Bookkeeping refers to recording financial data. This includes purchases, sales, receipts and payments. Based on this information, accountants create financial reports which serve a business in a variety of ways. A bookkeeper (also called an accounting clerk or technician) does this work, before the accountant takes over to generate financial insights from this for the firm. The role of a bookkeeper is crucial in ensuring that a company’s funds and monies are sorted out.

Accounting is one of the most important factors in running a business. It is a specialized task and it requires the expertise of a bookkeeping professional to manage the book of accounts efficiently. While there are myriad DIY accounts software systems in the market that you can use to maintain accounts in your organization, it is best advised to hire a bookkeeper. If you are a small business owner and are looking to hire a bookkeeping professional, you must ensure that the person has certain important skills and traits that are discussed below:

Good Education and formal training

It is essential that the bookkeeping professional you wish to hire has a formal degree in accounts/bookkeeping from a recognized school. The person must have acquired a certificate that qualifies him/her to practice work in the particular industry/area of your business.

Good knowledge of computers

Today, in the age of technology, every business, irrespective of size or scale of operations use computers and accounting software system to maintain their book of accounts. It is therefore important that the book keeper you hire is well versed with the latest software used in the business. While it is important for the book keeper to work efficiently with the software system, the person must also have the ability to handle different tasks independently even without the software.

Pay attention to details

Bookkeepers have to deal with numbers day in and day out. To carry out this complicated task every day and yet finding this job interesting requires special skill and a certain kind of personality. The person you wish to hire must have a keen eye and be able to pay attention to minute details. Another important trait of a good bookkeeper is that they are well organized in their work. If you find the person is disorganized or is complacent about the work at hand, then you must consider looking for another person for the job.

Experience

This is probably the most important factor to consider while hiring a bookkeeper – there is no replacement for years of hands-on experience working in the industry and handling the accounts book in an organization. Simply hiring a person who has a couple of certificates but has no prior experience working in any organization can lead to a disaster. Usually, the bookkeepers start out by working in the accounts departments in at an organization and then gradually move up the ladder to acquire senior position.

You need to ask the potential bookkeeper to provide reference of the organizations where they have worked before to assess the credibility of their work. It is better to hire a person who has at least 5 to 10 years of experience working in the same business niche as your organization. If you cannot afford to hire a full time professional you can even consider hiring a freelance bookkeeper and work with them on a contract basis.

However, what works in the best interest of the businesses is them hiring specialist firms like Fusion Partners whose expertise in Adelaide bookkeeping services in known in the entire country. Know more about bookkeepers and Adelaide CPA Accountants at the webpage: http://www.fusionpartners.com.au/