Do I need a bookkeeper for my small business?
The honest answer depends on whether the intake is on top of you. If supplier invoices arrive all month and someone has to type supplier, date, number, amount and VAT for each one, that part can be automated today — an AI employee like Nika files every invoice the same day it arrives, from $0.40 per processed invoice. The judgment work — taxes, structure, advice — still needs your accountant.
Bookkeeping splits into intake and judgment. Intake is mechanical and can pile up: invoices sit in the inbox, the monthly close becomes a scramble, and your accountant bills for hours of typing your mail. Judgment — how to treat transactions, filing, planning — is where a professional earns their fee. Automating the intake does not remove the need for judgment; it removes the pile that hides it.
A simple test: open your inbox and count the supplier invoices waiting. If the answer is more than you can clear today, the intake is a real cost. Nika clears it daily; the invoice cost calculator shows what that time is worth, and the bookkeeping cost guide compares the options in money.
Related questions
What does a bookkeeper actually do?
A bookkeeper keeps the records: entering transactions, reconciling accounts, and preparing the numbers your accountant and tax authority need. The intake part — entering incoming invoices — is the part AI automates today.
When is a bookkeeper not needed?
When the volume is trivial and you clear it weekly. At that size the cost of any tool may exceed the problem; once invoices arrive daily or the close takes a weekend, the automation pays for itself.