So I came across this thread on Reddit.
Let’s unpack how sloppy this bookkeeper is.
“I can just slam dunk some coding and a bank rec.” Is that the kind of person you want doing your books? (How much is she charging for this sloppy work?) The attitude that she doesn’t want to bring up required software or tools concerns me – that should either be built into pricing or discussed with the client. Otherwise, a client may assume they are fully in compliance, when that may not be the case.
For one thing, it is literally her job to enter every transaction. Yes, it’s true, many business owners do choose to simply swipe a card, and best judgement must be exercised in that case. But I always encourage our clients to provide documentation of cash receipts so they don’t lose out on accounting for those expenses (and, sometimes, income). I keep saying you can’t run a business is you don’t know what your numbers are!
Do you need to keep every receipt if you’ve swiped a card? No, if you have used your business account and a debit or credit card, the bank statement is often sufficient as a primary source. But what if your business needs to record sales tax on each purchase? It’s quick and easy to just slam everything in from the bank account, and sometimes that’s even appropriate. But it’s better to have your source documents in QuickBooks and backed up if possible. Without receipts, especially if you purchase from Amazon or big box stores frequently, it’s impossible to break out various categories – and the difference can often be significant. It also becomes more difficult to survive an audit.
Since she mentioned inventory, I will add that I discourage my clients from having every inventory item in QuickBooks. It is easy to get bogged down and end up with mistakes. A dedicated inventory system is better for that. We need the beginning and ending inventory each month, and with the purchases made, we use the first-in-first-out method (FIFO) to make sure the inventory is valued correctly each month.
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