When does outsourcing bookkeeping make sense?
Most people (other than us) didn’t get into business so that they could do bookkeeping. You went into business to dive into something that you are passionate about and to chase your entrepreneurial dreams. In order to do that, you need to focus your time on strengthening your business – gaining new customers, developing your staff, and honing your operations. Outsourcing your bookkeeping allows you to do that while ensuring that your books are being handled property.
The advantages of outsourcing include the following:
Time Savings: Hiring an outsourced bookkeeper allows you to focus on the critical issues your business is facing including sales, marketing, customer service and operations.
Cost Savings: Outsourced bookkeeping fees are lower than hiring a bookkeeper. If you have an in-house bookkeeper, we can help free up their time to assist in other areas of your business.
Knowledge: Hiring an internal bookkeeper gets you the knowledge of one person. An outsourced bookkeeper brings the knowledge of an entire team of accountants with various expertise to your business.
Stability: Outsourced bookkeepers have built-in redundancy. A team of people are there to service your account so you are not interrupted by turnover within your staff or worries about getting things done while your staff are on vacation or out sick.
Beyond bookkeeping, using the same CPA for tax services can be beneficial in the following ways:
Tax Planning: An outsourced bookkeeper will be able to identify trends and changes in your business that can affect your tax liability well before tax filing time – which can be too late in most cases.
Consistency: Bundling these services together can provide your business with consistent management of the financials and ensure things are taken care of in a timely manner.
Knowledge: By hiring an outsourced firm to manage bookkeeping and tax, your outsourcing team can develop deep knowledge of your business as you grow.
Who can benefit the most from outsourced bookkeeping and tax?
Over the years, we know that not everyone is a candidate for outsourcing. The common factors we have found in the business owners of successful outsourcing engagements include the following:
Have limited time to focus on accounting and tax matters.
Appreciate our expertise and appreciate financial guidance.
Look at outsourcing as an investment that helps them save money by reducing software, personnel and overhead costs.
Consider outsourced bookkeeping and tax services as a partner in their team.
Desire to keep accounting, payroll and tax information out of their staff’s hands.
Comfortable using technology.
When might outsourcing not be the best option?
We have also identified the following situations where combined outsourcing of bookkeeping and tax may not be the best option:
Businesses with complex job costing requirements or other complex financial elements that require constant attention by your staff.
Have an owner that prefers to keep everything in-house.
Have concerns about granting access to an outside firm to the company’s financial information.
Do not want consolidate everything in one place and just don’t care about investing in professional services.
In cases where outsourcing makes sense, the business owner can see substantial benefits of having their accounting matters managed properly and efficiently including saving time, money and resources. If you are considering outsourcing, we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you to see if it makes sense. Feel free to schedule a call or check out more about our services.