Outsourcing refers to the practice of hiring outside help to complete specific business tasks, like bookkeeping, marketing, IT support and customer services. One sector where outsourcing is common is bookkeeping, with many business owners hiring professionally trained and qualified bookkeepers to do this job for them.
This can be very beneficial, especially for small businesses, since it allows them to devote more time to important tasks that they actually have the knowledge and skills to complete. It also means business owners can be sure their accounts are being managed accurately. Ultimately, outsourcing to professionals can save a lot of stress and time, which makes it a great option.
Read on to find out more about all the benefits of outsourcing your bookkeeping.
Saves time and money
Running a small business isn’t easy, especially if you’re doing it alone or with a small team. There are endless tasks that need to be carried out each day and you need to ensure that everything is done to the highest standard. It’s for this reason that outsourcing your bookkeeping can be so useful.
Firstly, if you hire a qualified bookkeeper who is also a registered BAS Agent to take care of the task, you are saving a lot of your own time as company finances are often complicated, especially if you have no experience in this area. It’s also more cost-effective from a business standpoint as you’re only paying for the services you need, rather than hiring a permanent staff member and covering the wages, office supplies, computer and workspace they require.
Allows you to tap into expert accountants and bookkeepers
One of the biggest benefits of outsourcing your bookkeeping as a small business is that it means you can enjoy the expertise of experienced professionals with local GST, payroll and tax knowledge. For an affordable fee, you get to work with a skilled professional who already has the tools, training and skills to ensure your accounts are kept accurately. You aren’t required to provide them with training or resources like you would be if you hired someone permanently.
Furthermore, if you choose to outsource to a bookkeeping company, then there will often be a whole group of BAS Agents and bookkeepers working together, sharing their expertise and insight with each other, which will only benefit your business in the long term.
You get better reporting and expert advice
When you outsource your bookkeeping, you’re more likely to get tailored advice and valuable reporting from a bookkeeper who has already worked with businesses like yours. A great bookkeeper will always be happy to help you find ways to make your processes more efficient, allowing you to reap the benefits of their experience and knowledge. For example, if a particular accounting software works well for one of their other clients, they might suggest the same to you.
It improves your services and efficiency
When you work with an outsourced bookkeeper, part of their role is to ensure that your bills are paid when they should be and that all your invoices are issued on time. This means you can rely on them to keep your business running smoothly and efficiently. Having somebody in charge of this can provide you with a lot of peace of mind, saving you from having to make time in your own day to handle these tasks.
There can be steep charges if you’re late filing your BAS, super or STP (Single Touch Payroll), which is another duty your bookkeeper can ensure is completed on time. As well as saving you money and stress, you’re freeing up more time to spend on your services, improving the customer experience for your clients and boosting your reputation.
You can scale easily
Whether your company grows rapidly, or you decide to scale your product offering down, the good news about outsourced bookkeeping is that you can scale these services to match your exact needs.
For example, if your business operations were to grow to the point where there was too much work for one bookkeeper, the company you outsource could simply assign some of this work to other staff. But if you were handling all your accounting in-house instead, scaling these services up would require a large financial commitment from you, both in terms of the recruitment process as well as paying an additional salary.
Helps in tax seasons
Maybe you don’t know how payroll or GST works or you simply don’t have the time to complete all your obligations. Either way, failing to lodge your BAS, Super or STP on time can come with hefty penalties. Not only will you be required to pay all the GST you owe, but there will be late lodgement penalties and interest too, which increases the longer you do not lodge. By outsourcing your bookkeeping, you can be sure that your statutory requirements will be completed and filed by the deadline, helping you avoid any negative repercussions, which could be very harmful to the future of your business.
When you should hire a bookkeeper
There are a few signs that mean it’s time for you to hire a bookkeeper. If you start to notice that your books are not up to date or that it’s taking up a lot of your time trying to maintain these records, it’s probably a good idea to outsource your bookkeeping and BAS lodgement needs. Furthermore, if you’re struggling to keep on top of your company finances and can’t get your head around all the different responsibilities you have, then hiring a bookkeeper is definitely a good idea.
Overall, outsourcing a bookkeeper comes with very few downsides, especially for a small or growing business. The size of your business is definitely an important factor in whether outsourcing is worthwhile, but you should also look at the complexity of your company, any budget constraints you have and the availability of internal resources before you make your decision.
However, as you can see from all the benefits listed above, outsourcing is a great option if you want to put time and money back into your business. If you have a startup or are growing your company, you will benefit from being able to scale your bookkeeping processes to fit your changing needs, which, in turn, will help you improve the services that you offer to your own clients.
With all of these advantages, it seems like outsourcing is the best way forward, so contact our team today at Numble to learn more.
