Key takeaways
What this article covers, in order:
- It's 9pm on a Sunday
- What the bookkeeping job actually involves
- A simple way to compare the cost
- The risk side
- Bookkeeper, BAS agent or accountant?
- The hybrid model most small businesses land on
If you're asking "do I need a bookkeeper?", start here: doing your own books makes sense when your transactions are simple, you have the time and you'll actually keep up. Hiring a bookkeeper makes sense when your time is worth more elsewhere, the books keep falling behind, or you've got things like payroll and supplier accounts that need regular attention. Most small businesses end up somewhere in between: the owner handles the daily bits, and a professional does the monthly check.
It's 9pm on a Sunday
Grace runs a hair salon in Parramatta with three chairs (she's illustrative). Sunday nights are her bookkeeping nights. Sometimes. When she's not exhausted. By the end of last quarter she was seven weeks behind, and her BAS agent had to spend two paid hours sorting out her bank feed before they could even start their own work.
Grace isn't bad at bookkeeping. She's just a hairdresser with a business to run, and the books keep losing the fight for her attention. That's the real question here. Not "can I do it?" but "will it actually get done, and done right, by me?"
What the bookkeeping job actually involves
Before deciding who does it, be clear about what "it" is. For most small businesses:
Weekly or as it happens
- Raising invoices and recording bills
- Reviewing and categorising bank transactions
- Chasing overdue customers
Monthly
- Reconciling every bank account and card
- Reviewing receivables and payables
- Clearing any suspense or uncategorised items
- A quick look at the P&L and cash position
Periodically
- Preparing for your BAS agent or accountant (they lodge; you or your bookkeeper hand over clean books)
- Year-end handover before 30 Jun 2027
Some of this takes judgement. Most of it is routine. That split is what makes the hybrid model work.
A simple way to compare the cost
You can't compare "free" (doing it yourself) with a bookkeeper's invoice. Your time isn't free. Here's a rough way to work it out, with figures you should replace with your own.
Say you spend 6 hours a month on the books. If an hour of your time is worth $90 to the business (what you'd earn doing billable work, or what it would cost to cover you), that's $540 of your time each month.
Now say a bookkeeper quotes $70 an hour and, being faster with the tools and the rules, does the same work in 3 hours. That's $210.
| DIY | Bookkeeper | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours per month | 6 | 3 |
| Cost per hour (your assumption) | $90 of your time | $70 quoted |
| Monthly cost | $540 | $210 |
Check: 6 × $90 = $540; 3 × $70 = $210.
On those numbers, hiring wins by $330 a month. But change the assumptions and the answer flips. If you only spend 2 hours a month and you'd otherwise be watching telly, DIY is clearly cheaper. The point isn't the specific figures. It's that you should put a number on your own time before deciding. Ask a few bookkeepers for quotes; rates and pricing models (hourly, fixed monthly) vary a lot.
The risk side
Cost isn't everything. Think about what mistakes cost you:
- Missed or wrongly coded GST that your BAS agent has to fix, or worse, that nobody fixes.
- Unreconciled accounts hiding duplicate payments or missing receipts.
- Debtors nobody chases because nobody's looking at the aged receivables.
- A pile of catch-up work at year-end, billed by your accountant at accountant rates.
A bookkeeper doesn't make these impossible, but they make them less likely, because checking is their job.
Bookkeeper, BAS agent or accountant?
These get muddled, so quickly:
- A bookkeeper keeps your records: categorising, reconciling, invoicing, bills, reports.
- A BAS agent can do that too, and is registered with the Tax Practitioners Board to provide BAS services for a fee. In Australia, anyone giving BAS services for a fee needs to be a registered BAS agent or tax agent.
- An accountant (often a registered tax agent) handles tax returns, structure, planning and advice.
If you hire someone to prepare or advise on your BAS, check they're registered. You can search the Tax Practitioners Board's public register.
The hybrid model most small businesses land on
For a lot of owners, the best answer is to split the work:
| Task | Owner | Bookkeeper |
|---|---|---|
| Sending invoices | Yes | |
| Snapping and filing receipts | Yes | |
| Categorising bank transactions weekly | Yes | Reviews |
| Monthly bank reconciliation | Yes | |
| Clearing suspense and odd items | Yes | |
| Reviewing receivables and payables | Together | Yes |
| Preparing for BAS agent or accountant | Yes |
The owner keeps the books current. The bookkeeper keeps them right. Because both are working in the same books, nobody's emailing spreadsheets back and forth.
Signs you should stop doing it yourself
- You're regularly more than a month behind.
- Your accountant's bill keeps growing because of clean-up work.
- You don't know who owes you money without checking several places.
- You've added staff, a second business account or a second entity.
- You dread it so much you avoid opening the software.
Signs DIY is working fine
- You reconcile every month, and it balances.
- You can answer "what's our cash position?" in under a minute.
- Your accountant's year-end questions are few and easy.
- It takes you an hour or two a month, and you don't mind it.
How to hire well
- Ask what software they work in and whether they're happy to work in yours.
- Ask if they're a registered BAS agent, if you'll want BAS services.
- Ask for a fixed monthly price for a defined scope, or an hourly rate with an estimate.
- Agree who does what, in writing, using a table like the one above.
- Give them their own login instead of sharing yours.
- Review their first month's reconciliation with them so you understand what they're checking.
How HelloBooks helps
HelloBooks is set up for the hybrid model. You can invite your bookkeeper, BAS agent or accountant into the same books. The Free plan (A$0, no card, no expiry) includes 2 users, so you and your bookkeeper can both log in from day one. Pro (A$30 a month) adds unlimited users and roles, AI auto-categorisation and bills and approvals, and the Business plan adds an audit log and advanced role-based access.
Connect your bank account (most Australian banks and cards are supported) or import a CSV statement. Transactions land in a review list for you to categorise during the week. Your bookkeeper then uses the reconcile screen, where each line has an AI match suggestion with a confidence score and the reason for it, to work through the exceptions and produce a reconciliation report as PDF or CSV. Once a month is reconciled and signed off it can be locked, with any reopening logged.
Read about automated bookkeeping or browse the bookkeeping features.
FAQs
Can I do my own bookkeeping as a small business owner?
Yes. Plenty of owners do, especially early on. The key is consistency: weekly categorising and a monthly reconciliation.
Does my bookkeeper need to be registered?
A bookkeeper who only keeps your records doesn't need to be. Anyone providing BAS services for a fee needs to be a registered BAS agent or tax agent with the Tax Practitioners Board.
How many hours a month does a bookkeeper need?
It depends on your volume and how clean the books are. Ask for a quote based on your actual number of transactions, accounts and invoices.
Should I give my bookkeeper my login?
No. Invite them as their own user, so their access can be managed and removed separately.
Is it worth hiring a bookkeeper just for a catch-up?
Often, yes. A one-off clean-up followed by DIY with a monthly check can be the best of both.
Put a number on your own hour, and the decision usually makes itself.
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