How Do Bookkeeping Services Work?

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Your business may have had small beginnings, but with the right mix of patience and passion, you’ve had the privilege of watching your business expand and grow. Handling your own financial records might have made sense in the beginning, but is it time to consider partnering with an online bookkeeping service. 

Virtual bookkeeping services can provide all of the same benefits as an in-house bookkeeper at a fraction of the cost. Relying on these specialised services can help you with running your day-to-day operations, preparing your annual tax returns, and everything in between.

Today, we’ll take a quick look at how bookkeeping services work and show you how to choose the right bookkeeper for your company.

What Does a Bookkeeping Service Do?

Bookkeeping and accounting services are designed to manage and plan your company’s financial processes, helping you stay on top of your financial health.

Typically, services include the following:

  • Tracking income and expenses
  • Managing cash flows
  • Paying bills
  • Tax preparation and planning
  • Reconciling bank statements
  • Financial planning
  • Managing payroll
  • Generating financial reports

Typically, a bookkeeping service offers a three-tiered approach to handling your company’s books. The first tier is created by the bookkeeping software specialist, who will create a file that’s customised to the unique needs of your business.

Learn More: Visory’s Bookkeeping Services

The second tier is the full-charge bookkeeper, who will be the one performing many of the duties described above. They can also provide assistance in the event of a tax audit, as well as help with long-term planning to optimise your tax returns.

The third tier is known as the controller. The controller’s role is to increase your company’s financial accountability and monitor your financial statements for accuracy. The controller can also generate regular (often monthly) financial reports and bring any critical issues to your attention.

Keeping Your Financial Records in Order

Online bookkeeping services can also provide valuable assistance in maintaining and organising your financial records. This can be particularly important when it comes to tax planning and strategy. Your receipts and financial documents can be leveraged to minimise your tax debts and increase your chances of a return.

Some business owners may be concerned about handing their sensitive financial records over to a third party, worried that doing so may limit their access or expose their business to hackers or cybercriminals. But the opposite is actually true.

The advanced accounting software employed by today’s virtual bookkeeping firms can give small business owners increased access to their financial data, all while keeping it safely organised on a secure server.

Do You Need a Bookkeeper or an Accountant?

Many small business owners try to cut corners by handling their own books. This may seem like a cost-saving strategy, but it comes with a price. 

As a business owner, your focus belongs on the revenue-generating activities that will expand your business. You may actually be limiting the growth of your business by focusing on administrative details.

A dedicated bookkeeper can help you manage your cash flow, pay bills, handle payroll, and more. Not only does a bookkeeper take these responsibilities off your plate, but they can also provide you with big-picture data that can help you hone your business strategy, preparing you for growth in the future.

How Much Does a Bookkeeping Service Cost?

Bookkeepers are often one of the first employees that business owners choose to hire. Unfortunately, the cost of an in-house bookkeeper can be prohibitively high. 

According to the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, bookkeepers in Australia start at an average of $60 per hour, with rates jumping to $80 per hour for advanced services. Hiring a full-time bookkeeper can become costly, even if you only need them a few hours here and there.

Compare that to the low monthly rate of today’s online bookkeeping and accounting services. You can outsource your bookkeeping to an online bookkeeper for a few hundred dollars per month. This can save you thousands of dollars when compared to hiring a full-time employee.

In most cases, the monthly price will be influenced by such factors as:

  • The size and revenue of your business
  • The services you need (tax planning usually costs extra)
  • The personalised attention of a dedicated bookkeeper
  • The communication options between you and your bookkeeper

But even the most expensive bookkeeping services will be significantly more affordable than hiring your own bookkeeper.

How Can a Bookkeeping Service Benefit Your Business?

The low costs of a bookkeeping service are often enough to entice frugal entrepreneurs. But partnering with an online bookkeeper has multiple benefits for your business that can’t be overlooked. 

These benefits include:

  • Niche experience and specialised skill sets
  • Faster reporting
  • Access to financial data and monthly reports
  • Personalised financial guidance and support
  • Access to the latest financial software
  • Consistent communication

Think of it this way: If your in-house bookkeeper takes a sick day or goes on holiday, what happens to your books? You’ll likely grind to a halt until he or she returns to the office. In our fast-paced business world, this can create a delay you can live without. 

A virtual bookkeeping service can help keep your business running 24/7, 365 days a year.

Additionally, it’s unlikely that your in-house bookkeeper can match the specialised experience or education of an online team. Partnering with an online firm grants you access to a more diverse group of financial professionals, some of whom may have the specialised training or experience to address complex or unique issues.

How to Choose the Right Bookkeeper

How do you choose the right bookkeeping service for small businesses? With so many choices available, it can be hard to think through your options. But there are several key features you’ll want to consider before partnering with an online bookkeeper.

Industry Experience

First, you’ll want a company that understands your industry. The financial needs of a restaurant may be very different from an online retailer. You’ll want to choose a bookkeeping service that can take these specialised needs into consideration and provide service and guidance that fits your business.

Potential for Growth

Secondly, you’ll want a company that’s capable of scaling along with your business. As your business grows, so will your needs. You may have an increased need for regular communication with your accounting and bookkeeping professionals, or you may need to have additional input regarding tax strategy. 

Learn More: Your Guide for Finding The Best Bookkeeping Service

You’ll want a company that offers services that can evolve with your changing business, one that can help you reach the benchmarks on your road to success.

Clear Communication

Third, you’ll want a company that offers clear, direct communication. You never know when you’ll have a question about your financial health or need to access a crucial piece of data. You’ll want a company that gives you access to your data through user-friendly accounting software.

We’ll Handle the Books; You Handle the Business

Have you been struggling with keeping your books up-to-date? Has tax season been a source of stress? It’s time to get your head out of the back office and back in the game. Visory can help you do that. 

Our team of financial experts can help you run your business more smoothly and efficiently than ever before. Learn more about Visory’s bookkeeping services and discover how our team can improve the way you do business.

How to Outsource Your Bookkeeping

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You may realise that your books are getting out of hand, but you also know you’re not ready to hire a full-time bookkeeper. So, what is a growing business to do? Outsourcing your bookkeeping can be the answer to your financial needs. 

Learning how to outsource bookkeeping is easier than you might think. If you have experienced professionals on your side, you can get set-up with outsourced online bookkeeping in just days. A trusted bookkeeper gives you access to your financials whenever you need them, generates vital reports, and offers insights into where your organisation can streamline your processes. All at a lower cost than a full-time employee. 

