking to switch to someone new.
- 0:14Erin Gray: These questions are going to help you be able to find the right fit for you.
- 0:17Erin Gray: Do you want to create a system to stop avoiding your money?
- 0:20Erin Gray: Maybe you're feeling guilt and shame when it comes to finances.
- 0:24Erin Gray: Welcome to your Money, your Rules.
- 0:26Erin Gray: I'm Erin, a former certified financial planner and CFO, and yet I used to avoid my money and had fear, no matter how much we had.
- 0:35Erin Gray: I can't wait to teach you how I overcame my money avoidance and started consistently managing my finances in a really simple way.
- 0:42Erin Gray: It's time to get comfortable with money.
- 0:44Erin Gray: Before we dive into this week's episode, I want to invite you to join me for a one-on-one master your money coaching session.
- 0:52Erin Gray: During this hour, we'll work together to create a tailored plan that helps you align your finances with your unique goals, energy and mindset.
- 1:00Erin Gray: If you're ready to transform your relationship with money and create the freedom and abundance you deserve, head over to my website, generatealifewelllivedcom and schedule your session.
- 1:11Erin Gray: So let's talk all things bookkeeper.
- 1:12Erin Gray: To be completely transparent, I still do my own books.
- 1:16Erin Gray: I learned the hard way with QuickBooks on what's called QuickBooks Enterprise.
- 1:21Erin Gray: It's a desktop edition which is for construction, and it might be some of the toughest software to understand.
- 1:30Erin Gray: And yet, because I always love to talk about how we learn through obstacles, I am so grateful that I learned on some of the hard stuff, because now I'm able to look at clients' reports in such a minimal amount of time, because I spent 10 years doing it in my family's construction business.
- 1:47Erin Gray: I mean, I can only imagine the overwhelm that some of you might be feeling trying to learn the language of QuickBooks or trying to read reports, and so I want to dive into.
- 2:00Erin Gray: You know a bookkeeper isn't just someone like that tracks your numbers to.
- 2:06Erin Gray: You know a bookkeeper isn't just someone like that tracks your numbers.
- 2:07Erin Gray: There's someone that you're going to trust with your financial data and someone who's going to help you.
- 2:12Erin Gray: I view everyone on your team as someone that's helping you get to where you want to go, and so asking the right questions upfront, I think, is going to save you so many headaches later.
- 2:27Erin Gray: And this might sound like I'm talking out of both sides of my ass, so bear with me here.
- 2:32Erin Gray: On the one hand, I totally think that you should know how to do QuickBooks and how QuickBooks works, because the more you know, the better you're able to converse with your bookkeeper and your CPA Like you're speaking the same language're able to converse with your bookkeeper and your CPA Like you're speaking the same language as them.
- 2:51Erin Gray: And then, on the flip side of that, I also get that it's like a foreign language and that spending time learning it can feel very overwhelming and cumbersome.
- 2:56Erin Gray: So, for those of you that feel this way, I just want you to ponder taking some courses, watching some YouTube videos, asking your local you can even ask your local SBA community.
- 3:07Erin Gray: They typically have classes at a lower cost that you can pay for Um, or you can even pay your bookkeeper for some upper level training.
- 3:16Erin Gray: I know that when I was trying to understand in Texas, we have something that's called franchise tax, which is above and beyond federal taxes or state taxes, and when I came into the business, I thought when I started diving into franchise tax, I thought that we were totally overpaying which we were and so I really started diving in to it.
- 3:38Erin Gray: I taught a lot of it myself, but then I would pay the CPA for advice or clarity or understanding or you know, to answer my questions so I could really start to understand how this works, so we could get a handle on it, and it ended up saving, like I don't know, 50 plus I don't know how much thousands of dollars.
- 3:59Erin Gray: That I saved by understanding how it worked, because it wasn't being done, even though the CPA was doing the taxes for us right, like the data that we give them also matters, and so the way that the data was being presented wasn't done in the correct fashion.
- 4:14Erin Gray: So I say that to say you can pay for advice in order to increase your you know, knowledge and expertise, because it's been my experience.
- 4:25Erin Gray: What we don't know and then when we outsource, that can end up costing us more than we originally imagined in time and money.
