Bookkeeping Options: In-House, Outsourced and Everything In Between

Accurate record keeping at the most basic level provides the financial foundation for running a thriving business. When your financials are not accurate, even the most successful companies become a house of cards built on a faulty premise. Often times, this is not intentional but a result of someone performing a function in which they have little or no expertise and training. There are various options for managing your bookkeeping, but only you can determine which model works best for your company's needs.

1. Manage Bookkeeping in House - This provides you with the most control over your bookkeeping functions, as they are performed by an employee of the company. This option works best for large companies when there is enough work to keep a full-time bookkeeper busy, 100% of the time.

2. Hire a "Freelance" Bookkeeper - This option involves a temporary bookkeeper visiting your company on a regular basis to perform bookkeeping functions. This is more appropriate for small to mid-sized companies that do not have enough work to fund this position full-time.

3. Outsource Accounting and Bookkeeping to Third Party - Under this model, a company relinquishes all accounting and bookkeeping functions to a third party to fully manage. This model works best for smaller companies that do not require a full-time employee but do require skills and expertise in this area. It is also appropriate for companies that need these skills but can't afford to hire a full-time employee.

4. Hybrid Model of Partnering with an Outsourced Bookkeeping Service Provider - This option is most appropriate for those companies that do not want to relinquish complete control over their books but want to outsource non-core tasks. They partner with a bookkeeping service provider and consider them a remote extension of their team.

We are currently offering a free analysis of your accounting system and other business processes. If you would like to learn more on how outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting can improve your profitability, please call me directly at 781.503.9004 or email me at sales@aixsol.com.

Satish Patel, CPA
President, Analytix Solutions
Satish Patel, Founder-CEO of Analytix Solutions, has more than two decades of experience as a CPA. He has also advised small and mid-sized businesses on diverse matters such as valuation, accounting, and finance. His experience extends to raising capital and arranging for finance from angel investors.

Accounting and Bookkeeping Services for the Small business

Accounting and bookkeeping services function as the backbone for every business. As a small business, it is very essential to ensure you maintain your company's records in a comprehensive manner. Good accounting and bookkeeping practices include thorough record-keeping and ensuring that every bit of expense and revenue is accounted for.

If you're a small business and you're feeling overwhelmed keeping a track of your financial matters, especially your accounting services, you're not alone. Many small businesses start out with small capital. However, it is important to keep track of how this limited pool of funds is used, especially in the period before the business starts to earn revenue for itself.

When do you need help

As accurate record-keeping is vital to accounting services, you must ensure that all transactions, regardless of their size, are noted. However, this can often become a neglected area in daily operations, particularly if the business functions as an enterprise and there is very less manpower resource to spare exclusively towards accounting and bookkeeping department. This also extends to shortage of infrastructure. Most widely available accounting softwares in the market turn out to be an expensive investment. Together with hiring trained manpower resource and maintaining software infrastructure, carrying out integration, and automating systems, the costs of setting up a dedicated accounting unit can be pretty high for the small business.

Determining when you need help can be a tricky aspect, especially when considering accounting services. Even if you started as a small business, once your business starts earning revenue and building a bigger list of clients, your list of accounts payable and receivables will also increase. You may need to consider hiring accountant bookkeeping and accounting service provider.

Outsourced and more reliable

Contrary to what many people may be worried about, outsourcing your work can be a blessing. Accounting and bookkeeping services are a specialized area. If you don't have professional expertise, it is better, and much more profitable to hand over the work to someone who does it dedicatedly. Let's look at a few reasons why outsourcing requirements related to accounting and bookkeeping is a good idea.

Professional expertise: Your accounting & bookkeeping work will be executed by professionals, instead of being hastily put together by yourself after a short online self-teaching session.

A professional will also help you determine what kind of accounting is suited to your business (cash vs. accrual)

Save on costs: It is likely you have a resource in your organization who understands a bit of accounting and bookkeeping. However, it isn't profitable if this resource has to put aside his or her routine work to attend to accounting and bookkeeping tasks.

Superior quality: Accounting and bookkeeping need detail and accuracy. When your accounting work is carried out by a professional, you get reports that are comprehensive and detailed. Superior quality accounting work also helps your tax preparation.

Satish Patel, CPA
President, Analytix Solutions
Satish Patel, Founder-CEO of Analytix Solutions, has more than two decades of experience as a CPA. He has also advised small and mid-sized businesses on diverse matters such as valuation, accounting, and finance. His experience extends to raising capital and arranging for finance from angel investors.

Is Payroll Outsourcing Right for Your Business? - 5 reasons Why it May Make Sense

The payroll function is a task every business performs, whether it is a small or a mid-sized company. Smaller firms that maintain a solid, predictable revenue stream, may manage their books internally with assistance from an independent accountant. The accountant is devoted to processing payroll for a limited number of staff members, but is that where your accountant's time is best spent? There are most likely other functions that require accounting level expertise, especially as your company grows.

As you acquire new clients and increase business, a single independent accountant may not be enough to manage your accounting and bookkeeping functions, and you may need to hire additional staff to manage the increased workload.

Outsourcing your payroll function can alleviate some of this increased workload while providing the following benefits:

Cost Savings: A dedicated in-house payroll department can be very expensive for a small business, as it requires skilled, experienced, manpower to process the payroll, maintain accurate records for various withholdings, and manage timely cash disbursements. By outsourcing the payroll function, you eliminate the need to hire a permanent employee to fulfill these duties, while still having access to the expertise required.

Reliability: Payroll errors are taken very seriously by authorities. Irrespective of previous, impressive financial record keeping, payroll errors can escalate into significant issues, creating long term problems for your company. When you outsource your payroll function, this responsibility shifts to the vendor to ensure accurate, error free payroll processing.

Optimized Manpower: By outsourcing the payroll function, your in-house staff is free to focus on other functions which are more critical to your customer relationships and business development. You can also save money on salaries that would have been distributed to hire a permanent employee with payroll expertise or reallocate funds that would have been earmarked for an accountant to perform these tasks to other more meaningful accounting functions.

Timely Payroll: An in-house payroll department is also responsible for tracking staff changes and new employee hires, as well as the associated paperwork. Performing these tasks diminishes in-house staff productivity due to significant administrative follow-up. However, outsourcing the payroll function assigns these duties to the payroll service provider. A payroll provider takes into consideration staff changes and various changes in withholdings as a result, factoring these into planning so that payroll processing occurs on-time.

Increased Security: When payroll is managed in-house, business owners must closely monitor the processing or have complete confidence and assurance that the employee performing this function is trustworthy and incapable of fraud. By outsourcing the payroll, this burden is placed on the payroll processing provider. As a business owner, you save time and financial resources otherwise spent on monitoring employees responsible for this function.

Ask yourself if outsourcing payroll is right for your business.

Satish Patel, CPA
President, Analytix Solutions
Satish Patel, Founder-CEO of Analytix Solutions, has more than two decades of experience as a CPA. He has also advised small and mid-sized businesses on diverse matters such as valuation, accounting, and finance. His experience extends to raising capital and arranging for finance from angel investors.

Reading Accounting and Bookkeeping Reports

Accounting and bookkeeping functions play a large role in deciding the financial viability of a business.

In the case of the small or mid-size companies, this holds all the more true. When every little decision and operation is determined based on budget, it makes sense to understand whether all your hard-earned money is allocated correctly.

In a typical small-sized business, the focus is concentrated on fulfilling client requirements and meeting deliverables. Manpower is often limited, with one individual managing multiple responsibilities. Opportunities for error in such situations increases, and therefore so does the significance of understanding your finances and correctly reading reports. Financial reports have a significant bearing on the future of your company. The golden rule for all small businesses remains constant: if you are not adept at financial reporting or uncertain about how to read them, hire professionals for conducting accounting-related work instead of trying to do it yourself.

However, if you do choose to review them yourself, there are several key elements that you should evaluate when reading them.

Income Statement

Your income statement will reflect your profits and losses. This is performed via columns on revenue and expenses. A summary of your revenue compared against the expenses incurred will indicate whether your business is performing well or not. The income statement typically reflects the growth or reduction in a company's assets over the accounting period which could be a single month, several months, or one year.

The income statement is also a comparative document for evaluating how your company has fared previously. It contains other factors such as net sales, gross income, operating income, operating expense, taxes, etc. When you read income statements for consecutive years side by side, you can calculate the percentage change in your company’s net sales, operating expenses, and operating income. This helps you establish a budget and to decide where you need to reduce expenses and allocate additional funding.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet lists the company's assets, liabilities, and owner's equity. The owner's equity is the difference between the assets and the liabilities. The balance sheet is also an indicator of your company's financial health. When you evaluate a balance sheet, you should be able to assess whether your debt is in control.

