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25 Aug Bookkeepers: The Financial Backbone of Your Business—Here’s Why

Posted at 15:00h in Blog by

When most entrepreneurs envision launching their business, they typically imagine building something meaningful, serving their customers, and doing the work they love. What rarely gets pictured is the part where you’re reviewing balance sheets at midnight or trying to make sense of last month’s bank reconciliation. Financial organization is the backbone of every successful business.

That’s where a professional bookkeeper comes in. Whether you’re just starting, growing rapidly, or managing an established business, understanding what a bookkeeper truly does—and when to engage one- can have a profound impact on your company’s success and stability. This article will clarify the essential role bookkeepers play and help you determine the right time to bring one into your operations.

What Does a Bookkeeper Do?

In the simplest terms, a bookkeeper is responsible for recording, organizing, and maintaining the financial transactions of your business. However, modern bookkeeping is far more comprehensive than just data entry. A professional bookkeeper builds the financial foundation that supports your operational and strategic decisions.

Here are the key responsibilities of a qualified bookkeeper:

  • Transaction Recording and Categorization: They ensure that every business transaction (sales, purchases, bank deposits, withdrawals, credit card payments, etc.) is accurately entered and categorized in your accounting system.
  • Bank and Credit Card Reconciliation: Monthly reconciliation ensures your financial records align with actual bank and credit card statements, uncovering discrepancies and preventing costly errors.
  • Accounts Payable and Receivable Management: A bookkeeper tracks what your business owes and what is owed to you, helping to manage vendor payments, monitor collections, and avoid cash shortfalls.
  • Preparation for Taxes and Audits: They maintain clean, consistent records that are ready for your tax preparer or CPA, minimizing year-end stress and supporting audit readiness.
  • Cash Flow Monitoring: With accurate, up-to-date records, your bookkeeper helps you understand how money moves through your business so you can make proactive decisions.
  • Financial Reporting: They generate essential reports such as profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and customized performance summaries to give you insight into your business’s health.
  • Collaborative Support: A bookkeeper often works in tandem with your CPA or financial advisor to provide accurate records that inform strategic planning, forecasting, and tax filing.

This consistent, methodical attention to financial data is critical. Without it, you may find yourself making decisions based on incomplete or incorrect information.

When Should You Hire a Bookkeeper?

The ideal time to bring in a bookkeeper is sooner than many business owners think. Far too often, entrepreneurs delay seeking help until their financial records become unmanageable, resulting in unnecessary stress, lost time, and even lost money.

Here’s how a bookkeeper supports your business at different stages:

For New Businesses:

In the early days, getting your financial systems set up correctly is foundational. A bookkeeper can guide you through the initial decisions that shape your accounting structure for years to come:

  • Choosing Accounting Software: They can recommend and set up the right version of QuickBooks, or other suitable tools, tailored to your industry and future growth plans.
  • Chart of Accounts Creation: They build a custom chart of accounts that reflects how your business earns and spends money, making reports cleaner and more useful from the start.
  • Building Habits Early: They help you implement daily, weekly, and monthly workflows that ensure consistent tracking of income and expenses.
  • Expense Documentation: A bookkeeper will guide you on how to manage receipts and categorize business vs. personal expenses properly critical for tax deductions and audits.
  • Separation of Duties: If you have a small team or co-founder, they help set up processes that reduce risk and clarify roles.

Starting with a bookkeeper ensures that your financial practices are built on solid ground, which reduces errors and saves considerable time and money as you grow.

For Growing Businesses:

Once your business starts gaining momentum, you’ll notice that things get complicated quickly. Increased transactions, new team members, and expanding vendor relationships create more financial data to manage.

