Every entrepreneur knows that their most stretched resource is the number of hours in a day. Keeping the books up to date is one of the easiest business tasks to delegate effectively. For startups that have a lot of customers or a lot of bills, virtual bookkeepers can save many hours every month. Virtual and outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services are a happy medium between do-it-yourself software and pricey in-house bookkeeping.
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With Live Expert Full-Service Bookkeeping we pair you with a dedicated bookkeeper who will bring your books up to date and then manage your monthly books for you, so you can focus on your business. With Live Expert Full-Service Bookkeeping, your dedicated bookkeeper will work with you to get to know your business, bring your past books up to date, and manage your bookkeeping for you, start to finish. One of the biggest challenges for bookkeepers lies in handling credit card receipts. All too often, these are delivered in bulk, leaving the bookkeeper to sort them out.
To keep everything running smoothly, you’ll need to create an effective system for workflow and maintaining company culture. You can also reduce the need for meetings altogether by providing information in a more asynchronous way. Loom is a video messaging tool that has been a game-changer for our firm. It allows us to record video walkthroughs showing inventory account: adjustment type affect our faces and a screen share as we go through something like a financial report. We’ve actually come to rely on the simplicity of email and phone calls.
- Virtual, outsourced, and online are often used interchangeably when referring to bookkeeping and accounting.
- At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations.
- Depending on the service you choose, a bookkeeper can give you guidance or take the lead on your bookkeeping.
Get expert help as you do your books
When you have a Small Business Plus plan or higher, you get unlimited online support. All plans come with onboarding, a dedicated bookkeeper and account manager, reconciliation at month-end, balance sheet, P&L, statement of cash flows and a portal with document storage. Higher-tiered plans unlock more transactions and a more frequent service level. In addition to assisting with the AP process, adjusting entry for interest on capital calculation and example bookkeepers may also help manage accounts receivable (AR), the process by which companies send invoices and receive payments from customers.
Even with these features, though, you’ll still want to double-check for errors, which takes time. And the more complex your business’s financials, the more likely you’ll want to bring on a dedicated bookkeeping service. When comparing services, ensure you’re pricing out all the features you need, including add-on services like tax prep, payroll and HR. If you’re considering a bookkeeping service that runs on QuickBooks or Xero, include the cost of that software, too. Take advantage of product demos and introductory calls to find the right service. Some bookkeeping services can provide a full suite of bookkeeping, accounting and tax services.
Does your virtual bookkeeper have experience in your industry?
Communications that are available any time include document sharing and live chat with a member of your bookkeeper’s extended team. Offers less expensive plans for businesses that need tax support and a dedicated accountant, but not bookkeeping assistance. Bookkeeper360 is best for businesses that occasionally need bookkeeping services as well as those that want integrations with third-party tools.
Make sure you use the same accounting software
These same tools can also be used in-house by an internal accounting team. Since they’re designed to work remotely, teams can use them anywhere, even if they’re working in a traditional office. These tasks can be completed internally, or they can be farmed out as an external service. Yes, virtual and outsourced bookkeeping is just as legitimate as in-house bookkeeping and accounting.
Every inDinero plan includes a dedicated account manager, direct employee reimbursements, some inventory management, and payroll assistance. It also syncs with either QuickBooks Online or Netsuite (as opposed to syncing just with QuickBooks, like most virtual bookkeepers). Forbes Advisor analyzed 13 online bookkeeping services and your digital assets considered 15 metrics such as price, features, customer service, ease of use, integrations and service level.
Bookkeeper.com is an all-around solid pick for small to midsize businesses that might want additional payroll and tax help down the road. Although InDinero offers scalable plans, they’re not very transparent about what exactly they include in each plan until you talk to a salesperson. Unfortunately, InDinero doesn’t have many integration options, but if you already use the software they integrate with, it’s a very robust solution.
