5 Ultimate Ways Online Bookkeeping Can Save Your Business Money

• Reading Time: 5 Minutes
• Published: July 23, 2021
• Last Updated: January 15, 2025

Whether you run a small company or a large corporation, a family-owned shop or a multinational corporation, one thing all companies have in common is the need to handle their finances effectively.

Though entrepreneurs thrive at starting businesses and are true pioneers, they can lack the skills to reconcile, record, and assign items to the appropriate category. When it comes to accounting, all companies need precision and consistency. Shifting to virtual bookkeeping is one way to ensure optimum productivity while still saving money.

In-house bookkeeping comes with its own set of problems. However, one significant issue is the high cost of recruiting a new bookkeeper for your team. Fortunately, moving bookkeeping off-site will significantly reduce, if not remove, most of these expenses. Before we get into the savings related to virtual bookkeeping services, it’s important to understand what they are.

What is Virtual Bookkeeping?

Virtual bookkeeping is a form of bookkeeping that takes place over the internet using cloud-based accounting software instead of in-person. Your bookkeeper will keep your accounts updated and manage your financial records from an off-site location.

How Virtual Bookkeeping Can Help You Save Money

1. Overall Cost Savings

The online bookkeeping services will cut down the time it takes to conduct background checks, provide training, etc. In most cases, you can save half of the cost of in-house accounting service and facilities. Virtual bookkeepers operate remotely, which means you won’t have to manage their payroll taxes, paid vacation time, or provide other incentives. Many businesses that provide online accounting services employ talented and professional bookkeepers, which can surprise you.

2. Optimizing Productivity

Any in-house bookkeeper you want to employ will need vacations or sick leaves from time to time. For one excuse or another, they’ll need compensated time off. Even though both cases are inevitable, someone has to keep track of the books when the in-house bookkeeper is away for days or weeks. If you leave your books unsupervised for longer periods, you will end up spending more money over time. Your bookkeeping process will halt, and it will take additional time to cover up for the lost time. As a business owner, you must already know that time is of ultimate significance for your business and how stretched work can lead to additional cost.

On the other hand, changing your bookkeeping off-site would ensure that your bookkeeping activities are still not paused. Virtual bookkeepers don’t take any vacation time because they hire teams of qualified professionals to complete these tasks for you.

The majority of the services are flexible and adaptive. You can reach out to customer service anytime, and your financial statements are accessible through the cloud 24×7. They are very accommodating to your schedule. The best part is that you can pay on an hourly or a monthly basis as per your requirement. Your work as an owner will be a lot simpler and more efficient once you start putting your books into virtual accounting systems.

3. Timely reports

Your virtual bookkeeper’s sole duty is to keep track of your financial data. A full-time in-house accounting team may become overburdened with other tasks and reporting, making timely financial details difficult to obtain. Many small business owners do their bookkeeping on their own and hire an accountant at the tax filing time. However, this makes it nearly impossible for the owner to concentrate on both the company and the finances. With a virtual bookkeeper, you can focus on your business while they focus on ensuring that you have the most up-to-date financial data whenever you need it. Financial data are crucial for making important decisions for your business. The absence of the right report can make it difficult for you to make the right decision on time, ending up as a costly affair. Having a virtual bookkeeping service provider will eliminate this issue.

4. No hiring process

Hiring new employees can be a tedious and long process, and in certain situations, the recruiting process will cost as much as $5,000 in some industries. The increased cost of recruiting a new employee is due to several factors, including:

Advertising fees

Recruiter fees

Referral bonuses

Sign-on benefits

Expected travel expenses

Although not all of these examples would apply to every business looking for an in-house bookkeeper, many of them are essential for a smooth hiring process. There isn’t much of a recruiting process when it comes to virtual bookkeeping. Although some testing is done to ensure that your company selects the best virtual bookkeeping service for your needs, this method is much less expensive than hiring a new employee.

5. Scalability

Scalability is one of the most significant benefits of using a virtual bookkeeping service. Increased work volume, such as increased purchases or complexity, can be easily adjusted by an online bookkeeping service provider. On the other hand, an in-house resource is limited by human constraints, and finding qualified resources in a reasonable time is difficult. Furthermore, if you do end up recruiting more people and the company slows down for a while, you’ll be left with the extra people.

You can choose to participate in a pay-as-you-go model with a virtual bookkeeping service. When the company expands, you can quickly scale up without incurring additional overhead costs. You will pay for what you need. Many virtual bookkeeping services have various levels of service targeted at different-sized companies. If you run a seasonal business, you won’t have to worry about having anyone on staff during the slow months.

Conclusion

Eventually, it’s no surprise that companies are searching for ways to cut costs everywhere they can. There are some instances where cost-cutting is advantageous, and others when it comes to a vital task like accounting and bookkeeping. It is important to come up with a solution that is not just cost-effective but also efficient. The most significant advantage of virtual bookkeeping is that it helps you to concentrate on what matters: running your business. You’ll have the comfort you need realizing that an experienced specialist is handling your day-to-day accounting needs. Virtual bookkeeping can save you money while still getting a highly efficient solution for managing your books and ensuring they are always updated. Virtual bookkeeping services are a perfect option for you, irrespective of the size of your company or the industry you are in.

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