Whether you have an in-house bookkeeper or you outsource, your bookkeeper is one of the most important people connected to your business. And a lot of business owners waste that relationship completely.
Maybe you’re the kind of owner who doesn’t like to look at your money. That’s often the whole reason you hired a bookkeeper in the first place. I get it. But here’s the thing nobody tells you: working with a bookkeeper only pays off if you actually work with them. Handing over your login and hoping for the best isn’t a strategy.
My very first bookkeeping client was like this. She hired me to help with her mindset, her budget (business and personal), and her bookkeeping. But she really didn’t like looking at her money, so she never made much progress. One day she told me flat out, “I never look at the emails you send me.”
I think about that a lot. She was paying for help she wasn’t using. The reports were there. The answers were there. She just wouldn’t open the door.
Your bookkeeper, and your accountant, are there to help you grow your business. There’s a real, positive return on investment in that relationship. But only if you show up for it. So let’s talk about how to get the most value from your bookkeeper instead of leaving that money on the table.
Use Their Experience and Expertise
Your bookkeeper is a financial resource. Not a data-entry clerk. Not a necessary evil you tolerate at tax time. A resource.
They spend their days inside the numbers of businesses like yours. They know what healthy books look like, what messy ones look like, and where money quietly leaks out. That knowledge is sitting right there, available to you.
Most owners never tap into it. They treat their bookkeeper like a filing cabinet when they could be treating them like an advisor. If you want to get the most value from your bookkeeper, start by remembering what you’re actually paying for.
Actually Review Their Reports
When your bookkeeper sends you financial reports, open them. Read them. This sounds obvious. It isn’t, because plenty of people do exactly what my first client did and let those emails pile up unread.
Reports only help you if you look at them. And they help even more when you compare them over time. A single month’s numbers tell you a little. Numbers side by side tell you a lot.
Ask your bookkeeper for comparative reports, or run them yourself. Look at things like:
- This month versus last month
- This month versus the same month last year
- Year-to-date this year versus year-to-date last year
- Where your income and expenses are trending overall
Then ask yourself a few real questions. What stands out? Did something jump? Did revenue dip in a month you expected to be strong? Is an expense creeping up quietly in the background?
This is where the data turns into decisions. You can’t steer a business you refuse to look at. Comparative reports show you the direction you’re heading, not just where you stood on one random day.
Ask for Their Advice
Here’s something a lot of owners don’t realize: your bookkeeper is financially intimate with your business. They see the patterns week after week. And because they aren’t emotionally attached to your money the way you are, they have a perspective you literally cannot have about your own business.
They may also work with other clients in your industry. They can’t share anyone’s specific numbers, that’s private, but they can tell you how things generally tend to run for a business like yours. That outside view is worth a lot when you’re stuck in your own head about a decision.
A good bookkeeper can point out where you might save money and how to set yourself up for better tax outcomes down the road.
But here’s the catch. Some bookkeepers won’t volunteer advice unless you ask. They’re focused on keeping your books clean and accurate, and they don’t want to overstep. So tell them plainly: “I welcome your input. If you see something, say something.” That one sentence can change the entire relationship.
Ask Questions, and Ask for Plain English
The whole point of having a bookkeeper is so you can understand your financial situation, not so you can hand it off and stay in the dark.
When you don’t understand something on a report, or something your bookkeeper says in a meeting, ask. Ask them to break it down. Ask them to explain it again if it didn’t land the first time. There is no shame in this. You’re running a business; you didn’t sign up for an accounting degree.
And insist on plain English. Accountant-speak is real, and it’s a barrier. Terms get thrown around that mean something specific to us and nothing to you. A good bookkeeper can translate. If yours can’t, or won’t, that’s a problem.
Say this out loud to your bookkeeper: “Explain it to me like I don’t know any of the jargon.” Then ask follow-ups until it actually makes sense. Understanding your own numbers is the entire goal here. Everything else is in service of that.
Don’t be afraid to ask the same question twice, either. Some of this stuff takes a few passes to sink in, and that’s completely normal.
Prioritize Communication and Send Documents Fast
This is where the two-way street really shows up.
My first client didn’t just skip the reports. She left my questions unanswered, too. And it caused real problems. Whenever she wanted to invest in something, she’d check whether there was money in the bank at that exact moment, and if there was, she’d spend it. No thought to the expenses coming up right behind it. She was flying blind, partly because she wasn’t communicating with the person she’d hired to help her see.
Your bookkeeper will ask you for documents and information they need to do the work. Receipts, statements, clarification on a transaction, whatever it is. The faster you respond, the better everything runs.
Slow responses cost you. Here’s how:
- The work stalls, and your books fall behind
- Reports come out incomplete, so the picture you’re making decisions from is wrong
- Deadlines get missed, and missed deadlines can mean penalties
None of that is your bookkeeper’s fault when the holdup is on your end. Set yourself up to respond quickly. Keep your documents somewhere organized. When your bookkeeper reaches out, treat it like it matters, because it does. Fast communication is one of the simplest ways to get the most value from your bookkeeper, and it costs you nothing but a little attention.
Hire the Right Bookkeeper for Your Business
None of the above works if you hired the wrong person to begin with.
There are a lot of bookkeepers out there, and they are not interchangeable. Not every industry runs the same way, and not every bookkeeper understands every industry. Someone who’s great with a brick-and-mortar restaurant may have no idea how an online service business actually works, how you get paid, what your expenses look like, or what your tax situation involves.
Take the interview process seriously. This is a real hiring decision, not a box to check. Ask them questions. Find out whether they’ve worked with businesses like yours. See if they explain things in a way that clicks for you. Pay attention to whether they feel like a fit.
I personally specialize in working with online coaches and service providers. That focus matters, because I already understand how these businesses run before we even start. When your bookkeeper gets your industry, you spend less time explaining and more time getting actual value.
Don’t just grab the first name you find, either. There’s real time invested in getting set up with a bookkeeper. A good onboarding process makes that smoother, but if you pick the wrong one, you’ll have to tear it all down and do it over with someone new. That’s wasted time and wasted money. Slow down and choose well the first time.
Here’s a quick gut check when you’re interviewing:
- Do they understand my industry and how it makes and spends money?
- Can they explain financial concepts in plain English?
- Are they open to giving advice, not just entering transactions?
- Do I actually feel comfortable asking them questions?
If the answer to those is yes, you’ve probably found someone worth working with.
The Bottom Line
Working with a bookkeeper is a two-way street. It always has been.
You’ll get the most return when you do three things: hire the right bookkeeper, actually use their expertise, and communicate freely and quickly. Skip any of those and you end up like my first client, paying for help she never opened.
The more effort you put into the relationship, the more profitable it becomes, and the more profitable your business becomes with it. On top of that, it frees your mind. When you trust your numbers and understand them, you stop carrying that low-grade money stress everywhere you go. You get to focus on the parts of your business you actually love.
Your bookkeeper can be one of the best investments you make. But only if you meet them halfway.
If you’re a coach, consultant, or service provider who wants a bookkeeper who understands your business and speaks plain English, book a free discovery call here and let’s see if I’m the right fit for you.