Recently a fellow bookkeeper was asked what she does for a living to which she replied bookkeeping. The person then said, “Oh good, because I don’t like the way my cookbooks look with my children’s books.”
That isn’t exactly what bookkeeping is. 🙂
I’ve gotten the question of what is bookkeeping or what do bookkeepers do that’s different from accounting. It’s not exactly clear like a butcher, a baker, or candlestick maker. Especially since it has the word “book” in it, but we don’t really use books anymore. So, what do I do?
I am the watchdog of your finances, the master organizer of your transactions, your personal financial analyst. You have goals to reach, a business to grow, and that’s where I help. Let me share an example.
John is a residential and commercial painter whose business has been growing since he started three years ago. When summer comes around he’s super busy, giving out several estimates a week as well as closing on several more. He coordinates with his contractors to paint those houses/commercial buildings and makes sure they all go smoothly. In all of the craziness, he has no time to sit down and do his bookkeeping, so it gets left behind, month after month.
Then when the end of the year rolls around, his business slows down and he has to bootstrap to get through the last months. He sits down to see how much he made this year and what his expenses look like, but this information is either hanging out in the “Bank Feed” in his Quickbooks Online or it was put in wrong, and the accounts aren’t reconciling correctly. John isn’t able to tell if he made a profit this year or if he ran his business to the ground with expenses. He also has no idea if he has the funds to get through winter, or if he’ll be able to cover a surprise expense if it comes up.
Let’s flip this around.
John comes in at the beginning of summer, when he realizes that he just can’t keep up with his bookkeeping. We get him onboarded, I get all set up with his accounts and I get started by making sure his books are organized and everything is in its place, cleaning up anything that’s out of place.
Once I have a good handle on his books, I can track to see what kind of services bring him the most income during the summer vs. winter. I start to see patterns in income and expenses and notice if anything might seem off or wrong. In our monthly video meetings, I go over my findings and give him tips for what he can focus on for better results. If he decides to commit to a marketing video to give his company the boost he needs but he’s worried about the large investment, we can sit down together and see what other expenses can be reduced or even put off until a better time. We can work on a budgeting plan for the slower months so that he doesn’t keep racking up overdraft fees. Since we are meeting every month to go over his financial statements, this allows him to see where he’s at, and where he can go in his business.
So hiring a bookkeeper isn’t just to cover the financial “data entry” for your business . As an expert in my field, I know what information you need to grow your business and I can help with budgeting, cash flow management, and even job costing. I’m here to help my clients scale their business in the most sustainable way.
