Signs Your Bookkeeper Is Stealing From You
As a business owner, there are plenty of responsibilities that you delegate. Things like hiring, firing and bookkeeping.
Your bookkeeping is an important part of your business. That job duty is responsible for tracking your business’s bottom-line. Without that, it can be difficult to know how your company is holding up.
Having a bookkeeper that is not going to steal from you is also important. Hiring the wrong accountant can leave your business penniless, and you may need legal help from the Boulder Legal Group. There are a few red flags to look out for.
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The Numbers Do Not Add Up
This is one of the most obvious red flags. To have discrepancies once or twice is normal as people make mistakes. But if you notice that your books are consistently not adding up, it can either be incompetence, or your bookkeeper could be stealing from you.
Take notice when there is an odd number of adjustments made in your accounts. You should also be wary of bookkeepers who consistently take records home. If you notice that your bookkeeper prefers to do the books when no one else is in the office, this could also be a red flag.
Pay close attention to mistakes like misplacing payroll receipts, deposit records and other things like that.
High Level Of Secrecy
Your bookkeeper should be the most open person in the business, so if you notice that your bookkeeper is being more secretive than usual, this could be a red flag. Anything that you ask to see, they should be open to showing you.
If you notice any type of reluctance within the accounting software or in-person, you should be concerned. You are the owner of the company. There should be no reason for you to not be able to see the books whenever you ask to see them.
You should also be on alert if your employees are taking on new habits like coming into work over the weekends or working longer hours during the week. You do not have to accuse anyone of stealing, but it should be on your radar. Also, pay close attention if your bookkeeper’s personal habits start to change. Take notice if they start living above their means.
Cash Flow Dives
This is a major red flag, particularly if nothing about the way your business runs has changed and the cash flow takes a nosedive. Maybe there has been less money coming in, or maybe the money is “leaking”, so to speak.
Your bookkeeper could be the reason for that leak. You can easily predict how much money is coming, so your cash flow should never be a surprise or something that is not predictable. Finding out the root of the problem will be easy and quick. Do random book checks to make sure everything is on the up and up.
Refuses Help Or Is Very Territorial
If you offer to help your bookkeeper on easy tasks like payment posting or cutting checks and your bookkeeper resists the help, this could be a major red flag. Unless someone has something to hide, people generally would take help if it meant they would get their work done faster.
Always get legal advice from a licensed attorney.
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Ken Boyd
Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies
(email) ken@stltest.net
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