Top 5 reasons to hire a Remote (virtual) Bookkeeper

In an increasingly virtual world and due to COVID shutdowns and the corresponding professional adjustments that had to be made, remote workers are in high demand. Can you guess why? Some of the reasons are personal for the workers and some are beneficial to business owners. Let’s look at the reasons most professionals prefer remote or hybrid working schedules now.

1. Mental Health. Working in an office has a lot of pros (socially) but can be very stressful. In the accounting world, constantly being interrupted by (seemingly urgent, but not really urgent) issues from co-workers is not only frustrating, it impedes efficiency. With tight deadlines and heavy workloads, many employees have experienced anxiety and panic attacks at work from the sheer pressure. At home, the pressure is not as high, it’s usually easier to focus and let’s face it… we didn’t have to get up as early to prep for the work day, commute, and then perform.
2. Convenience. Most people had to drastically adjust to being at home, working while their kids were also home needing attention or help with virtual schooling. Moms and Dads everywhere were for the first time in their careers, able to be at home, focus better in most situations, and have less interruptions (if they closed their office door).
3. Money. Less travel means less time in the car, less wear and tare on vehicles, less spending on gas, food, and clothes…. Also less pressure to go to lunch with coworkers.

Those are just a few of the reasons that professionals have increasingly wanted to stay remote. Let’s chat about the benefits to companies and business owners! The top 5 reasons to hire a remote (virtual) bookkeeper are not limited to, but include the following:

1. Money. Most companies saw a drastic change in money going out the door for things like utilities, upkeep, office snacks, janitorial services and more! Some companies even got rid of their offices altogether, usually subleasing and making even more money!
2. Efficiency. A lot of companies made the best out of COVID in terms of moving to virtual working environments. Although there may have been a spike in tech costs for setup, they were able to coordinate well with their teams (on Microsoft teams or Zoom), manage their time better, cut out pointless meetings, and get more done throughout the day.
3. Employee Morale. If your team feels like they are trusted to manage their time, they are more likely to work smarter and sustain the level of trust their employers have in them. They also feel less stressed because they have more time to focus without interruption, they were allowed to be more flexible in their schedules and a lot of times (although this isn’t recommended) they would work more!
4. Project Management. In person project management usually requires multiple in person meetings, brainstorming sessions, and collaboration efforts that are drawn out and can easily be derailed. Virtually however, we have all learned to use low-cost and sometimes free project management software to track tasks, monitor road blocks, and move projects forward in a more time efficient manner. Although these methods can also be used in person, this aspect in combination with the other work from home benefits, is more efficient in the long run.
5. Contacting employees is easier. In person, sometimes you have no idea where an employee is. Whether they went to a break room, visited a co-worker at their desk, got pulled into a random meeting, took a lunch break, or went home! With chat and meeting software however, it’s easy to tell if someone is active, busy, or away. Even if they are away or busy, you still have the ability to send them a message so that when they get back to their desk they can respond right away. If they are active, you can just give them a call!

Not every point made here applies to a remote bookkeeper (like you probably won’t be able to contact then at any time during the day), but you will lower your cost with a contractor, lower your upkeep for in person costs (as well as your on-site liability), and really you will reduce your own stress because you are outsourcing a job that’s frustrating, confusing and time consuming for most. Another quick note, a lot of companies and business owners make the mistake of treating contractors like employees, thus making you legally obligated to convert them to employees. Remote bookkeeper takes that confusion on your hands too!

So while a local bookkeeper is nice every now and then, a remote bookkeeper is a nice option too!