How much do you trust the numbers your bookkeeper is giving you?

Question

One of the things I’ve learned as we’ve grown is that having a bookkeeper and having a GOOD bookkeeper are two very different things.

Clean books aren’t just about taxes. If things are being categorized incorrectly, reconciliations aren’t happening properly, or your financials are months behind, you can be making major decisions based on numbers that aren’t even accurate.

Revenue can look great while profit tells a completely different story.

And as an owner, you shouldn’t have to become a bookkeeper—but you do need financials you can actually use to run the business.

I’m curious how other owners handle this:

How involved are you in reviewing your financials, and what reports or numbers do you look at regularly to know your bookkeeper is actually giving you an accurate picture of the business?

mims01 · Answer

This is something I’m really interested in as I continue growing my detailing business. I’m still building things out, so I want to make sure I’m tracking the right numbers from the beginning instead of waiting until the business gets bigger to figure it out. I’d especially like to learn which reports other owners rely on to understand their true profit, expenses, and cash flow. I know knowing the numbers is going to be a big part of scaling the business the right way

hugehomepros · Answer

Monthly I think you still need to pull up your P&amp;L and looks at every line item. I don't think it's a big deal to ask them to reclassify things. Ideally you want a bookkeeper with industry specific experience. Reason being if you start telling them to just create categories to classify things in your P&amp;L can get really messy. You want someone to bounce ideas off of, not just do everything you want to do.&nbsp;

homeownership · Answer

Things can look great on paper, but I always say the bank account is where the rubber meets the road. If the numbers on the reports don’t make sense with what’s actually in the bank, I’d have questions.

Forum Discussion

How much do you trust the numbers your bookkeeper is giving you?

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