Take Control of Your Spending and Debt - Hire a Bookkeeper
When I started offering bookkeeping services, I found that some people, in fact, many people, don’t like to deal with their finances whether personal or business. They know they should be watching their finances, but either don’t like to work with numbers, don’t want to take the time to deal with it or don’t want to face any bad news.
I’ve kept books for friends as well as businesses and since I enjoy working with numbers and putting things in order, it’s something I enjoy doing. It’s not hard and I enjoy the challenges of digging out the information and returning everything to the clients in good order. They end up knowing what they have in the bank and can even see a monthly income and expense report.
Some of the things I do for individuals who don’t have the time or inclination to deal with books on a daily basis is 1) to reconcile their bank accounts, 2) update their registers to show a current balance, 3) enter all the transactions into a QuickBooks company and 4) organize all statements, receipts, deposit slips, etc in folders by month. At the end of the year I provide a printed report for tax purposes.
All the client has to do is write every check in the register. The same with deposits. Adding the date and check number is even more helpful. I have paid some clients’ bills, but most times they prefer to keep the checkbook and pay them themselves. A monthly report of income and expenses gives a client a good picture of where the money is going each month. It can show you where the debt is coming from and how large it is. Hopefully from there you can come to some decisions about debt or spending and make some appropriate changes.
A bookkeeper can’t fix the problems, but he/she can give you a picture of where you stand financially, especially if everything right now is in a cardboard box. I charge $15-$20 per hour with the highest cost coming when I start organizing and setting up the books. Once that’s done, it shouldn’t take much time each month to reconcile. You may want to take that over yourself once everything is set up, or you may want your bookkeeper to set you up on Quicken so you can do it yourself with easy-to-use software.
Burying your head in the sand won’t solve financial problems. A bookkeeper can get you sorted out, take care of as much business as you want and keep you on track. The information you get can help you make some sound financial decisions without spending a lot of money to see a professional financial advisor.
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