There is a tendency among entrepreneurs, when they start feeling overwhelmed, to think, “I need an assistant!” They dream of the assistant doing a myriad of things from admin tasks to scheduling social media posts to sales support to projects. Bookkeeping is often included in the list. The problem with this line of thinking is that there’s rarely a person who is actually good at all of those things. That’s one of the reasons the entrepreneur is feeling overwhelmed in the first place.
I’ve always believed in working with people who rock at their one thing. When my own Virtual Assistant (VA) mentioned to me that it drives her crazy seeing so many in the VA space trying to do bookkeeping and encouraged me to write a blog post on why that’s not a good idea, I thought it would be fun to bring in some collaborators who have learned this lesson.
Bookkeeping by Assistants: Not a Good Idea
The reasons it’s difficult for an assistant to do your books are similar to the reasons it’s hard for you to DIY your own books. I’ve talked about this here. Essentially, there is a LOT more to it than most people think, and it’s easy to mess up if you’re not a professional.
This is compounded when you hand it off to someone else who’s not a bookkeeping professional. Now there are two people involved who both don’t really know what they’re doing. It’s hard to do oversight on something you don’t know yourself. From personal experience, these books tend to be messier than if only the business owner was working on it.
Assistants can come in many forms. Many business owners hire an outside VA or family member. Many others have an assistant on their own staff, or an office manager try to do the books. Anyone who doesn’t specialize in it has a high likelihood of doing things incorrectly.
I do want to add a quick note about having someone on your staff too involved in the financials (invoicing, and receiving payments, and making deposits, and in the books). One person shouldn’t be doing all of those things anyways for proper internal controls. Just look up pink collar crime if you’re curious about this.
VAs on Bookkeeping
Allison is the inspiration for this piece, and she rocks at marketing support. She’s seen some costly messes:
One thing that I see in the world of online business is that business owners will sometimes let their virtual assistants handle their books. While this may save money in the short term, in the long-term it can actually cost you money. If the person handling your bookkeeping isn't a pro, more than often mistakes are made and those mistakes can be very costly as well as time consuming to clean up. While I am a proponent of hiring a virtual assistant to help you save time and streamline your business, I also believe that certain things, especially bookkeeping, should be handled by a professional. --Allison Lancaster, Allison R Lancaster Online Business Solutions
Christine is an awesome VA as well, and has learned that bookkeeping isn’t in her wheelhouse:
As a Virtual Assistant, I’ve been asked to do bookkeeping for my clients in the past. At the time, I didn’t hesitate and said I would. I mean, how hard could it be, right? My client would just tell me what they needed done in their bookkeeping software, and that would be that. To my surprise, my clients didn’t even know what they needed or how the software worked! We both struggled getting the bare minimum done for their bookkeeping needs, and I hate to say this, even if it wasn’t correct! It ended up being a waste of time and money for the both of us. I long ago learned that bookkeeping is now not something I offer my clients. Let’s leave it to the professionals! --Christine Swanson, Swanson Simple Solutions
Entrepreneurs on Assistants & Bookkeeping
Dan used to have someone on his internal team doing bookkeeping, and realized that wasn’t the best use of that person’s time and talents:
We’ve found great value in hiring bookkeeping professionals. The expertise that their team brings along with the fact that they are easy to communicate with is a huge value. We consider them a partner of our business, they excel at what they do and in turn we can focus on what drives our bottom line. Outsourcing certain facets of your business shouldn’t be viewed as you losing control, but instead hiring a team to maximize your time and profit efficiency. --Dan MacLeod, Colonial Insurance Agency
Pat was working with an outside VA on his bookkeeping, and got frustrated with their lack of knowledge.
I went down the frustrating road of hiring a VA from a big website to do my books. He was a nice guy that interviewed well. But, he didn’t know what he was doing. Sadly, I didn’t know enough to know that he was clueless. After a few months of “clean up” work, I was left with a disorganized mess and books that didn’t balance. I knew I had to make a change. Since working with a professional bookkeeping team, I’ve been shocked at how responsive, professional and calming their presence has been for my business. Knowing where you are at and that your finances are under control is 100% worth it. --Pat Miller, The Idea Collective
These gentlemen are now fantastic clients and we love working with them. If you are in the market for insurance or an entrepreneur community, check out their respective businesses.
My advice? Hire people who are great at the thing you’re looking for help with, in bookkeeping and all of the other areas.