Guest Post: Drowning in Choices

Our Guest Blogger today is  Eric Matthews, owner of That Bookkeeper, based in Albert, Canada. He is a bookkeeper, tax preparer, small business consultant, husband, dad, music junkie, and all around tech enthusiast. He started working as a bookkeeper when he was 14, and has been doing it in one form or another ever since. He has worked with a wide range of clients; such as retail owners, service contractors, web designers, and mechanics. We are glad that he was kind enough to do a Guest Blog on our site.

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Drowning in Choices

One of the great things the internet has given us is choice.

One of the worst things the internet has given us...is choice.

Instead of limiting ourselves to the two department stores our small town had to offer us as kids, we now have the world at our disposal. On the other hand, we would have taken a long time to finish our shopping if those department stores had 400 different versions of everything we needed.

Both of these extremes are very true in the world of bookkeeping.

Not long ago, if you were starting up a small business, you could pick between 2-3 accounting applications, which would run on the dusty computer in your back office. And, for the most part, it did the job.

Fast forward to today, and you've got 3 web apps for every specialized industry you can imagine. Does your business sell vegan paperclips, but only on the 3rd Tuesday of every month? Someone out there probably made a bookkeeping app just for you.

So, what is an entrepreneur to do? Should you just close your eyes and point at a random link on the screen? Probably not. My advice might take a bit longer, but will produce much better results.

Talk to a professional.

People who do bookkeeping and accounting every day know the industry. They also work with a wide range of people and businesses. Their expertise will allow them to do one of two things.

1. Recommend the best product for your situation - If you plan to do your own bookkeeping, they can help you find the right suite of applications for your situation. That might mean software running on that dusty computer, or it might mean running your business from your smartphone.
2. Take the work off your hands - An even better solution would be to stop worrying about bookkeeping entirely. After all, you didn't want to be an entrepreneur because of all the fun paperwork, did you? Unless you're a bookkeeper, then the answer is probably no. All the time you would have spent choosing, setting up, and working with new software could have been used to grow your new business.

With all the choices available to you, the best decision is to start with someone who can guide you, and who has your best interests in mind. Since you're reading this here, it looks like you've already made that first step.

Eric Matthews
Owner, That Bookkeeper
www.thatbookkeeper.com