7 Services You Didn't Know Bookkeepers Offer
Fact or fiction: your bookkeeper only files your taxes and hounds you for your receipts.
Fiction!
Bookkeepers are so much more than just the guy that bothers you about your tax forms.
Bookkeepers handle a wide variety of tasks for their clientele. Some of the services they provide may surprise you.
I’ve put together a list of some of the services you didn’t know bookkeepers offer.
1. Budgeting
Your service-based business should have a budget in place. But if you haven’t gotten that far yet, a bookkeeper can offer you great support.
A budget can both identify trends in your finances, but also forecast how your organization will perform in the future.
Your bookkeeper is the number one resource for budgeting as they already have a deep understanding of your business’s finances. A bookkeeper can help you do the following budgeting tasks:
Identify your expenses
Predict your future revenues
Create analysis reports that show how well you are sticking to your budget goals
2. Goal Creation
You’re a savvy entrepreneur with big goals, right? But maybe you are having some trouble breaking those big ideas into small, actionable steps.
Here’s where your bookkeeper comes in.
They can help guide you to making your goals a reality by offering financial insight. Whether you need to know which specific key performance indicators to track or general ideas on how to take your business to the next level, your bookkeeper can support you by building strategic business goals.
Another great perk of working with a bookkeeper is that they work with you for multiple periods. Because of this, they can also help keep you on task to ensure you are reaching your goal milestones.
3. Debt Management
Tackling your debts can be very overwhelming. But one of the lesser-known services bookkeepers offer is debt management.
Bookkeepers are trained financial advisors. As such, they usually have a lot of experience organizing and negotiating debt. You may need help from them in the following ways:
Restructuring a debt contract
Advice on how and when to borrow
Loan application support
Further, a bookkeeper knows your financial situation better than anyone else. They can find sustainable ways to ensure your debt is managed while keeping your business afloat.
4. Collections
Lots of service-based business entrepreneurs are missing out on a ton of cash because they have outstanding accounts receivables.
Let’s face it - you’d much rather be focused on your next big service launch than chasing down Gary who didn’t pay you three months ago.
Bookkeepers can help take that task off your plate. They can help you implement automated reminders for past due AR invoices and arrange debt collection services for the really past due clients.
5. Job Costing
Another one of the services you didn't know bookkeepers offer? Job costing!
But what even is that?
Job costing is a bookkeeping method to track all of the expenses related to a project or product.
Say you are a fitness coach who is launching a new ebook product on glute-focused workouts. Here are some of the costs you may already know that go into that ebook:
The photographer you hired to take pics of the workouts
The designer you hired to create the ebook’s graphics
The Canva subscription you bought to put it all together
But here are some of the costs you might not have thought of:
Your time developing the content
Your time writing all the chapters
Website hosting for your ebook’s landing page on your business site
A bookkeeper can collect all of these costs and help you understand exactly what your profit margin is on your products. This can help you make better business decisions when making new products.
6. App Integration
You probably have 1,000 apps for all of your business needs: email, texting clients, payroll, billing, point of sale. The list goes on.
One service a bookkeeper can provide is app integration throughout all of your platforms. There are tech platform providers specifically made to organize all of your apps in one place. A bookkeeper can manage the integration process so all you have to do is login and have full access to everything.
You also may be paying for a monthly app subscription that you don’t need. Your bookkeeper can audit your tech list and let you know which ones to axe.
7. Honest Support
You’re a busy entrepreneur with a service-based business that may be doing it all on your own. Your friends and family can only understand so much of your daily plight because they don’t really know the ins and outs of your business.
Easily one of the best services a bookkeeper can provide is support.
Whether you need a sounding board or a pep talk, your bookkeeper can be a go-to person who understands your business and can offer valuable advice. If you’re struggling to land new clients and maxed out from a sudden boom in sales, your bookkeeper is right there with you.
I hope this article gave you some insight into some services you didn't know bookkeepers offer. To learn more about how I can be your support, schedule a call today.