A bookkeeper at this stage can help you:

  • Manage Cash Flow Proactively: They’ll ensure you have a clear picture of your cash position and upcoming obligations, helping you avoid overdrafts or missed opportunities.
  • Keep Up with Volume: As your sales and expenses grow, so does the volume of data. A bookkeeper keeps your records current, so you’re not buried at month-end.
  • Payroll Oversight: If you’ve hired employees or contractors, your bookkeeper can help you stay compliant with payroll laws, handle reporting requirements, and ensure timely payments.
  • Support Financial Decision-Making: Whether you’re planning to hire, expand into new markets, or invest in equipment, your bookkeeper can provide reports that inform you of your decisions with real numbers.
  • Maintain Audit Readiness: As your financial activity increases, the risk of audit grows. Ongoing bookkeeping ensures your records are clean, current, and defensible.

Scaling without structured financial support can lead to bottlenecks or even compliance issues. A bookkeeper acts as your financial goalkeeper to maintain stability through growth.

For Established Companies:

Even for mature businesses, ongoing bookkeeping is not just a maintenance task, it’s a way to stay efficient, compliant, and ready for new opportunities.

Here’s how a bookkeeper adds value to established operations:

  • Process Optimization: They assess current bookkeeping workflows and introduce improvements that save time and increase accuracy.
  • Historical Cleanup: If you have outdated records or data inconsistencies, a skilled bookkeeper can correct them, improving the reliability of your reports.
  • Custom Reporting: Established businesses often need deeper insights—by customer, product, or project. A bookkeeper can produce tailored reports that support strategic planning.
  • Liaison with CPA and Other Professionals: When tax season or financial planning comes around, your bookkeeper ensures all documentation is in order, reducing prep time and CPA fees.
  • Prepare for Funding or Exit: Whether you’re planning to seek financing, bring on investors, or sell your business, solid financials are non-negotiable. A bookkeeper helps you maintain financial transparency and credibility.

An experienced bookkeeper ensures that long-term businesses remain nimble and well- informed, rather than weighed down by outdated practices or missing data.

Why It Matters

Bookkeeping is about more than staying organized. It underpins every financial decision you make.

  • Cash Flow Awareness: Without timely, accurate records, it’s nearly impossible to manage your cash flow effectively. Good bookkeeping highlights where your money is going and identifies areas for improvement.
  • Accurate Tax Filing: Tax season should not be a scramble. When your books are up to date, your CPA can file accurately and efficiently, potentially uncovering deductions and preventing issues with the IRS.
  • Better Decision-Making: Whether you’re considering a new hire, a major purchase, or pricing adjustments, clear financial data gives you confidence in your choices.
  • Risk Reduction: Clean records reduce your audit risk, ensure compliance, and safeguard your business from fraud or financial missteps.
  • Peace of Mind: Perhaps most importantly, having a trusted bookkeeper allows you to sleep better at night, knowing your financials are in capable hands.
What to Look for in a Bookkeeping Partner

A truly valuable bookkeeper does more than “keep the books.” They become a partner in your success.

At Siegel Solutions, we work alongside our clients to ensure their financial systems are accurate, understandable, and scalable. Here’s what sets our approach apart:

  • Clear, Responsive Communication: We explain your financials in plain language, making them accessible and actionable.
  • Consistent Monthly Reporting: We deliver timely, clear reports so you always know where your business stands.
  • Expert QuickBooks Support: Whether you’re using Online or Desktop, we help you get the most from your software.
  • Tailored Processes: From payroll to payables to project costing, we build systems that fit your specific needs.
  • Scalable Services: Our support evolves with your business, offering flexibility whether you need occasional assistance or full-service accounting.

Bookkeeping isn’t just a task on your to-do list. It’s a critical part of running a resilient, profitable business. Whether you’re in your first year or your fifteenth, the support of a professional bookkeeper provides clarity, security, and a framework for growth. Instead of spending your evenings reconciling accounts, you could be reviewing meaningful insights that help you plan the future of your company.

If you’re unsure whether now is the right time to get bookkeeping support, consider this: are you spending more time managing your books than managing your business? If so, the time is now.

At Siegel Solutions, we’re here to help. Let’s build a strong financial foundation together—so you can focus on what you do best.  Contact us anytime!

