Bad bookkeeping can catch up with you in a number of unpleasant and unforeseen ways. For some businesses, it may be that you don’t notice employee theft or financial losses in one segment of the company, while for others, poor bookkeeping may mask the fact that the company is failing. In some cases, bad bookkeeping can lead to audits from the IRS and even financial or legal penalties.  The bottom line? While hiring a novice bookkeeper may save you a bit of money initially, it almost always costs you more in the long run.

Even when hiring a bad bookkeeper doesn’t cost you in fees or penalties, it still costs your business money. Eventually, either you or someone you hire will need to go back through your accounts and figure out where money was coming in and going out. If you do it yourself, you are looking at lost time that could be spent performing other tasks, while hiring someone is a direct financial expense that is best avoided when possible. Because there are so many risks when you are looking to find a bookkeeper, it is important that you make sure you have hired someone who really knows what they are doing and who will take the time to do it right.

Hiring an experienced bookkeeper helps you make sure that things are getting done the right way. It keeps your invoices going out on time, avoids costly payroll mistakes, enables you to track labor, and creates that all important paper trail so that you have everything you need at your fingertips in the unlikely event of an audit.  A good bookkeeper also helps to reduce your chances of being audited in the first place.

If you are trying to find a bookkeeper, the do it yourself approach might not be the best.  Instead, put your trust in GoodAccountants to help you find a bookkeeper in your area who can do the job properly. Getting the right bookkeeper is about more than finding the best rate, it is about finding the person who is the most qualified and will do the best job- something we specialize in!