Does Bookkeeping Have a Future?

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan talk about whether bookkeeping has a future, why small business owners should look at hiring a bookkeeper, and what being a good accountant is actually all about.

[0:58] Melissa thinks that bookkeeping has a future. For years, she has heard that the space would be obsolete in the next couple of years – but that hasn’t happened, bookkeeping is still going strong. In fact, it has never been better.

[1:36] ‘Is bookkeeping going to be obsolete?’ and ‘Is Artificial Intelligence going to take over?’ are some of the biggest questions Hannah and the marketing team get asked.

[1:51] People need to understand an important thing: bookkeeping is a relationship-focused industry. And that’s something a computer can’t do.

[3:34] There are a couple of reasons why small business owners look for bookkeepers; because they either don’t like bookkeeping or don’t have the time to do it themselves.

[5:27] Melissa often has conversations with clients to help them realize that trying to do bookkeeping by themselves would be very time consuming as it’s something they probably would be learning from scratch.

[6:33] For small business owners, bookkeeping is having someone in your corner, who takes care of certain things for you, no matter what.

[7:41] The fact that bookkeeping is always going to evolve and have something new – and that people are always going to need it – is one of the biggest points about the future of the industry.

[9:03] For Melissa, learning the technology of the niche you work in as a bookkeeper can be very valuable to your clients.

[10:37] There are a couple of reasons why Melissa believes that small business owners should look at hiring a bookkeeper. Take the time a business owner would spend doing bookkeeping alone and think about how much they would earn if they spent that time focusing on activities that generate business. Plus, bookkeepers can also help business owners make more money by helping them save on taxes and other fees.

[15:24] Melissa sees the lack of customer service as the major pain-point people have when it comes to their accountants.

[17:27] One of the things a good bookkeeper does is to help clients understand bookkeeping and their business better.

[18:47] Melissa shares her predictions on what bookkeeping is going to look like 5 years from today.

Mentioned in this episode:

Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy