Book keeper, who's got one? What do you pay?

[mspecperformance]

For those of you guys whom use a outside book keeper that is not you, your wife, your mom etc what do you pay? How often do they do your books? What qualifications did you look for? Did you set up how you want everything accounted or did you rely on them to choose their methods.

[CMillet86]

Interested in this as well, this is the next big step I need to take.

[Elon Block]

What are you trying to accomplish? Are you looking for someone to sort through and match

the invoices with the billing from the vendor?

 

Or are you looking for someone to produce a P&L every month? Or something else entirely?

If you have an accountant that does your year-end work, he or she will usually have a system

they prefer be used, in order for them to get an accurate picture of what happened each month,

in your business.

For example, do they prefer you use QuickBooks? Or some other system of recording the
day to day information?

I've seen book keepers that had their own system that wasn't really accurate. Therefore, even

though the book keeper didn't cost much in salary... it cost tons of hourly fees on the accountant's

end, in order to clean up the "mistakes" that were made by that person, in QuickBooks.

[mspecperformance]

  On 1/25/2016 at 1:50 PM, Elon Block said:

What are you trying to accomplish? Are you looking for someone to sort through and match

the invoices with the billing from the vendor?

 

Or are you looking for someone to produce a P&L every month? Or something else entirely?

If you have an accountant that does your year-end work, he or she will usually have a system

they prefer be used, in order for them to get an accurate picture of what happened each month,

in your business.

 

For example, do they prefer you use QuickBooks? Or some other system of recording the

day to day information?

 

I've seen book keepers that had their own system that wasn't really accurate. Therefore, even

though the book keeper didn't cost much in salary... it cost tons of hourly fees on the accountant's

end, in order to clean up the "mistakes" that were made by that person, in QuickBooks.

 

 

My question is under the assumption data and numbers will be recorded accurately and in congruence with your accountants method.

 

Really I was just wondering what you guys are paying out there.

[Elon Block]

  On 1/24/2016 at 11:58 PM, mspecperformance said:

What qualifications did you look for? Did you set up how you want everything accounted or did you rely on them to choose their methods.

  On 1/25/2016 at 4:44 PM, mspecperformance said:

My question is under the assumption data and numbers will be recorded accurately and in congruence with your accountants method.

I was answering your first question about methods.

 

Just like you can't assume hiring a tech who says they do things accurately - actually does,

you can't assume a bookkeeper who says they know how to do bookkeeping accurately...

actually does.

 

My daughter-in-law works for an accounting firm that specializes in working with small

business owners. Her job is to clean up bookkeepers records so the accountant

can then, file a proper tax return that isn't going to trigger an audit from the IRS.

 

Or cause the business owner to pay more taxes than they should have.

[Elon Block]

By the way, your accountant may be a great resource to not only recommend someone,

but answer your question about what a good book keeper might cost you, based on your needs.

[nge]

We have a bookkeeper/accountant and we pay $275 per month. This includes monthly/quarterly/yearly PnLs and respective reports, monthly withholding taxes called in, quarterly tax reports completed, annual report (we are a Corp) any property tax calculation forms etc and our yearly corporate return. She also answers any questions etc we have along the way. We just send her our payroll info (done in house) and our sales monthly and she does the rest. She also provides all W2s and and will do the owners personal returns as well.

 

In terms of what we look for, we look for someone who is knowledgable, pays attention to details and has a CPA or practices under a CPA.

[alfredauto]

I've found if the service writer web orders parts, and checks the parts invoices to the ro parts costs every time it eliminates the need for a bookkeeper. I'm not talking about an accountant. Back in the old days with hand written invoices a bookkeeper was required, not so much today IMO.

[mspecperformance]

  On 2/13/2016 at 2:30 PM, alfredauto said:

I've found if the service writer web orders parts, and checks the parts invoices to the ro parts costs every time it eliminates the need for a bookkeeper. I'm not talking about an accountant. Back in the old days with hand written invoices a bookkeeper was required, not so much today IMO.

 

 

Do your service writers also pay and enter in expenses? Mine don't and I would never add that to their job description.

[alfredauto]

Yea its me. All utilities are set on auto pay, the parts bills get paid once a month. It takes me literally one to two hours a month to check the Mitchell reports against my bills and confirm the difference is either in an unpaid invoice, parts put into used cars that didn't sell, or in inventory. Shrinkage - parts used and not billed - is less than 1% so its really not worth stressing over. I've managed other peoples shops where shrink was 10-15%, the bookkeeper was needed to keep the people that really needed to be fired in line. While the workload is difficult sometimes keeping a lean crew has its benefits.

[GermanCArDEpot.com]

Wow you all are efficient. I have a bookkeeper 20-25 hr a week $15-$17 per hr. I don't know how i would run the business without one.

She takes care of tracking insurance, new hires,inputs the totals from each day. Reconciles the merchant account.

Checks on the loaner car paperwork to make sure we have all service records in compliance.

Pays traffic tickets and chases down the customer who got them .

Keeps track of appointments and schedules new ones.

Pays all the bills and helps answer the phones when all more than 3 lines are in use.

and so much more. If i didn't have a bookkeeper i would need a personal assistant for sure.

 

Ollie owner GermanCarDepot.com

10 bays 10 employees.

[mspecperformance]

  On 2/15/2016 at 12:05 AM, GermanCArDEpot.com said:

Wow you all are efficient. I have a bookkeeper 20-25 hr a week $15-$17 per hr. I don't know how i would run the business without one.

She takes care of tracking insurance, new hires,inputs the totals from each day. Reconciles the merchant account.

Checks on the loaner car paperwork to make sure we have all service records in compliance.

Pays traffic tickets and chases down the customer who got them .

Keeps track of appointments and schedules new ones.

Pays all the bills and helps answer the phones when all more than 3 lines are in use.

and so much more. If i didn't have a bookkeeper i would need a personal assistant for sure.

 

Ollie owner GermanCarDepot.com

10 bays 10 employees.

 

Sounds like your book keeper does a lot of the job duties that a service adviser does and some admin that a manager would take on.

[JamisonAutoGroup]

I agree with AlfredAuto, many of these duties can be streamlined to make the business more efficient. I believe that the owner should do most if not all of it that they are able to do themselves, this keeps their finger on the pulse of the business. I started out doing a monthly P&L using Excel, and submitted all of my info to my accountant, who charges me about $950 yearly to do my personal and business returns (Corp). I have recently started learning Quickbooks, and absolutely LOVE it! And for $13/month, you can't go wrong. As a sidenote, I also have the Mitchell 1 Program, but have not yet integrated it with QB yet.

 

Jamie

[mspecperformance]

To be a true owner you would have to delegate that duty to someone. I personally do not want to get into the habit of doing it myself. My goal is to make this business function so that if I wanted to step away and manage it from tahiti I can do so.

[mmotley]

I pay $350/month. She comes and picks up the receipts that I keep in a file folder once a month. She provides P&L reports as requested. She is starting to scan all receipts to have digital back up copies. I was referred to here via my CPA. She communicates with my CPA to make sure all taxes and other legal BS is handled and paid. She makes all tax payments for me. If I want anything changed, she changes it. She also does payroll and direct deposit.

[lydiakate223]

Hey guys,

 

I've been a full-time bookkeeper for several years, but I'm wanting to work specifically with mechanics. I know you all have unique problems, that only you guys deal with - and I'd love to hear about your pain points, and what areas you would like help in - even what you want out of it, in the end. Is it communication? More free time? Knowledge?

 

I'm working on a website right now (linked below), but if any of you would like to get in contact, I'd be happy to answer questions or help in any way I can.

 

http://www.constructivebookkeeping.com

Edited December 28, 2016 by lydiakate223

[AndersonAuto]

I'm fortunate to have enough biz to have a full time bookkeeper/admin. Life would suck without her here. She takes care of my Quickbooks, HR, tracks my marketing, does my tech time management spreadsheets, pays the sales tax on time, does payroll, and generally keeps my guys in line. All for only $20 an hour.

I can pull a P&L or balance sheet and know it's always up-to-the-minute up to date. When I had an outside bookkeeper/cpa, he would pick up receipts and the check registers once a month, then return a P&L the following month when he picked up the next batch. My P&L was always 6 weeks behind, and honestly I didn't understand it back then anyway. If I did understand it, it was 6 WEEKS OLD. What am I going to do to fix a problem that was half a quarter ago? Even before I could afford to hire Terri I started doing the books myself, and it was the best thing I ever did. There's no better way to understand where your profitability is going, either in gross profit or expenses, than being able to see it in real time. Besides, if you don't understand your books (P&L and balance sheet), you don't understand your business.

Terri and I go over all of the numbers line by line once a month to make sure everything is on track, and it helps provide the checks and balances we need. Of all my employees, Terri has the greatest ability to steal from me. I trust her implicitly, but as the old saying goes, trust, but verify.

All of that being said, I still use a CPA for my taxes. Once a year, Terri, my CPA, and myself get together and work through any issues to make the tax prep smooth and easy.

[mspecperformance]

  On 1/17/2017 at 2:17 PM, AndersonAuto said:

I'm fortunate to have enough biz to have a full time bookkeeper/admin. Life would suck without her here. She takes care of my Quickbooks, HR, tracks my marketing, does my tech time management spreadsheets, pays the sales tax on time, does payroll, and generally keeps my guys in line. All for only $20 an hour.

 

I can pull a P&L or balance sheet and know it's always up-to-the-minute up to date. When I had an outside bookkeeper/cpa, he would pick up receipts and the check registers once a month, then return a P&L the following month when he picked up the next batch. My P&L was always 6 weeks behind, and honestly I didn't understand it back then anyway. If I did understand it, it was 6 WEEKS OLD. What am I going to do to fix a problem that was half a quarter ago? Even before I could afford to hire Terri I started doing the books myself, and it was the best thing I ever did. There's no better way to understand where your profitability is going, either in gross profit or expenses, than being able to see it in real time. Besides, if you don't understand your books (P&L and balance sheet), you don't understand your business.

 

Terri and I go over all of the numbers line by line once a month to make sure everything is on track, and it helps provide the checks and balances we need. Of all my employees, Terri has the greatest ability to steal from me. I trust her implicitly, but as the old saying goes, trust, but verify.

 

All of that being said, I still use a CPA for my taxes. Once a year, Terri, my CPA, and myself get together and work through any issues to make the tax prep smooth and easy.

 

Do you mind if I ask how much you pay your book keeper? Seems like she does a bit more admin duties as well. If you don't feel comfortable posting please PM me. Thanks!

[AndersonAuto]

  On 1/17/2017 at 3:23 PM, mspecperformance said:

 

Do you mind if I ask how much you pay your book keeper? Seems like she does a bit more admin duties as well. If you don't feel comfortable posting please PM me. Thanks!

No worries, it's right there in my post. I pay her $20 an hour, and she has flexible hours. She pretty much comes and goes as she pleases, and as long as her work gets done that's just fine with me. Generally she works from open until about 3 in the afternoon.

[OTPAuto]

I ended up hiring somebody on a personal recommendation from my CPA. $75/hr, thus far she went and cleaned up my first year and a half for just under $1k. Planning to start looking at stuff quarterly, should only take her a couple hours.