Question 1

What is a bookkeeping company?

Accepted Answer

A bookkeeping company is a specialized firm that manages the financial records of an organization, ensuring that they are complete, accurate, and compliant with industry policies and regulations. Its core focus is helping businesses better understand their financial performance, make informed decisions, and uncover growth opportunities.

Typically, there are two kinds of bookkeeping services. The first is a standard or regular bookkeeper who performs simple duties, such as inputting financial records and comparing them with bank statements. The second is a full charge bookkeeper, who has managerial responsibilities and is more involved in a business’s overall financial health, managing its banking and payroll, and assisting accountants in filing taxes.

While these two types of bookkeeping services differ in scope and responsibilities, both help businesses overcome some of the following challenges:

Inability to track business’ monetary transactions
Disconnection between the sales and profit margins
Late payments, lost invoices, or unexpected expenses leading to cash flow issues
Frequent compliance violations and penalties
Difficulty balancing inflows and outflows and maintaining stable cash flow
Disorganized or incomplete financial records
Limited financial visibility that subsequently impedes strategic planning
Limited bookkeeping skills and knowledge

The global bookkeeping and financial auditing market is predicted to reach $673.7 billion by 2028, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% from 2023 to 2028. The market growth can be attributed to taxation changes, increasing business complexity, and shifting outsourcing trends pertaining to bookkeeping.

Success story

While the numbers speak for themselves, we selected the following case study to illustrate the impact of bookkeeping services in nurturing financial health.

Challenge: With operations dispersed across over 1,000 locations, a retail chain’s point of sale (POS) terminals reported incorrect, duplicate, and missing transactions. Because of this, it had to dedicate over 400 hours to manually review the financial records of at least 50 stores.
Solution: Leveraging its tax processing and change management platform, alyx, Grant Thornton developed a workflow that automated data consolidation and implemented internal review processes from audit specialists to ensure data accuracy. Once deployed, the technology automatically reviewed the financial records and reconciled accounts.
Results: Grant Thornton reduced reconciliation time by 90%, compressing manual work hours from 400 to 40, which allowed the client’s team to dedicate time to more important tasks.

Question 2

What do bookkeeping companies do?

Accepted Answer

Bookkeeping companies streamline businesses’ financial tracking, paying, and reporting processes to minimize data entry errors and ensure accuracy. They coordinate with department heads to collect expense reports and approve purchases, report inaccuracies and variations in monthly financial reports, and help keep a business's annual budget in order.

Key bookkeeping services include:

Financial transaction documentation
Recording all financial transactions, including sales, purchases, receipts, and payments together, and ensuring they include details like transaction date, payee, and payor
Accounts receivable/payable management
Collecting and monitoring payment transactions, which involves sending invoices to customers, following up on overdue accounts, and scheduling payments for bills
Bank reconciliation
Comparing financial records with bank statements to assess for discrepancies and errors in data keeping and reconciling these when possible
Payroll management
Calculating employee wages, withholding taxes, managing benefits, and processing employee payroll
Financial reporting
Creating balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, and other financial reports and submitting these to relevant personnel for their analysis
Budgeting and financing
Providing projections for future financial performance based on historical data and market trends and assisting businesses in developing and monitoring budgets to manage spending

Success story

To better illustrate the role of bookkeeping services in real-world business situations, we selected a case study from Crowe:

Challenge: Lacking the resources to reconcile intercompany accounts receivable and payable across its multiple entities, a global telecommunications company partnered with Crowe to provide audit support to its parent company and its foreign subsidiaries.
Solution: Crowe conducted intercompany account reconciliation for three entities across three consecutive annual audit periods. In addition, the company reviewed the accuracy of the parent company’s financial records, drafted financial statements and footnotes, and created a template for the client to use for future reconciliations.
Results: With Crowe’s help, the client gained more accurate financial records and met all reporting and audit deadlines, avoiding potential violations and penalties.

Question 3

What is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?

Accepted Answer

Although bookkeepers and accountants operate within the same financial domain, their roles are distinctly different and are frequently conflated with one another. Essentially, bookkeepers handle a business’s day-to-day financial operations, whereas accountants are more involved in the bigger picture of the business’s finances, i.e., they analyze financial statements, perform audits, and file taxes.

Below is a comparison chart:

Bookkeeper	Accountant
Records daily and monthly transactions	Analyzes the records which bookkeepers log to advise business owners on financial decisions
Conducts bank reconciliations	Conducts routine audits and reviews financial statements
Sends invoices, tracks received payments, and processes payrolls	Analyzes the overall cost of operations and manages budgets
Does not have the legal authority to file for taxes	Has the legal authority to file for taxes

Question 4

How much do bookkeeping services cost?

