The relationship between professional and client is one of trust. Indeed, trust is so important to the lawyer-client relationship that you have a fiduciary duty to uphold your clients’ interests. When you approach the relationship you form with your bookkeeper, you should apply the same standards that a diligent client applies to the relationship with her lawyer.
While bookkeepers don’t have legally-defined fiduciary duties to their clients, their work is of such central importance to your firm that you shouldn’t be satisfied with anything less. Good bookkeepers will happily deliver results on par with professionals in other fields.
Central Pillar
It goes without saying that your firm’s financials are the central pillar of your success. Organizing them, knowing them, and nurturing them is key to maintaining the health and strength of your business. Being allowed access to such a central foundation of your company’s success is a significant responsibility. So, anyone you allow near, let alone into, your financials must prove themselves worthy of that monumental responsibility.
Building Trust
A healthy bookkeeping relationship is one in which both parties recognize the importance of the relationship and promise to uphold their respective responsibilities to one another.
For the bookkeeper, he or she must adhere to strict standards of professionalism, competence, communication, and confidentiality. Just as a lawyer or doctor wouldn’t disclose the details of their relationship with a client or patient, effective bookkeepers don’t disclose details about a client’s financials.
For the lawyer, you must maintain complete honesty with your bookkeeper. As you would with legal counsel, a doctor, or an accountant, full and complete candor is warranted when dealing with your bookkeeper. They cannot do their jobs properly if you’re hiding off-book expenses or engaging in any other shenanigans.
Trust should be built from the beginning of the relationship. The bookkeeper can demonstrate professionalism and competence through their words and actions, while the lawyer should make clear that he’s made frank and full disclosure of all of the financials the bookkeeper will need to do their job.
Comfortable Delegation
When a trusting relationship has been established, you’ll be able to comfortably delegate to your bookkeeper all of the tasks that don’t lie in your field of expertise. While you should always maintain a level of supervision over your finances (and we’ll talk about this issue in a later article), a good relationship with your bookkeeper will allow you to rest easy. You’ll know that your books are in good hands and you’ll see reductions in stress and distraction as a result. You’ll also spend less time doing things that are unrelated to the practice of law.
Final Thoughts
Trust in the bookkeeping relationship is built on several foundations: competence, communication, and confidentiality. But it doesn’t grow overnight. What’s clear, however, is that once you’ve found an effective bookkeeper, don’t let them go without a fight. As we said in the introduction to this article, a good bookkeeper is worth their weight in gold.