Anyone that knows me knows that numbers are NOT my thing. I tell my clients that upfront. I can easily rattle off the right amount to tip at a restaurant, or what 40% off a $70 pair of shoes is, and that type of thing….but start throwing any bookkeeping or accounting terms at me and I’ll give you a blank look. I really wish I had taken basic accounting in college. As it was, for my Communications/Journalism major at Shippensburg University, I was only required to take one math class. I took Precalculus and waited until my junior year when I could “get in” to Dr. Gracy’s class. He was rumored to be the best math teacher on campus. I passed with a C. I was happy.

So, enough reminiscing. As a business owner, even though I work with words, I also have to handle invoicing, deposits, withdrawals, transfers from my business to personal bank accounts, Paypal transfers, reconciling, budgeting, etc. And let’s just say that my record-keeping has been, uh, less than optimal.

Since my business is now doing really well and I have more clients and thus more accounting needs, I hired a VA! Candy Beauchamp of OffAssist.com is my new VA bookkeeper. I’m lucky she hasn’t fired me yet. She is a sweet person and great bookkeeper. I met her at the IVAA conference in Houston as we had “Dinner with Strangers.”

She is setting up a system for me in Quickbooks where I can just enter all the info I need and I’ll be able to generate all the accounting reports I know nothing about. Plus, I can hire her periodically to go over my books and alert me to any errors I’m making. Couldn’t I have done this myself, you ask? Sure, I’m sure I could have, and it would have taken me 3 times as long and given me a headache. Doesn’t make sense.

It’s amazing how much better I feel. I feel like a load has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I just have to be diligent about entering everything and I’ll be in good shape. Now, if you’re a numbers person, and having to write is the same weight on your shoulders that accounting is to me, then you need The Hidden Helper!

If you’re someone like me who needs some help coming up with a good bookkeeping system for your business, or if you want to turn over all your bookkeeping to her (on my wishlist for my business someday!), visit Candy.