Carrie C. Susz, EA

Since we’ve started with the “vs.” theme in my “EA vs. CPA” post, let’s continue! We’ll go through a list of pros and cons for having an on-site bookkeeper compared to a remote or contract bookkeeper. There are a couple of things that need clarification. By onsite bookkeeper, I’m talking about a full or part-time bookkeeper who is a regular employee of your business. The remote or contract bookkeeper is a bookkeeper where you send your information and they prepare your books and give you the finished product (remote) or when the bookkeeper comes to your place of business on a regular basis and prepares your books (contract).

Pros: Onsite

• Always available to work on your accounting
• They have no other clients but you to work for
• If the accounting is slow and you need additional clerical help (answering phones, special projects, filing) they’re available to help out
• Unless they have more bookkeeping to do than they can handle in your time requirements, they can do additional duties such as following up on unpaid invoices, verifying bills, and working with your tax preparer during filing time

Cons: Onsite

• It’s always tough to find good, reliable help (who knows what they’re doing)
• The average pay (per salary.com) just including taxes is around $38,000 to $50,000 which comes out to be about $18-$25 per hour, this doesn’t include benefits, office space, and equipment for them
• If you can’t keep them busy doing bookkeeping, you may be paying them to do clerical which could be performed by a lower cost hourly employee
• Most bookkeepers are quite loyal and will stay in the same job for decades or start their own business, leaving mostly less-experienced bookkeepers available in the candidate pool

Pros: Remote or Contract

• They’re specialists who have knowledge of bookkeeping
• Usually, they have staff who work on a few projects exclusively
• More flexibility than scheduling work hours for a part-time person
• They can, in the case of a contract, come to your place of business to work on your bookkeeping
• You only pay for the time they’re actually working on your books

Cons: Remote or Contract

• They cost more per hour (if you find a bookkeeper for less than $18/hr–ask if they really know what they’re doing)
• They won’t be on site unless you request it
• They have other clients who will take up some of their time
• During the busier times of the year, you might have to wait a while for special requests (although a good bookkeeper should be able to know what you’ll need and keep up with you)