How to hire a bookkeeper for your small business is on everyone's mind. David Niu, an angel investor in 23 successful ventures, gave us three tips every small busienss owner should know:
- Hire local
- Know the difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA
- The best bookkeeping tech platform to use.
1) Find a bookkeeper who is local.
“[Businesses and bookkeepers] want to have quick and easy communication and discussion. It's just much easier to meet physically once a month to facilitate the dropoff versus mailing or scanning.”
• Many bookkeeping services provide remote, online access and communication. Bookkeeping services are often outsoutced this way, but even though it may be cheaper, it's not optimal.
• David recommends trying to stay as local as you can because there’s a lot of setup around accounts. There's also no substitute for meeting face to face.
2) Bookkeeper vs. CPA
“Some people want a bookkeeper who is a CPA so that it is all centralized. I'm more flexible on that and keep both functions separate.”
•For David’s businesses, he chooses to hire a bookkeeper who is not a Certified Public Accountant.
•This is an area where he adopted a low-cost solution (reflected in his bookkeeper’s low fees) because he prefers to hire an accounting firm to keep him in check.
3) What Tech Platform to Use
“This is something very important to talk over with the bookeeper. For example, Quickbooks for Mac or PC? Even though I use a Mac, I still have a PC because that's what my bookkeeper prefers to use.”
• Quickbooks is the go-to for many startups, but smooth integration and consistency should be considered.
•You and your future bookkeeper need to be on the same page regarding hardware, software, and ease-of-access for sharing information.
We thank David for his thoughts on how to hire a bookkeeper and what to consider when you do. Feel free to comment. We'd love to hear from you.
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