Updated 9/15/2026
Many small businesses start off with the owner handling the bookkeeping on the side. However, they don’t usually have a background in bookkeeping... much less expertise.
If you’re handling your business’s bookkeeping, you’re going to have questions.
However, if you’re seeking advice more than a couple times per year, this is a sign of a much bigger problem... You likely need more hands-on support.
At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we’ve worked with small business accounting for 60 years. That means we’ve talked to thousands of small business owners who used to do their own bookkeeping. They tend to ask us:
- Why is it bad to search for bookkeeping advice as a small business owner?
- What kind of advice should I seek instead?
- What are the signs that I should stop doing my own bookkeeping?
Why It’s Bad to Seek Bookkeeping Advice
Seeking one-off advice from a professional means you get charged by the hour, and they won’t even fully understand what you’re asking because they don't know your business or finances.
Therefore, many will try to rope you into a long-term commitment (which might not be a bad thing). There can be a lot of value in partnering with a bookkeeping or monthly accounting service.
Plus, there may be errors in your work that you don’t realize you need to ask about. Even if you hire a professional for your taxes, they can only work with the numbers in your books. If your books are wrong, your taxes will be wrong. You can end up paying more than necessary, and nobody will notice. It’s shocking how common this is.
Advice You Should Seek Instead
A professional service already knows the ins and outs of bookkeeping. So, what advice should you be getting from them instead? Here are five of our go-to bookkeeping tips!
A monthly accounting service like CSI Accounting & Payroll works with you year-round, so we have the monthly financial statements and the bandwidth to offer advice on:
- Setting KPIs.
- Maximizing profitability.
- Industry-specific topics.
- Sales and marketing.
- Tax strategy. (planning, projections, and preparation)
- Hot button financial items.
- Money management.
- Business financing.
- Employment laws.
Many of these topics can be addressed as one-off questions that are included in your set monthly accounting fee. The best part? You can ask as many as you want for no extra cost!
If you have a larger-scale project or one that requires a lot of hands-on work from your monthly accountant, you can add in-depth consulting for an additional fee, which will vary by the project.
Signs to Stop Doing Your Own Bookkeeping
At what point of confusion is there too much risk to keep doing your own bookkeeping? It depends on who you ask, but we believe that if you think you’re struggling, you should seek help immediately.
Not sure if you can justify paying for a bookkeeping service? Here are the most common bookkeeping red flags we see from small business owners who have been handling it themselves:
- Negative numbers on the balance sheet or income statement.
- Opening balance equity does not tie to the prior year.
- Retained earnings do not tie to the prior year.
- Items in "Ask My Accountant" or large amount of "Miscellaneous".
- No assets on the books but a large amount of "Office Expenses".
- Loans on the books but no interest expense.
- No depreciation.
- Large amount in "Deposits in Transit".
- Growing A/R or A/P balances.
- Large inventory or Cost of Goods Sold is equal or greater than Revenue.
- Large amount of owner personal expenses (not business expenses) reported.
Just remember: Most people who get audited are the ones who are doing the books themselves. Guessing is dangerous. Is the risk worth it? Here's the true cost of doing your own accounting.
Outsource Your Bookkeeping & Cut Your Risk
It’s okay to start with doing your own bookkeeping and seeking occasional advice, but you need to know when enough is enough and you’re putting your business at risk.
Now that you know why it’s a bad sign to seek bookkeeping advice, what other kinds of advice you need, and why you may want to stop doing your own bookkeeping, are you ready to check out monthly accounting services?
If so, please consider CSI Accounting & Payroll! To see if we can be a good fit for your business, click the button below for a free consultation:
Not ready to talk? That’s okay! First, estimate your investment with our Pricing Calculator.