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Antonio Tony Martinez
Senior Partner Development Manager

Tony brings over 15 years of QuickBooks knowledge with him and has been recognized as a top performer year over year. Tony will play a critical role in helping our team grow your QB business by managing the relationship between Siegel Solutions and the QuickBooks Solution Provider Program. Tony is focused on optimizing results for strategic partners of all shapes and sizes.

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Noah Raney
Senior Account Payroll Manager

Noah is our dedicated Intuit Senior Account Payroll Manager who can help you find the right payroll solution for you and your business. He is well versed in all of the QuickBooks platforms being desktop/online/standalone and payroll has been his world since joining Intuit 13 years ago. Whether you are looking for ways to save on time, reduce inflated payroll costs or just get set up with the best discounts, he is here to help. Your success and satisfaction are of utmost importance!

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Sean McCaffery
Global Channel Sales Partnerships and Alliances Leader

Sean McCaffery has more than 15 years of experience leading channel sales and cloud solutions in the US and Internationally. Sean has held leadership positions with Avaya in Europe growing the channel business with resellers and distributors in key countries driving double-digit growth. He then joined Rackspace Technology and was instrumental in developing sales growth strategies in cloud adoption for customers and partners. Most recently, he ran channels at Dizzion responsible for dynamically growing and expanding the partner ecosystem through SaaS-based VDI solutions before joining Intuit. Currently, he runs the QuickBooks Solution Provider Program supporting the strong business that solution providers and ISV partners have established as well as finding new opportunities to drive emerging mid-market growth together!

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Gabor Terebesi
Payments Account Manager

Gabor Terebesi is an Account Manager with the Payments Team of Intuit for over 15 years. He works in the partner division for Intuit payments to ensure Intuit partners along with any clients of theirs are in the most suitable and financially cost-effective solution accepting payments through eCommerce, QuickBooks, mobile payments, or any other options necessary for their business.

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Aimee Garneau
Manager of Accounting Services

Aimee joined Siegel in 2022 as the Accounting Manager overseeing the accounting and bookkeeping team. Aimee brings 18 years of experience with increased responsibility with privately and publicly held companies. Her experience lies with SaaS-based companies as well as in healthcare, consulting, education and nonprofits. Prior to joining Siegel, she held accounting leadership positions with Waban Projects, Elastic Path, Moltin, and Ned Davis Research. Aimee loves partnering with business owners to establish financial reporting and results that promote growth and expansion. When Aimee is not working, she loves spending time with her family and friends and exploring all New England has to offer. She is also an avid Red Sox fan and enjoys going to Fenway Park when she can.

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Jeffrey Siegel
CPA, CEO

Jeff has spent the last twenty years working providing solutions to emerging growth businesses. After graduating from Northeastern University, he spent five years working with two multinational CPA firms in an auditor capacity building a foundation for understanding how business work. He later went on to work in various controller and CFO roles before starting Siegel & Associates (previously Siegel Financial Group) in 2000. In those roles, he sold a company to ADP, raised funds for a major expansion of a large regional IVF clinic, and helped set up accounting and financial structures for dozens of companies. Since starting Siegel & Associates, Jeff has worked with hundreds of clients providing accounting system solutions. Those solutions include setting up QuickBooks in a single-user environment putting in QuickBooks Enterprise in a 30-user environment and integrating various add-ons including inventory, CRM, and e-commerce. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a QuickBooks Pro Advisor, a QuickBooks Advanced Pro Advisor, and an Intuit Solution Provider certified in Enterprise Solutions, Point of Sale & QuickBase. Jeff is also a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer

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Lori Swartz
Client Solutions Advisor & Professional Services

After graduating from Boston University, Lori spent eight years working in various managerial positions for two national companies. In those positions, Lori developed the skills necessary to manage multiple projects, clients, and resources. She later went on to work for a management company that handled over 25 real estate properties with multiple tenants. Lori joined Siegel Solutions in 2003 as a client services manager where she utilized her skills developed to manage multiple clients and multiple staff. She recently moved into the client support manager role where she is responsible for meeting with and onboarding new clients, managing and maintaining our technology stack along with QuickBooks setups, conversions, training, and consulting.

