Top Common Misconceptions About Bookkeepers

Posted by kayaTax on April 18th, 2019

Some businesses are afraid of outsourcing professional accounting & bookkeeping services because of some misconceptions. It is important for business owners to understand the role and importance of bookkeeping and accounting services and why it is necessary to hire a bookkeeper. In this article, we are going to talk about common misconceptions about bookkeepers and help you understand them well.

Bookkeepers are scary

This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the industry. Most people are scared of bookkeepers. Perhaps it is because they are embarrassed about telling the bookkeeper about the state of their finances and they fear being judged by the bookkeeper. What business owners should know is that irrespective of their financial position, a bookkeeper is a valuable professional who will keep your information confidential.

Bookkeepers are redundant

With all the introduction of software and social media, companies are running countless adverts to business owners and informing them about how easy it is to do their accounts. What they fail to realize is the need to have a bookkeeper. They only realize the importance of bookkeepers after they have started using the service.

Bookkeepers are genius mathematicians

It is crucial for bookkeepers to have some numerical literacy to perform their duties properly. However, a lot of bookkeepers are not genius mathematicians as many people think. This myth has prevented a lot of people from joining the profession because they think that you must be a genius mathematician to become a bookkeeper. Most people offering accounting & bookkeeping services in Irvine California are not mathematics geniuses because it is not a must to be good in math and have a finance degree to offer quality bookkeeping services. Being good in data and spreadsheets doesn’t mean that you are also good in mathematics. Most bookkeepers can do mathematics but only when they use a calculator or write things down. You don’t have to be very fast with doing mental arithmetic.

Data-entry is the only thing that bookkeepers do

Most people believe that bookkeepers are just low-level data clerks. Most people don’t understand how much skill, work and precision is involved in bookkeeping. In fact, bookkeepers spend a lot of time solving complex problems and fixing mistakes performed by other people. This is why most bookkeepers charge an hourly rate.

Accountants are better than bookkeepers

Most people like to compare accountants to bookkeepers. While it is true that accounting is built from the work of a bookkeeper, the myth that accountants are better than bookkeepers can harm the reputation and the confidence of bookkeepers. Bookkeeping is crucial and it ensures that there is completeness and accuracy of financial records before the information is used by accountants. Accountants audit, analyze and address the information to get the bigger picture.

Bookkeepers are useful to large companies alone

Accounting & bookkeeping services are necessary for any type of business; whether big or small businesses. Whether it is a small business or a large business, as long as money is involved, every business needs a bookkeeper to run smoothly.