Keeping up with the finances of your small business is a full-time job all by itself! And that’s on top of whatever it is your business is actually about.
It may be tempting to try to do it all yourself to save a buck or two, but there’s real value to teaming up with a good CPA firm and taking advantage of their business accounting services.
In this post, we’ll explain exactly what business accounting services include and how they can help transform your small business. If you’re one of the exhausted business owners still struggling through your finances alone, this could be the post that changes your life.
Business Accounting Services
When you hire an accountant to help you with your small business, you’re getting a lot more than someone who just tracks invoices and balances your books. People who specialize in small business accounting services are financial specialists who can
- set up your accounting system
- accurately keep up with all of your financial documents
- audit your books as needed
- create useful financial statements
- provide strategies to help you meet your financial goals
And when it comes to filing taxes, a good business accountant is worth their weight in gold. Ever-changing tax laws and regulations make it nearly impossible for the average business owner to keep up. The risk of making expensive filing mistakes (or missing critical deadlines) is enormous. You should put that kind of stress in the hands of someone whose main focus is keeping your finances accurate, on track, and compliant.
Beyond that, an accountant who understands tax planning and compliance for small businesses can save you a lot of money by simply knowing what deductions and credits your company is qualified to claim.
For example, we recently wrote about these 16 small business tax deductions to really save you money. Business accounting services can help you take advantage of these and many more.
Bookkeeping and Accounting Services
Now, you may be thinking “Can’t my bookkeeper handle a lot of those things? What’s the difference between bookkeeping and accounting services?”
For a deeper dive into answering that question, check out a post we did on “Bookkeeping vs Accounting (How To Improve Your Business By Choosing the Best One).” But here are the basic differences.
A bookkeeper’s main goal is on helping you keep your financial information accurate and up-to-date. Their focus is on daily tasks like data entry, posting transactions to your general ledger, and creating invoices. They can assist with payroll as well in some instances.
An accountant, however, is focused on a more long-term strategy. They use the data that bookkeepers maintain in order to generate reports which help you make better financial decisions. Additionally, they use their knowledge of complicated tax laws to file your tax returns well.
Financial Data Interpretation
Just having good data and reports isn’t enough to successfully manage your company’s finances. You also need to be able to interpret that information to set yourself up to make wise financial decisions.
Financial data analysis looks at past and present activity to give you an accurate picture of the health of your business. Then it uses that information to predict future trends or anticipate potential pitfalls.
Good financial data interpretation is valuable to lots of people who may be connected to your business. For you, the owner, it’s essential that you understand how your money flows in and out of the company as well as how it’s performing for you while you have it. If your money isn’t working to increase the value of your business, you need to know so you can make changes.
External stakeholders (investors, lenders, business partners, or potential buyers) want to be able to see good financial analysis in order to make decisions about doing business with your company or not.
For further reading, check out Investopedia’s article “Financial Statement Analysis: How It’s Done, By Statement Type.”
Expert Financial Insights
Insights into your finances (or any other area of life, for that matter) are achieved by asking “Why?” again and again. When a good small business accountant begins to drill down beyond basic bookkeeping in order to provide you with reliable actionable advice, your business can begin to really benefit.
Here’s an example of how expert financial insights might play out in your company.
- Basic data on a financial statement would show you “$X was spent on payroll last week.”
- Comparing that amount to what was budgeted might show you that it is higher than what you had anticipated.
- Further investigation shows that your full-time staff had to work longer hours to get widgets created and shipped, resulting in a significant amount of overtime.
- Good financial insight reveals that several part-time employees could do quite a bit of the tasks that your full-time employees are doing. The result would be greater productivity with less overtime, full-time employees who are then able to be more effective in their primary roles, and increased efficiency leading to better profits.
Streamlined Financial Management
Small business accounting services who are experts in their field can also help you streamline your financial management. Thanks to constant improvements in digital resources, business owners and accountants have incredible access to a wide range of things that can make companies run smoother and more efficiently.
On Deck, an online small business lending company, put together an article highlighting 5 areas where businesses commonly face financial problems and 5 tools that can help streamline those things. If you’re needing tech solutions to these problems, their article is definitely worth a read.
- Expense Management
- Time Tracking
- Payroll
- Mobile Payments
- Accounting Software
Our business and accounting pros can also help you find custom solutions to common business headaches. We’ve been doing this for over 40 years now, and we’ve seen a lot of incredible opportunities in the past several years.
Streamlining your financial management is only going to get easier and easier as technology improves. Be sure you’re working with an accounting firm that is able to stay on top of the latest advancements.
Financial Consulting For Small Businesses
Depending on your situation, you may feel like you already have the “nuts and bolts” aspects of your accounting under control. Perhaps you’re working with a bookkeeper and/or an accountant who is able to provide you with accurate data and helpful reports.
However, do you have someone in your corner who can provide you with long-range strategies for improving your business, maximizing your capital, or even retiring early?
That’s where hiring an accounting service that also specializes in financial consulting for small businesses is invaluable.
Too many small businesses fail within the first few years simply because they don’t plan properly and make simple but costly mistakes. A financial pro who has years of experience working with small businesses is like a coach who can help a player train, grow stronger, and win…because they’ve been there before.
Nerdwallet lists these benefits of having a good financial consultant, and we agree:
- Save time
- Save money
- Execute your business plan
- Evaluate market trends
- Plan and invest for retirement
- Pass the business on successfully
Our CFO Consulting Services are designed to help you do all that and more. If you’re struggling with your business and aren’t sure how to take it to the next level, you deserve to be able to “expect more from your CPA” and partner with an accountant who can truly help you win in business.
Small Business Accounting Solutions
Deciding that you need help is easy. Actually finding it can be hard. We can help with that.
For a head start on discovering great small business accounting solutions, check out another post we did on how to find the best accounting and tax services for your business.
Financial Transformation For Small Business Starts Here
If you’re ready to move your accounting from basic numbers to valuable insights, let our team of accounting and business pros show you how we can transform your finances. Schedule a call today to get started!
