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Top 10 questions to ask a potential bookkeeper or accountant
- To increase the checking account is the entry a credit or a debit?
(Debit is correct. As this is a 50/50 question, if they get it
wrong, they DO NOT understand actual bookkeeping. Pass on them, no
matter how much you like them.)
- How many years experience do you have in the bookkeeping or
accounting industry? (You want at least 5 years experience.)
- How many years experience do you have with bookkeeping in MY
industry? (You want at least 2 years experience in your industry.)
- What formal education do you have? (There are Accounting
Certificate programs, Certified Bookkeeper programs, actual college
degree programs, & the school of hard knocks. It's good to know
this.)
- Are you going to be doing the bookkeeping yourself or is someone
else doing the work? (If someone else, ask to meet them.)
- If someone else is doing the work, do you review it? (If so, are
they the actual contact person?)
- What is your review process? (If they do the work themselves, they
still should have a review process.)
- How much will this cost me? (Try & get a set price for the work to
be done on a weekly, monthly, quarterly basis IN WRITING that spells
out exactly what will be done. Hourly is NOT a good way to go as
everyone works at a different speed. What would take me an hour to
complete may take someone else three hours-NO JOKE.)
- How busy are you? (Some businesses are on a constant growth mode.
Are they replacing a lost client or trying to grow the business?)
- Why should I choose you or your firm? What makes you different
from all the rest? (This is their chance to make a sales pitch. Do
they really have something better to offer than the other people you
have interviewed?)
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