Online stores can be as hectic as brick-and-mortar businesses. Although you may only be able to interact with customers online, there are still tons of labor involved in the production, shipping, accounting, and many other tasks. It could be difficult to do it all alone.
Enlisting eCommerce bookkeeping assistance can help you to reduce your workload and avoid making costly mistakes. A virtual bookkeeper can manage your income statements, cash flows statements, and other money matters, which will help you save time and reduce stress. Who do you choose to hire? Before you hire a bookkeeper to help you run your online business, ask these questions.
What you should look for when looking to hire an eCommerce bookkeeper
A well-planned set of processes is key to successful eCommerce businesses. This includes a bookkeeping system. Failure to establish reliable eCommerce bookkeeping procedures could result in cash flow chaos, shortages of payroll, tax penalties, and other problems. These pitfalls can be avoided by a good bookkeeper. These pitfalls may not be apparent to an inexperienced bookkeeper.
Before you invite an eCommerce bookkeeper to join your team, ask these five questions.
1. Are they familiar with your industry?
Any eCommerce bookkeeper should have some experience in bookkeeping. Is your potential bookkeeper familiar with your industry? Imagine yourself as a painter who owns an eCommerce business. You might not choose someone with a decade of experience in helping food-related eCommerce businesses.
Also, you are responsible for your overhead costs, shipping requirements, product price points, tax deductions, and shipping requirements
2. Are they aware of eCommerce cost per unit (COGS)?
An understanding of eCommerce (COGS) is essential for eCommerce bookkeeping. A store’s COGS includes more than materials and labor costs. The total cost of a unit includes everything from packaging costs to storage costs and heating/cooling expenses.
An eCommerce bookkeeper who is proficient in online store inventory management will also be a good one. Are they able to track units sent from the manufacturer or stored in a warehouse? A manual count can be done in brick and mortar stores once per year. What can a potential bookkeeper recommend for an online store? For businesses, missing inventory and out-of-stock inventory are major causes of sales losses each year.
3. Are they able to offer different services?
The ideal eCommerce bookkeeping service should do more than just enter numbers into a spreadsheet. Is the bookkeeper you are about to hire able to provide financial reporting? A bookkeeper should be able to spot red flags and help you plan for the future. A bookkeeper should be able to spot any missing money and inform you if you are spending too much. Ask potential bookkeepers about their past successes in helping online shops increase their revenue.
4. Are they able to scale with you?
Even though you may be a small business, it is possible to grow. Even if your business isn’t a billion-dollar one, it will grow as more customers are found. Your eCommerce bookkeeping should allow you to grow. Your eCommerce bookkeeper should provide summarised statements, and clean your books so that you can scale at the right rate and know when you require more funding.
5. Are they familiar with your accounting software?
Most importantly, is your bookkeeper able to adapt to your accounting software? Or can they suggest a better version? Modern bookkeeping and accounting processes demand that a person is up-to-date with cloud-based accounting software. Your general ledger should not be kept in a book!
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Ask potential bookkeepers which version of the software they are most familiar with. Keep in mind that small business accounting software limits the number of clients, employees, and accounts you can use before upgrading to a new version. You should find a bookkeeper that can assist you in seamlessly transitioning to the new software. It’s not just about finding the right tax accountant or payroll professional to manage your online store. A team of eCommerce experts can help you with forecasting, analysis, and assistance in expanding your business.
