Bookkeeping Rate - Are You Paying Enough?    by Amitaabh Saboo

in Finance / Accounting    (submitted 2010-02-24)

No matter how much you know about making financial statements or bookkeeping, you still need to have bookkeepers especially if your business is progressing. Owning a business is not a simple thing to do. There are many concerns and aspects about the business that you need to look into. The most important thing is for you to generate profit. This means more promotion or more rapport with the customers. However, you can not deny the fact that bookkeeping is also important. But since you only have one body, you need to delegate the tasks. When you delegate the task for bookkeeping, your options are to hire an in-house bookkeeper, employ a freelance bookkeeper, or outsource the bookkeeping duties.

Usually, when you are faced with these options the first thing that comes in mind is the bookkeeping rate. Each option has a different bookkeeping rate. As a businessman, you would think of how much to save in bookkeeping rate since anyway this is only a secondary concern compared to generating sales. But since its important to delegate the task you need to know as much as possible how much should you be spending on this.
Evaluating the Bookkeeping Rate
Usually a bookkeeper rate for a freelance bookkeeper can range from $15 to a $100 per hour. In the same way, the bookkeeper that you hire in-house would also have another rate plus all other benefits that you need to give. The outsourcing bookkeeper also have different bookkeeping rate depending on how much workload is assigned to him.
While it is important to know the bookkeeping rate so you can evaluate how much to save, it should go with the quality of service the bookkeeper provides you. The saying "you pay what you get" holds true even in bookkeeping. This means that if you want quality service, you need to decide if the cost of the bookkeeping is worth it. In the same way that if you pay for a low rate, you might just be dealing with somebody who has no professional experience with regards to bookkeeping. For instance, the freelance bookkeeper may ask for the lowest cost, but you may be at risk of non-confidentiality or perhaps the use of an outdated bookkeeping system that may be hard for you to relate with your modern business setting.
The Rate Comes with the Service (Not the Other Way Around)
So in reality the bookkeeping rate becomes secondary concern when you want to work with a dependable and trustworthy bookkeeper who employs the latest technology and who has the expertise in bookkeeping. In which case, you may be left with the option of outsourcing the task to companies who offer bookkeeping services. When you outsource your bookkeeping tasks, you will not only get away with the worry of bookkeeping rate with an in-house employee or the outdated practices of a freelance bookkeeper, you also get the accurate accounting information that is very important for your business's decision making. It is then important not to just look at the rate when searching for a person with whom you can delegate the accounting task of your business. It is also equally important that you get quality service from the most reliable person handling the most confidential document in your business. And again, it usually goes with the price.