In This Episode
Many successful business owners still insist on doing their own bookkeeping, even when their businesses have grown well beyond the start-up stage. In this first Boardroom Minute, Paul explains why bookkeeping is a specialist skill and why trying to save money by doing it yourself often ends up costing more.
Full Transcript
Hi, I’m Paul, founder of Paul Marks & Co Chartered Accountants.
One thing I genuinely don’t understand is why some successful business owners—particularly those with turnovers of £500,000 or more—are still doing their own bookkeeping.
Bookkeeping is a specialist profession. It takes time and training to become a qualified bookkeeper, and even more training to become proficient in software such as Xero or QuickBooks.
Many business owners assume bookkeeping is simply entering transactions into a computer. In reality, there’s much more to it. If it’s not done correctly, mistakes can easily creep in, leading to inaccurate management information, accounting problems and potentially costly tax errors.
There’s another important point to remember: the cost of employing a bookkeeper or outsourcing your bookkeeping is generally a tax-deductible business expense. So, trying to save money by doing it yourself is often a false economy.
My advice is simple. Either outsource your bookkeeping to an experienced professional or employ an in-house bookkeeper if your business is large enough.
That frees you up to spend your time doing what you do best—running and growing your business.
I’m Paul from Paul Marks & Co. Follow me for more practical business and tax tips in future editions of Paul’s Boardroom Minute.
Key Takeaways
✔️ Bookkeeping is a specialist skill, not just data entry.
✔️ Errors in bookkeeping can lead to costly accounting and tax problems.
✔️ Professional bookkeeping fees are generally tax-deductible.
✔️ Business owners should focus on growing their business, not processing transactions.
“Disclaimer: Paul Stankiewicz is the owner and principal at Paul Marks & Co Chartered Accountants which is the trading name of Paul Marks Ltd a Limited Company registered in England and Wales (registered number 4487645).This article is designed for the information of readers only and is the opinion of the author only. Readers should not act on any of the information contained in this article without seeking professional advice. Nothing in this article constitutes advice, nor does the transmission, downloading or sending of any information or the Material create any contractual relationship. Links to third party websites are provided as a convenience to the reader, Paul Marks Ltd does not control and is not responsible for any of those websites or their content. Paul Stankiewicz and Paul Marks Ltd accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any loss or damage suffered by any user of the information contained on or accessed through this article or the Material downloaded.
