Is it That Important to Heavily Vet Potential Bookkeeping Services?

  • Added:
    Oct 14, 2012
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Someone that’s buying a sports car doesn’t visit a pickup truck dealership. This seems like a silly and pointless example, but when we see start-up businesses take their bookkeeping needs to companies that work with 10,000 person firms and could never answer the basic questions that every new business owner has. These types of NJ bookkeeping services are going to be experts on these businesses and will know the ins and outs of the industry. The problem is that no bookkeeper (like no lawyer or doctor) can be an expert on everything in their field, thus they specialize, so it’s important to find the right one that works in a given vertical.

Many new NJ bookkeeping services are prospecting for business and try to illustrate how simple your start-up is and how anyone can do it. First, these are usually brand new companies to the industry and have little to no experience with complex tax laws, let alone arguing before the IRS or state. They can try to say that one size fits all and that they can work with anyone, but it’s not a risk worth taking. Yes, they are often cheaper, but if a competent bookkeeping service can’t be afforded, the company isn’t well financed enough to go into business.

This is where good references can go a long way towards identifying the best possible bookkeeping services for a given situation. It also weeds out the new services that have good intentions, but no experience and will end up doing more harm than good. Other businesses that have had fruitful and long lasting relationships are in the best position to point out bookkeeping services that the client would perhaps want to work with. One that cannot provide references is to be avoided because the best bookkeeping services can provide these references and the best representation can make the difference between a business succeeding and failing in those crucial early years where any mistake can be the last one.

Focusing on a bookkeeping service that has experience working with other start-ups can go a long way to having a more pleasant customer service driven relationship and avoiding a contentious relationship where the bookkeeping service doesn’t have enough time for its more inexperienced client. This happens because there a lot of unique issues faced by new businesses that existing companies don’t deal with typically and have no interest in learning.

The point of all of this is vetting a potential bookkeeping service should be treated like vetting a potential partner. Both will often work that closely with each other and the right bookkeeping service will provide so much more than just filing taxes and creating balance sheets. So having the right experience is critical, but for someone in their first business, it could be argued that having a patient and understanding manner is even more important. Sadly, In a bad economy, it’s not the strength of the idea that will determine if a business succeeds or fails; it’s the attention to detail and controlling expenses while building revenue that will make all of the difference.

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Gavin Harrison is a free lance writer. Get more information about Accounting, NJ Accountant, NJ Bookkeeping, New Jersey Bookkeeper, New Jersey Accountant, NJ Accounting and Bookkeeping.


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