Accepted Answer

On average, bookkeeping services cost between $500 and $2,500 per month for fully outsourced services, however, this rate can vary depending on the following factors:

Company size and number of employees
Number of monthly transactions
Number of expense accounts
Number of invoices
Number of balance sheets
Customized reporting needs
Agency location

A bookkeeping company’s pricing model can also affect the overall price of the service. Common models include:

Hourly rate
Charges per hour of service rendered, providing an affordable and flexible pricing option for businesses with widely varying needs per month.
Part-time bookkeeping
Bills a flat monthly fee for basic bookkeeping services, such as inputting receipts and reconciling records. This is an ideal pricing option for businesses that can perform some bookkeeping services internally (e.g., payroll and financial reports) and want to save up on bookkeeping costs.
Full-service bookkeeping
Requires a flat monthly fee for comprehensive bookkeeping services, making a preferred option for businesses that don’t have the internal resources to manage their financial records and have complex needs.

The top 50 bookkeeping companies on DesignRush charge an average hourly rate of $73. 18.6% of agencies accept projects under $1,000, offering cost-effective options for organizations seeking basic bookkeeping services. On the other hand, 0.8% require at least $50,000, catering to businesses that require end-to-end bookkeeping services on a larger scale.

Question 5

Why should I hire a bookkeeping company?

Accepted Answer

You should hire a bookkeeping company because it can provide visibility into your organization’s financial health, help you make more informed decisions pertaining to your budget and expenses, and pinpoint opportunities to maximize your profits. Bookkeeping companies can also help you uncover patterns in your financial performance and improve overall financial operations.

Hire bookkeepers because they:

Improve your business’s financial resiliency so you can quickly recover from unexpected financial shocks
Provide greater visibility into your cash flow, transactions, and overall financial records
Minimize record-keeping errors and can prevent compliance penalties
Provide valuable insights on budget allocation and business expenses
Explore opportunities to optimize spending, better allocate budget, and grow revenue
Prepare well-documented financial reports and analyses to be presented to investors and stakeholders
Can fully take over the bookkeeping operations, thus allowing you to focus on core business activities

Success story

To highlight the value of bookkeeping services, we’ve selected Coforge’s case study as a notable example:

Challenge: A commercial bank wanted to reclassify its clients’ financial statements into a specific risk analyst template, seeking to conduct a more accurate analysis. However, the statements were inconsistent and inaccurate and required standardization.
Solution: Recognizing the client’s time constraints, Coforge created a detailed process checklist to reduce and monitor errors and standardized the approach for financial reclassification. The company also employed its proven process assessment framework to accelerate the transition.
Results: Following the partnership with Coforge, the bank achieved a 99.5% accuracy in financial statement spreading, reduced staffing requirements by 30%, and improved regulation compliance. Because of this efficiency, the bank recorded a turn time of 12 hours for prioritized new loan applications.

Question 6

How do I choose the best bookkeeping company for my business?

Accepted Answer

Choosing the best bookkeeping company for your business requires careful consideration and research. To help you in this process, we compiled a list of things you should consider:

Understand your business needs
Evaluate your bottlenecks, pain points, and current limitations to determine the type of bookkeeping services you need to outsource.
Outline project scope
Determine the number of monthly transactions, reporting needs, payroll needs, and accounting tech and systems to define project scope.
Set your budget
Discuss with stakeholders how much you can allocate toward a bookkeeping service, considering the frequency and scope of services.
Research potential partners and ask for referrals
Review agency directories like DesignRush, marketplaces, publications, and listings to find bookkeeping companies. You can also reach out to business partners and colleagues for agencies for referrals.
Check their credibility
Because bookkeeping is a highly regulated industry, look into the accreditations of the bookkeepers you’re considering. An official certificate from the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB) is a notable example in thar regard.
Assess their expertise
Review their client reviews and testimonies, case studies, portfolio, list of awards and recognitions, services, and experience. Select agencies that are familiar with your industry and provide the tools you need.
Submit a request for proposal (RFP)
Shortlist suitable agencies and send them an RFP. Across the RFPs, include a list of expected responsibilities and deliverables, project budget, how frequently you’ll need the service (daily, monthly, or quarterly), and a rough estimate of the regular workload.
Ask about security and privacy
Inquire about their financial data security best practices and ensure they comply with the latest privacy and security regulations to safeguard your business’s information.
Evaluate their soft skills
Observe the agency’s interactions with your team, and prioritize those that are organized, communicative, transparent, accountable, flexible, and seem like a good culture fit.
Finalize details with your chosen partner
Once you’ve chosen a bookkeeping company, settle on the payment method, list of deliverables, project management and communication details, and other aspects of your collaboration.

