Every business, no matter how small, requires a staff that takes care of the money that comes in and out of the business. However, sustaining a full department can be expensive, especially for start-ups and small businesses, that many owners would resort to hiring an accounting and bookkeeping virtual assistant instead.
Managing accounting tasks can be time-consuming and requires precision and accuracy. Also, some business owners may lack the skills of allocating things in the right category or balancing figures. Fortunately, bookkeeping virtual assistants can help you with all that.
Benefits of a Bookkeeping Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant is a remote staff who provides online support for business owners. They could do different kinds of tasks a business requires, from administrative tasks, marketing and web design to accounting and bookkeeping assistance, to name a few.
With the technological advancement nowadays, bringing reliable internet to more homes, business owners realise that it is unnecessary to bring an employee into the office to make sure the work gets done. They also recognise that it is possible to delegate work successfully even from afar and grow their business faster.
As for bookkeeping virtual assistants, here are the reasons why you should hire one:
- Saves You Money: Bookkeeping Virtual Assistants Reduce Your Operational Costs
Because virtual assistants only get paid for the amount of time they work, you don’t have to pay for a monthly salary. You simply can choose the number of hours you prefer and/or required for your business and can start straight away. At Virtual Office Angels, we do have a flexible plan to suit any kind of business. It is also unnecessary for you to provide a computer, pay the internet or electricity bill or lease an office space for the virtual assistant because they have existing equipment and environment that work for them.
- Saves You Time: Bookkeeping Virtual Assistants Can Categorise Your Business’s Everyday Expenses
Tracking daily expenses is essential in every business because it dictates the direction of your business. It allows you to see the big picture, and you will figure out if you can break even in the current month, earn a profit or suffer a loss. But this takes time from the owner’s point of view.
Tracking business expenses includes digitising receipts, categorising expenses in one place and reviewing expenses regularly. By delegating all these tasks to virtual bookkeeper assistants who are experts in this field, they can do the itemising of daily expenses that the business incurs and categorise them into a comprehensible system that the business owner can easily monitor. They know what to check for and which ones require your attention. Given their skills and expertise, they can do all these tasks efficiently, enabling you to save considerable time.
Provides Big (Business) Picture: Bookkeeping Virtual Assistants Can Track and Monitor Details (i.e. Loan Dues)
Overlooking expenses, whether it’s by the company or by the customers, can be an expensive exercise for business owners. Either way will incur interest – an expense a business does not need. By having a bookkeeper virtual assistant who is trained in generating invoices, sending them to customers and following up on dues, you don’t have to worry about missing a single payment anymore. The virtual assistant can alert you right away if there are upcoming bills and take care of them. The same thing goes when a customer is approaching a payment deadline, in which the virtual assistant can send a gentle reminder. By delegating all these time-consuming and exhaustive tasks, you can then focus on the big picture of running a business.
- Gives You Clarity: Bookkeeping Virtual Assistants Can Manage Your Payroll
Payroll management includes handling employees’ salaries, bonuses and deductions. Although there is software that automatically does the work, someone still needs to monitor if the correct information has been input to avoid sending the incorrect salary amount to your staff.
With a bookkeeper virtual assistant, you don’t have to worry about payroll management anymore. This task can be covered in his or her job description easily. This simple exercise of delegating this meticulous work can provide you more clarity on what direction you want your business to go.
- Makes Your Life Easy: Bookkeeping Virtual Assistants Can Also Take Care of Your Financial Statements
These necessary reports are supporting documents for filing taxes, which can be a nightmare because it takes days to ensure the accuracy of the figures. You also don’t want to be late in filing taxes.
A bookkeeping virtual assistant can efficiently generate the profit and loss or your business’s balance sheet. Because there is already a system in place as they maintain your financial records, virtual assistants know where to look and what to watch out for, which makes your life a breeze in managing the entire business.
Qualities You Should Look for in Bookkeeping Virtual Assistants
All the above-mentioned benefits can save you so much time, energy and money. But what should you look for in a virtual bookkeeping assistant? Check out the following qualities:
· Trustworthy
Trust is number one when dealing with people online, which requires close attention, especially when you talk about the money matters of your business. Business owners will have to disclose sensitive information, including passwords, access to bank accounts and credit card details, to virtual assistants. Hence, you will need someone you can trust. You will need someone who can take responsibility when things go wrong.
· Tech-Savvy
Make sure to hire a bookkeeper who knows how to use essential accounting software. During an interview, ask if they are up to date with accounting advances or the system that you are already using for your company.
· Has Industry-Specific Experience
Bookkeeping rules are different in every industry and in every country. If you are going to hire a virtual bookkeeping assistant, ask if they are familiar with the accounting regulations in your country.
· Available to Work for You
Virtual assistants may choose to have multiple clients. Thus, depending on the number of tasks for your business, you may need to find a full-time bookkeeping virtual assistant. Do your schedules align? Will you be in the same time zone?
There are still concerns amongst business owners with hiring a bookkeeping virtual assistant. One is how to monitor their virtual assistants effectively and make sure that time is efficiently spent on the business. Besides, it isn’t easy to put into good faith most especially the financial matters of your business.
That’s where Virtual Office Angels, Australia’s best virtual assistant provider, comes in. With a tried-and-tested system, we can help ease the hiring process and make sure that each virtual assistant meets your expectation and delivers results. Depending on whatever your requirement is, we can hire that special accounting virtual assistant to match your particular needs.
We have been providing accounting and bookkeeping virtual assistant services to Australian SMEs for over 10 years. We offer peace of mind to business owners to ensure that they can focus on growing their business faster and more efficiently. With Virtual Office Angels, you will have your own H.R. Management Team working and ensuring that support is there for you every business hour of the day.
For any other online virtual assistant services, we are here to help. Contact us now!