School holidays can be tough on small business owners. Balancing work and holidays can be tricky, especially when you and your team want to take some time off with family. You want to be able to keep the business running smoothly while getting some time out.

That's where hiring a bookkeeper comes in. As a small business owner, you might think that you can’t afford to outsource bookkeeping tasks, but a bookkeeper can save you time, money, and stress. Here’s how. 

A good bookkeeper helps you stay on track with your finances

Regular bookkeeping is important, even if you think of yourself as just a small business. Your bookkeeping is the foundation for monitoring your sales, expenses and profits, but also your cash flow and your progress against your goals.

Hiring a bookkeeper during the holidays means you can keep track of your finances while you're gone. A professional bookkeeper can record and reconcile transactions, process invoices and payments and handle payroll for you. They can also identify potential bottlenecks in cash flow and spending patterns to help you adjust your budget accordingly. Additionally, a bookkeeper can also help you prepare financial statements and tax returns, saving you from returning to work knowing you have to quickly turn around a VAT return. 

A good bookkeeper provides valuable business advice

Your bookkeeper is also a business owner, and a great confidant for discussing your business goals and challenges. A good bookkeeper can help you identify areas where you can save money and make suggestions for increasing sales. They can also help you identify potential problems in your cash flow. It’s hard to delegate when you want to know everything about your business, but imagine the peace of mind of having a finance expert’s eyes on your business while you’re taking a holiday.

A good bookkeeper helps you prioritise your workload

During the holidays, there's always a temptation to either do nothing or keep working and not spend time with your family. You didn’t start your business so you could become a bookkeeper, and engaging a bookkeeper to handle your financial tasks can help you prioritise your workload so you can just do what you need to do, and enjoy time with your family. 

A good bookkeeper saves you time and money

It’s hard to think that hiring an additional person into your team is going to save you money, but bear with me. Engaging with a bookkeeper to handle tasks that aren’t your specialist area will save you time and money, and here’s how. Not doing these tasks yourself will free you up for the work you’re really meant to do in your business - where there’s a much better return on your time investment. Compare hiring a bookkeeper for £250 per month with spending one day a month meeting and quoting for new business with a value of £2,500 per month . Are you better off to forgo the £2,500 and spend your time bookkeeping, or to earn an extra £2,250 in your business this month? 

How about if you took half of that time you would have been doing the bookkeeping off as holiday instead? You’d still be £1,000 better off this month - just by hiring a bookkeeper. This is maths that makes sense. 

Add to this how a bookkeeper can usually save you costly mistakes in your bookkeeping and you’ll never question the value of a bookkeeper again. 

A good bookkeeper gives you peace of mind

Knowing that a professional bookkeeper is managing your finances not just while you’re away but every day of your business gives you limitless peace of mind. You can always be confident that your business finances are up to date and in good hands, so you can get on with running your business armed with the information you need to make good, timely decisions. 

Conclusion

Hiring a bookkeeper isn’t just a good move for the summer holidays, it’s a great move for the life of your business. It allows you to focus on what you really need to do as a business owner and take a break while everything financial happens smoothly behind the scenes. You don't have to worry about falling behind in your financial tasks, and you can trust that a professional is managing your finances. By leveraging the expertise of a bookkeeper, you can focus on spending quality time with your family and return to your business recharged and ready to tackle new challenges.

If you’d like to talk to me about how I work with small businesses like you please contact us.