Book Keeping ...Yuk!!!!

[Stuart]

Hi Folks!
New to this site & would like some advice re hiring a book keeper in once a month (advice from my accountant!!!!) I run a small business, annual turnover aprox.£100K ...what sort of charges will I be looking at? Any comments gratefully received!!! Cheers

[peterjhale]

yes, yuk indeed.

I do mine myself with microsoft money and send this to my accountants.

It's a case of about a day's work each quarter and for the VAT man.

Hiring a book-keeper should not be too expensive and you'll probably only need an hour or so a month (especially if your records are all computerised).

At a guess, £10 per hour should do it. What does your accountant charge to do this ?

[Stuart]

Thanks Peter!
I thought I was doing OK with the accounts (having been freelance for 28 years!!!) But my accountant politely suggested a bookkeeper would help!!! I will make enquiries locally!!
Cheers
Stuart

[merlin80]

I have worked in Accounting for 7 years, 5 years working for small to medium sized businesses (50k to 2.5m turnover). I have passed professional qualifications, almost qualified as an Accountant now! .

My advise regarding bookkeepers is as follows (no particular order):

1) Before embarking on setting up a computerized accounting system speak to your bookkeeper and ask him/her to teach you how to do it properly - believe me this couple of hours can save you serious money in the future. I won't bore you with the stories I can tell.

2) Before employing a bookkeeper ask them about their experience and what qualifications they hold i.e. AAT or CAT (www.aat.co.uk - www.acca.co.uk). These qualification should not effect the price of the bookkeeper, however you will know they have a sound knowledge base and practical experience. If you want peace of mind you could even ask for references, this may not always be possible as everyone has to start somewhere.

If you are one man band without employees your bookkeeping should not be difficult and should only take a bookkeeper 1/2 a day a month (at most!) if you do your own invoices and keep your records in a reasonable state i.e. file things in alphabetical and date order and don't mislay your bank statements! Little things save you money!

A bookkeeper will cost you between £10 - £15 per hour depending where you live, however a fully qualified Accountant will charge you between £50 - £75 per hour to fix your mess (again depending where you live - I know some that are more expensive!).

[chicken/egg]

Peter - knowing that your very local to me (same road) could you recommend a good accountant/bookkeeper.

I've now been trading for 6 months and really could do with some help on that side of things!!!

Thanks.

Karen

[mascotmike]

Not sure if this helps but some book-keepers will do your books by post - especailly if its once a month just send the things via recorded delivery etc... and then they do the work and send it back when done (or keep it if client wishes).

My wife does our books and its part of the services we offer (based in manchester) and as she doesnt drive (on account of me taking the car) she does some of her clients books via the post - so far nothing has got lost but we advise copies of more important things just in case!

the price of around 10 pounds an hour is about right for book-keepers for your size of company. You may also find that your local (free?) newspaper has book-keepers advertised in it - we havent done this as the competition is a bit fierce here but just ask them for copies of their qualification certs or membership certs for the associations and you can make sure they are legit!

hope this helps at all.