Common Errors in Financial Reporting

Financial reports provide insights into a company's health and financial status for a particular time period. Financial reports are designed to provide data to the company's shareholders, including potential shareholders or investors. Thus, financial reports must provide accurate and relevant data to enable decision making. Relevant financial reports should contain enough data to assist investors in making key financial decisions for the business.

The International Accounting Standards Board has created the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to help bring about consistency in the standards of financial reporting. This also helps ensure uniformity in the reports that are produced. The IFRS explains how to state financial transactions within a report, thus making for a more standard format, across reports. The guidelines established by the IFRS make it easier for financial reports to be studied globally, without creating confusion due to different rules in different countries.

Despite set standards being followed in creating financial reports, there are still errors that surface and that can compromise the quality of a financial report. These can be related to errors of omission, or involve matters such as long-term debt. Errors can also occur when dealing with information accompanying the financial report.

1. Information accompanying report: When providing information including financial documents, care must be taken to ensure that corresponding references are present in the financial report, as well. Examples of accompanying information can include listings containing work schedules, accounts and expenses.

2. Long-term debt disclosure: Inappropriate disclosure of long-term debt is a common error. While the rule is that any long-term debt or borrowings must be disclosed, errors may include incomplete disclosures or debt details totally omitted out of human error or through calculation mistakes. Thus, insufficient disclosures may be made, or disclosures are not made at all, resulting in financial reporting errors.

3. Related party disclosure: When there is an exchange of money involved, there is a related party disclosure that is applicable. However, at times, this may not be reported appropriately. At times the amount or terms followed by both parties may not be correctly disclosed. This can result in an error.

4. Errors of omission: At times, reporting of costs may be incomplete, for example, expenses may be accounted for but costs involved in raising funds and revenues could get omitted in reporting. This could apply to events as well, where overhead costs are not documented properly or timesheets are not maintained.

When preparing financial reports for your business, take note to avoid the common errors listed above.

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.

Smart Financial Management for Small Businesses

How well do you know your tax and business laws? If you're an entrepreneur or a small business owner, you're already aware that laws and regulations for businesses differ from those for personal financial management. For most small businesses, providing clients with high quality products or services takes precedence over most other activities. Many small to mid-sized companies were launched to fulfill an entrepreneur's dream of running their own business or developing an extraordinary idea. Chances are, the business owner was not starting a company out of a desire to delve into the administrative and financial aspects of running a company. Therefore, it is critical for startups and small company to hire the right people for managing these aspects of their business.

What are a few ways to easily manage finances?

Find the right resource

Unless you have expertise in financial management, you are better off not managing your company's finances yourself. Hiring a good bookkeeping, accounting and financial resource can help minimize errors and ensure that reports include the essential data. The right resource can also help minimize financial losses and assist in streamlining accounts better.

Compare this with hurriedly-executed financial work completed by someone whose primary responsibility in your company is not accounting and bookkeeping. Furthermore, unless the employee managing the finances is trained on these functions, there is the likelihood for errors that can result in inadvertent fraud for your company.

Choose the right software

For most small businesses, budget crunches and constraints can pose limits on investments in infrastructure. In turn, this can impact client deliverables and therefore business growth. Alternatively, most businesses have shifted to online systems. This eliminates the need to hire and retain expensive manpower, thereby reducing the need to invest in additional office space, furniture, etc. The most important qualifications to consider when purchasing software are that the software meets your specific needs and enhances your client deliverables.

Automate and integrate systems wherever possible. This significantly reduces time spent on manual processes and costs, while improving adherence to deadlines and overall data accuracy. Most software programs eliminate time gaps between actual financial transactions and report generation, thus timely access to data and accuracy improves radically. Your basic bookkeeping or record-keeping is completed automatically.

If you are confused about what type of software is most appropriate for your business, there are many vendors who provide specialized services and can guide you in selecting the best software, as well as provide support for that program if required.

Keep costs of operation separate

A good way to ensure your operation costs remain separate is to outsource your work. When you outsource this work, you avoid locking up capital in areas such as infrastructure and salaries. Outsourcing is also available for critical functions such as bookkeeping and payroll management. In addition, outsourcing specific operational functions can provide you with the flexibility to pursue business development activities.

Following the above suggestions should assist in the financial management 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.

Online Accounting Systems Can Result In More Effective Services

Taking your accounting online can help you streamline your finances, making for more organized accounting and reliability in other areas of your services offerings.