- 4:33Erin Gray: Because when we aren't aware of the time involved for that other person and they're just telling us it takes X, y, z time, but we haven't done it ourselves, how do we know that?
- 4:43Erin Gray: That's true.
- 4:44Erin Gray: So if a bookkeeper quotes you you know, I'm just using numbers $200 for additional reports, and you haven't ever pulled those reports before.
- 4:53Erin Gray: You don't know if that number is high or low.
- 4:55Erin Gray: Yes, you can ask your business besties and colleagues, but when you've done it yourself, you know the time involved, and I always want to say that.
- 5:05Erin Gray: Make sure you understand that I am an advocate for paying for support.
- 5:10Erin Gray: I'm not saying do it yourself, and I'm also saying you have to know things when you outsource them.
- 5:16Erin Gray: If you're unsure of what to ask when hiring a bookkeeper, here are, I think, the five really good questions to ask them.
- 5:23Erin Gray: Number one what experience do you have working with businesses like mine?
- 5:27Erin Gray: This is the same question that I talked about on the CPA podcast.
- 5:31Erin Gray: Like what would you ask your CPA?
- 5:33Erin Gray: Because every business is different and definitely, I believe, brick and mortar businesses are different than online businesses.
- 5:39Erin Gray: So most of my clients have online businesses and I've noticed that most accounting software is more for brick and mortar businesses.
- 5:47Erin Gray: So you want to make sure that your bookkeeper understands the online business space, because if they don't, they may be like, well, that can't be counted for, or why are you doing that?
- 5:58Erin Gray: So you really want them to make sure that they work with online businesses.
- 6:02Erin Gray: If you are an online business, every industry has different financial needs, so you want a bookkeeper who understands the specific challenges and cashflow patterns of your type of business.
- 6:13Erin Gray: Number two is what software do they use and do they have experience with the one that you're using?
- 6:20Erin Gray: If you already use QuickBooks I know Xero is another one or maybe another platform just make sure that they're familiar with it.
- 6:27Erin Gray: I've seen some people use FreshBooks.
- 6:31Erin Gray: I'm not familiar with that.
- 6:32Erin Gray: Like I said, I grew up on.
- 6:34Erin Gray: You know over the last what 15 years I've been using QuickBooks.
- 6:38Erin Gray: I know it.
- 6:39Erin Gray: I'm not gonna learn a different software system.
- 6:41Erin Gray: Most accountants want and, like you know, quickbooks reports, so that's what I've decided to keep with.
- 6:50Erin Gray: So just make sure that they're going to use the same one as your accountant.
- 6:55Erin Gray: Or, if they don't ask your accountant, are you okay with that?
- 6:59Erin Gray: Because the last thing that you want to do is have software that the bookkeeper uses and then the accountant might charge extra because the systems maybe isn't either easily transferable to them or they're not as familiar with it or looking at that.
- 7:18Erin Gray: So I always ask the CPA like, what is the software program that they use?
- 7:22Erin Gray: And most of the times it's QuickBooks.
- 7:24Erin Gray: So just making sure and most bookkeepers use QuickBooks, but just making sure that you're kind of all on the same page.
- 7:32Erin Gray: Number three is how often will we communicate and what reports are you going to provide?
- 7:36Erin Gray: You know some bookkeepers do monthly reports.
- 7:39Erin Gray: Some offer weekly updates.
- 7:41Erin Gray: Some I have heard through the grapevine of other bookkeepers that I've worked with don't do monthly reports.
- 7:48Erin Gray: And if that's someone that you're interviewing, I would say run, because at a minimum you want monthly reports so you can see where you are.
- 7:56Erin Gray: Clarity comes with your numbers and in real time you know if you are pulling reports for three months ago, that's, that's long gone, right.
- 8:05Erin Gray: So clarify what kind of insights you're going to get and how accessible that they will be.
- 8:09Erin Gray: Are you going to get just a P and L and a balance sheet?
- 8:12Erin Gray: Are you going to get an AR and AP report?
- 8:14Erin Gray: What are the reports that they're willing to give so you have a clear picture of where you stand financially?
- 8:23Erin Gray: Number four is what's included in your services and what would be an additional cost.