Read More: 5 Ways Outsourcing Bookeeping Can Help Grow Your Business

How to Outsource Bookkeeping

So you want to outsource your bookkeeping and accounting — where do you begin? Let’s start by going over your options. You can always vet and hire a local bookkeeper to work on contract. This saves money and may allow for a remote relationship. Using a virtual bookkeeping service gives you access to an entire team and allows you to add more people as needed. 

Is one of these options right for your business?

Hire a local freelance bookkeeper

A local freelance bookkeeper has unique advantages. Your contractor may be able to come into the office periodically as needed, so you get some in-person assistance without having to provide a full office space. Your freelance bookkeeper may also know the specific needs of your industry in your area. 

Some freelancers are open to more work. As your organisation scales upward, you can ask if they would like to be hired in a more permanent role. This will allow you to bring on a full-time staff member who is already up to speed on your procedures and familiar with your books. 

Use a virtual bookkeeping service

Instead of hiring a single freelancer, you may also want to engage a remote bookkeeping firm to handle your books on a regular basis. What’s the difference? For one, you will probably have access to more than one person. And, you can add more people to your virtual team as your needs change. Likewise, you can scale back down if you want to. 

A virtual bookkeeping company may also be able to connect you with a wider pool of potential bookkeepers than you’d find in your area. You’ll work with an industry expert who can teach you things even a savvy business owner may not know about potential tax deductions or ways to save money in your field. 

How Does Outsourcing Bookkeeping Work?

If you’re wondering how to outsource bookkeeping, one of your top questions is probably “How is it different than regular bookkeeping?” And what an important question it is. The truth is, business owners can benefit from both traditional bookkeeping and virtual help. Let’s discuss how a virtual team is different from in-house staff. 

In-house vs. Outsourcing

In-house bookkeeping requires a different budget and set of tools than outsourced bookkeeping services. Here are some of the ways an in-house team differs from an outsourced bookkeeper. 

In-house bookkeepers

  • Require a dedicated office space and equipment
  • Represent an added payroll expense and mandatory benefits costs
  • May not yet be necessary for a growing business
  • Will inevitably turn over, resulting in rehiring and training costs

Outsourced bookkeepers  

  • Don’t require an equipment investment or dedicated office space
  • Charge based on a pre-contracted price per week or month
  • Are good for companies at any size
  • Can seamlessly add or change members of your team without disruption 

Is Outsourcing Right for Your Business?

Outsourcing may be the right choice for your business’ bookkeeping needs if:

  • You simply don’t have time to do your own books anymore, yet you don’t need a full-time bookkeeper 
  • You want to free up time to focus more on research, development, marketing, and sales 
  • You have limited office space to accommodate a bookkeeping team
  • You don’t want to train a new bookkeeper every few years
  • You’re not sure what your bookkeeping needs will be over the next few years, requiring flexibility

Outsourcing your bookkeeping is as simple as calling Visory. We can connect you to experts in your industry who will help with tax time, monthly reports, and other financial needs. You gain the benefits of an in-house bookkeeping expert without carrying costs of a salaried employee. Even better, you don’t sacrifice transparency just because your team members are off-site. You can see your vital reports and financial health whenever you need to. It’s the best of both worlds.

Click here to learn more about Visory’s Bookkeeping Services

Tips for Advancing Your Architecture Firm’s Bookkeeping

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Business is booming — can your accounting keep up? Bookkeeping for architects requires great attention to detail. As you grow from a small firm to a thriving organisation, it may be time to recruit some additional help in the bookkeeping department. 

An architecture firm must combine project management, invoicing and employee revenue tracking to create a full picture of financial health. Can your staff handle it all? And should they have to? Your unique bookkeeping needs will demand a tonne of time and resources. Here are some tips for advancing your firm’s bookkeeping, and how to call in reinforcements.

Read More: 5 Ways Outsourcing Bookkeeping Can Help Grow Your Business

What do you need to keep track of?

Bookkeeping for architects is different than bookkeeping for retail sales or the entertainment industry. With large-scale projects billed on an accrual basis, you need to be particularly diligent about tracking your accounts receivable. Overheads in architecture and similar fields are also higher than it might be for a smaller operation. 

Here are some of the primary metrics that an architecture firm should keep track of:

  • Overhead rate: Calculate the ratio of indirect expenses to direct labour. The overhead for the architecture industry is typically over 100%; a good number to strive for is about 150%.  
  • Utilisation rate: This rate reflects how much of your employees’ time is spent on billable projects. Shoot for at least 60%. There will always be some time spent on non-billable tasks, such as training new employees, meetings and internal emails, but a high utilisation rate makes you more efficient and profitable. Accurate time tracking is key.  
  • Age of accounts receivable: Most architecture firms want to receive final payment within 60 days. This keeps your cash flow in order and limits the amount of money chasing your staff has to do. 
  • Personnel expenses: Annual leave days, sick days, and other staff benefits are an additional labour cost to track. 
  • Cash flow: This metric is one of the most crucial for any architecture firm. You can be profitable on paper, but if you don’t have enough cash flow you won’t be able to meet financial obligations. 
  • Long-term assets: Keeping an up to date balance sheet shows what you own and what you owe currently. It will also help you track assets and debts in the long term. Long term assets can be anything from valuable equipment to loans. 

Tips for bookkeeping for architecture firms

Your firm’s business development hinges on your ability to remain profitable and flush. When you’re working with billable hours, that means careful bookkeeping that highlights where you’re overspending and tracks outstanding receivables. 

These basic tips are a good place to start if you’re doing an inventory on your accounting health. Ask yourself, have you done these five things?

  1. Develop a reporting pack

A reporting system in the cloud keeps accounting practices organised and transparent. You can run automatic reports using software such as Xero or MYOB, and you can set  your software up to pull data straight from bank accounts and more. 

  1. Outsource your bookkeeping so you can focus on your business

Every minute your executives are spending on the books is a minute they are not billing to clients. Your architecture firm can become more efficient and profitable by outsourcing your bookkeeping to experts who know architecture and similar industries. 

  1. Stay on top of billing and expenses

Catchup bookkeeping should not be a regular practice. Current cash flow calculations and accounts payable data provide a realistic sense of solvency at any given moment. You also want to keep up on expenses because you may be able to deduct some of your expenses. If you don’t have proper records, you won’t be able to claim deductions. 