Organized data and better management

When your accounting moves online, human intervention is greatly reduced, automatically resulting in heightened accuracy. Because accounting is one of the basic functions in a business, scattered or poorly-maintained accounts can create problems across all your business offerings and client services. Online accounting automatically results in better organization of your records and helps you maintain updated and current records across the services and solutions you provide your clients.

Online accounting systems do not mean you no longer have control over your accounts. On the contrary, it takes off the drudgery from your day-to-day operations so that you have time and resources for your business concerns. Online accounting takes over data entry and management so that you no longer struggle with complex data or spend quality man hours in training staff to meet your specific needs. Once you hand over your needs to a qualified vendor, you will find that an online accounting system actually speeds up your operations overall, allowing you to provide deliverables and services to your clients better.

Complete and updated data

An online accounting system provides you with complete financial information at your fingertips. What is the money owed to you by your clients, what is the exact amount and by how much time is it overdue - all of these questions can be answered when you look at your accounts, provided they are updated. Low on cash? An online accounting system can help ensure you don't face crippling cash crunches that could force you to disable your client deliverables and regular services.

Further, having updated accounting means you are on top of your expenses and balance sheets. This is vital not just from the perspective of a business owner, but also from the point of view of investors who will examine your credit-worthiness. Here are some specific benefits that prove how an online accounting system can help you spruce up operations and deliver better solutions and services.

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.

Bottom Line Benefits to Automating Your Accounting System

Although not always the most exciting aspect of a business, a company's accounting system is its backbone. The accounting system is the engine that drives the machine, providing business owners with key indicators regarding their profitability and the overall state of their business. Companies that have a firm grasp of their financials are positioned to succeed in the market across industries. Essential to that success are timely and accurate accounting figures, as well as the confidence business owners can place in the accuracy of those figures.

More and more frequently, small to mid-sized businesses are recognizing the need to automate their accounting systems given the speed at which they often need to make financial decisions. Manual accounting tasks can be time consuming, mundane, or duplicative tasks, and they can be prone to human error. Fortunately, there are currently numerous dependable accounting programs on the market, such as QuickBooks and Great Plains. Additionally, with the advent of cloud computing, information such as current data and immediate access to financial reports is available online, anytime and anywhere. Business owners can access the data themselves when they need it, without having to work through another department. These programs can greatly assist small to mid-sized companies in automating their systems and tasks such as expense approval and time entry, which in turn increase their profitability.

Benefits to automating your company's accounting system include:

> Eliminating redundancies in manual data entry.
> Reducing risks of errors and duplicate entries.
> Ensuring data integrity through automation.
> Self-service, accessibility to timely financial reports.
> Up-to-date information via cloud computing technology, anytime, anywhere.
> Improved productivity.
> Motivating staff.

Analytix Solutions provides a team of accounting and technology experts with extensive experience in helping companies automate their accounting systems and integrate third party applications with various accounting systems. We can help you to run your business more efficiently by automating key processes and assisting you to select solutions which align with your unique business requirements.

We are currently offering a free analysis of your accounting system and other business processes. If you would like to learn more on how we can increase your bottom line by automating your accounting system or if you know a colleague that can benefit from our services, 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.

Optimizing Your Accounting System - Measures to Ensure Your System Functions at its Best

Accounting system optimization involves implementing software to enable quicker turnaround for accounting functions. Specifically, optimization can make for easier, faster, and more accurate accounting, such as processing payroll or resolving accounts payable. Optimizing your accounting systems also reduces the need for manual practices.

Is your accounting system optimized effectively to fully leverage its capabilities?

It's a common practice for accounting firms to rely on software programs to carry out their accounting functions. However, if the programs are not optimized well, the users cannot take full advantage of the system's benefits, resulting in a system that boasts the latest technology but one that is not leveraged.

There are many benefits to an automated accounting system, especially for a small or mid-size business.

• Computerized accounting ensures greater accuracy and speed, resulting in more dependable operations.
• Automated accounting systems save time over manual processes, enabling you to complete more in a shorter time period.
• Automated accounting systems reduce costs associated with establishing a dedicated accounting department, requiring permanent skilled manpower.

Ensuring Optimization

Optimizing your system does not mean completely overhauling your existing system or installing expensive, new software.

However, your first consideration needs to be your company's operational requirements.

