As a small business owner, you’re resourceful and take pride in getting things done yourself. When just starting out these are essential characteristics. But as your business grows, so does the ‘to-do’ list with an ever-increasing number of tasks and responsibilities.
Most people go into business because they are great at something – no matter whether it is a trade, professional service, a baker or candlestick maker– very few people go into business because they love paperwork.  While it is possible to learn the basics of bookkeeping your time is best spent on growing the business.
You are likely reading this blog looking for confirmation of something you already know. But before we go further into the signs you need to look out for – let’s first look at why at why you might not have taken that step yet.
After speaking with a lot of business owners, one of the big reasons that they don’t hire a bookkeeper is because they think that they are saving money by doing it themselves. My question to you then becomes … at what cost?
What is the true cost of doing the bookkeeping yourself? How many hours are you working in that function? You probably don’t have enough time as it is because you are working in the operations of your business? Are there things falling through the cracks because as you get bigger or take on more clients, it just means more paperwork. Is it taking up more time in your life than you can actually afford?
Don’t take your time for granted. Time is the only asset you’ve got that cannot be replaced or topped up.
Here’s a little exercise – start tracking how much time you spend on bookkeeping. Then identify how much your time is worth. Using those two numbers, figure out how much you are really spending on bookkeeping now! If you don’t know how much your time is worth, download this little worksheet to help you out.
Or better yet track an entire day – Download the Day In Your Life Worksheet here
Like many small business owners, when you first started out you might have had the time to look after every part of the business. You are probably used to always being the first point of contact – but if you’re getting bogged down in the basics and if you are the one doing everything, then you won’t be able to grow your business in a sustainable way. Worse still, if you stop working – then everything stops.
Despite what you might think, bookkeeping is actually one of the easier functions in business to delegate or outsource.
So let’s look at the 5 signs that it is time that you need a bookkeeper in your business: