Many small business owners have a do-it-yourself mentality when managing their business. They have general knowledge and understanding of what it takes to start and run a company and want to keep their expenses low. When it comes to bookkeeping, there are plenty of tools available for people to take on the task themselves. Even though you can take the do-it-yourself approach, most entrepreneurs aren’t trained in bookkeeping. Tracking sales, expenses, salaries, tax documents, and more can become cumbersome and time-consuming.
The first thing you need to know about hiring a bookkeeping professional is that it opens up a lot of time for you to focus on the other parts of your business. What has taken you 3 hours might take a professional significantly less time. Not only that, but they often find overlooked items, extra entries, missing items, or other things that were encountered: correcting this may lead to you finding the money you didn’t know you had or help you have a better understanding of where your business actually stands.
A professional bookkeeper deals with your day-to-day accounts and has a very in-depth understanding of your business. If, as an owner, you have an important decision to make and money is a determining factor, your professional bookkeeper might be able to give you even more insight and help you make the best decision for your company.
Bookkeepers and CPAs are not the same. While bookkeepers manage your day-to-day transaction entry and ensure you have up-to-date financial statements, they often don’t provide advice on complicated business tax matters. In some cases, CPAs are brought onto a task and end up spending more time correcting what was done by bookkeepers because things were not done properly for tax purposes.
When the time comes to seek help with your business’s bookkeeping, always keep in mind what your needs actually are and what you’re truly looking for. Is it a bookkeeper, or a Certified Public Accountant? If your business’ tax needs aren’t overly complicated, or if your business is tax-exempt, utilizing a competent bookkeeper to manage your finances is a cost-effective way through which to ensure your books and records are up to date and are prepared for tax preparation during each filing season.
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