Bookkeepers are best predictors of economy in crisis

Award Bookkeeping Company, managing director, Patricia Howard says hardworking qualified bookkeepers are often the first to read the signs of a business in trouble. 

"Our bookkeepers take their clients' financial temperature almost daily.  Cash-on-hand, debtor-to-creditor ratios and movement in income and expenditure are all part of what a qualified bookkeeper measures on behalf of their clients," she said.

As a result of this insight, Ms Howard says bookkeepers were able to predict the current difficult economic climate some time ago by the "stress" being recorded in clients' financial records.  

"Collectively, our bookkeepers have access to information that would obviously be effective in helping signal economic trends and downturns in spending, along with the impact these factors are having on the business community," she says.

"Right now, cash flow is proving more challenging for businesses as they mistakenly bear the added costs of inflation, interest rates and transportation, without making the necessary costing adjustments in their own products and services.

"Sadly, as inflation increases and consumer spending decreases, business owners can find themselves in a situation where not only are their costs increasing but their income is decreasing," she says. 

Ms Howard says a bookkeeper's role resembled a paramedic's, since they work at the coal face, read the signs and help ease the symptoms of their ailing client or patient. 

Award Bookkeeping Company is a franchise network of small business operators with extensive accounting experience and/or qualifications. Franchises are available nationally.