4 Signs that you do not value a bookkeeper as a small business owner

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Sign 1

Asking for a discount when you have the ability to pay or telling the bookkeeper their rates are too high when they aren’t

Most of us really appreciate a discount every now and then. Some bookkeepers are willing to negotiate. However, do you believe this is right to ask for a discount when you have the ability to pay the asking price and the service offer a lot of value?

Telling a bookkeeper that the rates are too high is really a way of saying “what you offer is not worth it”. There is great effort that goes into learning accounting and bookkeeping. It is not easy and it not for everyone. Business and finance are respectable trades. Everyone deserves to be compensated for their expertise, regardless of the profession they hold and how fast they work. How would you feel if you were treated this way?

Tips:

1. Wait for the bookkeeper to mention a discount or promotion first.
2. Share your budget and wait to see if the bookkeeper can work with it. Let them know that you value the services being offered.
3. Educate yourself on the effort that goes into learning accounting and bookkeeping. This can help you see the value in recordkeeping and appreciate all that happens behind the scenes.

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Sign 2

Not Providing Necessary Resources And Documents

• It is your decision if you choose not to grant your bookkeeper user access to certain tools or software (like financial platforms and your bank) However, to neglect to send your bookkeeper the requested document(s) from these platforms prevents him/her from doing the agreed upon task effectively. This is not showing that you appreciate your bookkeeper.
• Not providing accurate or timely information, surely causes the bookkeeper to fall behind on maintaining your books. This does not show that you value your bookkeeper.

Tips:

1. If you trust your bookkeeper, then grant them “Read only” access to your bank statements. Doing this replaces you fetching and sending the statements into the bookkeeper every month.
2. Add your bookkeeper as a user to the software’s you use in your business that they may need to gather information from. (Only if you trust them)
3. Try to be diligent in business and respond back to your bookkeeper in a timely manner or have someone respond on your behalf if you are busy or another reason.

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Sign 3

Belittling or Minimizing Their Role

• Making comments that undervalue the bookkeeper’s work, such as referring to bookkeeping as “just data entry” or implying it’s a low-skill task. (Shared)
• Ignoring the complexity of bookkeeping by treating it as unimportant or something that anyone can do without proper training. (Shared)

Tips:

1. Doing bookkeeping is not for everyone. It requires patience, honesty, precision, a good eye to catch errors, information retention, organizational skills, mathematical proficiency, integrity, problem-solving abilities and etc.
2. Consider being open minded

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Sign 4

Micromanaging or Withholding Trust

• Constantly questioning the bookkeeper’s decisions (when they are correct) or double-checking their work unnecessarily can imply that you do not trust the bookkeeper’s skills or the bookkeeper as a person. If you truly do not trust anyone to handle your books except you, then perhaps DIY bookkeeping is a better option for you when it comes to handling your business’s finances.
• Refusing to delegate key responsibilities, such as reconciliation or reporting, to the bookkeeper and instead trying to handle everything personally is not fair to the bookkeeper.
  • If you always seem to want to take matters into your own hands, DIY (do it yourself) bookkeeping may be a better fit for you than hiring a bookkeeper. If you hire someone, you have to let go of control and trust that they will handle things correctly.

Side note: According to the IRS, we are not allowed to control what an independent contractor can do.

Tip:

1. When you hire an independent contractor or freelance bookkeeper, according to the IRS, you should not treat them as your employee by telling them how to do things.
2. There are many resources out there that support businesses who desire to do their own bookkeeping for their business.

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