  1. Review your architecture firm’s books regularly

Running regular weekly and monthly reports helps you catch mistakes. Reconciling your bank statements  can ensure that you catch any missing money, forgotten receivables, and other discrepancies. Bank reconciliations are a good end-of-month routine.

  1. Maintain a chart of accounts

Itemisation helps you sort out your books client by client. You want to keep a chart of accounts so you can always tell which clients are current who have an outstanding bill. By having a digital chart of your accounts, you can properly code expenses and hours to the appropriate account. 

Do you need some help with your books? Visory offers bookkeeping for architects at all stages of business. Whether you are a budding firm or a thriving organisation with years under your belt, we have bookkeepers who can handle your finances. 

Learn More: Visory’s Bookkeeping for Professional Services

Construction Bookkeeping 101: Everything You Need to Know

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construction bookkeeping

When you’re in the construction industry, bookkeeping was probably the least of your concerns. However, construction bookkeeping is an essential skill if you hope to run a profitable organisation and successfully manage your finances.

In order to help you refine your bookkeeping practices, we’ve created this introductory guide. Below, we’ll outline the key aspects of bookkeeping for construction businesses. We even throw in some proven tips that you can start using right away!

How is Bookkeeping Different for Construction Businesses?

Construction bookkeeping is extremely complex. You have to track each individual project, manage income, and account for operational costs. Since no two projects that you undertake are the same, you must have a proven system for monitoring expenses and revenue.

Strong construction bookkeeping practices are also essential when you want to successfully bid on a project. Your bids have to accurately account for all expenses. If you bid too low, then you could potentially lose money on the project.

Key Concepts for Construction Bookkeeping

In order to optimise your bookkeeping practices, you must first understand the core components of construction accounting. These include:

Project-Driven/Job-Based Accounting

Like most contractors, your business is probably based around individual projects. In order to succeed using this approach, you have to bid rationally and keep costs under control. You must accurately track the cost of each individual job or project. Otherwise, you won’t be able to achieve desired profit margins to sustain your business.

Construction Billing Processes

There are two primary construction billing processes that you can implement. Many companies will use different billing processes for various projects, so it’s a good idea to be familiar with each style.

The first process is known as fixed-price billing. When you’re using this approach, you quote clients a price based on the estimated total cost for a particular project. 

The benefit to this method is that you can provide clients with a clear bid upfront. The downside is that any overages come out of your profits!

The second option is known as unit pricing. When you’re using this method, you bill the client an agreed-upon fixed rate for every unit that you complete. If you estimated the per-unit cost accurately, then you can improve your overall revenue.

Managing Varying Income, Expenses, and Other Operational Costs

Our final key concept involves learning to manage varying income and expenses.  Throughout the course of a particular project, you have to ensure that your bookkeeping practices are sound. Otherwise, you can overstretch available resources. This can leave you unprepared in the event that you encounter operational costs due to factors beyond your control.

Bookkeeping Tips for Construction Businesses

Now that we’ve outlined the key concepts of bookkeeping for construction businesses, let’s look at a few ways that you can improve your financial tracking practices. 

Use an Online Bookkeeping Service/Outsource Your Bookkeeping

One of the best ways to help ensure your financial information is precisely tracked is to outsource the job! With the help of an online bookkeeping provider like Visory, you can gain access to expert accounting and recording services. Our team can provide your organisation with industry-specific reporting and insights that you can use to drive new growth.

At Visory, we take the time to match you with a bookkeeper who will understand the unique demands of your industry. We will ensure they are the right fit for your organisation so that you can get the most out of your bookkeeping services.

Read More: 5 Ways Outsourcing Bookkeeping Can Help Grow Your Business

Track Invoices and Payments When They Are Received

If you want to achieve long-term success with your construction business, then you have to track all invoices and payments when they are received. 

Failing to keep up with all of your invoices can result in outstanding debts that get overlooked. This is one of the fastest ways to ruin your profitability and hinder the growth of your organisation.

Use Job Costing to Manage Project Costs

Job costing is an accounting practice that makes it easier to manage project expenses. When you’re using this method, you’ll accumulate the individual costs of overheads, labor, and materials for a specific project. 

Job costing is a great tool to track the specific costs of an individual job. You can also analyse this data to find ways to reduce the expenses of jobs you take on down the road.

While job costing can be used in a variety of industries, it is especially beneficial for construction bookkeeping. When you’re taking on a long-term project, job costing can also help you to identify potential overages. This will give you time to make adjustments in order to reduce costs or reach out to the client about a billing increase.

Use Multiple Bank Accounts

If you are currently operating multiple projects from a single account, you could be  making a huge mistake. We recommend using multiple bank accounts for your construction company. This allows you to track revenue and expenses more accurately for each project. 

When you are managing each job from a separate account, you can avoid common bookkeeping and billing errors.

Choose the Best Revenue Recognition Method for Your Business

Revenue recognition is a principle that outlines the best ways to account for your organisation’s earnings. This principle defines the specific conditions under which revenue should be recognised. 

While there are several revenue recognition strategies available, the most popular option for construction bookkeeping is known as the “percentage of completion” method.

Using this method, you must report revenue on what is known as a period-by-period basis. Your expenses, gross profit, and revenue are recognised in each period based on the approximate percentage of work that has been completed. 

A period is usually a financial year, but you may decide to count each quarter as a separate period when you’re working on shorter projects.

Construction Bookkeeping from Visory

While the tips above can certainly help you to improve your construction bookkeeping practices, the entire process remains incredibly complex. That is why you should consider partnering with Visory! 

We offer comprehensive bookkeeping and accounting services for a variety of industries, including construction companies. Sign up for a free financial health check and a Visory Success Manager will help to analyse your business’ financials and identify potential improvements for your construction business.

8 Bookkeeping Tips for Your Law Firm

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bookkeeping for law firms

Running a legal practice is demanding, you have a lot of things on your plate. In addition to following up with clients and preparing for court proceedings, you also have to ensure that your accounts are in order. But keeping up with your finances can be incredibly complex, no matter what the size of your firm might be.

In order to help, we have outlined 8 bookkeeping tips for your law firm. Implementing these proven strategies can help avoid the common pitfalls that are often associated with legal bookkeeping.

Accounting vs. Bookkeeping for Legal Practices

Oftentimes, the phrases “accounting” and “bookkeeping” are used interchangeably. However, this is not quite accurate. Bookkeepers are tasked with accurately recording financial transactions. Accountants interpret, analyse, and summarise this data.

Your legal practice will likely need both accounting and bookkeeping services. When used together, these services can help you to account for every dollar spent and earned throughout the course of a financial year.

