To run any business entity successfully, it's crucial that its bookkeeper is competent and knows how to do his job correctly. Either your bookkeeper can steer your business to new growth or let it spiral out of control, like a helicopter crashing in an action movie. A good bookkeeper is a valuable asset to your business, as he mitigates the risks of accounting errors and helps you focus on running the company and making strategic decisions founded on accurate financial information. Whether you have hired an accountant from a company or your retired father in law is your business's bookkeeper; you must ensure that they are doing it right and with your company's long and short term goals in mind. As a hard-working and busy business owner, it can be hard for you to tell if your bookkeeper is taking your books or you to the cleaners! With piles of other responsibilities that come with running a business, you might not know how bookkeeping is actually done, let alone the warning signs.

To guide you better, we have put together a list of telltale signs so you can determine whether you should change your bookkeeper or they are worth keeping.

Unprofessional Behavior

There's nothing more annoying than shooting off a message to your bookkeeping with a simple request only to have them take weeks to respond or, worse, not respond at all. This shows the lack of general professionalism on your bookkeeper's part. So, if your bookkeeper takes forever to respond to your calls or emails, either they are hiding something or simply do not care enough. Such an attitude is bad for your business. You should consider having a communication with them; if that doesn't work out, you need to look for a better bookkeeper.

Always Lacking Behind On The Books

If it's common that your bookkeeper is always scrambling to close the books at the month-end, or if it's August and your June, July books aren't still squared up, you probably have a bad bookkeeper. Of course, things come up, just as they do with any job, but a good bookkeeper seeks opportunities to maintain and meet the deadlines on time. Therefore, your business won't grow much if you are constantly trying to catch up.

They don't understand your business

If you had wanted a robotic record of your business's data, then some machine or software would be suitable for that. A bookkeeper's job is not just limited to record income statements; he should be familiar with the business's nature and how it works. Many industries have particular tax codes and breaks that can boost the profitability of your business. A good bookkeeper understands those intricacies and comes up with ideas and strategies for the business.

Too Many Mistakes

If your bookkeeper continuously makes mistakes and has to invest time reviewing their work, it's probably a sign that they are not fit for the position. You should question the knowledge and expertise of your bookkeeper. An experienced bookkeeper knows how to execute their job with minimal supervision. When bookkeepers make repeated mistakes, they become a liability, and you don't need more such liabilities!

No Reporting

When it comes to your business's books, timely, accurate, and insightful reporting is just as important as reconciling the books and categorizing transactions. A competent bookkeeper keeps reporting regularly and shows up quickly whenever a new report is requested. A better view of your business's financial health allows you to make the right decisions to achieve growth, and for that, you should receive your business's income statement about profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statement regularly.

They don't ask questions, or you don't understand their work

A good bookkeeper is curious and asks questions from the business owner. Often, bookkeeping is viewed as a mundane and repetitive chore that doesn't need any inquisitive thinking, but that's so not like it. If your bookkeeper doesn't discuss ideas or asks questions, they probably don't care about your business. Or if you feel that your bookkeeper's way of working is confusing and keeps making mistakes, it's a sign you need to change your bookkeeper.