2011 - 2012 Recommendations

Bookkeeper competant with Macs & Quicken

I am looking for a bookkeeper who is VERY competent with both Macs and Quicken. I am looking for someone who will come to my house to get my books caught up for the year. After that, if enough of the accounts work by download, and you are familiar with my accounts, it is feasible that you could work from your home, but it is not guaranteed. The hours are very flexible. I am looking for someone who is friendly, efficient and discrete. I am not interested in bookkeeping companies. I look forward to meeting you. Anonymous

Looking for a bookkeeper for personal finances

I am looking for an experienced bookkeeper who could come into my home, for a few hours once a month, to enter my checks and VISA expenditures and reconcile my accounts. All of my accounts are set-up for on-line downloads. Initially, more time would be required to help import my 2011 data into Quicken from iBank, and enter January-March 2012 data, but then it would be monthly maintenance. After the first few appointments, s/he would be free to set their own hours. S/he would be working with Quicken on a Macintosh, so fluency with Quicken and Macs is essential! Thanks very much. I look forward to speaking with you.

Personal, business bookkeeping for small biz fam?

Hi, we are looking for a very reputable, trustworthy accountant/financial planner to teach my husband and I how to keep books and manage money sustainably for my husband's business, as well as how to accomplish personal savings goals. Maybe some one who is great at working w/ contractors?

My husb. is a self-employed landscape contractor and his income fluctuates wildly per month. We need to learn how to deal with this on a business level to get his work load more consistent. We also need to learn how to deal with it on a personal level so we aren't freaking out every time he can't find new work and the money starts to run low. We need a great way to reliably set aside the right amount per-check for quarterly taxes, etc.

We don't want some one who works on commission or peddles products or weird investments. We hope for some one who comes highly recommended, and who will teach us how to do all this rather than some one we just pay and hand all the data over to each month. I am also very leery about sharing peronal financial data w/ a stranger, so if you have any insight about that I would appreciate it too, so I know what to expect. If you have any personal experience pls share. Thanks a mil. Workin' guy's wife

B & T works with many small business owners in Berkeley and El Cerrito - I'm sure they have other clients with business like yours. I know they can help you get a clean set of books (and keep it), and then you can be in the driver's seat when you sit down with someone to talk about investing in something new. Please don't take my word for it, call them and ask for other references. Wishing you all the best, M., musician and music teacher

She has been a bookkeeper for my small business for I think about a year now and she's fantastic. She charges a reasonable hourly rate and she does what needs to be done. She is expert with Quickbooks and handles the payroll tax reporting and other tasks that I need. She's absolutely reliable and fun to work with.

I can't vouch for her as a financial planner because I have not required that. Francis

Bookkeeper to help small biz. get organized

I am looking for a good Berkeley (or nearby) hands-on bookkeeper. This is for a friend who needs someone to help him get organized and manage his accounting to the tune of around 10 hours a month. Tasks are pretty straight-forward and would include collecting and organizing expense-related receipts, sorting, submitting and tracking them (i.e. making sure they get paid and tracked for tax purposes). The ideal person would come to his house in the Berkeley hills once or twice a month, be proactive about checking-in regularly to make sure nothing slips between the cracks (business mileage, meals and misc.), make sure invoices and expenses are submitted and paid, and organize annual expense reports for tax purposes. It is important to find someone reliable, efficient and proactive who will create simple systems to stay on top of the job. Thanks in advance. kate

When Shannon started, she was willing to work with the systems and policies I had in place; later when the opportunity came up to make improvements she presented various options so that I could decide. She is a great communicator. She lets me know exactly what is going on without overloading me with emails or phone calls. Her attention to detail is amazing - she never makes mistakes. She is professional and friendly when communicating with clients and is able to understand the personal dynamics involved.

