The Beauty and the Beast of Bookkeeping

I get many clients that don't fully understand what I do and ask, "What does a bookkeeper do exactly?" Allow me to explain...
Of course each bookkeeper does his/her own services but at Lee & Associates:

• Setup your books (Quick Books, Quicken, etc.)(This includes checking/savings accounts, credit cards, asset and liability accounts)
• Enter beginning balances
• Enter all customers (people who owe you money) and outstanding invoices
• Enter vendors (people you owe money) and outstanding payables
• Enter each transaction that comes through bank and credit card accounts (yes, this includes that 3.00 trip to McDonald's-if you used the company debit card)
• Reconcile each bank/credit card/liability account (this simply means that I take what I entered in Quick Books and balance it back to what the bank states happened in the account that month-great way to check for errors on either side)
• Process reports (Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows) For my Real estate investors or landlords, I have specialized reports I issue by property.
• Process year end reports for CPAs/Tax agencies. 1099 forms, w-2 forms.
• Send you an invoice for the work. Now, this is one of the least favorite parts of bookkeeping but necessary for my business to continue. And yes, payment is due upon receipt.

Now, could you do this? I am sure with a bit of training you could no problem. Now, my question for you is.."Why would you want to?" Granted money is an issue with many small businesses. Especially if you need to put in an entire years worth of data. Yikes! Start up capital is usually very low and comes directly out of the owner's pocket. Trust me, I know. Besides the minimal cost it takes to have a current set of books each month, by hiring a bookkeeper, you free yourself to promote your product/service. I say to each his/her own. Let me do what I do best. Books are my business. Let me save you hours of headache and give you peace of mind about your finances.

Of course, as bookkeepers, we can not help you sale the product or make you more money, but we can help you keep an eye on the funds you do have.

I hope this clears up what a bookkeeper does for many of you out there with that question.

Let me know what you think!

Crystal