Imagine 500 bookkeepers in a room together. They all look up from their streamlined automation software to look at you—their client. Their eyes are swimming with secrets—most importantly—the financial secrets they wish you knew.
5 not-so-secret bookkeeper secrets
Now let’s imagine that these 500 brilliant bookkeepers had the ability to share these insights with you. This is what they would say:
“No, we really don’t need to do house calls.”
Honestly, they really don’t.
These days, virtual bookkeeping services enable accounting professionals to finish tasks without commandeering a desk at your office. With the help of cloud-based technology, automated workflows, and digital accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR), all of your bookkeeping needs can be handled efficiently, accurately, and quickly offsite.
But hey—that doesn’t mean they never want to see you. A quarterly or biannual face-to-face touch-base will suffice! Because scheduling time to gloat about your awesome finances is always a plus.
“Listen to our technology recommendations.”
The State of Bookkeeping survey found that 71% of bookkeepers use one or more cloud-based solutions and almost half say their clients listen to their technology recommendations.
Experienced bookkeepers often have a technology stack they recommend—a combination of solutions that streamline processes without sacrificing security and convenience. It’s likely their set of technologies have been tested to perfection over multiple clients.
To break it down—they know what they’re talking about.
“Double data entry is the true villain.”
No one likes duplicating efforts. Double data entry—typing data from one system into another—invites inaccuracies and steals time. You don’t want to jeopardize the accuracy of financial records. And your bookkeeper doesn’t either. Make sure you integrate your technologies. For example, accounting solutions like QuickBooks Online or Xero should connect to your expense management or business bill payment solution. That way, all information is automatically synced without manual interference—leaving your books squeaky clean.
And remember, if you don’t know how to integrate your accounting solutions, your bookkeeper will.
“Don’t ignore audits.”
It’s easy to lose sight of the basics—like audit trails—until something like an AUDIT actually happens. Adopt a bill payment solution that automatically creates audit trails. It will track every action taken with the system, such as who approved payment, when payment was sent, and even include check images. It keeps everything neat, transparent, and audit-ready.
“Separate your duties.”
Unfortunately, internal theft is a common occurrence in many businesses. Implementing processes such as the separation of duties adds a layer of protection to financial transactions. For example, the person who pays a vendor shouldn't handle bank reconciliation. Or the person that enters a new vendor into your bill payment solution can’t post invoices from that vendor or approve payments to them. This commonsense idea limits fraudulent activities.
“Get in the cloud game.”
It wastes time to hunt through filing cabinets or rifle through papers on someone’s desk just to find a contract or invoice. Even if you store things electronically, that information could be spread across multiple systems or desktops.
Centralize your financial information in one spot like the cloud. That way, when your bookkeeper needs to review a contract or payment history, they can visit one system, quickly find the data they need and finish their tasks. And you’ll benefit as well since the cloud offers extra security such as permissions-based access, encryption, mobility, and more.
And now, please excuse our awesome bookkeepers. They’d like to get back to work.