Elements of a balance sheet include:

Assets: Assets are what the company owns, which may include movable and immovable properties, such as land or machinery equipment. There are two kinds of assets- current and fixed. Current assets are converted into money within a period of one year, while fixed assets refer to property that generates income and are not expected to be sold within a year.

Liabilities: Balance sheets also list liabilities which are debts owned by the company. These are categorized into current liabilities, those that need to be paid off within one year, and long-term liabilities, those that are not bound by the 1-year limit.

Owner's Equity: Once there are funds invested into a business, it is viewed as a sum of assets and liabilities. A business must be funded to make it operational before it can start acquiring assets. The owner's equity is the value that remains in a business after removing the liabilities from the assets.

Statement of Cash Flow

How does your company use its cash? Your cash flow statement will provide you the answer to this question. Cash flow statements assign cash expenses within a specified accounting period to one of three categories-, Operations, Financing, and Investing. These are then added to determine a figure which is further tallied with cash reserves in the beginning of the accounting period. Examples of elements within a statement of cash flow can include cash given to employees (operative expense), cash allocated to purchasing machinery or equipment (investing), and cash provided by owner (financing).

All business owners should have a thorough understanding of what these statements mean in determining the success of their company.

Satish Patel, CPA
President, Analytix Solutions
Satish Patel, Founder-CEO of Analytix Solutions, has more than two decades of experience as a CPA. He has also advised small and mid-sized businesses on diverse matters such as valuation, accounting, and finance. His experience extends to raising capital and arranging for finance from angel investors.

Five Emerging Trends Defining Accounting Departments of the Future

Technology has become the driver changing the way companies exist and operate. The next generation of the workforce will be accustomed to operating in a completely technologically connected world with trusted relationships shaped by social platforms and social networking. Our economic environment has become one with diminished geographical boundaries. Increasingly, clients and customers are more focused on the caliber and quality of the work being performed- not on where it is being performed.

Accounting departments are not immune to these changes, and businesses must reassess their accounting departments to adapt to these trends.

1. Cloud Computing- Also termed software as a service, (SaaS), cloud computing is a new way of providing companies with software programs, allowing users to access the programs over the internet as opposed to having to load the software on an individual hard drive or central server. Emerging cloud and mobile technologies provide companies with increasingly more flexible options and 24/7 access to accounting data. In addition, cloud computing technologies have eliminated the problematic issue of single user systems that house accounting data on a single computer, allowing multiple user access. These technologies also eliminate the need to invest heavily in IT systems and staff thereby increasing profitability. With cloud computing programs, resolution of accounting system IT issues, data security and back-up often reside with the software developer taking the responsibility off of small to mid-sized businesses.

2. Outsourcing- This practice is becoming more and more prevalent across industries and is particularly beneficial to small to mid-sized companies. It provides a greater range of access to specific skill sets that may not be required or affordable on a fulltime basis. Outsourcing specific non-core tasks such as bookkeeping allow businesses to scale back services when they are not required or ramp up services during peak periods. Outsourcing functions such as CFO level services provide businesses with a high level expertise when they need it, expertise which may otherwise be in accessible or unaffordable if they needed to hire a full-time employee.

3. Virtual Office- Geographical boundaries are slowly being erased. It is now significantly less important where a company or its employees reside. This provides increased access to qualified accounting staff with a specific skill set, as they no longer need to be physically present in an office or even in a designated city or state to successfully accomplish accounting functions. This also reduces significant overhead expenses as office space to house staff is no longer essential to performing accounting and bookkeeping tasks. Tasks can be performed anytime, anywhere.

4. Self Service- Our world is becoming increasingly reliant on self-service as a result of technology. Today’s workforce is accustomed to 24/7 immediate access to information and the ability to quickly address tasks. Accounting departments must realize that monthly revenue and profitability reports are no longer sufficient. They must mobilize to offer real time access to live data so that decisions impacting the company can be made promptly and efficiently, by key decision makers with accessibility to this information.

5. Automation and Integration- Accounting departments must look to automate key business processes such as order entries and expense approvals to increase efficiency. This eliminates duplication of data entry and human error resulting in improved profitability. In addition, with access to more and more software programs companies must learn to integrate applications for accounting, CRM, e-commerce, payroll and POS so that they possess an all-inclusive snapshot of the company's financial status. Companies that learn to effectively integrate, manage and analyze this data will be far better equipped to move swiftly and decisively on critical matters that impact their business.

