Do you need a bookkeeper if you have QuickBooks? With all of its automation and features, you’d think QuickBooks is enough to handle the full range of your bookkeeping tasks – however, while bookkeepers can carry out all of the same tasks as QuickBooks, the same can’t be said for the opposite.
At the end of the day, QuickBooks is an automated software with no nuance. It can automate your record-keeping and take over many accounting tasks, but it has its limitations, and can’t act as a strategic consultant the same way a bookkeeper can. Without the expertise to make sense of your financial data, you won’t know how to navigate major business decisions or transactions as they arise.
At NorthStar Bookkeeping, we’ve been acting as a QuickBooks consultant for the past decade, helping clients through our remote bookkeeping service. By combining QuickBooks with a team of human bookkeepers, you can continue to automate record-keeping while drawing deep insights from your team of choice, such as NorthStar. We don’t just maintain accurate numbers – we explain what they mean, informing your strategic decision-making and catalyzing the growth of your business.
Find out why you need a bookkeeper even if you use QuickBooks, and if you require outsourced bookkeeping support, don’t hesitate to reach out through an online form.
Why You Need a Bookkeeper, Even If You Have QuickBooks
As a CFO or leader within a larger enterprise, you may have wondered whether you really need a bookkeeper if you’re already using QuickBooks. With the platform’s automation and software taking over many accounting tasks, it’s a fair question – so, do you need a bookkeeper if you already have QuickBooks?
For a handful of reasons, yes, your business needs a bookkeeper even if you already use QuickBooks to maintain your records. This is due to the platform’s limitations, the risk of user error, the need for a strategic partner, and more:
QuickBooks Has Its Limitations
QuickBooks is invaluable when it comes to automated record-keeping and categorizing financial transactions. However, it carries some key limitations as well.
QuickBooks can’t properly reconcile accounts, for example, research discrepancies, or provide the high-level insights you need for a clear view of your company’s financial health. In short, it lacks the nuance and strategic perspective that only a knowledgeable bookkeeper or remote bookkeeping firm such as NorthStar can provide.
Lower the Risk for User Error
Even the most robust accounting software is only as accurate as the numbers entered into it. If you have many employees entering data into QuickBooks, simple mistakes here and there are inevitable – which can snowball into serious issues down the line. This can end up impacting financial reporting, which could then misinform future business decisions due to erroneous entries.
When you work with a bookkeeper, whether in-house or outsourced, they’ll regularly review and audit your QuickBooks reports to catch and correct mistakes far before they become major issues. This provides another layer of assurance that your entries are always accurate, steering you clear of potential fines and consequences come tax season.
Gain a Strategic Partner
As a CFO, you have high-level reservations and concerns about cash flow, profitability, growth opportunities, and more. QuickBooks may be a great tool for recording that data, but it’s not able to strategize and collaborate with you to interpret what the numbers mean.
An experienced bookkeeper such as NorthStar goes beyond data entry, acting as a strategic consultant who can analyze recent trends, provide critical insights, and recommend improvements based on your business’s financial health. With QuickBooks being an automated platform, it’s not capable of providing these nuanced insights, highlighting the need for a bookkeeper even if you’re using QuickBooks.
Improved Oversight of Vendors
When it comes to managing accounts payable and receivable, bookkeepers often make judgment calls when dealing with vendors and customers – something QuickBooks isn’t capable of doing. For example, your bookkeeper can consistently apply late policies for late and partial payments, discounts, and other issues, taking the burden off of your plate while enforcing consistency. It comes to show that in today’s complex business environment, relying solely on QuickBooks is unwise for larger, more established companies.
The strategic guidance and oversight provided by a trusted bookkeeper is indispensable. Despite QuickBooks being a fantastic tool, especially for SMB owners on a budget, it doesn’t replace the expertise of a bookkeeping firm such as NorthStar – it simply complements it.
NorthStar: Your Go-To QuickBooks Advisors
At NorthStar Bookkeeping, our remote bookkeeping service has helped small, medium, and large-sized businesses reach financial peace of mind for the past decade. We know that CFOs and other financial leaders already have their plates full – and you have no place carrying out back-office duties late into the night. Avoid burning the midnight oil, and trust NorthStar to keep your QuickBooks data in clean shape while drawing invaluable insights about your business’s health and trajectory.
Submit a form on our Contact page to partner with NorthStar Bookkeeping.