As a business owner, you know that you need to do your bookkeeping.
It’s important for your taxes. But it’s also important for your business. It’s how you gauge your progress in your business.
But bookkeeping is just a whole boatload of frustrations for the busy business owner.
Here are several of the frustrations that I’ve come into with my clients:
Frustration #1: Time
There really is only so much time in a day.
Bookkeeping isn’t something that actually makes you more money, or at least that’s what you see on the surface.
But since there are so many other tasks in your business that can actually make you money, you focus on those instead. And your bookkeeping just keeps getting pushed further and further to the bottom of the to do list.
When you don’t have the knowledge and ability to do your bookkeeping efficiently, it usually will take you quite a bit of time to get your bookkeeping done. And that is time that is so much more precious to be used somewhere else.
So if you were able to hire a bookkeeper who can this frustration off your hand and give you back the time it takes you to do your bookkeeping, what else would you do with that time?
What would you do if you actually knew how to spend just a few minutes reading the reports that are provided by your bookkeeper to be able to keep growing your business?
Frustration #2: Bookkeepers and Accountants are Expensive
They can be.
Accountants are definitely more expensive than a bookkeeper. And when you have a competent bookkeeper working with you, your accountant is much less expensive.
But if you wait until the end of the year to just give all of your documents to your accountant without having any bookkeeping done, your accountant is going to be super expensive, as they have to do your bookkeeping first before they can even start on your tax return.
Frustration #3: I don’t know if I’m doing it right
This is one of the biggest frustrations I hear on an almost daily basis.
There really is so much to know about taxes and bookkeeping and knowing whether you are doing things correctly.
Are you going to throw up some sort of flag that brings the IRS to your door?
And since you really have no idea if you are doing your bookkeeping correctly, you just avoid doing altogether.
Frustration #4: I can’t find a professional who understands online business
“I’ve spoken to all of my local accountants and none of them understand online business.”
There are a lot of professionals out there who are not up on the times of running an online business. They don’t understand why you have so many expenses related to a website, or stock photos or how PayPal or Stripe works, or the fact that you collect money from clients all over the world, not just locally.
With more and more businesses running online, many of the professionals have yet to learn the things they need to know to be able to help online business owners.
This is also a major cause of frustration for the online business owner because where are you going to find the professional who really can help you with your money stuff and taxes so that you are doing things correctly?
Do your research, and when you are looking to hire a bookkeeper and/or accountant, make sure they understand online business.
Frustration #5: I don’t know how to read or prepare the financial reports, so I only use the amount of money in my bank account for decisions
Yes bookkeeping and the reports can be confusing, especially when you really don’t know how to read the reports.
But these reports can actually help you make better decisions in your business.
Plus, the balance in your bank account isn’t always accurate. What about those recurring payments that are coming up (that you forgot about)? What about any other payments, like paying yourself, paying your contractors, that are coming up?
When you don’t have regular bookkeeping reports that you can review, you will conveniently forget about these payments coming up.
Overcoming Bookkeeping Frustrations
One of the best ways to overcome your bookkeeping frustrations would be to find a bookkeeper who works with you and your business.
Do your research before you actually pull the plug and hire someone for your team. Make sure that person actually understands your business, not just online business, but your business.
Take the time to learn how to use your financial reports. If you have to hire someone to teach you how to do this, then so be it. But it’s important that you know how to read these reports and be able to use them in your business.