Businesses must embrace these trends that impact their accounting department to remain competitive. We are currently offering a free analysis of your accounting business processes and accounting system. If you would like to learn more on how Analytix Solutions can help improve your profitability, please call directly at 781.503.9004 or email at sales@aixsol.com.

Analytix Solutions Joins Intacct Partner Program

Analytix Solutions, a leading provider of accounting, bookkeeping and virtual CFO-level services, today announced it has joined the Intacct Partner Program to provide affordable cloud computing-based financial solutions to mid-size businesses. The agreement enhances Analytix's comprehensive business services offering by leveraging the benefits cloud financial applications deliver to mid-size businesses that want to improve their overall productivity.

"Mid-size businesses are struggling with how to manage their accounting and bookkeeping efforts in a cost-effective way as their companies grow," says Satish Patel, president and founder of Analytix Solutions. "Cloud-based financial management is the future. By partnering with Intacct, Analytix can provide companies with comprehensive, highly-customized offerings that allow them to achieve a broad range of objectives, such as reinvesting in their business and eliminating the need for additional headcount."

Through the partnership, Analytix Solutions will deploy Intacct's industry-leading cloud financial applications to help clients improve performance, take better advantage of financial advice, and make better and faster business decisions. As a cloud-based system, Intacct also enables Analytix's clients to dramatically reduce IT and operating costs and achieve a far lower total cost-of-ownership than with traditional on-premises financial software.

"Intacct's cloud financial applications are ideally suited for firms like Analytix Solutions that offer virtual CFO services - allowing firm employees and clients to access financial information and collaborate in real-time from anywhere in the world via the Web," said Taylor Macdonald, VP of Channels for Intacct. "We’re excited Analytix Solutions has joined the Intacct Partner Program and look forward to working with them to help mid-sized businesses move to cloud financials and improve their overall business performance."

About Intacct
Intacct is a market and technology leader in web-based financial management and accounting applications for businesses and CPA firms. Bringing cloud computing to finance and accounting, Intacct's award-winning applications are the preferred financial applications for AICPA business solutions. Intacct applications are used by thousands of businesses from startups to public companies and are designed to improve company performance and make finance more productive. The Intacct system includes accounting, contract management, revenue recognition, inventory, purchasing, vendor management, financial consolidation and financial reporting applications, all delivered over the Internet via cloud computing. Intacct is headquartered in San Jose, California. For more information, please visit http://www.intacct.com or call 877-437-7765.

About Analytix Solutions
Analytix Solutions is a professional services firm providing virtual accounting, bookkeeping and CFO-level services to small to mid-size companies. In addition, Analytix also offers a full range of secondary financial and IT support services including data entry, data migration, systems integration, payroll services and application development. The company is jointly owned and operated by a CPA and an IT expert with over 40 years of combined experience. Analytix Solutions was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit http://www.analytixsolutions.com.

Merry Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 is almost upon us! It's that time of the year when children wait for Santa Claus to bring them their gifts and adults look forward to the long holiday and the Christmas celebrations with friends and family.

Analytix Solutions wishes all its accounting and bookkeeping clients a Merry Christmas 2009.

To add to the Christmas cheer, Analytix introduces its accounting and bookkeeping offer for Christmas 2009. As a special Christmas offer, all accounting services and bookkeeping services packages from Analytix will have 10% off from today till 25th December, 2009. Avail of this special Christmas offer for your accounting and bookkeeping functions today. Email sales@analytixsolutions.com for more details.

Accounting Services: A Means For Focusing More On Your Small Business

Using accounting services has become a common practice with small and mid-sized businesses, which have fewer resources to manage their business with. A professional accounting service provider has the potential of saving small businesses up to 40% in costs, which can be used to develop the business further. However, using an accounting firm to maintain books of accounts is not just a way to reduce costs; it has many other benefits also.

Focus on your main business activity

The most important reason you should use accounting services from a professional is that you can then focus on your main business activity. Maintaining your books of accounts is not your specialty, and you should hence not spend time doing that. If you have an accounting firm taking care of all your accounting and bookkeeping, you can stop worrying about it and spend more time on core activities which can increase business for you. Handing over all your accounting tasks to an experienced accounting service provider will free valuable time for you which can be a crucial factor for making your small business successful.

Reduce employee-related issues

Many businesses face a lot of issues related to hiring, training and retaining in-house employees. Sometimes, in case of bigger problems, businesses face employee-related lawsuits, which are time consuming. When you use accounting services from a service provider, you don’t have to worry about any issue related to employees, as you are using services and not employing people directly. An accounting firm hence ensures that you save on time and resources of hiring in-house employees.