Shannon has a complete understanding of general accounting practices; she has the ability to problem solve and communicate, and she has strong organizational skills. She does A/R, A/P, journal entries, general ledger, bank reconciliations, and payroll. She uses Quickbooks, Excel and Word. Shannon Kotter can be reached through email: Smkbookkeeping@gmail.com Holly

2009 - 2010 Recommendations

Bookkeeper who uses Quickbooks or Quicken

Can anyone recommend a bookkeeper who uses Quickbooks or Quicken for the Macintosh and PC? We're looking for someone who can come into our home and catch us up on our bookkeeping, and maybe come in on a regular (or irregular) basis to enter expenses and income when we get behind again. We're not sure which of our computers we'll use or which software. Can anyone recommend someone trustworthy? I know good bookkeepers can cost up to $75/hr., but we're hoping to pay somewhat less than that. Jeffry

Hourly rate for bookkeeper?

I was just wondering what the going rate for a bookkeeper (independent contractor) is these days. The work would be for a small business that would only entail AP, AR, credit card and bank Reconciliations, and reporting for the Accountant. I was quoted a price of $50/hour and was wondering if this is a legitimate price to pay for a bookkeeper? Thanks!

I'm seeking a reliable bookkeeper familiar with Quicken on a Macintosh to upgrade to the latest version and all that it entails. Anyone know somebody?

I am looking for a bookkeeper to come to my house once or twice a week to do bookkeeping for my small home-based property management business. I live in the El Cerrito Hills. Bookkeeper should be familiar with Quicken and excel. I am open to switching to Quickbooks if my reports can be generated easily, so I would want them to learn what I do before switching. My current bookkeeper just quit to take on a full time job, so I am looking for someone ASAP! Thank you! Arminda

I am looking for an experienced (at least 5 years experience) bookkeeper for my
small, home office.  I am a consultant for a foundation and am looking for
someone to:
- Come in to the office (N. Berkeley) once a month for about 3 hours
- Be proficient on a Mac with Quickbooks
- Pay Bills
- Reconcile business and personal credit card statements and accounts
- Prepare Profit & Loss Statements, etc., as needed
R

My husband and I run a non-profit project that requires detailed quarterly reporting to our funders. We are looking for a trustworthy, skilled, detail-oriented bookkeeper to work with us twice a month or so to track our expenses and help prepare our financial reports. Must have experience using Quickbooks for non-profits. Also, what is standard pay for this type of work? Any recommendations welcome. Thank you. sophie

Jill has worked as a bookkeeper for a number of small local non-profit and public-interest organizations over the years. She also has done an incredible job serving as treasurer for our Berkeley public school PTA for the last 2 1/2 years, handling everything from setting up accounts and record-keeping systems (that had been sorely lacking) to taxes, audits, budgets and education of parents, teachers and staff about how these things work. Also important: Jill is responsive, very tech-savvy, a great communicator, gets along well with everyone and has a great sense of humor. She's also the mom of two young boys.

I understand that $40 per hour is a standard rate for this type of work.

You can reach Jill Herschman at jill@lmi.net or 549-0953. Robin

I am looking for a bookkeeper for my small, home office. I am a 
consultant for a foundation and is looking for someone to:
- Come in to the office once a month for about 3 hours
- Be proficient on a Mac, with Quicken and Quickbooks
- Pay Bills
- Reconcile business and personal accounts
- Prepare P & L's, as necessary
- Be reliable!

I've been calling all the names of bookkeepers from the archives and have found that many of them have moved away or aren't in business anymore. I am needing a bookkeeper for my small business who is patient (I am not very good at these matters and really need help), warm, and friendly as well as experienced, accurate, and trustworthy. I would like to develop a great long-term relationship with a bookkeeper and would very much appreciate some new recommendations. looking forward to your referrals

2007 - 2008 Recommendations

Hi. My small retail shop needs a Bookkeeper. I would love some recommendations. We are located in N. Berkeley. Thanks! Keri

Does anyone have a super bookkeeper? I have an existing small business and am looking for a bookkeeper who will come to my office 1-2x per month and finesse my quickbooks. I need a professional to improve our existing systems, but I don't want someone who wants to ONLY work in their own office. Amerin

I have a small architecture business and I am looking for a bookkeeper and some one that can maybe do a little light office management. The job would include invoicing, knowledge of sales tax and payroll, preparing information for year end taxes, entering expenses and tracking money in Quick Books and some light filing (just our financial stuff). Someone with architecture or construction bookkeeping experience is a plus. Would need about 1-3 days a month. Does anyone have any good recommendations?