Read More: Do I Need a Bookkeeper, an Accountant, or Both?

Tips for Law Firm Bookkeeping

When handling the bookkeeping responsibilities for your legal practice, it is essential that all transactions are accurately recorded. By following the tips below, you can improve your law firm bookkeeping practices. 

1.    Don’t Mix Personal and Business Expenses

While it may seem like it saves time to mix your personal and business expenses, this is a huge mistake. Even if you are operating a small legal practice, different types of expenses must be tracked separately. Over the course of a year, it can be easy to confound personal and business expenditures, which will make it more difficult for you to report your taxes properly.

You should have a separate account for your business expenses and never use your personal account or credit card for business-related activities. By maintaining separate accounts, you will find it much easier to track your expenses throughout the year. 

2.    Outsource Your Bookkeeping: Use a Bookkeeping Service like Visory

If you really want to optimise your legal practice bookkeeping, then you should consider outsourcing through a company like Visory. We offer online bookkeeping and accounting services that can scale with your business. 

Our experts do more than simply clean up your books. We provide industry-specific reporting and insight to drive new growth. We offer fixed monthly subscriptions with custom-tailored service packages. 

3.    Track Your Practice’s Finances Constantly — Don’t Wait Until Tax Time

One of the best things you can do to improve your bookkeeping practices is to track your finances regularly. You should compile weekly and monthly finance reports that detail every transaction. Keep this information well organised so that you can easily access it at the close of your financial year.

If you wait until tax time, you could find yourself scrambling to gather transaction data. This means that you could miss out on some great tax deductions and end up paying more than you should at the end of the year. 

4.    Maintain a Chart of Accounts

A chart of accounts is a list of your legal firm’s General Ledger Accounts, from the first asset account through the last expense account in your legal practice’s accounting books. Maintaining a chart of accounts is a great way to support quality reporting.

Creating these charts is only half the battle. You must also update them regularly to ensure that all information is accurate. While it may seem tedious, maintaining account charts is a great way for lawyers to stay organised. If you don’t have the bandwidth to do this yourself, a good bookkeeper can manage a chart of accounts for you.

Read More: Learn More About Visory’s Bookkeeping Services

5.    Stay Up-to-Date on Trust Accounting

Maintaining your Trust Account is a crucial part of compliance for legal practices. This can get difficult if you don’t have a bookkeeper experienced in dealing with Trust Accounts. 

An experienced bookkeeper will ensure that your Trust Account is reconciled regularly and in line with your accounting software to help ensure that you stay compliant at all times. Even a small discrepancy could result in penalties from regulators. 

6.    Use Bookkeeping to Identify Opportunities

Did you know that accurate bookkeeping can actually help you increase cash flow and grow your business? When leveraged properly, bookkeeping can provide valuable insight into your firm’s finances and long-term outlook. You can identify trends, improve income tracking capabilities, and better manage your funds.

Ultimately, you will be able to use this information to refine your business practices. You can reduce waste and maximise your profitability. In turn, you will have additional funds available to scale your business.

7.    Avoid Data Entry Errors or Leaking Money

While our next tip may sound like a given, data entry errors are actually extremely common. Even a seemingly small mistake can throw off your entire bookkeeping process. To make matters worse, it can cause your firm to start leaking money.

There are four common sources of revenue leaks in the average law firm. The first can be attributed to recording errors. If you are not accurately documenting all billable hours, then you are essentially giving away free legal services.

The second common cause of lost revenue is billing at rates that are too low. The third source of revenue leaks is the over-use of write-offs. While most law firms use write-offs, inaccurate record-keeping could lead to accidentally subtracting too many hours. 

The final cause of lost revenue for your firm is not collecting on all billed services. Accurate data entry practices help you to keep track of all billed services and ensure that clients pay what they owe.

8.    Track Your Tax Deductions

While you must constantly track your firm’s finances, you should also keep up with your tax deductions throughout the year. Every time that you make a purchase that is eligible for a tax deduction, document it. Save necessary receipts and transaction records so that you can claim these deductions at tax time.

Law Firm Bookkeeping from Visory

As you can see, handling law firm bookkeeping can be incredibly involved. Fortunately, there is a better way! Visory’s online bookkeeping services are affordable, scalable, and effective.

Interested in learning more about Visory’s bookkeeping services? Complete our free financial health check to see if Visory fits your law firm’s goals and needs.

11 Top Benefits of Online Bookkeeping

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a person doing online bookkeeping on a computer

Keeping your books in order does more than offer peace of mind. An accurate accounting of your financial status also allows you to attract more investors, avoid tax penalties, and help ensure that your staff are always paid on time. 

If you’re a small business rapidly growing into a large organisation, you will eventually outgrow at-home accounting software. Professional online bookkeeping services might be the answer. Once you learn about online bookkeeping benefits, we think you’ll be persuaded to enlist a little (or a lot of) help with your general ledger. 

Do You Really Need to Outsource Bookkeeping?

You can certainly do your own bookkeeping in your back office. But as your business scales upward, it’s easy to fall behind on weekly reports and lose track of some expenses. The risk of forgetting to pay an invoice will be forever in the back of your mind when you lay down to sleep at night. 

Alternatively, you can switch to an online bookkeeping team. Handing over your books to a virtual team can help you save money and time, avoid mistakes, and gain access to experts. We can’t recommend entrusting a virtual team of bookkeeping professionals enough. You can even add new members to your online bookkeeping team whenever you have new accounting needs. 

Top Reasons to Hire Online Bookkeepers 

Online bookkeeping is a way to manage your accounts receivable, accounts payable, financial reports, tax reports, and more — without an in-house team. Your online bookkeeper can become a valued member of your staff, even at a distance. These are the top reasons to switch to online bookkeeping. 

Save money on payroll.

Hiring a full-time staff member requires you to pay more than an hourly rate or salary. You’re also responsible for mandatory benefits. These benefits include superannuation, sick leave, and long service leave. If you enlist a bookkeeper as a vendor, you can save money on payroll and use it for other essential expenses. 

Avoid catch-up bookkeeping.

Paying someone to go through your books and find mistakes you made months ago is time consuming and expensive. Stay up to date on your finances by turning to an online bookkeeper. By creating monthly reconciliation reports and maintaining your general ledger, you can avoid painful troubleshooting later. 

Get meaningful insights.

