Frequently Asked Questions

How can bookkeeping services improve my business's financial performance?

Because our experienced bookkeepers supported by qualified accountants who are dedicated to your file, the timeliness and accuracy improve along with improved reporting. This enhances your awareness as to how the business is tracking, and gives you timely reporting on which to make informed decisions rather than going by gut feeling alone.

How can bookkeeping services help me prepare for tax season?

As your business records are being updated in real time with accuracy, you can track how you are going in a timely way. Therefore you are ensuring that you are providing for your tax commitments as you go, rather than waiting until well after the financial year is finished to get performance reports and tax assessments.

What are the benefits of outsourcing bookkeeping services?

Accuracy, timeliness reporting key data, and cost effectiveness.

What should I look for when choosing a bookkeeping service for my business?

The quality of the personal working on your file. Are they a good fit with your business? Are they supervised by experienced accountants? Have they the demonstrated capability to provide me with the accurate, timely data I require to assist me in planning my business going forward?
We can provide all those things and more here at Chester Grey.

How do bookkeeping services differ from accounting services?

Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions at the source such as the recording into the accounting system of an invoice for a purchase. The bookkeeping function usually extends to the reconciliation of the key ledgers such as Bank, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. Accounting checks for accuracy in reporting using the training as an accountant moving onto the interpretation of what the financial reports mean and reporting them in terms that the audience can understand them.

What are some common bookkeeping mistakes that small businesses make?

Inaccurate recording of transactions, the lack of a meaningful reconciliation process, the inability to determine a transaction as being to the Revenue Account or to the Balance Sheet. Which can lead to inaccurate and late reporting of financial outcomes if at all.

What is the cost of bookkeeping services, and how can I budget for them?

The cost of outsourcing bookkeeping services should not be much more and more often less than the full-time in-house person.
Talk to us about your needs & we can provide an estimate.

Can bookkeeping services help me with financial forecasting and budgeting?

A modern and efficient outsourcing service such as with Chester Grey will have the capability, and modern tools to provide a budgeting, reporting progress and forecasting service.
The skills required for this function have developed significantly in recent times, away from using Excel spread sheets, to utilising modern budgeting tools, preparing 3-way budgets including the Revenue Statement, Balance Sheet and cash flow budgets. Such modern tools are able to mine historic data to provide AI generated predictive reports. Chester Grey implements & extensively utilises these tools.

What are the benefits of bookkeeping services for small businesses?

The business owner & manager can expect to enjoy accurate timely information as to how the business is tracking, measured against the budget which is prepared from the business plan, from there a manager can now make more informed decisions when fine tuning the business going forward. All this has become affordable to the small business using the efficiencies of modern business tools which speed up the capture and recording of business transactions.

How do online bookkeeping services work?

Utilising modern accounting systems which can access source data from suppliers and banks seamlessly takes the mundane function of data capture out of the bookkeeping function, allowing a more qualified person the time to report on the stuff that really matters while consistently keeping in touch with the business manager.

How much do bookkeeping services typically cost?

The team at Chester Grey have proved that the outsourced service costs no more than an in-house service with the advantage of qualified experienced people backed up so that the service doesn’t stop when the in-house person is on leave. All this with improved reporting.

What should I look for in a bookkeeping service?

Competency, modern tools, people who fit with you and your organisation.

Can bookkeeping services help me prepare for tax season?

Because the data is reconciled regularly the business manager has an up to date fix on how the business is tracking and therefore can assess the tax liability in a timely way so there are no surprises.

How can bookkeeping services improve my business finances?

With good cash flow budgeting the business manager can forecast when the business needs cash flow support from say the bank or alternatively can assess when there is likely to be surplus cash which can be invested in new plant or income earning investments.

What are the advantages of outsourced bookkeeping services?

Accuracy, timeliness, improved reporting, experienced independent people who can offer advice. An added advantage of using a comprehensive service such as that provided by Chester Grey is the managers ability to report to their financial backers in a timely fashion with actual results to budgets backed up by forecasts giving the financier the comfort that the business manager knows where he/she has been and more importantly where he/she is going. The gives the financier confidence in the business even when things are not quite going to plan!

How can I find the best bookkeeping services near me?

Look no further than Chester grey. We have years of demonstrated experience in the market, experienced personal backed by chartered accountants.

What software do bookkeeping services use?

MYOB, Xero, Bank feeds, Hubdocs, Futrli, Cloud data filing etc

How do bookkeeping services help with budgeting and forecasting?

At Chester Grey our bookkeepers have the back up of experienced qualified chartered accountants who provide oversight, & utilise the latest in budgeting tools powered by AI to assist in planning the future.

What should I expect from a bookkeeping service provider?

Accuracy, timeliness, easy to communicate with, available when you need them, reporting using the latest reporting tools.