Experts at your service

Using accounting services from a professional ensures that your books of accounts are being taken care of by experts in the field of accounting and bookkeeping. Accounting firms hire experts who are efficient and experienced at what they do and will work better than an in-house accountant. With such experts working on your accounting, there will also be less likelihood of mistakes in the work that is completed. You hence not only save cost of hiring an accountant, but also get a much more experienced staff to complete your accounting.

Save on office space and resources

The space that your in-house accountant would utilize for maintaining your books of accounts can be saved if you use outsourced accounting services. Accounting firms generally provide online accounting, which eliminates the requirement of any office space. You hence save on rent of an office or the space occupied by your accountant, which you can utilize elsewhere in your business.

No last minute problems

An accounting service provider updates transactions in your books of accounts on daily basis. You can hence stop worrying about pending tasks or last minute glitches at the time of tax filing and annual audits. Your books will be up to date at any given point of time, which eliminates the hassles of last-minute problems which are typically faced at the time of filing of tax.

An experienced accounting firm can reduce your burden of everyday activities, so that you can develop your business according to the vision you have. You may benefit even more if your accounting service provider has some experience in dealing with businesses similar to yours.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

It’s time to be thankful for all the good things in life: Thanksgiving 2009 is upon us. Thanksgiving holiday is the time when you gather with family and friends and say thanks for all the good things you have in life. It is a day for celebration, sharing and appreciation.

Analytix Solutions wishes all its accounting and bookkeeping clients a very happy Thanksgiving 2009.

Analytix thanks all its clients for standing by it for so long and hopes this support will continue well into the coming years. To add to all those Thanksgiving deals that are being offered on this occasion, Analytix has one of its own. As a special Thanksgiving offer, Analytix Solutions announces an additional 10% off on all accounting and bookkeeping packages on Thanksgiving day. Hurry and avail of this special offer on the special occasion of Thanksgiving.

Online Accounting: How small businesses can benefit from it

As a small business owner, you may be facing a tough task of managing all departments of your business at once. Running a small business is a tough task as it is; add to that the responsibility of handling small business accounting and bookkeeping, and it may become an impossible one. If hiring in-house staff for handling your books of accounts is not an option for you, consider hiring the services of an online accounting service provider. Online accounting is known for its benefits, especially for small businesses. Some of the benefits of online accounting are as mentioned below:

Cost Effective
The first, foremost and most important advantage of online accounting is its cost effectiveness. Not only does hiring online bookkeeping service save you the cost of hiring in-house resources, it also ensures that additional resources like office space, rent etc. are not wasted. You can then invest the money and resources saved through online accounting into the business to ensure its profitability.

Quick Turnaround
Online accounting service providers provide a very quick turnaround as they have dedicated personnel working on your books of accounts. In many cases, the online bookkeeping service provider gives an assurance of updating your books of accounts within 24 hours of receipt of the documents. Such speedy work ensures that accounting and bookkeeping of your small business is up to date at all times.

Experts at Work
Let’s admit it: you do business well, but maintaining books of accounts like a pro is not your cup of tea. When you hire online accounting services, you can rest assured that there is an experienced professional working on your books. Such experts also ensure that the work done is impeccable and there are less chances of any mistake in your small business accounting.

Easy to Use
Online accounting services make your work very easy with a simple procedure. You just need to send your documents to your online bookkeeping service provider via email; the rest is all taken care of by online accounting professionals on the other end. You can hence stop worrying about your business financials the minute you email the document and concentrate on running your small business.

Efficient Record-Keeping
Online accounting or online bookkeeping gives a lot of importance to record-keeping. When you hire a professional for online accounting, you need not maintain separate records for your own reference. The latest and most accurate accounting information will be maintained by professionals when you decide to use online bookkeeping services. You can get access to these records 24x7, which is a facility given by most service providers today.

Online accounting has the potential of aiding you in running your business efficiently and reducing your overall responsibilities. There are many online bookkeeping service providers today which offer customized packages. You can select the one that best suits your small business requirements.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

31st October, the Halloween day of 2009 is here! It's that time of the year when you can carve those pumpkins, wear your best Halloween costumes and go "Trick or Treat" from door to door. You can also look for special Halloween deals to get stuff you have been waiting to buy all year.

Analytix Solutions wishes all its accounting and bookkeeping clients a very happy Halloween 2009.

