If you’re like many of the accounting and bookkeeping firm owners I know, you’re constantly on the hunt for great bookkeepers. This task can be daunting enough in “normal” times, but in our post-pandemic world finding good employees is downright harrowing.
It doesn’t have to be. Good help is out there. You just have to be willing to look in unconventional places for it. Here are four non-traditional places where your next great bookkeeper might be hiding.
Down the hallway
If you need an entry-level bookkeeper, you might find them right in your own house. You’re probably already aware of the potential tax benefits of putting your children on payroll, but there are other benefits to hiring your teenagers for that open entry-level position in your firm:
- You already know their temperaments. This means you know what makes them tick...and what will set them off. And chances are, at least one of your children has a similar temperament to yours. I’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing or not.
- They’re easy to supervise. Not every firm owner wants to supervise remote workers. No one is less remote than the people who live in your own home. Just make sure you don’t turn family time into work time.
- You’ll teach them a marketable skill. Whether or not they decide to pursue bookkeeping or accounting as a career, your teen will always have the skills you will teach them. What better way to set your children up for success?
If you don’t have teenagers, or if you don’t feel comfortable employing them, don’t overlook your spouse or partner. Most of the same benefits (and caveats) apply.
Retirement communities
Not everyone who retires is ready to completely stop working. There are a number of benefits to hiring a recent retiree:
- They have a great knowledge base. Recent retirees not only have years of experience in accounting and bookkeeping, but they are likely relatively up-to-date on current trends and technology.
- They appreciate flexibility. Most retirees won’t want a full-time position. Some might want to work more in the colder months (ahem, tax season, ahem), while others might prefer project work (like that big cleanup job you just landed). This is perfect if you don’t have enough work to justify a full-time hire. And, whatever their situation, retirees will appreciate the opportunity to keep their minds active while still enjoying their retirements.
- They probably aren’t looking to earn a lot of money. Yes, you will still want to compensate these employees fairly, especially if they are bringing years of experience to the table. However, many retirees can only earn a limited amount of money without losing some or all of their retirement benefits. The extra income they earn working for you will supplement their retirement savings, but they won’t be looking to replace it.
Before targeting a retirement community for your recruiting efforts, make sure the community is okay with its residents working out of their apartments. You’ll also want to be sure a secure internet connection is available to your new (experienced) hire.
Other firms
No, I’m not talking about poaching employees from your competition.
Other firms in your area might be looking for a great part-time bookkeeper and only finding prospects who want full-time employment. If you’re in the same boat, consider sharing an employee with a firm that uses similar technologies, workflows, and has a work culture similar to yours. Together, you can provide a great bookkeeper with full-time work (and a full-time salary) without having to foot 100% of the bill.
A word of caution: Work out a detailed agreement with the other firm owner. You’ll want to iron out work schedules, non-disclosure agreements, and what you’ll do if one of you wants to hire the employee full-time (or if one of you decides to terminate employment.)
Rural areas
If you’re open to having remote workers, rural areas can be the perfect place to find a great bookkeeper. Take it from someone who lives an hour away from the nearest sizable town: It’s hard to put a price on getting back 10 hours of your week you used to spend commuting. This means you can pay a bookkeeper living in a rural area a salary you’re both thrilled with.
If you’re willing to go a bit further, you can look to regions of the country where the cost of living is lower. For example, at one point my practice had a reputation among a group of businesses in California as being “awesome...and cheap!” It was funny because businesses in my home state (Oklahoma) complained about how much we charged for bookkeeping.
Depending on where you live, you might be able to get an awesome bookkeeper in the another part of the country for nearly half of what you would pay in your region...and the bookkeeper will think they’ve hit the jackpot because they will earn more working remotely for you than they can earn from a local firm.
Do your research, though: You want to make sure you comply with the labor laws in the employee’s home state and that there aren’t a lot of “hidden costs” that will offset your savings on their salary.
Good help doesn’t have to be hard to find
With a little research and some out-of-the-box thinking, you can find that next great bookkeeping hire for your firm. They just might not be where you expected to find them.
Happy hunting!
Author Bio: Billie Anne Grigg is the Senior Strategic Guide at Profit First Professionals and the founder of Pocket Protector Bookkeeping. She has more than 20 years of small business bookkeeping and cash management experience. Billie Anne is passionate about elevating the bookkeeping and accounting community so we can help small businesses thrive.