One Size Fits All is a Myth! Why Businesses Need Custom Bookkeeping Solutions

April 11, 2019/54 Comments/in Business, News /by Lindsay Harle

Everyone wishes they had more time in their day, especially small business owners. We get it – some days we wish there were more hours in ours too. If you’re feeling frustrated and overwhelmed by never having enough time for your business books, there may be a deeper underlying problem that is harder to detect. It comes down to asking yourself if you really need more time or more effective business processes?

Since every business is unique with distinct needs for their books and financials, let’s dive into a few thoughts to consider in building a bookkeeping process that will maximize your time and resources. And minimize your bookkeeping frustrations.

Assess What Your Real Bookkeeping Needs Are

If you don’t understand what your needs are, you can’t communicate them to your bookkeeper! Not to mention, that this makes it more difficult to determine what the real problem is. This makes it harder to build a solution that can be effective and impactful for you.

Honest and Transparent Q&As

Once you identify what your bookkeeping needs are, or at the very least understand why you want to work with one, have an honest and transparent Q&A session with your bookkeeper. This ensures you are both aware of what your real needs are.

Why is this crucial? Because what you believe your issues are may not actually be what needs solving. We often find that the problem that arises most frequently is just a symptom of a much deeper issue. Focus on the deeper issue to remove the symptom.

When Priority Business Solutions considers building a solution, we want to know what you’re currently doing with your bookkeeping, why, and what you believe your issues are. Key items we need answers for include:

Do you already have a bookkeeper?
How often is your bookkeeping done?
How often do you currently review your books?
Do you understand what the numbers mean?
What do you want your bookkeeper to do for you/your business?

Within a 30-minute conversation, these questions give us a good understanding of where you’re at in regards to managing your business, corporate tax, personal tax, financing and other operations-related functions.

A Bookkeeper that Listens to Your Needs

You’ll notice that these five questions revolve around the assumption that the business owner already has a bookkeeper. That’s because having a bookkeeper who understands your needs is vital to a business. If you are working with a bookkeeper who isn’t listening to your needs, presenting irrelevant custom solutions, then you are less likely to receive value.

After all, the whole point of presenting a solution to a client is to show the full value that a consulting approach or mindset can bring to your business.

From there, it’s about supporting you with implementation of solutions to give you back your time, while presenting current opportunities for your business.

So, instead of wishing you had more time, perhaps wish for a consultative bookkeeper to listen to your needs, and then guide you to make the most efficient and impactful choices for your business…not someone else’s.

Education for Productivity

We are the first to admit that change is hard. While change must happen if you are wishing for more time, we encourage the integration of solutions gradually to build your confidence in more effectively managing your numbers. Once you’re comfortable, you can continue implementing business processes that improve your work productivity. If your bookkeeper is building a solution above your comfort and knowledge level, you will not make the most of the solution. And this is a waste of your time…and your financial resources.

Your conversation with your bookkeeper should be productive, helpful, and informative. If it’s solely transactional, and you’re not learning more about your business through your numbers, you’ll have a harder time progressing your business forward in a sustainable manner.

Talk to your bookkeeper if you’re saying to yourself, “I wish I had more time.” They can help. But, if you’d like to continue the conversation with us, contact Priority Business Solutions today.