Need help finding a bookkeeping company that aligns with your needs? Explore our Marketplace and send us a copy of your project scope. Our team will shortlist five leading agencies that meet your requirements at no cost.

Question 7

How do I find the best bookkeeping services on DesignRush that fit my budget?

Accepted Answer

Using our agency's filters, you can find the best bookkeeping services on DesignRush that fit your budget. Shortlist the selection by choosing from agencies that can cater to projects from $1,000 to above $50,000 based on your budget.

To get you started, here are a few options at different price points:

Bookkeeper	Accountant
Records daily and monthly transactions	Analyzes the records which bookkeepers log to advise business owners on financial decisions
Conducts bank reconciliations	Conducts routine audits and reviews financial statements
Sends invoices, tracks received payments, and processes payrolls	Analyzes the overall cost of operations and manages budgets
Does not have the legal authority to file for taxes	Has the legal authority to file for taxes

Question 8

What are the key success metrics in bookkeeping?

Accepted Answer

Bookkeeping success metrics help businesses evaluate the state of their financial accounts, ensure accurate income and expense tracking, facilitate informed decision-making, and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements.

Below are the key success metrics in bookkeeping:

Operating cash flow
Calculates an organization’s inflows and outflows, indicating whether it has enough cash flow to maintain and grow its business operations
Working capital
Computes a business's on-hand cash, excluding the amount needed to maintain daily operations and pay debts and loans
Accounts payable
Measures the total outstanding bills owed by the organization
Accounts receivable/payable aging
Tracks the age of an account in 30-day increments to help businesses make more informed decisions pertaining to their cash flow
Accounts receivable
Calculates the total amount owed to a business
Direct costs
Determines the cost it takes to produce a certain good or service
Cash burn rate
Identifies how quickly a business consumes its cash reserves
Operating margin
Computes the income a business makes from its daily operations
Revenue growth
Evaluates how much a business’s revenue has increased over a certain period
Net profit
Calculates the total amount a company makes after taxes and interest

Question 9

What questions should I ask bookkeeping companies before hiring one?

Accepted Answer

Before hiring a bookkeeping company, you should ask it some of the following questions to ensure it’s reliable, trustworthy, and has the necessary experience to accommodate your needs:

Its Relevant Background

How familiar are you with my industry?
Can you provide case studies of similar collaborations?
Can you refer me to a past or current client so I can ask them some questions?
What are your bookkeeping credentials?

Its Services and Processes

What is your scope of bookkeeping services?
How far back can you reconcile accounts?
Can you walk me through your internal review process?
What is your process for creating financial reports?
What bookkeeping tools and software do you use?
Do you provide accompanying accounting services? If so, how do you keep a consistent workflow between the two services?
Do you outsource any of your services?
What are your privacy and security policies?
Do you have a contingency plan for unpredictable situations?

Related to Your Project

Who will be on my team, and what are their credentials?
Will you need access to previous tax and financial records?
Are you available during my work hours?
What are your delivery timelines for my project?
What will be our communication and project management arrangement?
How do you measure and monitor performance?
Who owns my data, especially after our contract ends?
Do you allow changes in project scope, especially as my business grows?

Question 10

What are the best bookkeeping companies in the US?

Accepted Answer

The best bookkeeping companies in the US are the following:

Grant Thornton
- 4.3 stars on DesignRush (1 review)
- 4.6 stars on Google (15 reviews)
- Top clients: Itzova Ltd., East Coast Lifestyle
Crowe
- 4.5 stars on DesignRush (2 reviews)
- 3.8 stars on Google (10 reviews)
- Top clients: Veritex Community Bank, Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, Nucor Corporation, Hannibal Industries
Coforge
- 5.0 stars on Google (3 reviews)
- Top clients: IAG, Eurostar, Underwater Construction, Clinilabs Inc
Saicon
- 3.5 stars on Google (11 reviews)
- Top clients: KPMG, Veritas, Accenture, Cisco
Deloitte
- 3.4 stars on Google (84 reviews)
- Top clients: Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Apollo Global Management, Boeing

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CountZee

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Sachin Gujar & Associates

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