Optimization involves professional software knowledge and is best managed by a professional who understands your company in terms of business offerings and client deliverables. This approach considers the importance of customization and offers solutions that are tailored to your unique business needs.

Customized solutions account for your business deliverables and client requirements, ensuring that your system is utilized optimally. These solutions also reduce time and financial expenses, while significantly increasing productivity.

Tips for effectively optimizing your system include:

• Undertaking a comprehensive assessment of your needs and requirements.
• Including non-accounting functions such as time tracking or resource allocation.
• Generating readily accessible reports in an electronic format, thus eliminating the need for paper reports. This can also include interfaces that allow you to access data and accounting information, independent of physical location.
• Reducing the need for human intervention and streamlining processes with adequate security measures in place.

If your accounting system is fully optimized, your business will run more efficiently allowing you to take advantage of significant operational improvements.

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.

Why Does Your Small Business Or Startup Require Automating Accounts & Bookkeeping?

Today, automated accounting is an integral element of business operations. Irrespective of the size of your business, automating your accounting system can lead to increased efficiency, translating into savings of cost and time, and better access to amounts receivable. This is possible because the automating software completes transactions rapidly, allowing customers to approve payments immediately.

Apart from secure payment transactions, automating has a host of other benefits:

• Timely updates of records and data
• Speeding up existing processes
• Reducing or eliminating the need for periodic human intervention, and thus reducing error margins

In the competitive times that we are currently living in, there is very little room for error. Depending on the industry type, acceptable human error margins could hover anywhere between 2% and 5%. While documentation of error is a statistical function and is relative to assignments, automation can help reduce errors.

Automation and Accounts

Automating your accounts will save you a lot of time that would otherwise be used in making manual entries. Functions such as recording credits and debits are an intrinsic part of accounting. Doing this the traditional way eats up time and exposes data to errors. These could range from simple, typographical errors to larger, more serious ones. However, once you automate processes, the software creates folders or sections that are programmed to allot entries to the assigned columns, without error.

With automated systems in place, tracking accounts is also an easier process. Needless to say, automating also plays a role in deterring fraud.

Security and Integrity

The key to automation lies in reducing the opportunities for error (OFE). Lower the OFE, higher the accuracy of your final product. Once programmed, the automation software will also carry out regular updates and reports that can then be reviewed by concerned personnel.

At a time when data safety takes center stage, automated accounting works to reduce instances of human interface, ensuring safety and integrity of the process.

If your organization manages large amounts of numeric data, automation can prove highly cost effective. Automating software can carry out the same amount of work within shorter time periods, and with higher accuracy, thus eliminating the need to rework accounts.

Overview

• Automation allows for customization and improvisation at multiple levels and in a fast and secure manner. Automating your accounts system will ensure that they will remain in sync with the company’s growth. As your offerings grow, so will your accounts; automating will ensure that little or information is lost, while allowing the changes to be smoothly integrated into the existing systems.
• Automation allows for all concerned parties to access their information at will. This in turn, further frees up precious human resource for other areas needing intensive human intervention.
• Since automation also includes keeping a track of activity, there is lesser chance of mistakes going unnoticed for large periods of time. Your vendors and customers both can track their data independently and in a secure manner, reducing chances of fraud.

Automated accounting can prove to be indispensable; especially for small and midsize businesses where budgets are limited. The dual problem of focusing on client requirements while staying well within budget outlines can be resolved by automating accounting processes. Automation can help you do away with the need to establish a resource pool that needs to be trained and maintained. More importantly, it can help you meet your business requirements well within the outlines of your budget.

Analytix Solutions announces its next FREE webinar on “Stepping-up your Accounting? How to score an Accounting Home Run” on Dec. 22

Dec. 2, 2010 Woburn, MA – Analytix Solutions announced that its free webinar for the month of Dec. will take place on the 22^nd from 4-5 PM EST. This FREE webinar is titled “Stepping-up your Accounting? How to score an Accounting Home Run” and will presented by Satish Patel, CPA, founder of Analytix Solutions, a leading bookkeeping, accounting and CFO-level service company working for small and mid-sized companies.

