You’re avoiding opening that spreadsheet.
You know you need to manage expenses and income for your business. You know you need to reconcile cash and look at projections and double-check unpaid invoices.
But it takes you so long to wade through the details. And Excel is never as easy to use as people say it is. Or that accounting software. If it were easy, you would be on top of it.
You’ve been mulling over farming out this responsibility. You have the income levels, and you know it would save you so much time. But you’re not sure what the best action to take is – hire a part-time bookkeeper to work directly on your payroll? Maybe ask around for a freelancer who will take on this responsibility as a side gig? Or should you move to an accounting agency as an outsourced bookkeeper that would have the resources to better manage your books? There are merits to each approach, so how do you decide which path to take?
Challenging Options
If you hire in-house, the first challenge is just finding and hiring the right candidate. You will have to take the time to manage the logistics of putting out a notice, accepting applications and interviewing, onboarding, and then managing the ongoing costs of having an employee on your payroll and part of operations. People managing can be time consuming even when you have great employees!
If you go with a freelancer, they may work odd hours and may not be available at a moment’s notice to work something out. Plus, there’s the time it would take to communicate with them regularly, so they understand your business and can offer sound advice. A freelancer might not as easily integrate into your operations, goals, and workflow.
The Outsourced Option
Choosing to outsource to an accounting agency is probably your best bet, and we’ll give you ten reasons why! For one thing, it removes the burdens of an in-house staff or complications of a freelancer. And you’ll also reap all the benefits listed here!
- Qualified: An agency bookkeeper will be part of a team of trusted professionals, so you know your business is in good hands.
- Heavier oversight: An agency bookkeeper will report to their own supervisor, who will oversee their work for accuracy and efficiency. You won’t have to manage that at all!
- Access to expertise: Your bookkeeper will be surrounded by other experts with years of experience in their field, bringing a well-rounded expertise far beyond one person to your business. Many minds for the price of one!
- Privacy: With an agency, you’ll know your financial information will remain private, with the highest level of security to store and communicate your financial information. No non-secure emails containing sensitive information or an accident from a phishing scam.
- Software power: You’re not tied to one accounting software or investing your own funds in it – you can rely on top-of-the-line industry software and best practices therein that come with an agency partnership. These systems also backup every night and keep records for years in case you’d need them.
- Staffing experience: Agencies understand how to properly apply staff to certain tasks, and you pay for only what you need, rather than too much or too little expertise.
- Accountability: With an outside firm managing the books, it will help hold you and your team accountable, instead of anyone trying to juggle multiple responsibilities in the accounting realm.
- No distractions: An agency doesn’t have the distractions of the day-to-day operations that you or someone in-house might have, or a freelancer juggling multiple commitments.
- Always updated: An agency will be on top of changing financial laws and regulations so you don’t have to be. Should an audit happen, you’ll have everything you need at your fingertips.
And the number one reason to go with an accounting agency:
- More productivity: Free up your time! Think of the time you spend trying to keep your accounting in order and think of how that time translates if you are instead making sales and serving customers. That’s a win for revenue, for sure.
An accounting agency can help with so many financial processes to move your business forward:
- Tracking payables and receivables
- Paying bills
- Reconciling bank and credit card statements
- Preparing monthly financial statements
- Filing sales and use taxes
- Invoicing customers
- Maintaining your general ledger
- Reporting for 1099 and franchise
If you’re dreading opening that spreadsheet, struggling to remember the steps to work within that software, or contemplating the time and energy it would take to find your own bookkeeper, contact us to learn about our new bookkeeping packages for small and mid-size businesses. You can select a package, tailor the options to better suit your needs, and scale the services for the best fit for you. Schedule an appointment today with our accounting agency to outsource your bookkeeping!
