There are a million decisions to make as an interior designer – you’re working with clients, sourcing furniture and decor, planning for the months to come, and somewhere in the back of your mind is worry and concern about your bookkeeping. You work on it here and there, but you don’t feel confident in your skills and you’re never quite sure that it’s being done as well as it could be.
If you often find yourself stressed out or confused about your interior design bookkeeping, it might be time to consider outsourcing the bookkeeping for your business.
Considering this shift may be scary because you pride yourself on running your small business on your own. You’ve figured everything else out up to this point, so why not keep doing it yourself?
While it’s amazing to have started a business and succeeded in sustaining it, you also can’t do every aspect of the work your business requires – at least not forever. Growing your expertise and capacity for clients means that you’re going to need (not to mention want!) to outsource other aspects of your business.
Here are the pros and cons of outsourcing your interior design bookkeeping:
Pros:
- Expertise
Your industry is unique, but there are bookkeepers who have worked with interior designers for years and understand every aspect of your finances. The perk of outsourcing your bookkeeping is that you can find a bookkeeper who understands your industry but is still an expert in theirs – so it’s a perfect match.
- Time and cost savings
The more time you spend on your bookkeeping, the less time there is for you to focus on working with clients and growing your business. Plus, the time you’ll spend on your bookkeeping is significantly more than an outsourced bookkeeper would spend – because they’re an expert and understand more about efficient bookkeeping than anyone else does!
- Increased accuracy and compliance
While a great outsourced expert is going to be more efficient, they won’t compromise accuracy either. Getting the numbers right every step of the way is the whole point of bookkeeping. It’s so important to be accurate in daily bookkeeping and compliant when tax season rolls around. A professional bookkeeper has the knowledge and practice to be as accurate as possible.
Cons:
- Cost
We just talked about how it’s often cheaper to hire an outsourced bookkeeper because over time you will save more money and time on your bookkeeping by working with a professional. While that’s true, it does take time to reap the reward from those savings. Up front, it will cost more to outsource a bookkeeper. You will have to evaluate your finances and determine whether or not it’s worth it to invest money in a bookkeeper right now (psst…we think it’s probably worth it!).
- Loss of control
We all love control. Especially in your own business, you are probably used to having a pulse on every part of your organization. And rightly so! Being informed and having control over your business is extremely important. But there’s a difference between being involved in a healthy way versus being too involved. Outsourcing does mean that you will have to give over some of the control you’re used to having. But if you hire a trustworthy bookkeeper, you’ll have nothing to worry about. You can do your most important work and let your bookkeeper do theirs.
- Communication and Collaboration
If you hire a bookkeeper without first knowing their communication style, you may be set up for failure. Money is a tricky subject and can be hard to talk about, even with a bookkeeper. It’s crucial to hire a bookkeeper who you feel comfortable communicating with, and vice versa.
Even if you’re not ready to outsource quite yet, tuck this list away for safekeeping and come back to it when you’re ready. If you have questions or want to talk through even more pros and cons that come to mind, we’re here to talk!