Key highlights of the presentation:

1. Smart practices for managing your finance department
   
2. Emerging trends and technologies impacting financial management
   
3. Measuring the health of your business: tracking key performance indicators
   
4. Re-evaluating the needs of your finance department
   
5. Client Case Study – Arena Sports

Analytix Solutions, a one-stop accounting and bookkeeping company, has been conducting free webinars in its endeavor to create a direct platform for interaction between accounting experts and indoor sporting facility industry players. With the tips and tools given in these online accounting meetings, sport industry players can overcome accounting and financial management problems and improve efficiency.

Further information about this webinar can be found on http://www.analytixsolutions.com/webinars/indoor-sports-webinar-dec2010.asp

Interested attendees can register for the accounting webinar on http://www.analytixsolutions.com/webinars/register-webinars.asp

Check past webinars by Analytix Solution.

Score over your competitors by outsourcing accounting services

Accounting is undoubtedly an integral part of running and developing a business successfully. In addition to helping run the day-to-day functions smoothly, accounting also ensures that the financial picture is clear in case you are looking for an acquisition or a buyer for your business. However, taking care of the accounting functions is no small task. After all, you are not an accounting expert. That is why outsourcing accounting services may be the best decision to achieve your business goals. Hiring an expert for accounting services not only ensures that your finances are in the right hands, it also frees you to take care of strategic decisions so that you can stay competitive in the business.

Outsourcing accounting services to an expert

Many business owners try to take care of their accounting functions by hiring a full-time in-house accounting staff. This is a very expensive option, as hiring, training and retention takes up a lot of business resources. But now, in the cut-throat business scenario, it is financially more viable to use a professional accounting service provider who has the potential to save 40-60% of accounting costs. When you outsource accounting, your work is done by expert accountants, reducing the chances of errors and producing impeccable records. Due to the growing popularity of outsourcing, the number of accounting service providers has also increased exponentially. If outsourcing accounting services can save you significant costs as compared to in-house hiring as well as get the work done efficiently, why would you want to have an in-house accounting department?

What you can expect from accounting services

When you outsource accounting, you will have a team of accountants working dedicatedly on your business financials. Most companies provide custom services, tailored to meet your business requirements, so that you do not have to pay for any service you don't require. Such custom solutions are also scalable, you so can change your workload at any time. However, discuss the details with your accounting service provider so that you know the details beforehand. When you are outsourcing accounting services, also check out other services of the company like bookkeeping, tax preparation, payroll etc. which could be useful to your business. Also iron out the other details with your accounting service provider and discuss how your financial information will be protected and which firewalls and encryption are used by the company.

When you are outsourcing accounting services to a professional company, you can focus completely on your business activities and get a competitive edge that sets you apart in the market.

Outsourcing accounting services for your restaurant? Some basics for restaurant accounting

Success of any business is defined by one factor: profits. This is even more relevant in case of restaurants, which operate on a very thin profit margin. As a restaurant owner, you must know the perils of finances when it comes to your business. It is hence important to know some basic accounting factors when you are outsourcing accounting services to a third party. Such knowledge will not only prepare you for working well with the accounting service provider, it will also help in knowing the overall position of your business. Keep these financial basics in mind while outsourcing accounting services, and you will be able to make your restaurant business profitable.

Managing Cash Flow

Tracking cash coming in and going out of your restaurant is the main purpose of managing your cash flow. You can manage your cash flow better with the help of the firm you are outsourcing accounting services to. Tracking your restaurant’s cash flow will basically help you in knowing business patterns and noting where the money is coming in and going out.

Restaurant Inventory

Many restaurants lose a lot of money in inventory i.e. the supplies needed to run the restaurant. You need to take careful look at the inventory of your restaurant like supplies, products and food ingredients if you want to manage your restaurant accounting properly. Outsourcing accounting services eases the task of maintaining books, but you also need to reduce losses for your business to be profitable. A professional accounting services firm can guide you as to a proper method for taking inventory.

Record Keeping

You also need to record the income and expenses of your restaurant, so that you can get an overall feel of the profitability of the business. Outsourcing accounting services ensures that your record keeping is updated at all times. An experienced accounting services firm processes receipts and invoices into your books of accounts within 24 hours of receipt, ensuring that your record keeping is always up to date.

P&L Statement

A Profit and Loss Statement is a very important document for your restaurant. A monthly P&L statement will help you know the overall true profitability of your restaurant as it summarizes the incomes, expenses, inventory etc. for a particular time period. As you are outsourcing accounting services, your accounting firm will provide you with regular P&L statements, with the help of which you can take strategic decisions and maintain the profitability of your restaurant business.

