Beancounters Dublin

Outsourced bookkeeping run from a Dublin accountancy practice

Beancounters is the bookkeeping arm of Beyond Accounting, an accountancy firm in Dublin, Ireland. The service handles the day-to-day entries and record keeping of small and medium-sized businesses, and describes itself as the most trusted SME bookkeeping service in the city. One condition is stated plainly on the site: in most cases the service takes on bookkeeping only for clients who also use Beyond for their accounts.

The case for outsourcing the books

The service starts from the observation that most business owners would rather not spend their time on bookkeeping. It says it makes transaction processing simple and timely by combining technology with people. It compares its model with two alternatives. Employing an in-house bookkeeper is costly, and so is using an accountant's staff for routine entries, which it says are charged at a higher hourly rate than its own bookkeepers. A typical business, it says, needs anywhere from five hours a month to two days a week of bookkeeping, depending on size, so paying for only the hours used is the point of the arrangement.

The site lists reasons to outsource that include not having to employ anyone, no fixed contract length, staying compliant with legislation, and agreeing costs upfront.

Who does the work

The bookkeepers are qualified and Xero-certified, and the service says they are led by accountants. They work off-site, with on-site visits arranged where a client needs them, which it presents as flexible support without the overhead of a hire. Alongside Xero the team has experience with Sage, QuickBooks and Bright Books, and it handles the migration when a client wants to move from one package to another.

Packages tailored to the client

Rather than a single fixed offer, the site describes tailored bookkeeping packages, where the client picks from a menu of tasks. The service also offers help with setting up payroll and an accounts system from scratch, and its earlier blog material covered topics such as automating bookkeeping in twelve steps, comparing Sage with Xero, and payroll software for Irish businesses.

Where it fits

Because it sits inside an accountancy practice, the bookkeeping connects directly to company filings, tax returns, VAT and accounting system work done by the parent firm. Clients are asked to contact the firm for a quote.