When your small business is beginning to grow, having an accountant on board to assist with the expansion is critical, but this is not the only time when more stringent accounting measures and professional guidance, can be helpful. Unfortunately, many small businesses fail to see the worth of hiring an accountant, or outsourcing their accounting requirements, before their business starts to expand.
If this sounds like you, and your business is starting to grow, you may be in need of a more robust accounting system, but should you try to do it yourself, hire an independent accountant, use an online service or outsource to an accounting provider?
To help you decide, here is a little guidance:
Tackling your own accounting
In the absence of accounting knowledge, handling your own bookkeeping can be time consuming and lead to costly errors. While some business owners don’t feel comfortable giving an outside party access to their financial information, this is often the only way to ensure that you get all the right tax deductions, and stay on the right side of the IRS. You may need to sit down and have a long, hard think about your priorities, and whether your decision to handle your own accounting, could jeopardize the future of your business.
Outsourcing your accounting requirements
Often a more cost effective choice for smaller businesses, using the services of an outsourced accounting firm can help you decide on the right legal structure for your business, advise you on how to manage your money as your business begins to grow, and help you establish reporting tools to measure KPIs and better manage your business.
Because you only pay for the work you ask them to compete or assist you with, outsourcing can prove far more cost effective than hiring a full time accountant.
Hiring an independent bookkeeper
This can be a good decision, depending upon your needs, but be sure to hire someone who is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), so that you can be sure their knowledge is up-to-date. It’s important to remember that most independent bookkeepers specialize in a certain industry or type of accounting, so where possible, try to find one with specialist knowledge in your field.
Using an online bookkeeping service
The majority of accounting and bookkeeping tasks can be done virtually nowadays, and online bookkeeping services have experienced something of a boom in recent years. Using a suite of cloud-based tools such as QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Expensify, you can outsource your most time-consuming tasks while feeling confident that your books are being handled professionally. However, this is no substitute for the up-to-date advice and guidance that a qualified accountant can give you.
An accountant can help to ensure that your business continues to function smoothly as it expands, and seeking professional help is always recommended for those who wish their business to become a success, and grow exponentially.