My bookkeeping is a mess

Rescue Work

 

Rescue Work – that’s the term we in the industry use when we have a business owner come to us and their books are in a mess. There are a couple of reasons this can happen.

  • You tried to do it yourself
  • You engaged a less experienced bookkeeper

Many small business owners think they’re saving money by handling their bookkeeping themselves, or hiring in-house staff, or engaging the ‘cheapest’ bookkeeper they can find on Google.

While it can be beneficial to learn bookkeeping basics, and we certainly encourage you to have insight into your financials, hiring a professional to oversee the financial operations of your business has many benefits. And although it may be nice to have somebody in the office all the time, this could be costing you a lot more than you think!

How did I get in this mess?

You didn’t go into business to do bookkeeping. It’s not where your passion or your expertise lies. So it’s understandable that things can get behind. You’re so busy running your business, and all that entails, bookkeeping is often the last thing you want to do when you have time. So the bare minimum is entered into your accounts just to get you by. It’s not done that well because you’re in a rush and you haven’t been trained in this stuff. Or maybe it just doesn’t get done at all.

And the misconception that you’re saving money by ‘price shopping’ for a bookkeeper or asking your receptionist or virtual assistant to take care of the books – that just never ends well!

Don’t worry, we’re here to help

So what do you do now? Don’t get too concerned about the past. We’re here to help you get that sorted. It’s easier and quicker than you think. Don’t get me wrong, it’s often a big job that only somebody with years of experience can work their way through effectively. What I mean is – all is not lost! We can get things back under control, and get you back to running your business – which is the best place for you to be!

I won’t bore you here with all the nitty-gritty details of what’s actually involved with a rescue job, but if you’d like to know that, then I’m more than happy to have a personal chat with you about it. But this is the gist of it:

  • We review your file and your current processes
  • We provide you with detail of the things that we need to fix and recommendations on next steps
  • We work with you in gathering the information we need and piecing the bits together
  • We prioritise what’s urgent, what’s important, what would be nice
  • We fix your file
  • We help you decide the best way moving forward so this doesn’t happen again

The best part is, we’re doing this quietly behind the scenes while you’re getting on with running your business.

Okay, what’s next?

Maybe you think your books are behind or in a bit of a mess but not quite sure to what extent. Do our quick Bookkeeping Health Check to get an idea. And remember – there’s no judgements here, you’re not the first business owner who’s books have gotten out of control, and we’ve never come across a file we couldn’t fix!

 

Take our Bookkeeping Health Check

Diagnostic Review

During our diagnostic review we’ll look at the we’re looking for ways you can do things more efficiently, and ensuring things are being done correctly from a compliance view. We don’t consider the accounts process to be purely about compliance – although it is important that your tax and other statutory obligations are being met. It should also be used as a tool to drive your business in the direction you want it to go, so you can achieve your goals. After the initial review we’ll provide our recommendations, and best steps for moving forward.

 

Xero Diagnostic Review