One of the most important online bookkeeping benefits is that you won’t just keep your money straight — it can help you see into the  future. No, really! A professional bookkeeper can help to detect where you’re losing money. They can also tell you where your business is thriving. Insights into which customers spend the most money and which products are failing allow you to be more strategic. 

More accurate bookkeeping.

A simple mistake can have a huge ripple effect. When you reconcile your books, you’ll be grateful for accurate records. Double-entry bookkeeping records each transaction twice. It’s more accurate, but takes more time and effort. Let a bookkeeper take over the task to reduce  common mistakes that often happen when you’re in a rush. 

Properly categorised expenses.

Making sure your expenses are categorised properly helps you make important decisions. Are you spending too much on shipping? Do you have spending redundancies in your marketing costs? You can make better decisions when you see precisely where your cash is going and why. Online bookkeeping makes it easy to code each transaction into categories. 

Prepare taxes painlessly. 

If you fail to pay taxes on time, fail to withhold taxes properly, or fail to meet your obligations — you could be looking at penalties. Lodging your taxes the right way means having organised books. Your online bookkeeper can handle all the hard work for you.  

Avoid onboarding and training. 

Hiring a new in-house accountant or bookkeeper could mean putting them through a training programme. Not only does this prolong the hiring process, but it costs money. And if your bookkeeper quits? You’re back at square one. With an online bookkeeping service, you often have access to a team. If one person leaves, another bookkeeper can jump in seamlessly. 

Leverage industry-specific expertise.

Many online bookkeeping services also offer experts in your field. Is your main business e-commerce sales? You need someone on hand who knows how to track high inventory turnover and shipping costs. If you sell food, you’ll want a bookkeeper who can track licensing fees and make recommendations. Going virtual for your bookkeeper means you can be matched to someone who knows your industry, regardless of where they are located. 

Use automated reporting.

Cloud-based accounting is a game changer. It’s one of the key online bookkeeping benefits. Since they’re not on location, a virtual bookkeeper will have to maintain your records in the cloud, which gives them access to some of the most up-to-date bookkeeping software. You can even ask your bookkeeper to generate automated reports. Schedule revenue, spending, and payroll reports each month to make sure you never fall behind. 

Be more efficient with your time.

Time you spend categorising invoices is time you’re not spending on research and development, marketing, and getting to know your customers. Simply put: online bookkeeping frees up tonnes of time. Your executives can concern themselves with growth instead of calculating reports. 

Accomplish money management faster.

Experienced online bookkeepers know what they’re doing, every step of the way. If you’re trying to do your own books, you are bound to miss a few deadlines. And affordable in-house bookkeepers may take a few weeks to get caught up. Online bookkeepers provide a seamless experience, generating your reports and tracking expenses in real-time. 

When you outsource bookkeeping, you free up time and resources for your back office. Imagine how much more time you’ll have for brainstorming marketing strategies and dealing with customer service if you’re not wringing your hands over an expense report. Visory makes the switch to online bookkeeping easy. Once you are quickly onboarded, you have access to a team of experts. You can grow or scale back your bookkeeping team as needed. And even better, you have around the clock access to your books!

13 Key Financial Metrics & KPIs for Professional Services

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professional service business working at a table

Managing a professional services firm often involves moving at a frenetic pace. You must be able to seamlessly transition from things like reviewing a client proposal to reporting campaign results to business partners.

While these tasks are an essential part of managing your business, tracking financial metrics is equally important. These financial metrics allow you to stay apprised of various components of your firm’s overall performance. The practice of tracking this data is often referred to as online bookkeeping.

Chances are that you are already tracking a few business financial metrics. However, you may not be confident that you are monitoring the best data points.

Below, we have compiled a list of 13 key financial metrics that your business can leverage to help facilitate growth and improve profitability.

How to Check Your Financial Health

Thanks to modern software, there are plenty of options for checking the financial health of your professional services firm. You can track various metrics independently or partner with a firm that provides bookkeeping for professional services.

Many professional service providers find that allocating this responsibility to a third-party provideris the most pragmatic approach. These teams specialise in online bookkeeping services and can help find the perfect software for your industry. 

You can access this data from anywhere and detect concerning trends early on. This allows you to be proactive in taking control of your firm’s financial future.

How Often Should You Check Core Financial Metrics for Your Professional Services Business?

Many professional services business owners wonder how often they should check their financial metrics. You may even find yourself asking these very same questions. The simple answer? Frequently.

You can collect information about all of the best business financial metrics in the world. However, they will not do a bit of good unless you analyse them to gain insights about your firm.

Generally, we recommend assessing key performance indicators (KPIs) at least once per week. Develop a routine and check your metrics on the same day each week. While many of the data points outlined below may not show significant changes on a weekly basis, it is still important to review them regularly.

Some of the metrics detailed below may only need to be checked monthly or quarterly. Others, such as annual recurring revenue, can only be assessed yearly.

By routinely checking your business’ financial metrics, you can help increase revenue and improve profitability.

Metrics

1.   Revenue

Of all of the business financial metrics, revenue is one that all professional services firms should track. 

Revenue is an important data point to track. However, it does not provide a complete picture of your business’ overall performance. When it is paired with additional key performance indicators outlined below, revenue can tell you a lot about your current business model.

2.   Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

When you’re organizing your online bookkeeping services, it is also important to track ARR. ARR is a metric that quantifies income from annual services. 

For instance, let’s say that a particular client signed a two-year contract for $100,000. The ARR for that client would be $50,000 because that would represent how much you earn from that account per year. ARR is a predictable income stream that can help you to grow your business.

3.   Profit

When it comes to key business financial metrics, perhaps none is as important as profit. This data lets you know what your net income will be after expenses. Unlike revenue, profit gives a much clearer view of the health of your professional services firm. 

When you’re calculating profits, make sure to account for all expenses. This includes customer acquisition costs and costs of goods sold (COGS). If you offer ongoing service, COGS can be substituted for the cost of creating and maintaining your software.

4.   Qualified Leads:  MQLs and SQLs

Qualified leads are target clients that are primed to make a purchase. These buyers are already actively seeking information about your services and are deep in the sales funnel.

There are various types of lead-related business financial metrics available, depending on which types of services you provide. 

Marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are buyers that fit your defined target audience to a ‘T’.  Consumers in the MQL phase are aware that there is a solution to the problem they are facing. However, they are not completely aware of your product offering. 

Sales qualified leads (SQLs) are the B2B variant of MQLs. An SQL is a person with the authority to make a buying decision. Once you identify clients that are SQLs, it is time to present them with quality content to close the deal.

