What questions should I ask a bookkeeper before hiring them?

The most important question is whether they have experience with your type of business. A bookkeeper who has worked with contractors understands job costing and progress billing. One who has worked with medical practices knows insurance receivables. Generic bookkeeping knowledge is a starting point, but industry familiarity is what separates useful financial records from technically correct ones that don’t help you run the business. Ask for examples of clients in your industry and what specific challenges they’ve handled.

Ask what exactly is included in the monthly fee. Some bookkeepers include transaction categorization, reconciliation, and monthly financial statements. Others charge extra for reports or limit the number of transactions before adding fees. Get clarity on whether payroll, sales tax filings, business tax preparation, and year-end work are included or billed separately. You need the full picture of what you’ll actually pay, not just the starting number.

Find out how they communicate and how often. Will you get a monthly call to review your numbers, or just a set of statements in your inbox? How quickly do they respond to questions? A bookkeeper who takes a week to answer a simple question about your cash position isn’t serving you well. The best working relationships involve regular communication where your bookkeeper flags issues before they become problems.

Ask what software they use and whether they’re flexible. Most small businesses use QuickBooks Online, but the real question is whether they know how to set it up properly for your business. A poorly configured system produces reports that look fine but don’t actually tell you anything useful. If you already have a system in place, ask whether they can work with it or if they’ll need to migrate your data.

Ask whether they work with a CPA or can handle tax preparation themselves. Bookkeeping and taxes are connected. If your bookkeeper and your tax preparer don’t communicate, you end up with books that need to be adjusted at tax time every year. Working with a firm that handles both or has a direct relationship with a CPA eliminates that gap.

Ask what happens if your books are behind. Most small businesses aren’t perfectly current when they start looking for help. You want someone who can clean up past records and get you current without making you feel like a problem client. The answer tells you a lot about their patience and process.

Finally, ask how they handle growth. Your needs at $300,000 in revenue are different from your needs at $1.5 million. A bookkeeper who can only do basic transaction entry won’t be able to provide full-service bookkeeping with reporting, cash flow insight, and financial guidance as your business scales. You don’t want to switch providers every time your business reaches a new stage.

Pay attention to how they answer as much as what they say. A good bookkeeper will ask you questions back about your business, your pain points, and what you actually need. If the conversation feels like a sales pitch instead of a real discussion, that tells you something too.