My mother was a bookkeeper and I’ve always had respect for them. In a small business its not always possible or viable to afford an experienced or qualified accountant. So for very good reasons many many organisations turn to bookkeepers to keep their records up to date. There are many pluses to this for example:-
- Records are up to date if HMRC wants to inspect
- At the year end it is straighforward to pass the books over to an accountant to finalise things for the year end accounts and Corporation Tax work.
- Costs are kept down to a minium.
There are of course weaknesses.
- Management information not available usually to understand position of business at any month
- Less experienced so more chance of errors or mistake
All that said this is a role which is often undervalued and underpaid, but nevertheless having a bookkeeper is very useful and it is a very valuable member of any business team.
Everytime I come across a bookkeeper I do always think of my mom and all her hard work over the years to support us in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Miss you mum!