5.   Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

When a firm’s revenue is high, but profits are low, it is time to assess additional business financial metrics to identify the root cause of the problem. One such KPI is CAC.

CACrefers to the average amount spent to obtain new clients. Ideally, you want to have a low CAC and a high purchase rate per consumer.

For instance, let’s say that your CAC is approximately $15. This means it costs your firm $15 to acquire a single customer. If the average client is spending $100 AU, then your CAC to purchase ratio is good. However, if average purchase amounts and CAC are nearly even, then you may need to reevaluate your business strategy.

6.   Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Most of the business financial metrics on our list are great for all professional services firms. However, our next KPI is geared specifically toward established firms. 

CLV outlines how much a client spends on your services throughout their lifecycle. The lifecycle of your clients will be heavily dependent on your industry. Some professional services businesses will retain customers for years.

In order to calculate CLV, subtract CAC from the amount of total revenue earned from that customer. Acquiring customers cheaply and retaining them for years can help your business improve profitability.

7.   Proposals Sent

One of the more basic business financial metrics that we recommend tracking are proposals sent. Contrary to popular belief, the goal is not to send out an absurdly high number of proposals. Instead, you should focus your attention on targeting quality leads. 

If you find that your “proposals sent” metric has dropped, review your lead-generating practices. Meet with your sales team and seek out their feedback. Is the issue that they are not getting enough leads? If not, perhaps they need to refine their outreach practices.

8.   Win Rate

Win rate is a great KPI that can be used to hold your sales staff accountable. In order to calculate win rate, divide deals closed by the total number of proposals sent. 

Much like the proposals sent metric, the higher the better is not necessarily what you’re aiming for. If your rate is over 90%, then your services may be priced too low. You do not want to sell your business short and hinder profitability. Increasing your rates slightly may reduce the win rate, but it will lead to higher revenue in total.

On the other hand, win rates below 50% are a sure sign that something is awry with your sales practices. Once a high-quality lead is identified, your sales team should be able to close a good number of the deals they present. An ideal win rate is approximately 70%.

9.   Net Margin

Unlike win rate, some business financial metrics are a bit more difficult to calculate. Net margin is a prime example. However, it is an important KPI to track.

Net margins translate your revenue to actual profits. In order to calculate this figure, you must have a firm grasp on CAC and COGS. Unhealthy net margins can prevent you from scaling your business.

10.  Cash Flow from Operations

Your business must maintain a positive cash flow to meet deadlines, hire new staff, and grow. Firms without strong cash flow are not flexible, which can hinder performance.

An important part of managing cash flow includes deciding when you are going to charge clients. If you take on a large number of new accounts and do not charge anything upfront, your firm may quickly have a cash flow deficit. 

11.  Client Retention Rate

Acquiring new clients is costly. Retaining existing customers is much more efficient and practical. If your client retention rate is low, then it is time to find out why.

In order to calculate client retention rate, subtract the number of clients at the end of a period from the number of clients obtained during the same period. This will yield the number of starting clients. Next, multiply that figure by 100. This will be your client retention rate.

12.  Average Churn Rate

The churn rate is also referred to as the rate of attrition. Professional service firms use this metric to determine how many clients cancel services during a given period of time. 

A high churn rate may be a sign that your sales team is closing deals with clients that are a poor fit for your company.

13.  Revenue per User (RPU)

RPU is one of the best business financial metrics for professional service businesses. As the name implies, RPU indicates the amount of income generated on a per-client basis. 

You can utilise this metric to project future profits as you scale your business. You can also make decisions about possible pricing adjustments to ensure net margins are sustainable.

Closing

By incorporating these KPIs into your online bookkeeping services, you will be able to more effectively track the financial health of your firm. You will gain key insights into what your team is doing well. Your management team will understand how to improve the client experience and generate additional profit.

If you want to optimise your ability to leverage these metrics, consider bookkeeping for professional services from Visory. Our experts can supercharge your financial back office and give you the tools needed to grow your business! Contact us to learn more about customised online bookkeeping for professional services.

10 Key Financial Metrics and KPIs for eCommerce Business Owners

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Financial Metrics and KPIs for eCommerce Business Owners

Running an eCommerce store is an incredibly challenging venture. You must monitor sales, oversee the latest marketing efforts, and make sure your team has the tools they need to perform at peak levels. 

In order to effectively accomplish all of these various tasks, you must become an expert at eCommerce bookkeeping.

Put simply, eCommerce bookkeeping refers to the process of tracking various financial metrics that impact the success of your business. Without a strong understanding of these indicators, effectively managing your online store will be nearly impossible.

With that in mind, the experts at Visory have created this helpful guide. Our team specialises in online bookkeeping services that help eCommerce sites track essential data.

Below, we’ll outline the ten key eCommerce financial metrics that you should be tracking. 

How to Measure eCommerce Success

If you have been searching for a way to quantify your eCommerce success, online bookkeeping is the answer. It is important to thoroughly track relevant data about your business’ performance and sales. Each category of data is known as a key performance indicator (KPI).

With modern software, you can collect information on just about any metric imaginable. However, not all eCommerce financial metrics give accurate insights into your business. If you pay too much attention to the wrong KPIs, then you will have an incomplete picture of your store’s overall health.

Many eCommerce stores opt to use third-party eCommerce bookkeeping services. These firms specialise in monitoring KPIs and compiling relevant data for your business. They can provide you with regular reports on your business performance. You can then use this information to detect trends, refine your business model, and generate more revenue.

How often should you check your eCommerce financial metrics?

 This depends on a few factors. 

For instance, if you have just switched to a new page theme, then you should check your metrics each week. This is because a new theme can drastically impact the way consumers interact with your content. Your new theme may lead to changes in traffic volume or cart abandonment rates.

More established eCommerce stores may only need to check eCommerce financial metrics bi-weekly or monthly. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. The best solution will depend on your business’ current health and growth projections.

Metrics

Now that we have covered online bookkeeping services and how often you should check your KPIs, let’s dive into the list. Our top ten eCommerce financial metrics include:

1.   Revenue

Our first pick is pretty straightforward. Every business owner actively tracks their overall revenue (even those who are not very interested in analysing data).

However, revenue gives a very narrow view of an eCommerce store’s performance. Having high top-line revenue is great. But it is a useless statistic unless it’s paired with other eCommerce financial metrics. 

2.   Profit

Profit gives a much better picture of your eCommerce store’s health and performance. If your revenue is rising, but your total income is not, it is likely because you are leaking money in another category. This inconsistency may be due to unusually high operating expenses or disproportionate acquisition costs.

