When small business owners reach the point where they need help managing their finances, they often start by looking for a bookkeeper. That’s a logical place to start. Someone needs to keep the accounts organized, reconcile transactions, and make sure financial records are accurate.
But what if your business also needs help managing payroll, monitoring cash flow, preparing budgets, or coordinating financial and administrative systems? Who manages payroll, monitors cash flow, prepares budgets, coordinates banking and payment systems, or helps resolve financial and administrative problems?
For many small businesses, the challenge isn’t simply keeping the books up to date. It’s finding the right person to take responsibility for the financial and operational work that comes with running a business.
Before hiring a bookkeeper, accountant, or financial manager, it helps to understand what responsibilities your business needs help with, how much support is necessary, and what kind of professional is best suited to do the work.
When Is It Time to Get Bookkeeping Help?
Not every small business needs professional bookkeeping services. If you have a straightforward business, relatively few transactions, and a good understanding of your accounting software, managing your own books may be perfectly reasonable.
But as your business grows, financial responsibilities tend to become more complicated. You might have multiple bank accounts, credit cards, payment processors, employees, vendors, and systems all generating financial activity.
Some signs that it’s time to get help include:
You’re falling behind on account reconciliations or financial recordkeeping.
You’re spending too much time on bookkeeping instead of running your business.
You’re uncertain whether your financial reports are accurate or current.
You have difficulty understanding your cash flow or financial position.
Your financial and administrative responsibilities have become difficult to manage consistently.
In some cases, you don’t necessarily need someone working on your books every day. Depending on the volume and complexity of your transactions, weekly or monthly bookkeeping support may be sufficient.
Sometimes a business simply needs help cleaning up its books or correcting accounting issues. Other times, businesses need someone to handle ongoing financial responsibilities. And for a new business, getting help establishing accounting systems and financial procedures from the beginning can be a worthwhile investment.
The important thing is that the work gets done accurately, consistently, and on time.
Bookkeeper, Accountant, or Financial Manager: What’s the Difference?
One reason finding financial help can be confusing is that job titles don’t always reflect the responsibilities involved.
Here’s a general breakdown of the different roles.
Bookkeeper
A bookkeeper typically maintains financial records, categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts, and supports routine financial reporting. Experienced bookkeepers may also manage accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and other accounting functions.
Accountant or CPA
Accountants provide accounting expertise, which may include financial reporting, tax preparation, financial analysis, and more complex accounting matters. Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) have additional professional qualifications and can provide specialized services depending on their expertise and engagement.
Financial Manager
A financial manager generally takes broader responsibility for financial activities, including budgeting, cash flow monitoring, management reporting, financial processes, and coordinating accounting responsibilities.
Financial & Administrative Manager
This role combines financial management with related business responsibilities, such as payroll administration, banking, vendor coordination, payment processing, and oversight of financial and administrative systems.
In smaller organizations, these roles frequently overlap. An experienced bookkeeper may handle financial management responsibilities, while a financial manager may also perform bookkeeping.
An outsourced bookkeeper or financial manager generally performs similar responsibilities to an in-house professional, but under a different working arrangement.
When seeking help for your small business, look at the work that needs to be done and the experience required to do it, rather than relying solely on the job title.
When Financial Responsibilities Extend Across Your Business
Financial and administrative responsibilities vary depending on the type of business, its size, and how it operates.
Some businesses need help maintaining accurate financial records, while others need assistance with reporting, payroll, financial systems, administrative processes, or a combination of responsibilities.
Experienced bookkeepers, accountants, and financial managers may handle many of these same functions. What matters is finding someone with the right skills, experience, and availability for your business.
Examples of Different Small Business Financial Needs
The following examples illustrate how financial responsibilities can vary across businesses.
A service business that accepts online bookings and payments may need help coordinating scheduling, payment processing, accounting, and payroll systems. Someone needs to make sure transactions are recorded correctly, deposits reconcile, and financial reports reflect what’s happening in the business.
An eCommerce business may need someone who understands how orders, refunds, processing fees, inventory, and accounting systems interact.
A new business may need help setting up accounting software such as QuickBooks or Wave, connecting bank accounts and payment systems, organizing financial records, and establishing bookkeeping procedures from the beginning.
A nonprofit or professional association may need financial reporting, budget tracking, payroll administration, and coordination with outside accounting professionals.
A growing local business may need help managing vendor payments, banking relationships, payroll, employee-related administration, and the financial processes that support daily operations.
Across all types of businesses, financial administration may also include establishing practical financial controls, organizing receipts, invoices, and supporting documents, and creating procedures for reviewing and approving expenses and payments.
For example, maintaining a shared filing system for financial documents, establishing clear approval responsibilities, and making sure transactions have appropriate supporting documentation can improve accountability and make financial information easier to review.
In these situations, businesses often benefit from someone who understands the broader financial and operational picture.
The value isn't simply having someone who can complete a list of tasks. It's having someone who understands how those responsibilities fit together.
For example, if payments aren’t reconciling correctly, the problem might involve an accounting entry, a payment processor, an integration, or a banking issue. Resolving it requires more than knowing how to categorize transactions in QuickBooks.
An experienced financial professional should be able to investigate problems, understand the business processes involved, and coordinate the appropriate solution. That doesn’t mean one person should be expected to do everything. Specialized accounting, tax, legal, and other professional matters still require the appropriate expertise.
But having someone who understands how the pieces fit together, takes ownership of responsibilities, and knows when to involve a specialist can make managing the business considerably easier.
Should You Hire an Employee or Outsource Financial Support?
Once you’ve identified the responsibilities that need attention, the next question is how much support you actually need.
Some businesses require someone available throughout the workday to manage transactions, respond to employees and vendors, handle accounting issues, and support ongoing administrative needs. In these situations, a part-time or full-time employee may be the right choice.