2005 - 2006 Recommendations

I'm seeking a reliable bookkeeper who will come to my home in N. Berkeley on a monthly basis to reconcile accounts and pay bills. This usually takes 2-3 hours. I use Quicken on a Macintosh. Anyone had experience or know of such a professional? spark2

I am looking for a bookkeeper for my small business. I've checked the archives and there are only a few listings from several years ago, so current recommendations would be a great help. We use Quickbooks on a cash basis, have two employees, do our own payroll and do not have inventory. I do the basic entry of checks and deposits and need help with payroll, monthly and quarterly tax payments, reconciliation etc, and tax planning if possible. The books are kept in Montclair, but working over the Internet is certainly a possibility. Thanks much!!! - bookkeeper-less in Oakland

Bookkeeper charging too much?

I have a situation with my bookkeeper. My accountant has commented that she can't understand why it is taking so long to get my books prepared for tax time (two consecutive years we have had to apply for two extensions with a third expected this year). I engaged her about 6 months after starting my business, so she has been playing catch up, but we are still not up to date, two years later. She charges me $70 and hour for data entry into Quickbooks and $90 and hour for 'consulting', which seems to constitue any conversation I have with her involving her answering a question about my books. And she charges for her travel time to my house/office. She comes around 2 times a month. (She does not seem to have time to come more often than that)

Anyway, I am trying to decide if I am being overcharged and whether she is taking too long. She is very thorough, but I am not sure if she is efficient. She loves to stop and chat with me - so i often make sure I am not home when she comes to work in my office.

We have two checking accounts (with about a half page of transactions each) which she is tracking and also between 3 to 4 credit cards. She enters the transactions manually into the program rather than importing them.

As a sole proprieter of a small business I don't have time to do what she does, even if I did know how to, nor do I know what's a realistic amount of time to do this many accounts. Each credit card statment probably has an entire page of transactions on it. However I am spending around $6000 a year having her come to do them. How can i figure this out? Is it worth me showing another bookeeper my books to see if they agree with my accountant. or Should I just stop complaining. I would love to hear from anyone who has a great bookkeeper for a home-based small business. thanks in advance. feeling overcharged and clueless

I presently pay $65. an hour, plus travel time over 1/2 hour round trip, for experienced help. If I call her on the phone with a question, I always say, ''Don't forget to put this time on my next bill''.

I've had cheaper bookkeepers, and twice have later paid substantially more than $70. an hour for my business consultant to come in and sort and straighten out the mess left behind (which wasn't obvious at the time it was happening).

As a small business owner, you know that your time is your money, and it's the same for a bookkeeper. Running around from one small job to another eats up a lot of time and gas.

Whether or not she's taking ''too long'' isn't something anyone can accurately evaluate just from hearing your list of tasks. If I had your same concerns, I'd hire (i.e. pay for the consulting time!) another similarly qualified bookkeeper to assess the situation.

If you haven't already told her of your time concerns, do so now. If you haven't already told her that work chatting doesn't do it for you, that you can't chat and focus at the same time, just say it.

But there's a couple of things I'm wondering if are in the background of your post: 1) maybe you just don't particularly like this woman's style, and it's not a good personality match 2) having a business, especially a new business, is financially stressful, and you may be letting those concerns cause you to resent paying professional rates to a fellow professional for professional work. Anon

the one thing i would be concerned with is that you are still behind...financial data is most useful when it is timely and if you are consisently lagging behind, you are not getting the full benefit of professional accounting services. maureen

HOWEVER! If your bank statements, credit card statements, check ledger, back-up invoices and receipts are not available to her when she arrives, you can expect delays in the processing of information. (I have this issue with a few clients who send information to my home office and OFTEN forget to send complete information for months at a time....grrrr.)

Have someone else look at your books. You will not be sorry. Nancy