What does a good bookkeeping service actually include?

A good bookkeeping service keeps bank transactions, sales, purchases and expenses complete and reconciled. It should deal with the detail consistently enough that the numbers can be relied on rather than repaired at year end.

Good bookkeeping includes spotting unusual or missing transactions, keeping supporting documents organised, maintaining customer and supplier balances and making sure the accounting treatment is sensible. Automation helps, but somebody still needs to review what the software has done.

It becomes much more useful when the records are current. Up-to-date bookkeeping means VAT, cash flow and management reporting can be based on what is happening now rather than information that is several months old.

Ask who will actually look after the records, how often they will be updated, what is included, how queries are handled and what happens when something doesn't look right. The cheapest bookkeeping is rarely cheap if somebody has to correct it later.