When you’re starting a business, there are so many things to think about. You’re trying to get your business set up, find customers, provide your services, manage expenses, and keep everything moving.
Then there’s bookkeeping.
You may look at your QuickBooks account and think, “I can do this myself.”
And honestly, you can.
But the bigger question is: Should you?
As someone who has been doing bookkeeping, I’ve learned that bookkeeping is about much more than entering transactions into QuickBooks. It’s about keeping your financial information clean and organized, knowing what your numbers are telling you, and noticing when something doesn’t look right.
I also believe bookkeeping should be part of building a successful business from the very beginning, not something you wait to deal with when your books have become a mess.
When Doing Your Own Bookkeeping May Make Sense
If you’re just getting started and have very few transactions, doing your own bookkeeping may seem like the easiest option.
You may have a small number of expenses, only a few accounts, and plenty of time to learn how QuickBooks Online works.
If that’s your situation, you may be able to handle some of the basics yourself.
But remember: knowing how to enter a transaction isn’t necessarily the same as knowing how to categorize it.
That’s where things can start getting complicated.
The Problem With “I’ll Just Do It Myself”
One of the biggest things I’ve seen is business owners putting transactions into QuickBooks without really knowing where they belong.
Some of the common problems include:
- Transactions being left uncategorized
- Expenses being categorized incorrectly
- Bank accounts not being reconciled
- Personal and business expenses being mixed
- Personal checking accounts being added to QuickBooks
- Transactions piling up because bookkeeping keeps getting pushed aside
- Business owners not understanding what their financial reports are actually telling them
At first, these things may not seem like a big deal.
But small bookkeeping problems can build on each other.
Before you know it, you can have months of transactions thrown together, accounts that don’t reconcile, and financial reports you don’t feel confident looking at.
One of the Biggest Problems I See: Mixing Personal and Business Money
One thing I pay close attention to is when personal and business finances are mixed.
Sometimes a business owner will use a personal account for a business expense. Other times, they may connect a personal checking account to QuickBooks Online without realizing the problems that can be created.
This can make it much harder to keep the books clean and organized.
It can also make it difficult to look at your business finances and clearly understand what is actually happening with the business.
Keeping business and personal finances separate from the beginning can make bookkeeping much easier to manage.
What Happens When the Books Become a Mess?
This is where I believe having a bookkeeper can make a big difference.
I’ve worked with situations where the books are a mess, and the transactions are all thrown together. When that happens, I don’t want to simply start changing things without understanding what happened.
I talk to the client.
I need to understand their business, ask questions, and find out what those transactions actually represent before deciding how they should be handled.
That communication is important because every business is different.
You can’t always look at a transaction and automatically know what it is for.
When Should You Hire a Bookkeeper?
My personal opinion is that you should consider getting a bookkeeper as soon as you’re getting your business together to open.
I know that may sound early.
You may be thinking, “I don’t have enough transactions to need a bookkeeper yet.”
But I look at it differently.
Why wait until your books are messy to get help?
Getting your bookkeeping set up correctly from the beginning can help you avoid having to go back later and figure out what happened.
A bookkeeper can help you establish good habits from the start, keep your accounts organized, and make sure your bookkeeping system makes sense for your business.
What Can a Bookkeeper Do That You May Not Be Doing Yourself?
A good bookkeeper should be doing more than entering transactions.
One of the things I believe makes a good bookkeeper valuable is being able to look at the numbers and notice when something is off.
You should also be able to ask your bookkeeper questions and have them explain the numbers to you.
You shouldn’t have to look at a report and wonder, “What does this even mean?”
Your bookkeeper should be able to help you understand what you’re looking at.
Bookkeeping Is Part of Running a Successful Business
I strongly believe bookkeeping is part of running a successful business.
Your books can give you information about what is happening financially in your business.
If your books are inaccurate or disorganized, it becomes much harder to understand what is really going on.
Clean and organized books can give you a better picture of your business and help you make decisions based on real financial information.
That’s why I don’t see bookkeeping as something you only worry about when tax time comes around.
Your books matter throughout the entire year.
What I Help Business Owners With
My focus is helping business owners get their bookkeeping cleaned up, caught up, reconciled, and organized.
Some of the areas I help with include:
- Catch-up bookkeeping
- QuickBooks Online cleanup
- Bank transaction categorization
- Account reconciliations
- Setting up QuickBooks Online for clients
- Keeping financial records clean and organized
Sometimes a business owner doesn’t need someone to completely take over everything forever.
Sometimes they simply need someone to come in, clean things up, get everything organized, and help them get back on track.
You Get Me, Not a Team of People
Another thing that makes my bookkeeping business different is that I am the person you work with.
I’m the only one in my business.
That means when you work with me, you get 100% of me.
You’re not telling your story to one person, then having to explain everything again to someone else who works on your account.
I get to know you, your business, and what is happening with your books.
That personal relationship matters to me.
My Personal Connection to Money
My view of money comes from something I learned when I was young.
My mother struggled financially and worked three jobs at one point to provide for us. She was always saving money, and watching her work so hard taught me from an early age that money is important.
It taught me to pay attention to money and not take it for granted.
That is one reason bookkeeping means more to me than simply working with numbers.
Behind every transaction is a business owner who worked for that money. I want to help business owners understand where their money is going and keep their financial records organized so they don’t have to feel lost when they look at their books.
So, Should You Hire a Bookkeeper or Do It Yourself?
The answer depends on your business, your time, and your comfort level with bookkeeping.
If you have a very small business with very few transactions and you genuinely understand bookkeeping, you may be able to handle it yourself.
But if you’re struggling to keep up, unsure how to categorize transactions, mixing personal and business expenses, not reconciling your accounts, or looking at QuickBooks and not understanding what your numbers are telling you, it may be time to get help.
And personally, I don’t think you have to wait until your books are a disaster.
Getting your bookkeeping set up correctly when you’re starting your business can help you build better financial habits from the beginning.
The Goal Is Relief
At the end of the day, what I want for my clients is simple: relief.
Relief from having transactions piling up.
Relief from wondering if something was categorized incorrectly.
Relief from looking at QuickBooks and not knowing what you’re seeing.
Relief from having to spend your valuable time trying to figure out your books when you could be focusing on your business.
Bookkeeping doesn’t have to be something you dread.
Whether you do it yourself or hire a bookkeeper, the important thing is that your books are accurate, organized, and help you understand your business.
And if doing your bookkeeping has become another thing on your never-ending to-do list, it may be time to ask yourself a different question:
Not “Can I do my own bookkeeping?” but “Is doing it myself the best use of my time and the best choice for my business?”