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What Makes a Good Bookkeeper—and How to Choose the Right One for Your Business
In today’s newsletter:
• Key Qualities of a Top-Notch Bookkeeper: Experience, accuracy, and strong communication.
• Must-Have Credentials & Skills: Relevant certifications, industry familiarity, and tech-savvy know-how.
• How They Help You Succeed: Providing clear financial insights that inform confident decisions and drive growth.
• Tips for Finding the Right Fit: Ask for referrals, interview thoroughly, and start small to test compatibility.
When it comes to running a successful business, having the right financial support team isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential. Among these key players, a qualified and trustworthy bookkeeper can make all the difference between feeling confident in your decisions or feeling constantly anxious about how your business is doing and what to do next.
Why a Good Bookkeeper Matters
Think of a bookkeeper as your financial navigator. They help guide you through the numbers so you can clearly see where you’ve been, where you’re headed, and how best to reach your destination. With accurate, timely bookkeeping, you’re not left guessing if you can afford that new hire, upgrade your equipment, or invest in a new marketing campaign. Instead, you have solid data that informs your choices, helping you move forward with clarity and confidence.
Beyond just accuracy and timeliness, having a solid bookkeeper in your camp gives you access to a mentor that can guide you through understanding your business financials and mentor you in how to use that information to better your business and your life.
Key Qualifications to Look For
- Relevant Certifications & Experience:
A strong bookkeeper typically holds certifications—such as from the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB)—or equivalent credentials in your region. They also should have a background in accounting and business, usually in the form of a college degree. These credentials indicate a foundational knowledge of accounting principles and best practices. Just as importantly, look for experience working in your specific industry. Industry familiarity can significantly reduce onboarding time and increase the usefulness of their insights.
Unfortunately, it is extremely easy for someone to take a class or two and call yourself a bookkeeper. There are a vast number of bookkeepers in the market, and in our experience, most don’t have a solid accounting foundation or background to be able to give you accurate financial data or guide you in understanding your financial statements. As a result, it is all too common for business owners to be burned by a bad bookkeeper, resulting in costly cleanup, stress, and uncertainty.
2. Attention to Detail & Accuracy:
Errors in your financial records can lead to misinformed decisions and even legal complications. A good bookkeeper is meticulous, double-checking entries, ensuring data is recorded consistently, and maintaining up-to-date reconciliations. That level of precision helps protect you from costly mistakes down the line.
A mistake many bookkeepers and business owners commonly make is focusing primarily on tax deadlines when scheduling bookkeeping. The challenge with waiting until tax time to get your books in order is that you lack insight into the health and profitability of your business until long after decisions need to be made. If you don’t know whether your business has enough cash to purchase a key piece of equipment, or don’t know if one of your products is making a profit, you will end up making poor business decisions and will often end up in a cash crisis sooner than later.
It is essential that you find a bookkeeper that is able and willing to update your financials at least monthly; weekly is even better!
3. Technological Proficiency:
Today’s financial world is driven by cloud-based accounting software and integrated platforms. A bookkeeper who’s skilled with tools like QuickBooks, Xero, or other industry-specific solutions is more efficient, accurate, and responsive. This technological edge also means you’ll have real-time access to up-to-date financial information—no more relying on outdated spreadsheets.
4. Effective Communication & Collaboration:
You should feel comfortable asking your bookkeeper questions, discussing reports, and seeking their guidance. The right professional takes the time to explain financial data in plain English (not jargon), making it easier for you to understand your numbers. They should also actively listen to your goals, challenges, and concerns, then tailor their support accordingly.
Many bookkeepers who don’t have a strong background in business and accounting will often avoid discussing your financials with you in favor of just sending monthly reports through email. We have seen some even restrict the business owner from accessing their own QuickBooks account! We believe it is crucial to have a bookkeeper who can help you understand your own business and be a guide to you as you make decisions.
5. Forward-Thinking Mindset:
A top-tier bookkeeper goes beyond the numbers. Rather than just reconciling your transactions each month, they provide insights that help you make proactive business decisions. Whether it’s pointing out trends in your spending, identifying cash flow bottlenecks, or highlighting high-margin products, their input can shape your strategy and steer you toward growth.
How to Find the Right Fit
- Request Referrals:
Start by asking for recommendations from peers, networking groups, or professional associations. Hearing firsthand how a bookkeeper has helped another business thrive can give you confidence in your choice.
- Interview & Ask Tough Questions:
Don’t hesitate to conduct thorough interviews. Ask about their approach to deadlines and their experience in your industry. Look for someone who shows genuine interest in your business’s unique situation and cares about you and your personal and professional goals.
- Test the water:
If possible, start with a smaller project or trial period before fully committing. This approach lets you see how quickly they respond, how accurately they handle your books, and whether their communication style matches what you need.
- Pricing:
Pricing is generally a big issue when it comes to engaging a bookkeeper. We have all seen the signs offering bookkeeping for $20/hour or even per month. You will find a wide range of pricing as you search the market for a good bookkeeper. Our guidance to you would be to consider the value of what you are getting in addition to just the cost. We pay for what we get, and paying for a $20/hour bookkeeper will most often result in poor quality and costly cleanup. Find a bookkeeper that is fairly priced but provides the value that you want and need. Excellence in quality does generally come with a premium, but you will save in the long run, both financially (i.e. reduced CPA bills), and in peace of mind.
- Alternatives
We recommend that business owners with less than around $100K in annual revenue and who have the capacity should look into doing their own bookkeeping first. It may be a daunting task, especially for those with no background in accounting, but we’ve seen tremendous benefits when business owners do the work to learn how to understand the fundamentals of bookkeeping and accounting, navigate QuickBooks, and take charge of their business finances from the beginning. Those who do this will rarely struggle to make good business and finance decisions and will have the tools and foundation to grow a thriving and profitable business.
Setting the Foundation for Growth
Your bookkeeper plays a key role in building a stable financial foundation. With the right professional by your side, you’ll have greater peace of mind, more time to focus on growth, and the knowledge that your decisions are rooted in solid financial intelligence. In short, choosing the right bookkeeper isn’t just another administrative task—it’s an investment in the future of your business.
Whether you keep your current bookkeeper, engage our firm to do your bookkeeping, or find someone else, our hope is that you have the best support and foundation you need to succeed in reaching your professional and personal goals. Let us know if you have any questions or would like help navigating the search for a good bookkeeper for your firm!
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Adam Litster
Certified Profit First Professional and Pumpkin Plan Strategist
(816) 500-5779
