Hiring a Bookkeeping Virtual Assistant

Your bookkeeping virtual assistant is the solution to the nagging task of recording each day-to-day transactions that can make a huge difference in your business.  Hiring a full-time account to do the mundane task of bookkeeping is costly, but doing it yourself takes up so much time AND leads to missing critical pieces.

Your accountant really needs you to have a bookkeeping virtual assistant who can focus on that while you concentrate on serving the needs of your business.  Poor bookkeeping means having bad financial data that can detrimentally impact your bottom line (and make life harder for your CPA).

 WHAT BENEFITS DOES A BOOKKEEPING VIRTUAL ASSISTANT BRING TO THE TABLE?

Wider Expertise and Skillset

• You probably understand the work value in hiring an in-house assistant to do the bookkeeping.  But have you considered the costs associated with that?  Primarily, hiring local means you’re limited to the skills prospects people bring to the table, the ones you can find anyway. In addition, hiring local means you have the requirement of office space, too.  

• Hiring a virtual bookkeeper means you have thousands of people at your fingertips with the exact skills you need.  These professionals are trained in software like QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books and are trained to handle specific account needs.

• Furthermore, a bookkeeping virtual assistant can suggest implementing modern and up-to-date accounting systems that may work better for your particular business requirements.

Vastly Improved Efficiency

• But more importantly, hiring a bookkeeping virtual assistant is the best, most cost-effective way to go. Since they work flexible hours, you only pay for the time they are actually getting things done for your business.

• They’ll do all the social media chatting with friends on their own time, not to mention scheduling their kids’ dentists appointments, playing solitaire, researching Christmas gifts and all the other things in-house assistants do, while on the clock.

• Finally, they don’t need office space, a printer, printer ink, laptops, bathrooms, a break room, paper towels, replacement mouse pads, coffee, pens, tablets, sticky notes, holiday parties, snow days, seasonal décor, trash service, or French Vanilla Low-Fat Creamer.

Instant Scalability

• As your business contracts and expands, your bookkeeping needs may change. For instance, is your business extremely busy in the summer? At Christmas time? During the month of June? 

• Using virtual assistants for your bookkeeping needs, means you can adjust the level of service and additional support you need without jumping through all the hoops of hiring someone new.
  
  You can scale, instantly.

WHAT TASKS CAN I DELEGATE TO A BOOKKEEPING VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?

Hiring a CPA Accounting Firm is expensive, but that expertise is invaluable to your business. Making sure they have everything they need to do what they do is why you need a professional bookkeeper.

Data Entry and Recording

Bookkeeping VAs maintain accurate records of your financial transactions. They will help you keep a centralized digital system for collecting and maintaining all the pertinent information. And they input and update journal entries of the company’s business transactions.

Financial Reporting

They track and categorize expenses, and make sure your software has everything it needs to prepare expense reports, balance sheets, cash flow statements and other financial documents.

They will track expenses related to employee compensation, deductions, benefits, project costs, maintenance, fees and coordinate expenses across departments.

Back Bookkeeping

If you’re behind on your books, a bookkeeping virtual assistant can provide the dedication and focus you need to get fully caught-up. In addition they can create systems to streamline the process of all your financial reporting needs.

Over and Above Bookkeeping

In addition to accounting work, your bookkeeping virtual assistant can provide a myriad of other tasks like:

• Inbox and Calendar Management

• Scheduling

• Personal Tasks

• Marketing Emails

• File Management

• Research

• Travel & Event Planning and Booking

• Proofreading

• Ordering Products and Supplies

• Past Due Payments Follow-up and Reminder

• Marketing Services

• Prospecting Services

• Inventory Control

Understanding the value of hiring a bookkeeping virtual assistant is only half the decision.

Once you decide you have to determine if you want a transactional VA who you’ll communicate with via a digital dashboard, or if you need a more personal relationship with real phone calls, video communication, and a full team to help you when you need to scale.

We at Alpine offer a very personal, family-like atmosphere, ensuring your virtual assistant feels more like part of your company than just a data point!