9 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Bookkeeper
Working as an attorney is a tough job.
From sales to marketing to management and everything in-between, it seems like there just isn’t enough time in the day.
If you’re like most small law firms, you probably need to wear many hats to make your practice work. While being a jack-of-all-trades seems unavoidable for brand new law firm, it’s often not as necessary as most would think.
When asked about the least favorite role they need to fill to run their practice, most attorneys agree that finance and human resources top the list. In fact, the same aptitudes that make many attorneys great at what they do tend to lean far away from the skills required to be a great bookkeeper.
With this considered, the value of outsourced bookkeeping services comes into focus.
While most law firms would agree that having help with their finances would be a welcome improvement, few feel like they have the money to outsource their bookkeeping.
In reality, hiring an outside bookkeeper to help with business is often much cheaper than most would assume. Outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional bookkeeper can even end up making you money!
Adding the complexity of keeping accurate trust accounts, getting reimbursed for expenses, and sending out invoices to the day to day tasks you need to perform to keep your practice healthy creates a significant chance of making a mistake.
Unfortunately for law firms who handle their own books, these mistakes can end up costing you some serious money.
Missteps ranging from incorrect entries to forgotten invoices, missed payments, incorrect handling of the trust account, and more can cost a business owner thousands in late fees, lost income, and penalties.
And that’s just the beginning.
Without further ado, here are 8 more reasons why you should consider outsourced bookkeeping services for your practice:
1.) Hiring a Bookkeeper Can Save You Time
It’s no secret that bookkeeping is a time-consuming process. Even the most straightforward financial task like paying bills can take hours out of an partners already busy week. All things considered, you can quickly find yourself allotting more time than you have available. Rather than let these tasks go undone or putting them off to a day that will never come, it’s wise to look into outsourced bookkeeping services sooner than later.
2.) QuickBooks Can Be Confusing
Even if you are one of the rare business owners who have enough time to manage invoicing, payroll, and expense tracking on your own, knowing how to categorize expenses and keep track of your books properly can be a confusing process. While QuickBooks is a great way to handle many bookkeeping tasks, doing so without fully understanding the platform and procedures can get you into trouble when tax time comes around.
3.) Integrating Other Business Software With Quickbooks Is Difficult
At Legal Ease, we specialize in bookkeeping for attorneys and law firms. Consequentially, we often find ourselves working in several different applications to get everything taken care of.
Some of the legal business programs we have expertise in include:
- LeanLaw
- Clio
- MyCase
- Practice Panther
While getting these apps to work well with QuickBooks can be challenging, the experts at Legal Ease have the experience and expertise to get it done without any unnecessary pain or headaches on your end.
4.) An Outsourced Bookkeeper Can Help You Run Your Business Better
If you are an attorney who prefers to take a hands-on approach to bookkeeping, we also offer training and consultation sessions to help them get familiar with the software you need to run their business. Whether you need help with Quickbooks, Clio, My Case or other bookkeeping software, the experts at Legal Ease are here to help.
5.) Hiring a Bookkeeper Can Keep You Out of Trouble
Unfortunately for those who handle their business books solo, the cost of making a mistake can end up being quite high. Improper handling of the trust account can get you disbarred. Hiring an outsourced bookkeeper who specializes in law firm bookkeeping will help you stay in compliance with the bar association rules.
6.) An Outsourced Bookkeeper can Help Maintain Your Client Relationships
As much as we all hate pestering other people for money owed, it’s an unavoidable part of doing business. When you find yourself with overdue or outstanding invoices, retaining a bookkeeping service can help you avoid the awkward conversations required to get them paid. Often its easier for a client to get a reminder to pay from a third party than it is hearing it from the person they do business with.
At Legal Ease, we are happy to handle re-invoicing and reminders to help ensure your business gets paid and your clients remain satisfied.
8.) Hiring a Bookkeeper Makes You Look More Professional
Timeliness and consistency are both crucial contributors to the professional image of your business. If you start to get a reputation for forgetting financial obligations or payments due, it can harm the perception of your business in the eyes of vendors. As a bonus, invoicing clients on a consistent day with a regular process can help make your business look better in their eyes too.
9.) Partnering With a Professional Bookkeeper Will Help You Grow Your Business
The time, money, confusion, and stress saved by hiring out the management of your books can help a business owner find time to breathe. Frequently partners find themselves running a million miles a minute with no time left to rest and think. By lightening the load of maintaining a law firm’s finances, a bookkeeper can help you take a step back and think about the future.
At the end of the day, there are many ways in which outsourced bookkeeping services can help your business thrive.
If you’re ready to find out what Legal Ease can do for yours, give us a call today.
