If you own a business in Hanover, Hingham, Norwell, or anywhere along the South Shore, there is a good chance your books get done at night. After the jobs, the patients, the clients, and the phone calls. That is usually when an owner starts searching for outsourced bookkeeping.
Outsourcing is a big step, and the most common worry is simple: what am I giving up? The answer is less than most people expect. Here is what changes hands, what stays with you, and how to tell whether it is time.
What outsourced bookkeeping actually means
Outsourced bookkeeping means a firm outside your business records, reconciles, and reports on your finances every month. It is not a software subscription and it is not a call center. Done well, it means a small team of people who know your books, and who you can call by name.
Larsen Bookkeeping has done this work for owner-run businesses since 2001. The firm was founded on the South Shore to serve businesses in Boston and the surrounding towns, and today works with clients entirely online, in QuickBooks Online and by phone, email, and screen share.
What you hand off
- Recording every transaction in QuickBooks Online, categorized to a chart of accounts that fits how your business actually runs.
- Reconciling every account each month: bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and lines of credit, including the ones you forgot you had.
- Monthly reports on an agreed schedule: a profit and loss, a balance sheet, and, where it is part of the arrangement, a cash analysis.
- Bill management, when you want it. We receive and review bills, catch anything paid twice, and prepare payments for your approval.
- Year-end coordination with your CPA, so tax season starts with clean numbers instead of a list of questions.
What you keep
- Control of your money. For bill management, you approve payments unless you specifically ask us to. You receive a report of what was paid each week.
- Your bank logins. We use bookkeeper access, a limited, view-only permission that most major banks offer. It lets us see statements and transactions. It does not let us write a check or move money.
- The decisions. What to buy, who to hire, and when to expand stay with you. Our job is to make sure the numbers in front of you are right, and to explain them.
- A short list of questions each month. Some transactions only you can explain. We send those through a simple portal, with reminders, or we pick up the phone.
Ask where the team is
Some outsourced services route work to teams overseas. That can work for some businesses, but it is worth asking before you sign. Larsen’s team is based in the United States, a deliberate choice. For a business in Scituate or Cohasset, that means your bookkeeper works the same hours you do and knows how a Massachusetts business runs.
What the first month looks like
- A free consultation. A short call to see whether we are a good fit, for you as much as for us.
- Two onboarding calls. We ask the right questions up front, gather access, and set up your books.
- The first month closes. Every account is reconciled and your reports are prepared.
- A review meeting. We go over the numbers with you, answer your questions, and talk about what is coming next.
If questions are still open at month-end, you still receive your reports, marked preliminary until the answers come in.
Signs it is time
0 of 4 apply to you
Frequently asked questions
No. We use bookkeeper access, which is view-only. You keep your own login and full control of the account.
Yes. We work with your CPA at year-end and whenever they need clarification during the year. We do not prepare tax returns.
We start with a cleanup, scoped separately, as the first step of ongoing monthly bookkeeping. It goes back as far as necessary, and sometimes only to the last tax return your CPA prepared.
Start with a conversation
If you are on the South Shore and ready to stop doing the books at the kitchen table, request a free consultation. Tell us about your business and how the books are kept today. You will not be judged for the state of them. Prefer to call? 781-924-1489.
Larsen Bookkeeping is based in Hanover, Massachusetts, and has kept the books for owner-run businesses since 2001.