Still deciding
Do you need a local bookkeeper?
Wanting someone local is a reasonable instinct built on a real principle. It is worth working out which parts of that principle distance actually delivers.
Reviewed by Darren Lim, US CPALicence CPA.742536027 min read
We work remotely, so treat what follows accordingly. It is still worth working through, because the instinct behind wanting someone local is a good one and it is usually pointing at something other than distance.
What people actually mean by "local"
Ask an owner why they want someone local and the answer is rarely about geography. It is one of these:
- "I want to be able to get hold of them." Availability.
- "I want to know who I am dealing with." Accountability.
- "I want to sit down and go through it." Explanation.
- "They will understand how it works around here." Local knowledge.
- "If something goes wrong I know where they are." Recourse.
Those are all reasonable. The question is which of them proximity genuinely delivers, because a local firm that does not return calls satisfies none of them and a remote one with a named person and a scheduled call satisfies four.
Where local genuinely matters
Paper that has to physically move. Cheques arriving at a PO box, crews handing over receipts and delivery tickets, a filing cabinet someone has to open. If your process depends on that, remote does not solve it — though it is worth asking whether the process needs to work that way, since most of it can be photographed.
You genuinely prefer to sit across a table. This is a real preference and it does not need justifying. Some people make decisions better in a room. If that is you, a remote arrangement will always feel slightly wrong regardless of how good the work is.
State-specific expertise. This is the strongest argument, and it is worth being precise about it. State tax rules do differ meaningfully — sales tax for contractors is genuinely different state to state, and payroll and licensing vary. What matters is that whoever does your books knows your state's rules, and that is a competence question rather than a location one. Plenty of firms three miles away have never touched contractor sales tax; plenty of remote ones handle it every week. Ask the question directly rather than assuming the answer from a map.
Where local buys you less than it looks like
Access. A local firm in filing season is not more available than a remote one. Response time is a policy, not a distance.
Accountability. "I know where they are" feels like recourse and is rarely used as one. What actually protects you is that you own the file, you hold the logins, and the work is reviewed by someone qualified. Those are contractual arrangements, not geographic ones.
Understanding your trade. Far more valuable than understanding your town. A firm that does forty contractors nationally has seen your problem before. A general practice down the road that does dentists, a restaurant and you has not.
The work itself. Reconciliation, categorisation and monthly close are identical whether done nine miles away or nine hundred. Nobody visits your bank.
The questions that matter more than distance
Ask these of anyone, local or not:
- Who specifically does my work, and who reviews it? One person doing and checking their own work is not a control. This is the question most likely to produce an uncomfortable pause.
- Do you work with contractors, and how many? Job costing, retainage and sub tracking are not generic bookkeeping.
- Do you know my state's treatment of contractor sales tax? Specific, checkable, and a fast filter.
- Who owns the file and the logins? The answer should be you.
- What do I get every month, and by when? A P&L alone is not a close. Ask whether the reconciliation report comes with it.
- What happens when the person who does my books is on holiday?
Those six tell you more than a postcode does. There is a longer version of this list if you are actively interviewing.
Being straight about what we are
We are remote. There is no office you can drive to, and we do not have a Google Business Profile because there is no verifiable address to attach to one — we would rather say that than invent one.
What we do have is read-only access rather than control of your money, a named US CPA who signs the work with his licence number on it, a scheduled call rather than an inbox, and books built for contractors specifically.
If what you want is someone who will come to the shop, we are not it, and you should hire locally. That is a real requirement and there is no point pretending distance is irrelevant when it is not.
The way to settle it without deciding first
The argument is unresolvable in the abstract, and it does not have to be.
Have somebody do a month and look at the result. Whether the reconciliation ties, whether the categorisation makes sense for your trade, whether anyone explained what it meant — none of those depend on where the work happened, and all of them are visible in a couple of hours of looking.
Judge the work. It is a much better test than a map.
Related
How we do this
We build this into your books. Starting with a month that costs you nothing.
We work remotely and we are direct about it: read-only access, a named person, a scheduled call, and books signed by a US CPA. What we do not offer is someone who will drive to your shop, and for some owners that genuinely matters.
- Every transaction categorized, accounts reconciled, the month closed
- Reviewed and signed by Darren Lim, US CPA — licence CPA.74253602
- The Two-Day Guarantee: Your first month back in two days, or the next month is free.
The test that settles it is not where someone sits. It is whether the work that comes back is right. One month, done in full and CPA-signed, is a better basis for deciding than a postcode — and it costs nothing.