Running a small business involves managing different workflows to keep it functioning smoothly. During the early days, you can focus on what's most important: making sales and delivering products or services. But as the business grows, you'll find you have less time to do certain processes such as bookkeeping.
Bookkeeping is the heartbeat of your business, yet it's something that takes up a lot of your time. Outsourcing to a third-party bookkeeper can help you regain that time while making sure your business runs smoothly. Here's a look at how.
Navigating Outsourced Bookkeeping: Understanding the Process and Benefits
The process of outsourcing your bookkeeping begins when you contact an accounting firm about their services. You'll have a discussion with a representative of the firm to talk about the services you're seeking and learn more about what the firm can do for you. Upon agreeing to the service, you'll send your financial paperwork to the firm for examination and sorting into their proper categories.
Once the firm has organized your papers, it goes to work on making sure that your bank accounts are balanced, the receivables are accounted for, and the bills are paid. It also goes through your payroll (if you have one) to make sure that the hours are paid correctly and FICA taxes are remitted.
You can choose to have some or all of your bookkeeping done by a third-party accounting firm. All of your information is kept confidential and secure, and sensitive data is sent through encrypted means.
Deciphering the Signs: Identifying When to Outsource Bookkeeping Services
At first, keeping up with the bills and accounts is easy. There's not a lot of volume in terms of information to enter and track, and it doesn't eat up a lot of your time. But as your business grows, so does your bookkeeping. The time you spend on bookkeeping starts taking you away from running the business, and it's time for a solution to free up your time.
The good thing about recognizing this sign is the fact that your business is becoming profitable, and you can justify the cost of outsourcing the work to a third-party firm.
Maximizing Efficiency: Optimizing Small Business Finances through Outsourced Bookkeeping
As a business owner, you have the choice to keep your bookkeeping in-house or outsource it to a third party. Keeping it in-house requires hiring someone to do the work and add a variable expense. Outsourcing the work to a third party keeps the cost manageable due to the predictability of the time needed to get the work done.
Adding another employee to the payroll to perform bookkeeping duties adds a layer of uncertainty in terms of the number of hours needed to make it worth their while to show up. You don't always know when you're going to need someone to process the financials, and for how long.
In contrast, a third-party accounting firm assigns a balanced workload to each bookkeeper, which means that you're sharing the cost of their labor with other businesses. Meanwhile, the accountant that's in charge of your financials has full knowledge of your needs, and requirements, and keeps you up-to-date on your status, upcoming filings, and what information you need to supply next.