- 8:27Erin Gray: Some bookkeepers only track expenses.
- 8:30Erin Gray: Others will help with the invoicing, payroll If you're at that stage tax prep just making sure you know what's covered, so there are no surprises.
- 8:39Erin Gray: You know, does the bookkeeper talk to your accountant for you or are you the go between?
- 8:46Erin Gray: And I do think you need to be involved in both but like, what exactly is their role?
- 8:51Erin Gray: So you're very crystal clear.
- 8:52Erin Gray: Most bookkeepers already have.
- 8:53Erin Gray: You know they have a contract.
- 8:53Erin Gray: But like, what exactly is their role?
- 8:53Erin Gray: So you're very crystal clear.
- 8:53Erin Gray: Most bookkeepers already have.
- 8:54Erin Gray: You know they have a contract, but just making sure that's very clearly spelt out when you hire someone.
- 9:02Erin Gray: And then the fifth one is how do you ensure accuracy and security with your financial data?
- 9:06Erin Gray: Your bookkeeper is going to have access to your sensitive financial information.
- 9:12Erin Gray: So ask them how are they going to protect your data and what systems do they have in place to prevent errors?
- 9:18Erin Gray: And I have a bonus one for you.
- 9:21Erin Gray: Number six is how often do they go on vacation and who takes care of you when they're gone?
- 9:26Erin Gray: So if they are someone who likes to travel a lot and they are out, what happens if you have questions?
- 9:34Erin Gray: How are you going to get ahold of them?
- 9:35Erin Gray: Do they have backup team members?
- 9:37Erin Gray: Are they big enough where they kind of have a firm, or is it just a one man, you know, one woman show?
- 9:42Erin Gray: Like, what is their process for when they aren't working?
- 9:49Erin Gray: Okay, so to recap, six ones I would think about and ask what experience do they have working with businesses like yours and get them to start talking and just to share with you.
- 9:59Erin Gray: That way you will be.
- 10:01Erin Gray: I think through the sharing you'll be able to create more questions.
- 10:04Erin Gray: Number two what software do they use, and do you have experience with the one that I use?
- 10:09Erin Gray: Number three how often will they communicate and what way will they communicate?
- 10:14Erin Gray: So if they only want to talk via email and they charge extra for phone, okay, what is that cost?
- 10:20Erin Gray: And what reports are they going to provide on a monthly basis that are included in that fee?
- 10:25Erin Gray: Number four is what is included in the services and what would be an additional cost?
- 10:30Erin Gray: Five how do you ensure accuracy and security with financial data?
- 10:35Erin Gray: And then my bonus one is if they go on vacation, who is their backup person?
- 10:39Erin Gray: Who takes care of you when they're gone?
- 10:41Erin Gray: What does that look like?
- 10:43Erin Gray: You know, having the correct bookkeeper for you can make managing your finances so much easier.
- 10:50Erin Gray: Right, and hiring the wrong one can cause a lot of stress.
- 10:54Erin Gray: I've had several bookkeepers friends that have gotten clients from other bookkeepers that said they were doing what they were supposed to do and they weren't.
- 11:00Erin Gray: So just really be very clear, very make them be very transparent as to what you want what you expect, so that you don't find out the hard way, right With time and or money, that you're not getting what you paid for.
- 11:15Erin Gray: So that's what I've got for you today.
- 11:17Erin Gray: If you want more tips on managing your business finances with confidence, being with your money, having more fun with it, I would love for you to join my free Facebook community Money Mindset Tips for Women in Business.
- 11:30Erin Gray: You can join with the link in the show notes or you can just go to Facebook and search Money Mindset Tips for Women in Business.
- 11:38Erin Gray: Okay, thanks for being here.
- 11:40Erin Gray: I'll see you in the next episode.
- 11:41Erin Gray: Did you learn something today?
- 11:43Erin Gray: Do you know another female entrepreneur who might be avoiding her money?
- 11:47Erin Gray: Will you send this episode over to her for me and, if you have it in you, please leave me a review for this podcast.
- 11:55Erin Gray: It helps the show grow and I love hearing from you.
- 11:57Erin Gray: See you next week.