Finding a Bookkeeper: Reinforcing Your Business Structure

On your quest to find a bookkeeper, you shall come across different means that shall seem equally enticing and fruitful, but not all of them shall assure you about hiring the best bookkeeper for your business. What’s then, the deal?

First, let’s see why you need a bookkeeper. It’s vital to keep track of the financial data of every business; the taxman doesn’t like us leaving the details to chance. Thus, someone is needed to be in charge of the books dedicatedly; this person, unless with sufficient amounts of training and experience, shall not be able to get the job done properly. However, that way we are talking about the bookkeeper per se; finding whom can be quite a bit of a challenge. Therefore, knowing what to look for among the prospective candidates is paramount.
A few points to remember before you embark upon the selection process:

Understand the difference between bookkeepers and accountants. They are not necessarily the same.
For an accountant, his job ends with providing advices and recommendations regarding financial matters.
For a bookkeeper, it’s about keeping track of income and expenses, processing invoices, settling the bank statements and payroll administration.
That would be sufficient for you to ask yourself if you need a person who can get those things done for you; if yes, then onwards to some serious shopping!
Determine first whether you are going to appoint a bookkeeper on a part-time, a full-time or on a contact basis.

An accounting degree is not a must for a qualified bookkeeper; however, they do require to complete certain formal coursework through an accredited institution in bookkeeping. For example, a complete course from the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers.

Besides the training ((including bookkeeping software) and a proper education, experience is a vital factor. Bookkeeping experiences teach a person how to handle complicated situations properly. It also imparts into a person a detail-oriented personality, without which, things can go frayed and disorganized.
Now, if everything goes as per your preference, be prepared to pay anything between $20 and $50 an hour. The easy way to find that out is to figure out the complexity and volume of the work; the more it is, the more are the charges.