When Is It Time to Outsource Your Business Bookkeeping and Accounting Tasks?
Posted on: 25 May 2018
When businesses are starting out, they try to cut down costs as much as possible. As a result, it is normal to find a small business relying on a few key employees to perform tasks relating to bookkeeping and accounting. Having an in-house accounting employee or team is not a bad idea, but most times it doesn't work out well for most small business. That's why as a business owner, you should consider outsourcing these tasks to professional bookkeepers or accountants outside your enterprise. Below are some of the evaluations you should make to determine whether it's time to outsource your accounting tasks.
You haven't separated duties
The first sign that you need to outsource bookkeeping and accounting services is when you have not divided responsibilities in your business. Are there different people who perform various tasks such as maintaining the cashbook, reconciling statements, writing checks and approving expenditure, among other accounting tasks? If not, then you are in for trouble. Having one or two people perform all these tasks could be bad for your business. It is easy for someone to conduct fraudulent activities and cover them up as they handle all the books and transactions. So, if you don't have an independent team, it may be time to outsource your accounting duties.
You have no plan for the future
As a growing business, it is always a good to plan for the future, including unexpected situations. So for example, if you have one accountant, you can't put all your reliance on them. What if they hand you a resignation letter? What if they fall sick or go on leave? Will you lag behind on accounting tasks because you don't have someone? If you don't have a plan in place for such unforeseen circumstances, then it may be time to outsource before your business suffers due to the absence of one individual.
You lack accounting expertise
Some small business owners don't even hire an in-house accountant—they decide to handle the task themselves. After all, how hard can it be? You only need to monitor the incomes and expenditures, and you are good to go, right? Wrong! Accounting is more than keeping receipts—it includes making decisions and forecasts that will affect the future of the business. It also involves proper record keeping, KPI measurement and cash flow management. By outsourcing these duties to an expert, they can steer your business in the right direction and even offer financial advice.
Business accounting is a task that you should leave to the experts if you want to realize business growth. Find a company that you can outsource these services to so that you can have time to handle other sensitive management issues that require your attention.
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