Outsourced bookkeeping is a service which provides a well-managed full bookkeeping department experience for small businesses. It is the business practice of hiring a firm outside a company to perform services and create a product that traditionally was performed in-house by the company’s own employees and staff. Outsourced accounting providers have a full complement of accounting professionals allowing them to offer a small team of accountants at a lower cost to hiring.
It doesn’t take long for a new business owner to understand that accurate and up-to-date financial records play an important part in the success of a business. At the same time, the daily tasks required to maintain these records often fall to the bottom of an owner’s to-do list of priorities. After all, business owners didn’t go into business to become bookkeepers and the value of time spent on maintaining the books translates into an expensive hourly rate.
Hiring a bookkeeper to handle the accounting tasks in-house for the business is one solution to the problem, but it isn’t always the best solution. Here are 7 good reasons to outsource bookkeeping services:
Privacy
There are a few things more guarded in a business than internal financial records. This is information that an owner wants to keep private and secure. Finding someone you can trust to do the job well, stay with the company long term, and maintain confidentiality is not a simple task – especially when a local bookkeeper knows your personal financial health. Outsourcing to a virtual bookkeeping service with strong client references can give an owner peace of mind by removing the opportunity to have a member of their staff in contact with their financial records.
Scalability
Growing businesses often start out with smaller needs but rapidly grow to require a full suite of bookkeeping services. Hiring an outsourced bookkeeping service with controller oversight and a full service offering enables the service to scale to needs, without having to hire or train additional staff. By outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting, your business is better positioned to scale instead of building an accounting department. As a result, your head can stay in the game instead of in the books. This also means your most valuable resources, your employees, are able to focus on core activities that benefit your clients and add greater value to your overall business. Thus, when you leave it to the management accounting and QuickBooks system experts, you can focus on meeting the needs of your core business – your clients- which is what keeps you in business in the first place.
Training and Management
Most business owners are not in the position to be able to train or manage bookkeeping staff, primarily because their bookkeeper likely knows more about it than they do. But the benefits of having a bookkeeper up-to-date on the latest QuickBooks features or having comprehensive knowledge on payroll and state taxes rules or reporting methods makes a huge difference in the quality of bookkeeping. Outsourcing provides you with one-on-one support. You will be connected with a pro to manage your books. They’ll get to know your business and deliver monthly books and year end financials. If you have questions about your financials, your team is always a quick message or phone call away.
Maximize Your Resources
When business owners try to save money by doing their own bookkeeping or delegating it to another key employee, they are expending valuable time and energy that could be better used growing the business. When they outsource their bookkeeping services, they free themselves up to spend their time doing what they do best. CFOs, office managers and non-accounting personnel simply shouldn’t be spending their time on the books.
Crystal Clear Financial Statements and Reports
Whether a business needs current financial figures or it just needs to keep tabs on cash flow, keeping up to date on accounting tasks is essential; an easy solution is to outsource bookkeeping to a professional service. Using outsourced professional bookkeeping services to prepare financial records makes accountants, the IRS and banking institutions happy. There is no need for concern over whether the books are accurate or questioning the integrity of the financial data. Whether a business owner needs to provide financial statements to the bank, satisfy investor reviews or share information with the IRS, outsourced bookkeeping services help make sure there is no doubt about the data and reconciliation is consistent.
Cost Effective
Outsourced accounting is becoming the popular choice among small businesses that want to reduce their overhead expenses without affecting efficiency. Perhaps the biggest benefit is that businesses can keep the office efficient and reduce expenditures all at the same time. Outsourcing is cost efficient because the firm you choose takes on multiple clients and this keeps their costs low. They also hire experienced pros and pay their salaries which means you do not have to worry about payroll taxes because it is handled by the accounting firm. You will also have a peace of mind knowing that you will pay a flat fee to get functions done. This makes budgeting for the upcoming year much easier. In addition, if you invest in outsourced tax filings, the firm will handle any audits and many firms actually pay fines for errors they have done. This passes the burden on to the firm instead of taking it on yourself.
Catch Up (Without the Stress)
If you’re feeling disorganized and way behind on your financials, don’t sweat it. Outsourced bookkeeping provides the ability to complete and catch up books months (or even years) of overdue bookkeeping – fast. They take care of the tedious bookkeeping work, and you get more time to focus on what you care about which is helping your business succeed.
Not all companies are created equal. Therefore, when choosing a company for outsourcing books, you are trusting a company with your financial data. It is very important that you do your due diligence. Ask what level of experience accountants have, how they are screened, what software is used, how they contact you, and how fees are charged. You can also ask other business owners for recommendations or read reviews to see how the company has performed in the eyes of those who have already done business with them.
Susan Claybrook
Client Liaison, Accounting