In her free time, Lori enjoys spending time with her family. She loves to travel, music, and theater.

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Janet Jodoin
Bookkeeping Associate

Janet joined Siegel Solutions in May of 2022 as an Associate Bookkeeper. In her younger years, while raising her family, she completed her degree in Business and she spent 20 years in the trades as a custom designer. Janet also has 16 years in corporate management. Her strong team support, training, and development led her to support and manage Human Resources. Janet's desire to change careers has led her to return back to bookkeeping at Siegel Solutions. In Janet's free time she enjoys spending time with her growing family. Her personal favorite is creative landscaping in her yard. She also enjoys working alongside her partner in construction and remodeling.

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Tricia Gullage
Associate

Tricia Joined Siegel Solutions in 2022 as a bookkeeper and works with our clients to keep their day-to-day bookkeeping in order. Tricia has 12 years of bookkeeping experience working for a large construction company for 10 of those years handling all their accounting and Payroll. She met Jeff our CEO while working there and decided she wanted to join our team.

When not working Tricia enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She recently moved up to the lakes region in NH and loves going to concerts, enjoying her time boating and snowmobiling.

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Ed Jaworski
Professional Services

With over 21 years of corporate experience at PeopleSoft Consulting, Sun Life Financial, and KPMG, Ed brings a big business approach to small business solutions. Prior to joining Siegel Solutions in 2022, Ed helped small businesses get the most out of QuickBooks for 21 years as a co-founder of SMB Partners and the founder of Solutions for Office Software.

Ed is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks® ProAdvisor, a Certified QuickBooks® Point of Sale ProAdvisor, a Certified QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions ProAdvisor, and a Certified SOS Inventory Consultant. Ed holds an MS in Computer Information Systems from Bentley University and a BS in Business Administration from Northeastern University.

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Debby Mono
Firm Administrator

Prior to joining Siegel Solutions in March 2023, Debby had been working in administrative and executive assistant roles for many years in various fields. Her extensive background in these positions has provided her with a range of skills and knowledge that are valuable in her new role as a Firm Administrator. She graduated from Suffolk University with a Bachelor's Degree.

Outside of work, Debby can be found at football fields or dojos cheering for her sons. She also enjoys hikes with her dog, Sawyer, reading, sports, and live music. She and her husband also love to entertain family and friends.

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Letitia Cote
Senior Associate

Letitia has an accounting degree and has been working in the Accounting/Bookkeeping industry for over 25 years. Tish is also an Acumatica Business Consultant. Outside of work, Tish has 4 grown children and 5 grandchildren, she loves to ski, hike, bike, and be outdoors. Tish has worked with Jeff for over 10 years.

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Andrea Alencar
Associate

Andrea graduated from Bridgewater State with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. Andrea joined Siegel Solutions in 2022. Andrea has gained accounting experience working in various industries including a CPA firm, legal, hospitality, and telecommunications. Before coming to Siegel Solutions Andrea previously worked as a bookkeeper and staff accountant.

Andrea has 4 kids which keep her busy. Outside of work, Andrea enjoys spending time with her kids, being outside, cooking, and going to softball/baseball games.

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Mike Derrico
IT

I started my career in 1983 when I designed and built a device to share a computer program, written by the president of a local bank and his son, running on an Apple Lisa computer. The device allowed the large and expensive Lisa's computer to be shared with bank employees. With this program, and with my device, we started a company to market this unique solution to banks. At this point, computer networks were just starting to be used in businesses. I transitioned my efforts to providing support for migrating banking terminal/mainframe functions to the emerging Personal Computer networking platform. For the next decade, I worked with, and beta tested, numerous technologies to integrate the banking functions from dumb terminals into the now smart desktop computers. After working with a few small consulting firms, I started my own company focusing on providing I.T. support to SMBs. More recently I am now doing the exact opposite by helping customers migrate their PC applications and data from their local computers to The Cloud. A few years ago, I joined Siegel Solutions to add my years of I.T. experience to their firm.

