Accountants and bookkeepers are different and they play different financial duties. Bookkeepers manage your ledger and make sure that your accounts balance every day/ every week/ every month or not. Actually, accountants are tax experts and they provide you high level of understanding of your business.

That’s why you shouldn’t ask your accountant to do bookkeeping:

Do not understand your business closely

Most business owners hire accountants only around tax time which means the accountant is only handling your books once a year. And that’s not really enough to see a full picture of what’s going on daily inside your business. In tax time your accountant has not reconciled all your accounts. They do the just basics to get the numbers they need to complete your taxes. The bookkeeper can provide you with the management accounts on your business performance.

Not focused on the little things

Always a good bookkeeper will make sure that your accounts are reconciled. Even they did not notice every dollar in your account. Their job is to look at the full financial picture of your business and have to understand your tax liability and also check how you can make changes to minimize that liability.

Separation from your numbers

One of the good benefits of having an accountant is that they have fresh eyes on your financials at the year’s end. You need to do an objective review of your books and they can offer insights on allocating your resources and improving your business performance. If they are handling your books they could be so close to the company’s financial data that they miss some of the larger trends. So please make sure your accountant is giving you the strategic and financial analysis you need, and keep them away from your books.

Expensive

Maybe you are paying your accountant too much amount whenever they do your tax returns. Just imagine if you pay every week or day when they reconcile your accounts. Per hour cost for an accountant is usually higher than a bookkeeper. But a professional bookkeeper is always able to do your books faster than you can. Hiring a bookkeeper will cost you less and provide you with a lot of the same expertise as your accountant.

It’s not that there is no need for your accountant he is still very much necessary. You will need them for tax time and they can be a great advisor for your business when it comes to your overall business performance.