When you’re calculating profits, make sure to account for all expenses. We suggest monitoring profits weekly, especially when your business is young. That way, you can continually look for ways to reduce expenses and improve profitability.

3.   Average Order Value (AOV)

Average order value is one of the best eCommerce financial metrics for gauging customer loyalty and interest in your products. The AOV refers to how much the average customer is purchasing each time they checkout.

Driving up your AOV is a simple, but effective alternative to generating new site traffic. There are several great ways to boost AOV, such as:

  • Rewards programs
  • Selling bundled items
  • Upselling with add-ons at checkout
  • Mix-and-match deals

If you find that your AOV is low, using the techniques above can incentivise consumers to buy your products in larger quantities.

4.   Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Most of the eCommerce financial metrics on our list are great for just about any business. However, this next one is most suitable for established online stores with a strong customer base. 

CLV refers to the total amount that a consumer spends at your store throughout their entire “lifecycle.” The CLV will vary greatly, depending on what industry you are in.

eCommerce stores that sell consumables and health products may have customer lifecycles of five years or more. On the other hand, a business that sells specialty automotive parts may have extremely short customer lifecycles.

5.   eCommerce Conversion Rate (CVR)

Ever wondered how many visitors to your site are actually making a purchase? If so, then you need to be tracking your eCommerce conversion rate (CVR). 

Like most eCommerce stores, you probably get a lot of passive traffic. We are referring to the customers that “browse” your site for 30 minutes to an hour, only to leave empty-handed. That is okay because some of these consumers will likely return and make a purchase at a later date.

Still, it is important that your business has a healthy CVR if you want to remain profitable. We consider a CVR of about 5% to be a healthy start. 

If your CVR is below this baseline, then it is time to make some improvements. Even a small rise to your CVR can translate to a huge increase in profits.

For example, let’s say that your site earns 500 visitors per day. A CVR of 3% means that only 15 people are making a purchase. By increasing your CVR to 5%, your business will facilitate 25 purchases per day. If each client is spending $100, that is a revenue increase of $1,000 daily! 

6.   Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Many new entrepreneurs tend to overlook a few vital eCommerce financial metrics. CACis definitely one of them. CAC is a pretty simple KPI at face value. Low CAC is great for profits. 

Your CAC should be much lower than your revenue. Let’s say you are spending $20 AUD to acquire each customer. If the average consumer is buying $100 worth of goods, then your CAC ratio is good. However, a CAC that is nearly even with or higher than a consumer’s average purchase amount, could put your business in trouble!

7.   Return Rate

In addition to watching your CAC, you need to track your return rate. If you are processing lots of exchanges, chargebacks, and refunds every month, your profits will suffer. Processing returns are a real pain for your service staff to deal with, too! 

Refund rates vary greatly by business type. When you first begin tracking eCommerce financial metrics, look for comparable stats within your same industry. If you sell apparel and your top competitors have a refund rate of 5%, try to keep your numbers below that level. If your rate is higher, you also need to look at the reasons why. Is it quality, change of mind, wrong product?’

8.   Cart Abandonment Rate

Modern eCommerce software allows business owners to track cart abandonment rates. This occurs when consumers put items in their online cart and leave your store without completing their purchase.

While a high cart abandonment rate may be a bit concerning, it also presents an opportunity. If consumers are loading their carts up with your products, they have a high interest in making a purchase. You may just need to give them a little extra incentive to follow through.

We recommend implementing an automated email campaign. This strategy will target consumers that abandon their carts. You can send them encouraging messages that will prompt them to complete their purchase. 

If you really want to sweeten the deal, include a digital coupon or shipping discount.

9.   Gross Margin

If you plan to scale your business, then gross margin is one of the most important eCommerce financial metrics to track. 

Gross margin is the profit that you are left with after factoring in the cost of goods sold. Unlike some other metrics, gross margin accounts for the cost of acquiring inventory. 

By examining gross margin, you can determine whether your current level of growth is sustainable. Make sure that you have strong margins before you attempt to scale your business. Otherwise, you may find that you do not have the funds needed to keep inventory in your warehouse.

10. Traffic Volume

Traffic volume is a broad KPI that refers to how many visitors your site receives. You can break this stat down into smaller metrics, such as bounce rate, time spent on site, and average page views. Each of these KPIs can help you understand exactly when consumers are leaving your website. 

For instance, bounce rate refers to the number of users that navigate to your site and leave before viewing additional pages of content. A high bounce rate may be a sign that your site is not visually appealing enough. It may also indicate that page load times are slow, which quickly discourages potential customers. 

Increasing your site’s traffic volume is an essential part of growing your eCommerce store. You can drive more traffic by leveraging various marketing efforts, including paid ads and search engine optimization (SEO) practices.

Closing

That rounds out our list of the top ten eCommerce financial metrics that you should be tracking. 

Now that you know which data to monitor, it is time to put these numbers to use. Leveraging these KPIs can reveal how well your business is really performing. You will be able to identify what you are doing well and which areas need to be improved upon.

If you are still unsure how to begin tracking your eCommerce financial metrics, contact the team at Visory. We offer our clients exceptional online bookkeeping services at affordable prices. 

Our team will provide you with detailed reports on the health of your online store and regularly check your key metrics. This means that you will have more time to focus on other important tasks, like scaling your business. Supercharge your financial back office with Visory!

Financial Analysis for E-Commerce Businesses

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Understanding where your money is coming from and where it’s going is crucial for any business. But financial analysis has a different meaning for online businesses. Why? You have so many more performance indicators to analyse than a brick and mortar business. 

Imagine you have a billboard on the side of a major motorway. If you see an uptick in sales, it’s difficult to link those sales back to the billboard. If you place a Google Ad, however, you can see exactly how many people clicked on it and then made a purchase. More information means more analytics. 

Financial analysis for e-commerce businesses ranges from tracking sales to analysing shipping costs and everything in between. Read on to learn more about eCommerce bookkeeping and more.

What is a financial analysis? 

Financial analysis is the process of evaluating all of your business financial transactions. You can do this for a few purposes. Some of the most common reasons an organisation will initiate a financial analysis include end-of-year reconciliation, determining solvency (do you owe more in debt than you have in assets?), and determining the general stability of the business. 

Financial analysis for e-commerce businesses may also be done to check for inefficiencies in shipping and advertising. A financial analysis can help you plot your future course and create the reports you need to attract investors. 

