In 2020, there were 6 million private sector start up businesses in the UK.
That's 6 Million people who have been brave enough to take the leap and start their own business because they believe they have a product or service that's in demand and that's 6 Million people who will now be keeping accounts and records of their business transactions.
Most of these new business owners will start out doing their own accounts, be it a spreadsheet that they keep track of their purchases and sales on or an accountancy package such as Xero for example, but there will come a time when they wish to grow their business and not want to be bogged down with the paperwork, and this is where a bookkeeper can help.
Instead of having the expense and legal obligations of hiring a member of staff, small businesses wishing to grow can benefit immensely from hiring a freelance bookkeeper for a day or two a week.
Spending several hours doing accounts that would take a bookkeeper in lesser time (say 30 -45 minutes) just doesn’t make sense.
A Bookkeeper brings with them the skill set and knowledge to help get the accounts in order and upto date. They can also provide services such as managing the payment runs, Submitting VAT returns and even chasing your aged debtors!
In turn, all of this this means you have a more accurate idea of the business finances and can then make informed decisions, which help you grow the business.
They can make life a lot easier when preparing your books for the accountant!
They can also help you with setting up your finance team when your business is at the point that you are growing and ready to hire a full time employee.. infact, we love it when you get to that stage as it means that we've successfully done our job of supporting you and helping your business grow.
You may ask why I need a bookkeeper when I have an accountant?
Well, aside from the fact that the bookkeeper will charge you a lot less than your accountant for their services, the skills that they offer differ.
An accountant analyzes the financial condition of your business and offer strategic advice and solutions. He/she works on the key financial documents, such as a profit-and-loss statement and files the tax obligations of the company (if needed).
Your bookkeeper looks after
the day-to-day tasks such as keeping your purchase ledger and sales ledger update, posting your monthly journal postings, managing your payment runs, processing payroll and preparing your VAT Returns for the accountant.
In short, for a business that is wishing to grow, a bookkeeper is a sensible option!