Benefits Of Hiring A Bookkeeping Virtual Assistant

Are you having trouble with your accounts? Is your in-house accounting team unable to handle the strain? In that case, a virtual assistant bookkeeper is your best option!

Whatever the size of your business, you need an efficient and detail-oriented bookkeeper. However, doing it yourself isn’t an option with all the other work you have to focus on. In such situations, hiring outside help to sort out your accounts is the easiest way to manage.

Before you find yourself unable to keep the books and start losing business, it’s time to get that extra help.

In this post, you will find all you need to know about virtual assistant bookkeeping services and how much they will benefit you!

Who Are Virtual Bookkeeping Assistants?

Keeping the books, managing the accounts, tallying the numbers – whatever you want to call it – is an important job. Virtual bookkeeping services do all that and more for you!

They are independent contractors that work remotely. Usually, they’re associated with a bigger agency that deals with virtual assistants or are self-employed.

These contractors work for you, but outside of your office’s workforce. So, there’s no taxes, employee benefits, or anything of the sort that comes along with them!

Not just that, they’re also extremely affordable! Since they don’t require extra space, fees, or bonuses of any kind, the payment you make at the beginning for their services is all you’ll need.

There are a ton of companies with different price ranges, service options, and more that can provide you with the best virtual bookkeeping assistant for your business needs.

What Are the Other Options?

A bookkeeping virtual assistant isn’t the only option on the market. If you need to get your numbers tallied, there are three other options:

Hire an Accountant

Accountants are specialized professionals who handle a company’s finances. They do only your company’s finances and bookkeeping.

However, accountants are usually not an option for small businesses due to the cost of hiring one. Large businesses usually hire accountants to work in-house and handle only their accounts, but this won’t be cost-effective for a small business.

Accounting Software

Accounting software makes the process of bookkeeping easier in theory. Most accountants and virtual bookkeeping assistants tend to use such applications to accurately and efficiently manage the accounts.

However, accounting software also requires specialized knowledge – much like accountants and virtual bookkeepers have. So, even if you have all the software, it’s of no use unless you learn to use it.

Do It Yourself

Lastly, you could do the bookkeeping yourself!

However, if you’re trying to run a business and manage your accounts simultaneously, you’ll see the quality of work in both areas go down.

There are multiple parts of a business you’ll need to keep an eye on and actively manage. If you include accounting on your plate of responsibilities, there are bound to be problems with the quality of work.

Bookkeeping requires a lot of detail-oriented focus, which you won’t have if you’re also managing the rest of the business!

What Do Bookkeeping Virtual Assistants Do?

The work of a bookkeeping assistant – even virtual ones – is pretty straightforward. Their main role is to manage the various financial aspects of the company.

If they do their job, then things like payments and taxes take place on time. It leaves the business owner to focus on more important aspects of the company.

However, what are these different financial aspects? Let’s take a look!

Documentation

When it comes to bookkeeping, there’s nothing more vital than the documentation that comes with it.

Online bookkeeping services will help you with tasks such as:

• Preparing balance sheets
• Creating ledgers
• Organizing financial statements
• Employee reimbursements
• Pricing and invoicing
• Data entry
• Bank reconciliation processes

As with in-house staff, a virtual assistant will let you know of any changes that can be made to improve profit margins.

Accounting

While the names are different, bookkeepers can do an accountants’ work! The best online bookkeeping services will include:

• Budgeting
• Inventory
• Cash flow projections
• Year-end accounting
• Record keeping
• Accounting procedures
• Overhauling existing accounting systems

Financial

While bookkeeping has to mainly do with finance, there are different financial services that a virtual bookkeeping company will offer you.

• Financial management
• Account servicing
• Petty Cash Management
• Sales and Purchase Order Management
• Revenue and Expenditure Management
• Business Plan Developments
• Account Reconciliation

Payroll

While virtual bookkeepers pay your bills and manage your employee invoices, they’ll also do all the processing for payroll payments. These services include:

• Spreadsheets
• Reports
• Maintenance of Spreadsheets
• Data Sorting

Taxation

Any business owner hates tax season. If you don’t know how to calculate your taxes either, then you can end up paying extra. A virtual assistant bookkeeper that is trained in tax preparation can calculate your taxes and keep you updated!

All in all, a virtual bookkeeping assistant manages every aspect of your company’s finances to make sure there are no mistakes. Every bill, employee, and tax is paid on time.

Benefits of Online Bookkeeping Services

While the role of a virtual assistant bookkeeper can tell you the benefits already, there’s no harm in reiterating certain points. So, here are the ten main benefits of hiring a virtual bookkeeping assistant!

Cost-Effective

The biggest advantage of hiring a virtual assistant is the cost. It can be understood as a two-fold saving!

 1. You’re only paying for the work you need

Since you’re hiring by the hour, any work that you need to be done (big or small), you’ll only need to pay the virtual bookkeeper for the hours that you’ve hired them. So, there’s no slacking off or late reports.

Everything is done as and when you require it

 2. They work remotely

Since they’re not an employee that you have on contract, you’re not obligated to pay those extra taxes, splurge on benefits, provide space and office supplies, and more.

You would have to with a full-time employee, which makes them less cost-effective.

Especially if you’re a growing company, you’ll benefit from online bookkeeping services for small businesses.

Updated Payments

Suppose you’ve been chronically running late on payments and dues. In that case, giving your bookkeeper access to invoices can fix this problem. They will take care of creditors, suppliers, insurance payments, and more.

As they check and organize invoices, they can also help the flow of business.

Organized Financial Records

Having organized financial records is the key to a successful business. To organize financial records, a company needs to maintain them.

A bookkeeping virtual assistant will not only maintain any financial records your company requires (invoices, purchase receipts, account information, insurance details, etc.) but organize them in easy-to-understand labels.

Such information can help businesses track cost efficiency, leading to better business decisions for the future.

Tax Preparation

The IRS is offering no extensions on tax payments. It’s also a huge task to calculate your taxes and ensure that the payments go through on time. Moreover, it’s worse if you’re not sure how to calculate your taxes at all!

In such cases, a bookkeeper can manage tax filings and taxable accounts, ensure that you’re updated on the amount payable, and file your returns on time.

Legal Concerns

It’s hard to keep track of the ever-changing tax laws, rules, and regulations. Business owners usually have no time to brush up on the finer print of these laws and regulations, getting them into massive trouble.

With a bookkeeper on hand, you won’t have to worry about keeping track. Instead, they will inform you about the latest in reforms. It is part of their job to keep track, so they’re better equipped to read the fine print and relay it to you.

End of the Year Accounts

End-of-the-year accounts require an incredible amount of detail-focused attention. It is also more efficient when done by somebody who has taken care of the account for longer.

A virtual bookkeeper assistant would prepare the reports, reconcile the numbers, and fix any errors in the software. Such focus and detail-oriented thinking lead to fewer losses for you and a more accurate business picture!

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

There are three main reports that help you fully understand a company’s financial standing: the cash flow statement, income statement, and cash disbursement schedule. These three reports can be created and maintained by a virtual bookkeeper.

Monitored

Suppose you’re hiring a virtual bookkeeper through an agency. In that case, there will be a project manager to ensure that everything is going smoothly. It means that you won’t have to constantly check in and ask for updates, progress reports, and more.

A project manager will overlook the entire account and send you reports as and when required. It also ensures that there are no errors in your books.

Income Sources

As a business grows, so does its clientele. It’s often easier and ideal to maintain each client as a separate profit center. It helps measure the individual performance of the client and how much value they add to the business.

Organizing and maintaining these different client accounts is difficult and cumbersome. A virtual bookkeeper will know of different software that can easily track these transactions for an easier experience.

More Time for You

While there are tons of other advantages to a virtual bookkeeper, by far the most important one is how much time they leave for you. When a business owner, such as yourself, doesn’t have to deal with bookkeeping, they’re left with more time to deal with other parts of the business.

As a business owner, this extra burden off your shoulders isn’t just good for the other parts of the business you can focus on. It’s also a better decision since a virtual assistant bookkeeper is more equipped to handle the accounts and will have more time to give to it!

How to Hire a Virtual Assistant Bookkeeper?

Virtual assistant bookkeepers are either self-employed or aligned with an agency. For the most part, you’ll find independent bookkeepers online. Here are some methods to find a good virtual assistant bookkeeper.

• Freelancer Platforms: Since virtual bookkeepers are generally self-employed, your best bet is freelancer platforms.
• Agencies: Some agencies deal in virtual bookkeeping services where you can hire an assistant and project manager.
• LinkedIn: Platforms such as LinkedIn can help you connect with professionals that are self-employed virtual assistant bookkeepers.

What to Look for in a Virtual Assistant Bookkeeper

Not all virtual bookkeeping assistants are created the same, so it’s up to you to choose the right one. Here are a few factors to consider:

Industry-Specific Experience

Bookkeeping isn’t the same for every single industry all over the world. The bookkeeper or agency, you choose must be experienced in your particular niche. They will also need to be familiar with your country and its laws.

Tech Savvy

There are different accounting software and bookkeeping software such as Quickbooks virtual bookkeeper. Any bookkeeper you choose will need to be intimately familiar with such technology.

It’s even better if they’re up-to-date with the latest technology in the field of bookkeeping!

Availability

A virtual bookkeeping assistant cannot have too many clients on their roster at once. Not only will they never be available for a meeting, but the kind of attention your company accounts are going to get will be minimal.

When choosing a virtual bookkeeper, pick one that can address your requirements and works with your schedule as well. You’ll have to give them information about your schedule, but it’s worth it to make prior appointments.

Qualifications

Qualifications don’t necessarily mean a specific college degree. However, any virtual bookkeeper you have will need to be extremely skilled. Not only will they need to know how to use the latest technology, but they will also need to understand complex data.

Trustworthy

Doing a quick background check or social media check of the person you’re planning to hire never hurts. After all, this is the person that is going to be handling sensitive financial information.

So, making sure the person you’re looking to hire has a good track record is essential. You can do this by reading testimonials, asking fellow professionals in your industry, or talking to previous or existing clients of the bookkeeper.

Who Requires Such Services?

Small businesses usually hire virtual bookkeeping assistants, so there are many online accounting and bookkeeping services for small businesses. However, these are the people who should be using such services.

Whether you’re choosing a freelancer or agency, online accounting services for small businesses will help the company grow better and bigger!

Endnotes

When running a business, you’re always going to need that extra help to keep things running smoothly. Having a virtual bookkeeping assistant is another way to easily delegate a part of the work.

Financial work is incredibly important and requires full focus to get exactly right. With virtual assistant bookkeeping, you have someone who has the experience, skill, knowledge, and time to provide your accounts the attention they require to get right.

Hiring virtual bookkeeping services, especially for a small business, is a great business decision. So, when are you hiring yours?