Professional independent bookkeepers have a lot of clients they are taking care of. Most of us want to do the best possible job for our clients, so we work to be very efficient with our time.

I’ve recently had clients inundate me with emails, so with that in mind, I wanted to discuss what to send to your bookkeeper, and what not to send.

We immediately need accounting access to your QuickBooks. That will be reviewed with you during your onboarding call.

We need to have a very clear idea of what your expectations are. If you want us to serve as a CFO, we will actually need to know that, as it is a higher skill set and you will be billed more for that. Please understand that we have a minimum amount to earn, and if you consistently go beyond the scope of the project, you will need to pay more for our time.

It is not a good use of your bookkeeper’s time to have them sit on the phone with you while you do work. If you need that level of accountability, please let us know.

We do not need to be copied on every email that comes into your company. The only time we need a lot of emails to be copied on is if they specifically reference your financials or bank statements. Emails discussing company policy or legal issues need to be kept confidential and not copied to us. It isn’t relevant to our jobs.

We do need all passwords. As part of your onboarding process, we will need to set up relevant accounts and create passwords. Often we need the owner to approve this. Please be prepared to provide us the information we need to serve you.

Please allow us to keep our personal and professional lives separated. We actually don’t give out personal cell numbers, but a direct line that can also be used for texting. That way we’re not trying to remember where to find the email/text you sent with important information for us.