Eight questions to ask before you hire any bookkeeper

By Barbara Davis · Published 2026-03-04 · Approx. 4 minute read

Hiring a bookkeeper is an unusual purchase: the person you hire is often the only person who could tell you whether they are doing the work well. Ask these before you sign anything — including with us.

The eight questions

1. Who personally reconciles my accounts, and who reviews that work? If the answer is one name for both, ask what happens when that person is on holiday.
2. By what date each month will I have statements? A firm that will not commit to a date does not have a closing process.
3. What is included in the fee, and what is billed separately? Get it on one page.
4. How do you handle Washington-specific filings? B&O classification and L&I risk classes are where out-of-state providers routinely get it wrong.
5. What happens to my data if we part ways? The correct answer involves you keeping your own file, at no charge, in its native format.
6. How do you transmit documents? Email attachments containing bank statements are a bad answer in 2026.
7. Can I speak to a client in my industry? Not a testimonial on a page — an actual phone call.
8. What would make you tell me I am not a good fit? Anyone who cannot answer this will take any client, which tells you what their capacity looks like.

Two answers worth listening for

First, does the person ask about your business before quoting? A price given before understanding transaction volume is a guess that will be revised later.

Second, do they explain something you did not know during the first call, without being asked? That habit is what you are actually paying for over the following years.