What are e-commerce KPIs?

There are lots of metrics available for online businesses, otherwise known as measurable components that can indicate success. For e-commerce businesses, these often include things like the number of ad impressions, cart abandonment numbers, and organic traffic. KPIs are key performance indicators — in other words, your most important indicators of success. 

Your financial analysis can reveal how you are performing using KPIs like average size order, profit margins, conversion rates, and new customer orders. 

How to get an overview of your business finances 

Current online bookkeeping starts you off on the right foot — inaccurate books can’t yield accurate analysis. So, make sure you are tracking your general ledger and using double-entry bookkeeping tof each transaction. 

Once you have your bookkeeping for e-commerce transactions in order, you can start figuring out what the numbers mean for your financial health and future. 

Key factors to consider during a financial analysis for e-commerce businesses include:

  • Sales by category: Figure out which of your sales categories and items are most popular. This allows you to make decisions on expanding your most lucrative categories with similar products and services. Likewise, you may want to discontinue your least lucrative products.
  • Average dollar spent per transaction: Are your customers spending just a few dollars per transaction? Determining the average dollar amount spent per sale helps to let you know if your future strategy should include encouraging add-ons and targeting customers with similar products for sale. 
  • Product margins: For e-commerce businesses, the cost of goods sold (COGS) includes things like Google Ad costs, email lists, and shipping. When you subtract your total costs from your revenue, you can determine your profit margin. E-commerce margins can be as high as 6.5%.
  • Shipping: Shipping costs are a part of your overhead that can’t be avoided if you’re selling physical products online. Are you paying too much? Your financial analysis can help to reveal if you’re paying more than average for shipping and handling. If you are, you can either seek shipping alternatives or consider increasing shipping costs for your customers. 
  • Returning customer orders: How many of your sales come from new customers vs. returning customers? Return visitors cost less per transaction, because you don’t need to put out a new ad spend to attract them. If you are only bringing in new customers, you may want to create a new loyalty program to increase retention. 
  • Inventory turnover: Your financial analysis can also reveal if you are managing your inventory in an efficient manner. Higher turnover rates are better, because they can mean you’re selling your items more quickly. This can help to reduce your storage costs and other fees associated with holding on to products (heating, cooling, inventory counts, etc.) 
  • Revenue: Tracking your income, or revenue, lets you know if you’re growing at a steady pace or not. While your revenue doesn’t represent your actual profits, it’s still a good indicator of whether your finances are headed in the right direction.  

Personalised financial advice is more important than ever when it comes to financial analysis for e-commerce. Not all online stores operate on the same margins or have the same needs. Having a dedicated online bookkeeper from Visory, or using CFO services, can help you analyse your financial state and make strategic moves for the future. 

5 Things to Consider When Hiring an eCommerce Bookkeeper

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Running an online store can be just as busy as operating a brick and mortar business. You may only interact virtually with customers, but there is still a tonne of labour that goes into production, shipping, accounting, and more. Doing it alone could make you dizzy. 

One way to ease your burdens and avoid bookkeeping mistakes is by enlisting eCommerce bookkeeping help. Letting a virtual bookkeeper manage your income statements, cash flow statements, financial reports, and other money matters helps to free up time and eliminate stress. But who do you hire? Ask yourself these questions about any potential bookkeeper before you let them help you with your online business. 

What to look for when hiring an eCommerce bookkeeper

Successful eCommerce businesses have a well-defined set of processes, including a bookkeeping system. Failing to set up reliable eCommerce bookkeeping steps could lead to cash flow chaos, payroll shortages, tax penalties, and other problems. A good bookkeeper helps to avoid these pitfalls. An inexperienced bookkeeper may not see them coming. 

Ask these five questions of any eCommerce bookkeeper before you bring them into your team. 

1. Do they know your industry?

General bookkeeping experience is an important quality for any eCommerce bookkeeper. But does your potential bookkeeper know your industry? Imagine you’re a painter with an eCommerce store. Someone who has a decade of experience helping with food-related eCommerce businesses may not be the right choice for you. 

Your overhead costs, shipping needs, product price points, and tax deductions are very specific to your type of sales. Ideally you will find someone who has worked in your industry and understands how to offer meaningful insights. 

2. Are they familiar with eCommerce cost of goods sold (COGS)?

eCommerce bookkeeping requires an understanding of eCommerce (COGS. The COGS for any store includes more than just materials and labour costs. Your total cost per unit also includes things like packaging costs, storage costs, heating/cooling costs, and anything else that it takes to get a unit out your (virtual) door and into customers’ hands. 

A good eCommerce bookkeeper is also knowledgeable about online store inventory management. Do they have a plan for tracking units that may be kept in a warehouse or sent directly from the manufacturer? Brick and mortar stores can do an in-person manual count once a year. What does a potential bookkeeper suggest for your online store? Missing inventory and out-of-stock inventory are a major cause of lost sales for businesses each year. 

3. Do they offer diverse services?

Your ideal eCommerce bookkeeping service can do more than enter numbers into a spreadsheet. Can the bookkeeper you’re about to hire provide meaningful financial reporting? You want a bookkeeper who can identify red flags and help you forecast your future. You want a bookkeeper who will be able to spot missing money and tell you where you are overspending. Ask a potential bookkeeper how they have successfully helped online stores improve their revenue in the past. 

4. Do they know how to help you scale?

You may be a very small enterprise right now. But even if you never become a billion dollar business, you are likely to grow as you find more customers. eCommerce bookkeeping should be able to grow with you. The right bookkeeper for your eCommerce business should post summarised statements and keep your books clean so you scale at the right pace and know when you need more funding. 

5. Do they know your accounting software?

Perhaps most importantly, can your bookkeeper adapt to your accounting software or suggest a better one? Modern bookkeeping and accounting processes require a person to be up to date with the most current versions of cloud-based accounting software. Your general ledger shouldn’t be in a binder!

Ask a potential bookkeeper which version of software they’re most familiar with. Remember that many small business accounting programs limit the number of clients, accounts, and employees you can use before you upgrade to a new software. Look for a bookkeeper who knows when you’re ready to upgrade and can help you transition seamlessly. Finding a bookkeeper to help with your online store is about more than finding the right payroll professional or tax accountant. Leverage a team of eCommerce experts to deliver reporting and insights, forecasting, advice, and help with expanding your business. At Visory, we will pair you with a team of remote bookkeepers who know the needs of eCommerce businesses. Contact us today to see if we can help.