If your books of accounts are tricking you or are giving you nightmares worse than Halloween, Analytix Solutions can drive them away. With Analytix into the picture, accounting and bookkeeping for your business can be a simple, effortless task for you. This Halloween, accounting and bookkeeping packages from Analytix become even better, with 10% off on all packages for the day. Take advantage of this Halloween offer right now and save your precious business resources!

Does your accounting firm adhere to these best practices? Important tips for new restaurant owners.

You may have read about the basics of restaurant accounting and bookkeeping in one of our previous posts. Owing to the large amount of queries that we receive from the new and existing restaurant owners, we thought of touching base with the other elements that are directly or indirectly connected with restaurant accounting and bookkeeping. There is a very thin line which separates the success or failure of a restaurant business; accounting and bookkeeping is a major part of the success path for a restaurant. Small discrepancies in books of accounts can force even an experienced restaurateur to close shop. We hence thought of listing down some best practices applicable to restaurants so that you can ensure that your accounting firm can follow them.

Monthly Profit and Loss Statement
A monthly P&L statement helps restaurateurs be aware of just where their restaurant stands profit-wise. If you have an accounting firm which prepares your books for you, ask it to prepare a P&L statement monthly and send it to you so that you know month-by-month progress your restaurant is making. Just looking at the statement, you will get an overall idea of the profit or loss of your restaurant, and take steps to improve accordingly.

Inventory Management
Most restaurants incur losses because the owners don’t have any idea of their inventory and how it is being used. Many restaurateurs assume that the inventory is being used properly and do not manage it properly. This can be a costly mistake for the business. Most accounting firms now provide inventory management as part of their accounting services. Ask your bookkeeping firm to include inventory management in its services offering for your restaurant.

4-week Accounting Period
Accounting and bookkeeping experts recommend a 4-week accounting period for restaurants simply because it holds many advantages for it. Restaurateurs can compare performance of the business with the week or month of last year if they follow a 4-week accounting period. If your accounting firm is an expert in the restaurant industry, it will be aware of this fact and will recommend a 4-week accounting period to you.

Weekly Cost Reporting
Also ensure that your accounting firm provides weekly reports of all the costs your restaurant business incurs. Restaurants have a lot of costs that they incur weekly, like labor, food etc. Being aware of the weekly costs of labor, food etc. will help you cut down unnecessary expenditures and remain profitable.

Designate a Professional for Accounting and Bookkeeping
If all of the above sounds too complicated for you to keep track of, designate a dedicated professional for all your accounting and bookkeeping. Ideally, it should be an accounting firm which specializes in restaurant accounting, as it will know the tricks of the trade from the beginning.

Following the above-mentioned best practices for accounting and bookkeeping of your restaurant will not only help it stay afloat in this tough economy, it will also help make sure that it remains profitable. Your accounting firm can become your partner in your goal of ensuring the profitability of your restaurant.

Outsourcing Accounting Services: 3 Things you Should Know

Accounting and bookkeeping for small businesses had changed drastically in the past few years. The rules for accounting remain the same; however, paper-based accounting has been replaced by virtual accounting. Outsourcing accounting services is hence a popular choice of business owners now. Using an accounting service provider and outsourcing accounting functions saves costs as well as gets accounting done effectively. Using the services of a professional accounting service provider eases a lot of burden of business owners. However, as a business owner, you need to know some things before outsourcing accounting services. The following are 3 essential points you need to know before outsourcing accounting services:

Local or Offshore
The advantage of outsourcing accounting services is that you can select the service provider you want, according to your terms and conditions. If the accounting and bookkeeping service provider is based locally, it will be easy for you to get in touch with him/her in case you need to. However, the disadvantage is that local accounting service providers may not be as cost-effective as offshore ones. Offshore accounting service providers, on the other hand, offer significant cuts in costs, but may be unavailable personally when needs arises. The ideal company you can use for outsourcing accounting services is one which works virtually but has a local presence. That way, it will be able to offer cost-effective rates as well as be available personally.

Experience
If you are thinking of Outsourcing accounting services, you will obviously look for someone who has relevant experience and has expertise enough to handle your books of accounts. Even if the accounting service provider in question has years of experience in accounting and bookkeeping, ask whether it has enough experience in your industry and cross check the references. If the service provider has a good record with past clients, you can rest assured that outsourcing accounting services to him/her is a wise decision. The kind of staff the accounting service provider hires is also an important factor in the way your outsourced accounting will fare, so be sure to ask about the qualifications and availability of accounting staff.

