When to Hire a Bookkeeper or Accountant for Your Small Business
When first starting out, most new business owners handle their own accounting and bookkeeping. Services such as bookkeeping for small business often seem too expensive to new business owners. Plus, many start-up warriors want to do their own books initially – often as a way to get a good grip on income and expenses.
Eventually, however, every small business owner finds the company accounts have grown too complex for him or her to handle. Just when is the right stage in the lifecycle of a business to hire out for accounting? For small business leaders, the following tips will clarify whether accounting and bookkeeping services should be outsourced.
When you’re making a significant purchase.
In the course of providing bookkeeping for small business organizations, accounting and bookkeeping services accrue invaluable knowledge. For instance, accountants can rattle off the complex deductions for different classes of company vehicles. This information can come in extremely handy when deciding what kind of company car to buy. If you’re at the point where you’re making a big purchase for the company, it’s probably time to start shopping for accounting and bookkeeping services.
When your tax return is incorrect, miniscule or non-existent.
Bookkeepers can help you capture every possible business write-off. And business tax preparation might not cost as much as you think. One cost-effective option ($50 to $150 an hour) is to hire an enrolled agent, a special type of bookkeeper that must pass an enormous IRS exam to earn certification. Alternatively, you could turn to your regular business consultant for tax preparation advice.
When you’re considering hiring help.
Hiring procedures usually begin in accounting. For small business owners, it can be challenging to accurately predict the benefits of hiring a new employee. Owners often undervalue their own contribution to the business. When accounting and bookkeeping services accurately value the owners’ time, it usually becomes clear whether investment in a new employee is a good idea.
When you want to capitalize on opportunities for growth.
A professional bookkeeper can create growth in a couple of ways: First, he or she will indubitably have suggestions on how you could retain more revenue. Second, when the company owner hands bookkeeping tasks over to a professional, he or she has more time to spend on company growth.
About the Author Barb Fisher
Barb is the CEO of Fisher Bookkeeping, an outsourced bookkeeping consultancy that provides small businesses with a full-service financial department. Her favorite aspect of work is to break down the accounting to meaningful bits, so entrepreneurs can make a powerful difference in their own business. She's also a power lifter (squat: 215, DL: 270).