In my spare time, I like to travel, fly my drone and, most importantly, spend time with my family. I also still enjoy tinkering with technology.

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Pat Jaworski
Associate

After spending most of her corporate career in the insurance industry, Pat joined a QuickBooks consulting firm providing bookkeeping services to several small companies. Late in 2022, that firm merged with Siegel Solutions, Inc., bringing Pat and her clients to the group. She provides services to clients in a variety of industries: fitness, construction, beauty, equine care, and medical billing, to name a few. She enjoys supporting her clients by keeping their financial records in good shape and allowing them to focus on growing their respective businesses.

Pat resides in the 495/MetroWest area with her husband Ed, daughter Abby and Duffy, their lovable, energetic golden retriever.

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John Brakey Campos

Senior Account
Payroll Manager

John has been with Intuit for over 18 years, serving in a variety of roles across the organization. For the past 8+ years, he has focused on payroll and workforce management solutions, helping clients streamline operations and make informed decisions. John is passionate about working directly with customers to understand their unique needs and recommend the best solutions to support their teams.

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DeeAnna Keyes

Sales and Marketing Associate

DeeAnna Keyes, has been our Sales and Marketing Associate since December 2023. She brings a wealth of experience, having worked at Intuit with a focus on Quickbooks Online and Quickbooks Desktop. With a robust sales history and a license as a real estate agent in Virginia, DeeAnna is a versatile professional. Outside of work, she cherishes family moments, indulges in camping with friends, and finds joy in entertaining at home with her husband and four children.

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Janice Kats

Associate

Janice Kats graduated from Carl Sandburg College with an Associate Degree in Accounting in 1992 and has been working in the accounting field ever since in various jobs doing AR, AP, payroll, office management, and bookkeeping before joining Siegel Solutions in late 2023.

In 2022, she made the decision to branch out on her own and started her own bookkeeping business, working from home.

She is a mom to 3 grown children and a grandmother to 5 grandchildren and enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs and following her grandchildren in all of their sports.

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Alyssa Bradford
Firm Manager

Alyssa Bradford joined Siegel Solutions as Firm Manager in March 2025, bringing with her a strong background in operations management and a hands-on, "boots on the ground" leadership style. Known for her excellent communication skills and practical approach to problem-solving, Alyssa plays a key role in driving efficiency and fostering team collaboration at the firm.

She is a graduate of the University of Hartford and lives in Franklin with her husband and son, where they enjoy making the most of nice weather together as a family. In her downtime, Alyssa enjoys HGTV and Food Network shows.

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Cynthia Moncayo-Mena
Associate

Cynthia joined Siegel Solutions in March 2025 as an Associate. She has a Bachelor's in Accounting from New Jersey City University and over 10 years of experience in accounting.
She is married with two children and enjoys reading and exploring new places to visit!

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Jermaine Sanders
Associate

Jermaine began his accounting career in 2017 after earning his Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Emory & Henry College. With seven years of industry experience, he brings a solid background in financial analysis, business taxation, and small business accounting. Jermaine is a QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor and is currently pursuing his CPA designation. He joined Siegel Solutions in the summer of 2025.

Outside of work, Jermaine leads an active lifestyle. He enjoys attending football and basketball games, hiking, biking, and spending quality time with family and friends. A fan of great music, he also enjoys relaxing to the sounds of jazz and practicing the trombone.

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Miya "Yiting" Guan
Accounting Co-Op

Miya joined Siegel Solutions this summer as a six-month Co-op. She is entering her senior year at Northeastern University and brings prior experience from a previous Co-op. In a short time, Miya has already proven to be a valuable asset to the team, thanks to her strong technical and financial skill set.

Originally from Shanghai, China, Miya has an older sister and a younger brother. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and going to the movies.

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