Add-ons
As said before, accounting doesn’t involve only debit and credit anymore. Professional service providers for outsourced accounting services now provide management reports in addition to the standard accounting and bookkeeping reports like P&L statements and Balance Sheets, which can help you take care of your business in a more efficient way. Such accounting service providers have also started providing weekly reports instead of the monthly or quarterly reports which were prevalent before. These are valuable add-ons which are associated with Outsourcing accounting services, which will help your business do well and grow.

Tips For Selecting An Accounting And Bookkeeping Service Provider For Women Entrepreneurs

Women entrepreneurs are today running more small businesses than ever before and are poised to surpass the number of small businesses run by men. We were thinking since some time to include some accounting services related tips with a special focus on women entrepreneurs, as accounting and bookkeeping remains one of the few areas women face difficulties in. This post is hence dedicated to accounting and bookkeeping for women entrepreneurs.

There are certain differences in the way women do business and this needs to be kept in mind while planning to hire a company for accounting services:

1. Women are essentially different in the way they manage their business. It is observed in general that they like to balance all the other activities of their life alongside their business, whereas men tend to focus totally on their small business. Due to this necessity to divide their time in various commitments, women entrepreneurs need to rope in a strong advisor in the form of an experienced bookkeeping and accounting service provider to manage their business finances properly. Women are also likely to consult more often with the firm they hire for their small business accounting as compared to men for accounting and bookkeeping matters related to their business.


2. Women are also not very comfortable with the financial aspect of the business and tend to depend on a bookkeeping and accounting service provider for expert advice on managing their books. Due to this dependence, the accounting service provider becomes an integral and important part of a woman-owned business and also a base for the success of that business.

Due to these differences in the way women conduct business, they need a dependable and expert bookkeeping and accounting service provider, who can sit with them, understand their business as well as has some experience working with similar businesses. The accounting service provider should also be trustworthy, so that the women entrepreneurs can divulge confidential information without fear of leakage.

If you are a woman entrepreneur who is wondering how to find an ideal bookkeeping and accounting service provider for your business, read on for some tips to select one:

1. Choose an Expert - Cheap Can be Expensive

It's an industry known fact that outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping can save you cost. Since you don't need anybody in-house on your payroll, you can save yourself a lot of money. But many a times, in a bid to save cost, women entrepreneurs tend to compromise on the expertise and experience of accounting service providers. This can be a huge mistake for a woman-owned business. A company offering you a discount of up to 40% can be legitimate; however, don't take the discount thing too far by opting for "80-90% off" offers - such offers can be an expensive mistake. Experience in similar kinds of businesses counts the most towards good accounting and bookkeeping of your business. So when you are searching for a firm providing accounting services, ask specifically about their experience in your industry.



2. Check Out the Accounting Firm's Support Services

You might need to consult with the firm you hire for accounting services several times in a week. You hence need to ensure that he/she is available on phone, email, chat and even personally in case of urgent matters. Make sure that the accounting service company is based within the U.S. and not thousands of miles away, or else you might have a tough time contacting it when you want.



3. Make Sure their Services are Flexible

You may need to scale your bookkeeping and accounting services up or down according to your business requirements. Your service provider needs to be flexible enough to agree to this. Many women entrepreneurs tend to hire the first accounting firm or accounting company they interview. This is a wrong decision; interview several accounting service providers and check out the options they are giving you. Don't go for anything but the best amongst them.

Choosing the correct bookkeeping and accounting service provider is vital - if you go wrong it can make or break your dream business venture. You need to hence choose yours carefully, so that you can empower your business with strong accounting and bookkeeping and impeccable recordkeeping.

Outsourced Accounting Services: What To Expect

The success of many small businesses has been credited to the use of an accounting service provider. The advantage of outsourcing small business accounting is an integral part of the success of all businesses. As a small business owner, you might be thinking of going down the same path for your business too. However, you will want to examine and be aware of the process and how the advantages will benefit your business. The following are some of the distinct advantages of outsourcing accounting services:

1. Qualified Professionals



The first and foremost advantage of hiring a firm for accounting services is its obvious expertise in small business accounting. Reputed accounting firms hire only the most qualified and the most experienced professionals in the industry. You can hence rest assured that when you hire such a firm, your accounting and bookkeeping functions will be taken care of by expert professionals. Having such experienced staff at work will also reduce the number of errors made in calculations, so that at the end of a financial year, your books are in perfect shape.



