10 Questions for a Bookkeeper
If you’re sick of dealing with the shoebox full of receipts it could be time you considered hiring a bookkeeper. Here are ten questions to ask before you do
- plus we provide you with all the answers from AIM - saving you the time and hassle of even needing to ask!
What qualifications and professional memberships do you hold?
The Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA2009) and as of 1st March 2010, this means that anyone providing BAS services for a fee will need to be a registered BAS agent. If your bookkeeper is processing BAS work, then this is something they should be transitioning towards.
At a minimum, your bookkeeper should have qualifications such as Certificate IV in Financial Services. Look for someone who is a member of one of the various professional bookkeeping associations in Australia such as The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB).
At AIM we have 3 fully qualified BAS Agents who all hold a Certificate IV in Financial Services and are all registered with the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers.
What insurances do you have?
At a minimum, professional indemnity insurance is required under TASA2009.
AIM holds professional indemnity insurance which has been accepted by the Tax Practitioners Board.
Who will undertake the data entry and BAS preparation?
Establish whether the work will be consistently undertaken by the same bookkeeper or by any member of the team and whether the work will be reviewed.
As mentioned above AIM has a team of 3 fully qualified BAS agents as well as data entry personnel who are all fully supervised by our BAS Agents. Generally the same team member will complete your work however when a team member is on holidays or away ill we all band together as a team to make sure no client is left behind!
What experience / references do you have?
References may not always be reliable, but it is worth taking the effort to do a little research before hiring a bookkeeper. Many websites offer independent reviews of professional services.
Please check out our reviews on AIM’s Google Business Page (https://tinyurl.com/GoogleBusinessAIM) or on AIM’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/AIMBookkeepingServices/reviews) - we are an open book here at AIM so any questions, just ask!
If the work is done in an accounting package, who retains the ownership of the datafile?
Many bookkeeping organisations can arrange a subscription for an accounting software through their licence at a discounted rate. They retain the ownership of that subscription until such time as it is transferred over to you, at your request.
AIM is a Xero Gold Partner and an Intuit Quickbooks Certified ProAdvisor - we can arrange and manage accounting software subscriptions for you at a discounted wholesale rate!
Where will the work be done?
Will the bookkeeper work onsite, offsite, or remotely?
At AIM we get our best work done in the comfort and safety of our own remote offices. However, at times we understand you may need someone onsite and this can most certainly be arranged. We also love to catch up with clients via online meetings so that we can all be in the comfort and safety of our own remote offices while still connecting!
Who will be responsible for rectification work?
Mistakes may date back years; corrections can be costly exercises, involving re-keying data, reworking BAS, and reviewing end-of-year financial statements. Will the bookkeeping work be redone free of charge or will the charges be reimbursed?
We always communicate with you about any errors found and the flow on effect those errors can have. We will seek instructions from you about what the plan moving forward, letting you know what needs to be done to fix any errors…
but…
Let’s be honest no-one likes to work for free!
If the errors found relate to periods prior to our engagement and/or the work of other bookkeepers, accountants, office staff and the like, we will need to change a fee for this work. We will always communicated with you as to what the fix will entail and what fee it will attract.
What does the bookkeeper require to process the work?
Before hiring a bookkeeper establish what your bookkeeper will need from you on a regular basis. Do they want the receipts sorted? Are you required to write account codes or explanations on the receipts? Unless you’re paying extra for mind reading services I would expect this to be the case.
Lets face it - each business and how it is run is different. AIM will work with you to put the most time efficient practices in place to ensure to gain the information required for you to remain up to date and compliant.
How will the bookkeeper communicate with your accountant?
Unfortunately we have come across instances where the business tax accountant treats the bookkeeper in a derogatory fashion and open lines of communication suffer.
When this happens you suffer too, so you need to establish how the bookkeeper will communicate with the accountant, and how the accountant will charge you. We strongly advise you to introduce your bookkeeper to your accountant, and to encourage a professional relationship between them.
Here at AIM, we believe that the most important professional relationships are maintained through respectful connection and communication. Your accountant and bookkeeper play a vital role in your financial position year to year and it is important that they communicate!
We are on hand for any requests your accountant may have throughout the year and we hope in return they are on hand for any queries which may surface and need their level of expertise throughout the year.
We would love to set up a time where we can formally be introduced to your accountant and ‘put a name to the face’!
We also have a number of friendly accountants that we work closely with and can put you in touch with, if you are on the hunt for an accountant!
What will it cost?
The elephant in the room is that the work of bookkeepers is vastly undervalued. Staying with the jungle theme, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.
Once you have found your bookkeeper don’t simply outsource and ignore. You need to look at your management reports on a timely basis and incorporate them into your decision-making processes.
We are very open and honest about our fees right from the start.
As mentioned above we understand that every business is different and we don’t intend to put you on a fixed price agreement. Ultimately, we want to save you time and money when it comes to your bookkeeping.
We charge you by the hour for the time it takes to complete the work that you need us for.
If we can put more efficient processes in place to speed that process up and save you fees, then it is a win win for both of us!
Want to know more? Book a time to have a chat!
Questions and descriptions provided by The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers(Reproduced with permission from Heather Smith.)ReferencesLast Published Date18/7/2022, 2:26 pmhttps://www.icb.org.au/s/Resources/10-Questions-for-a-Bookkeeper10-Questions-for-a-Bookkeeper