Gone are the days of dusty old ledgers sitting on shelves and calculations being made manually; bookkeeping has fully embraced the age of digitalization, and gone ultra-high tech.
Nowadays, bookkeepers and accounting professionals make use of the following technology not only to make their tasks more manageable, but to improve accuracy, too:
- Automation – making repetitive bookkeeping tasks such as calculations and data entry quicker and more accurate, software and various apps are used to reduce human error
- Real-time tracking – with your financial data at your fingertips whenever you need it, and from wherever you happen to be, you can forget all about waiting for monthly reports with real-time tracking
- Data security – protecting sensitive financial information just got easier and more reliable with enhanced digital bookkeeping security measures
- Collaboration – allowing more than one team member (or even an outsourced bookkeeping provider) to carry out work on the books at the same time, the ability to collaborate and improve upon efficiency is made easy with cloud-based systems
But, while all of this sounds great, the question of whether bookkeeping should remain in-house, or whether it should be outsourced, remains a pertinent one for small-to-medium-sized business owners. With bookkeeping kept in-house, you may feel more in control of the situation, but could outsourcing it save you time and money that could be put to better use elsewhere?
Ultimately, the choice is yours, but you should think carefully about the following factors before deciding whether to outsource your bookkeeping requirements, or keep them in-house:
The size and scale of your company
Is in-house bookkeeping even a possibility for a business of your size? Bigger companies might find outsourcing helps them stay in control, while smaller businesses may find an in-house bookkeeper to be more manageable.
The complexity of your finances
If your business regularly deals with complicated financial transactions and its record-keeping is far from straightforward, using an outsourced bookkeeping provider might help guarantee accuracy and compliance.
Your budget
Hiring an in-house bookkeeper comes with a whole host of financial commitments, from salary and benefits, to the buying of software and hardware, not to mention ongoing training, and when you add them all up, it might actually be cheaper to outsource.
Your growth plans
If you predict that your company will grow significantly in the future (or at least that’s what you’re aiming for), your in-house bookkeeper may not be equipped to handle such growth and outsourcing may prove to be more flexible.
The extent of your internal expertise
If your existing bookkeeper, or bookkeeping team, don’t have the skills necessary to fulfil their role to your company’s satisfaction, then weighing the cost of training against that of outsourcing, would be an important step to take.
Your compliance and regulatory requirements
Depending on your industry, you may have strict demands made of your company related to compliance and regulations. In many instances, working with an outsourced bookkeeping service who keep themselves up-to-date with both of these issues and are well-versed in them, might prove more fruitful.
The amount of time you can devote to bookkeeping
If your in-house team multi-task, as so many smaller business employees do, will they be able to cope with bookkeeping tasks alongside everything else, without something being compromised.
Data security
You will want to give serious thought to any security concerns that may be associated with outsourced bookkeeping, such as the sharing of financial data with an external party. That said, most reputable outsourced services have robust security measures in place to protect all sensitive data.
The importance of accuracy
If your financial records require high levels of precision and accuracy, you may benefit from the expertise of an outsourced bookkeeping provider.
Examine your company’s bookkeeping requirements in great detail before coming to a decision, and make sure that your final choice is aligned with the needs and goals of your business.