How Bookkeepers Can Make a Difference

November 4th, 2013 saw the start of the first National Bookkeeping Week. It sparked a discussion of how the bookkeeping can make or mar a business. Done well, it can help you to grow and blossom. Done badly, it can cause your downfall.

The most important thing a good bookkeeper can do is to help you keep tabs on your cash flow and warn you if it’s not looking too good. One of the main reasons for poor cash flow is not receiving payments from your customers at the right time. And if you don’t get your invoices out, you can’t expect the payments to come in.

Timely Invoicing

If you have outsourced bookkeepers who do your invoicing, you know the invoices will all be prepared and sent out as soon as possible, as long as you pass on the details of sales or work completed. They won’t be able to invoice what they don’t know about, so if that sometimes happens, you probably need a ten minute chat to devise a fail-safe procedure for getting the information to them.

Credit Checking

Getting new business is great – provided you can expect to be paid for it. If you’d like to do business with another company, it makes sense to check its credit rating before making a commitment. But that takes time you may not have. It’s another job your bookkeepers could do for you.

Payment Chasing

If payments don’t arrive on time, the first step will probably be a statement sent out as a reminder, which can be a routine activity performed by your bookkeepers. When you don’t get a response even after that, you probably need to follow up with a phone call. If you have to do it yourself, you might have to put it off for days or even weeks before the right moment arrives. A note about it could easily be buried and forgotten under a pile of other reminders of things you have to do.

If you have your outsourced bookkeepers on side, you don’t have to worry about this. They could make calls for you, just passing back to you anything which needs a decision only you can make. And they can jog your memory to make sure the really important calls are not forgotten.

Giving you Peace of Mind

When all these important aspects are taken care of, your cash flow will be as good as it can get. There will be money to make your own payments on time, and keep suppliers and the tax man happy. Your bookkeepers will also make sure that you also have accurate financial records always at your fingertips. You can get on with running your business and keeping your customers happy.

Regular Bulletins

Sign up to our regular Office Assistants newsletter and get special offers and discounts.

Sign up

Investors in PeopleThe Institute of Certified Bookkeepers

Company's Practice Number: 4635

This website uses cookies as outlined in the cookies policy
Accept