If you’re a business owner who’s made the decision to hire a bookkeeper to help manage your financial records, the first question to ask yourself is if you should hire an in-house employee to fill that position, or if you should partner with an independent contractor.
In the paragraphs that follow, I’ll give my two cents on both options.
Generally speaking, one advantage to an in-house position is that it will probably cost less per hour. Keep in mind, however, that you’re hiring an actual employee, which means that you, as an employer, have certain legal obligations to that person. Additionally, although you might pay less in terms of the person’s wage, you will also be responsible to pay social security, medicare, workman’s comp, and state/federal unemployment taxes for the hours they work.
Hiring an in-house position can be advantageous if the conditions are right, and it makes practical sense for the business and the employee. Let’s ask a few fact-finding questions to figure out if that arrangement makes sense for you.
- Does the applicant need a commitment on full time employment?
- Do you have enough work to keep them busy for those hours?
- Are you able to provide employment benefits such as health insurance, a 401k plan, and vacation hours?
- Perhaps most importantly, are they actually qualified to do the job?
If the answer to any of these is “no,” I encourage you to consider the possibility that hiring an in-house bookkeeper may not be the best fit for you.
A fantastic alternative to hiring an employee to manage your books is to partner with an independent contractor like Inkblot Business Services. By having us handle your financial records, you don’t have to worry about things like benefits, vacation pay, time off, payroll taxes, or finding things to do to keep an employee busy. Instead, you’ll receive one simple bill for services, and in the end, that bill is going to be much lower than the total cost of an employee.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us today to see how we can help your business succeed.
| Disclaimer: all content in the Inkblot Business Blog is presented as personal opinion, and is not to be taken as legal advice. |