5 Benefits of Outsourcing your Bookkeeping

When you’re running a business, the finance side of things is often the one area that falls down the list of priorities as dealing with your accounts can be scary, even when things are going well! A good way of ensuring that you always have current financial knowledge, without taking your time away from what you do best, is to outsource your bookkeeping.

There are many benefits of outsourcing, here are my top 5:

Flexibility

You want to have the best people supporting your business, but what if the volume of work means that this isn’t a full role? It’s unlikely that you’ll find all the expertise your business needs in one person, and outsourcing means that you can bring in the expertise you need, when you need it. You may only need a few hours of support a month, but being able to call on additional help when you need it can be invaluable.

Expertise

Don’t know your payables from your receivables, or your accruals from your prepayments? Outsourcing your bookkeeping means that you don’t need to! Bookkeeping is about a lot more than just keeping track of receipts and many of us have undertaken rigorous qualifications to learn our trade. A lot of us are also members of professional bodies (for example the International Association of Bookkeepers, the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, and the Association of Accounting Technicians), all of which require their members to undertake ongoing professional development, so you know that you are working with someone who keeps their knowledge up-to-date.

Cost

Outsourcing means that you don’t have the costs associated with employing someone, such as pension or National Insurance, nor are you responsible for their ongoing training or biscuit habit. If you’re currently performing several roles within the business, what is the cost of your time and could this be better spent elsewhere? On top of this, the fees you pay to your freelance bookkeeper are also deductible for tax purposes…win-win!

Improve decision making

If you only look at how your business is performing when you come to complete your self assessment once a year, how do you know you’re making the best decisions throughout the year? Basing decision making on sound financial information is key to a successful business, and requires knowing exactly where you’re spending money each month.

Free up time

You’ll often hear the phrase “work on your business, not in it”, meaning that your time is better dedicated to tasks that will grow your business, such as product development or working on a market strategy. Outsourcing the tasks that don’t need to be done by you frees up your time for areas that require your expertise, or even just those that you enjoy more (don’t worry, I won’t be upset that you don’t enjoy the bookkeeping side as much as I do!)

If you’re interested in learning how outsourcing can work for your business, get in touch for a no-obligation chat.