Managing your finances effectively is the cornerstone of a thriving business, and hiring a QuickBooks freelancer can be a smart move to ensure you and your business have a strong grip on financial performance. Traditionally a business would either hire an employee to handle their QuickBooks accounting needs, outsource QuickBooks work to an specialized accounting firm, or use a freelancer website like Fiverr or Upwork to find a QuickBooks freelancer.
Our company, Hourglass, is a “done for you” service, providing you a full time Latin America based QuickBooks bookkeeping contractor for a flat and competitive fee without the hassles of scouring countless freelancer platforms or the cost of a full time US employee.
Let’s look at the pro’s and con’s of the various ways you can hire a QuickBooks bookkeeper or freelancer so you can select which one is right for and your business.
Option #1: Use a Job Board & Hire Your Own Bookkeeper
Pros
- Control: When you post a bookkeeper job on a platform like Indeed you have total control in writing the job description and determining who to interview. Ultimately you have total control in finding the right QuickBooks bookkeeper for your business.
- Stability: Hiring the right full time employee can provide added stability to your business and in some cases a years long relationship.
Cons
- Expensive: Hiring a US employee is not cheap as compared to a QuickBooks freelance contractor. When you look at total compensation (salary, benefits, retirement, taxes) you can expect to pay about 2x as compared to a fulltime Hourglass contractor.
- Time Consuming: Finding that perfect QuickBooks bookkeeper takes time (screening, interviewing, extending offers, etc) and can be a frustrating experience that distracts from your core business.
Option #2: Use A Freelance Website (e.g. Upwork or Fiverr) to Hire a QuickBooks Freelance Expert
Pros
- Low Cost: If you go direct in finding a freelancer you can expect to pay the lowest cost relative to the other options.
Cons
- Timing Consuming: If you’ve ever hired a freelance accountant you know how much time it takes to post a job, screen the applicants, interview applicants, and ultimately make a hire. It is a slog. If you want to make a strong hire there is no getting around the fact that it’ll take time.
- Mixed Results: Because the process is not something most people do all the time and because the talent is mixed on the freelance websites it is not uncommon to make hires that don’t work out.
Option #3: Engage A QuickBooks Bookkeeping Firm
Pros
- Subject Matter Expertise: It is easy to screen on experience and there are plenty of firms with expertise in QuickBooks bookkeeping.
- Ease: Once the on-boarding is complete it is generally a smooth and easy process working with an accounting firm.
Cons
- Scope: A specialized QuickBooks firm will have a limited scope of work. Whereas a freelancer can work on various other financial tasks the accounting firm will be much more limited (i.e. they produce QuickBooks financials and not much more).
- Priority: A QuickBooks firm will often have dozens of clients. They are incented to plow through your financials as quickly as possible.
- Cost: The cost relative to the value is not particularly high. This is the tradeoff for the expertise and ease of engaging a QuickBooks firm.
Option #4: Use a “Done For You” Service Like Hourglass For Your QuickBooks Freelance Needs
Pros
- Value: For $3k per month you get a 40 hour per week contractor to handle all your QuickBooks needs. This means your contractor can handle QuickBooks but also do other accounting tasks for you such as paying invoices, managing accounts receivables, tracking inventory, building forecasts, and much more.
- Competence: The talent of Hourglass team contractors is top-notch. It is refreshing to see the level of talent, command of English, and general desire to work hard.
- Flexibility: We hope the engagement with your Hourglass contractor is a win-win and lasts for years. That said, we know business is dynamic and change occurs. As compared to hiring a US employee there is much more flexibility with an option like Hourglass. We are month-to-month with no long term contracts which preserves flexibility for you and your business.
Cons
- Not the Cheapest: Hourglass is more expensive when compared to hiring a QuickBooks freelancer direct.
- Remote: This is not necessarily a con but if you want to be able to work in person, hiring an Hourglass contractor is not a good fit. All our QuickBooks freelance talent is in Latin America (primarily Mexico). So you’ll be on a similar time zone as your accounting resource but not in the same physical space. In our Zoom world remote work has become very normal but we know there are situations where in person is preferred.
We hope this is a helpful overview of the ways to source a QuickBooks freelance hire. There is no one way to find the right QuickBooks freelance pro; it really comes down to know your unique situation and needs.
Are you interested in learning more about Hourglass? If so, click here for a no pressure chat to see if Hourglass is a good fit for your business.