2. Cost Savings



Another major plus point of outsourcing accounting services is that it saves costs of up to 30-40%, which is an invaluable resource for small businesses. Entrepreneurs can save costs associated with in-house hiring like training, pension plans, holiday pay etc. Hiring a third party for small business accounting also ensures that you save on renting space, as all of the work is done at another location.



3. Save Time



A lot of small business owners spend a lot of time ensuring that their books of accounts are maintained properly, even when they hire in-house staff. But handing over the accounting and bookkeeping functions to an accounting service provider ensures that entrepreneurs can focus on what they do best: business. The time saved from looking at small business accounting can be spent in business-related functions like customer service, expansion etc.



4. Customized Services



Professional firms for accounting services now provide custom-made packages for accounting and bookkeeping of small businesses. This allows business owners to avail of only those services which their business requires instead of settling for the one-for-all packages that were available before. Such customized services and personal attention ensure the accounting services are of utmost benefit to your business.

A Word of Caution

The only thing you need to be careful about while hiring a firm for your small business accounting is steering clear of the shady firms. You need to sort through the flood of bookkeeping and accounting service providers available today and find the one that is suitable to your small business. You also need to ensure that your data is protected at all times by the accounting service provider you hire.

If you manage to find the appropriate firm to hire for accounting services, your business can have all the benefits mentioned above. The service provider will, in turn, become an asset for you and increase the profitability of your small business in the longer run.

7 Reasons Why QuickBooks is Good for Accounting and Bookkeeping Of Your Business

As a small business owner, you must be spending a lot of time on your accounting and bookkeeping functions. QuickBooks is renowned accounting software for small to mid-sized businesses which can help you save time. It is being used by many businesses for maintaining accurate business records and is a trusted accounting and bookkeeping solution. QuickBooks is also on the service offerings of many reputed firms which provide accounting services and bookkeeping services. Listed below are 7 reasons your business should not miss QuickBooks as a bookkeeping solution

1. Saves Time
   

QuickBooks automates the simple tasks of your accounting and bookkeeping of your business, so that you save the hassles of paper-based bookkeeping. You can free up valuable time from the financial functions and dedicate that time to developing your business or catering to customers.




2. Affordable

QuickBooks is one of the most efficient accounting software available today, making it a very useful tool for small and medium sized businesses. Compared to hiring a bookkeeper, QuickBooks is a much cost effective solution for accounting and bookkeeping.



3. Customized Solution
   

You can customize QuickBooks according to your business requirements. As an accounting software which is applicable to various industries, QuickBooks is designed to be flexible and adaptable to each business separately. For example, it can be customized and used for accounting and bookkeeping for a numerous business types, whether it is a restaurant, franchise, sports facility, medical practice, dentistry or salon. You can ask your bookkeeping service provider to customize QuickBooks according to the industry you work in.



4. Reduces Errors
   

QuickBooks minimizes the chances of an error that a bookkeeper might make while typing. Calculations are done automatically in QuickBooks, which reduces the chances of a human mistake in accounting and bookkeeping of a business. While using QuickBooks, data can also be shared with business applications as well as popular programs like excel sheets, word documents, Outlook etc.



5. Reliable Solution
   

QuickBooks is the most reliable accounting and bookkeeping software available for small and mid-sized businesses. Some of the most reputed bookkeeping service providers provide QuickBooks solutions to small and mid-sized businesses and help them in maintaining their books of accounts. It is one of the most trusted and reliable software, being used by thousands of businesses all over the world. You can rest assured that your bookkeeping functions are being taken care of by a proven, trustworthy software.



6. Grow your Business
   

With QuickBooks into the picture, you can grow your business with the backing of strong accounting and bookkeeping records. With up to date balance sheet, profit and loss statement, statement of cash flows etc., you can get business loans, line of credits or plan the expansion of your business easily.



7. Automates Processes
   

You can automate most payment processes through QuickBooks. No more of printing checks, going to the bank or stamping envelopes. With QuickBooks you can click a button and make the payment. Banks also allow downloading of monthly bank statements into QuickBooks for easier reconciliation. If you don't have QuickBooks software for your business, you can contact an experienced bookkeeping service provider for a customized solution.

There are many experienced accounting and bookkeeping service providers which provide customized QuickBooks integrated solutions for small to midsized businesses. You should select an end-to-end service provider who can be trusted and can provide on-demand support post installation too. Having QuickBooks to manage the accounting and bookkeeping of your business gives you a powerful tool for managing your books with complete ease.