Other businesses have financial responsibilities that can be managed through recurring outsourced bookkeeping or financial management services.
For example, an outsourced financial professional might:
Reconcile bank, credit card, and payment processing activity.
Prepare monthly financial reports and review significant changes.
Maintain operating budgets and budget-to-actual comparisons.
Monitor cash flow and identify potential concerns.
Coordinate payroll processing and related administration.
Manage selected banking, vendor, and financial responsibilities.
Establish and maintain financial controls, document management procedures, and expense approval processes.
Work with the business’s CPA or other professional advisors.
Review financial systems and recommend process improvements.
Not every business needs all these services. Some may need a few hours of support each week, while others require more substantial involvement, particularly during busy periods, financial transitions, or special projects.
How Much Financial Support Does Your Business Actually Need?
A useful starting point is to separate responsibilities into three categories.
Recurring responsibilities: Work that needs attention weekly or monthly, such as bookkeeping, payroll administration, reconciliations, reporting, organizing financial documentation, and monitoring cash flow.
Periodic responsibilities: Work that happens quarterly, annually, or at specific times, such as budgeting, financial reviews, year-end coordination, and process evaluations.
Project-based responsibilities: Tasks with a defined beginning and end, such as setting up accounting software for a new business, cleaning up financial records, improving reporting, organizing payment systems, or implementing new financial procedures.
Once you’ve identified the work, you can determine whether it makes sense to hire someone hourly, establish a recurring service agreement, engage a professional for a specific project, or employ someone part-time or full-time.
Outsourcing isn’t automatically less expensive or better than employing someone. The right arrangement depends on workload, required availability, responsibilities, cost, and how closely the person needs to work with the business.
The key is to define what needs to be accomplished before deciding how many hours or what type of position to hire.
How to Find the Right Bookkeeper or Financial Professional
Before searching for a bookkeeper or financial manager, make a list of the responsibilities your business needs help with. Think about what’s currently getting done, what’s falling behind, and what you would prefer someone else to manage.
You might need someone who can maintain your QuickBooks records and prepare reliable monthly financial statements. Or you might need an experienced professional who can also oversee payroll, budgets, banking, and financial administration. Those are different scopes of work that may require different levels of experience.
Where Should You Look?
Your CPA, other business owners, and professional contacts can be good sources of referrals.
You can also search for local bookkeeping services, QuickBooks help, outsourced bookkeeping services, or financial management support for small businesses.
If you need broader financial or operational support without hiring a full-time employee, consider searching for outsourced financial management or fractional finance and operations services. These arrangements can provide experienced, part-time support tailored to your business's needs.
If you’re considering hiring an employee, a job posting that clearly describes the responsibilities will generally be more useful than relying on a job title alone.
What Questions Should You Ask?
A few useful questions include:
Have you worked with businesses of similar size or complexity?
Which financial and administrative responsibilities can you manage independently?
What accounting software and business systems have you worked with?
How do you investigate discrepancies or unfamiliar problems?
What financial reports would you recommend for our business?
How do you communicate issues and coordinate with outside advisors?
What services fall outside your expertise or scope?
Industry experience can be valuable, particularly when a business has specialized inventory, multiple payment systems, complex reporting, or other industry-specific requirements. But experience managing real business responsibilities, exercising sound judgment, and solving problems is equally important.
Establish Clear Responsibilities and Expectations
Before giving someone access to your financial information, agree on the scope of work, responsibilities, reporting expectations, and communication procedures.
Determine who will approve payments, who will review financial reports, and how questions or discrepancies will be handled.
Establish who is responsible for collecting receipts and invoices, where supporting documentation will be maintained, and how financial records and completed work will be reviewed.
Even relatively small businesses benefit from clear procedures for handling financial information, maintaining documentation, and approving transactions.
Financial access should be limited to what’s necessary for the person’s responsibilities. Use individual accounts and appropriate permissions rather than sharing passwords or providing unrestricted access.
Check references, confidentiality practices, and insurance coverage where relevant.
Look for Experience, Judgment, and Follow-Through
Technical proficiency matters, but so does knowing how to apply it.
Someone may be highly skilled in QuickBooks without necessarily having experience managing budgets, coordinating financial operations, or interpreting financial results. Likewise, someone with an impressive title may not be accustomed to the hands-on responsibilities of a small business.
The right professional should understand the work, recognize potential problems, communicate clearly, and take responsibility for following through.
Ultimately, you’re not just hiring someone to complete a list of tasks. You’re trusting someone with responsibilities that affect how your business operates.
Finding the Right Level of Financial Support
There’s no single answer to how much financial help a small business needs.
A new business may need help establishing accounting systems and financial processes. An established business may need a bookkeeper to reconcile accounts and maintain accurate records. Others may need an accountant for specialized financial or tax matters, or an experienced professional who can manage a broader range of financial and administrative responsibilities.
The arrangement might involve a specific project, recurring outsourced support, or a part-time or full-time employee. The goal is to match the responsibilities with the right experience and level of support, without adding unnecessary complexity or overhead.
Need Help With Your Business Finances and Operations?
At Opposite of Work, we help small businesses manage bookkeeping, financial reporting, and the administrative responsibilities that keep things running smoothly. Whether you’re starting a business, need help with a specific project, or are looking for ongoing support, we bring practical experience and a broader understanding of how businesses operate.
Not sure what level of support you need? We can help you evaluate your financial and administrative needs, identify priorities, and develop a practical plan. Whether you need us to manage the work or prefer guidance and recommendations that you or your team can implement, we can help.
Learn more about our Financial Management & Operations services, or request a free discovery call to discuss your needs and how we may be able to help.