What Your Bookkeeper Should Be Like

Bookkeepers play a vital role in any business setting. Their work provides the information necessary to perform due accounting diligence. But hiring bookkeepers can be a daunting venture for many inexperienced entrepreneurs. What qualifications, skills, backgrounds, and personalities should you look for? Here are five to start with.

1. Good Communication Skills

In order to get accurate and comprehensive data, bookkeepers must be good at communicating their concerns, asking the right questions, and relaying information to others. You want the bookkeeper you’re employing to ask you a ton of questions related to your business’ finances, so they can get a complete picture of your business’ financial health. Although not usually under their job description, bookkeepers may also have to reach out to the company’s stakeholders, such as investors and third-party vendors and suppliers.

2. High Efficiency 

Bookkeepers are capable of doing more than just the books for their employers. They are also trained to handle a variety of administrative and legal duties, including payroll and tax services as well as administrative support, particularly when the office is short-staffed. With so many tasks that could land on their plate for any given day, working at a high level of efficiency is key for any good bookkeeper to be able to keep up with the workload.

3. Foresight

A reliable bookkeeper has the foresight to see what your business might need in the future and which direction it is heading towards. They don’t just work to finish the day and collect the paycheck. They are authentically interested in helping your business scale at the rate you want it to scale. If your bookkeeper does his/her job precisely, he/she can identify areas where your business thrives and where it is weakest.

4. Strategic Approach

To be good at any profession, some level of strategic thinking is important, and that stays true for bookkeepers. A methodical bookkeeper is able to prioritize tasks, from the most impactful and urgent to the least. Their methodical approach also extends to the way they organize your business’ financial data and presentations. You want your bookkeeper to make rational decisions for every project and task they work on.

5. Sociable

And of course, great bookkeepers are sociable people. Because you are most likely going to work with them in the next couple of years, you want to hire a bookkeeper that is easy to get along with and has a personality and set of values that matches yours and your company’s. At COR Bookkeeping & Business Consulting, we strive to provide business owners in Austin, DFW and other metropolitan areas around Texas with the bookkeeping expertise they need to run their company successfully.