Although you are outsourcing accounting services, these four are the basic things you need to take into account to ensure that your restaurant business has strong finances. Specialized accounting services for restaurants will also help you maintain profitability of your restaurant.

Outsourcing accounting: 6 things you need to know for your small business

The many advantages of outsourcing accounting are attracting a lot of attention of small business owners. Outsourcing accounting functions has the potential of saving small businesses thousands of dollars per year, which they spend on hiring, training and retention of in-house accounting professionals. Due to its recent popularity, many accounting firms have started offering customized accounting solutions especially for small businesses. However, before deciding to go for outsourcing accounting for your small business, there are some pointers you should keep in mind. The following are some of them:

1. One of the first things you need to be aware of while outsourcing accounting is to have a clear idea of what you want from your accounting firm. To make a success of your small business accounting, you need to have clear expectations and make your accounting firm understand them. Many outsourced accounting projects fail due to misconceptions and lack of communications between the small business owner and the accounting firm.


2. Don't trust an accounting firm blindly when you are outsourcing accounting functions for your business. No matter how much their services are recommended, you need to take things in your hands and check things out. In case you decide to use online accounting services, you need to ensure that the firm which you are using for outsourcing accounting uses adequate security measures to protect your accounting data. If your accounting firm is an offshore one, ensure that the staff working there is qualified enough to take care of your accounting requirements.


3. While outsourcing accounting functions, be sure to ask for references of past clients from the accounting firm concerned. You will get an idea about the quality of work as well as the experience and skills of accounting staff by looking at past work of the firm.


4. Enter into a clear contract with your outsourced accounting firm so that the terms and conditions are specified right from the beginning. A written contract goes a long way in ensuring transparency in your dealings with your accounting firm.


5. You can start the outsourcing accounting project by giving the accounting firm limited responsibilities. This will allow you to set the workflow and judge the caliber of the outsourced accounting firm. Allow the firm to prove its potential and take things forward from there.


6. While outsourcing accounting's main benefit is cost savings, it is should not be the only factor in selecting the accounting firm. Cheap is not always the best option for your accounting services; if the quality of work is not up to the mark, it may cost you much more later on to correct the mistakes of a cheap accounting firm. Outsourcing accounting should not only save you costs, it should also be high in the qualitative factor.

Outsourcing accounting will probably become the most useful business decision you will take for your small business. While it has benefits as well as risks associated with it, if you make informed decisions, the benefits will far exceed the risks for your small business. Find an experienced accounting firm which can become your partner in expanding your business and making it more profitable.

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.

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.

Is Using Outsourced Accounting Services the Right Step for Your Small Business?

For a long time, using outsourced accounting services was an option only for larger corporations. However, of late, the cost effectiveness of outsourcing accounting functionalities has made it an attractive prospect for small businesses as well. A small business owner is generally burdened with taking care of all the functions of the business with very little resources at his/her disposal. Outsourcing to expert accounting service providers has the potential of saving a lot of resources and hence is an attractive proposition for small business owners.

But the question most small business owners are pondering over is: Does hiring a bookkeeping and accounting service provider make sense for small businesses? Judging the answer to this question is tricky and requires evaluating the pros and cons of outsourcing accounting.

There are advantages attached to hiring an outsourced accounting service provider which are especially applicable to small businesses:

1. The main advantage of outsourcing accounting functions is its cost effectiveness, which can save your small business up to 40% costs as compared to in-house staff
2. Accounting service providers have expert staff who can handle all your small business accounting requirements with ease
3. You can choose to hire only those services which are applicable to your business
4. Outsourcing accounting frees up valuable time which you can dedicate to the core business activities
5. You are relieved from the hassles of hiring, training and retaining in-house staff

There is only one small disadvantage when it comes to hiring outsourced accounting services: Too many companies providing accounting services which makes it tough to decide which one to hire. If you hire an inefficient service provider, it may cost your business a lot more. So select an accounting service provider with a lot of care, taking into consideration the following factors:

1. Is the bookkeeping and accounting service provider experienced in your industry?
2. Can the firm give valid references of its current/past clients?
3. Does the firm have a reputation of providing accounting services for small businesses?
4. Can the firm assure a doorstep service if required or is it purely outsourcing company based miles away within US or outside US?
5. Is the accounting firm ready to give written documents regarding guarantee of service, terms and conditions etc?
6. Is the accounting service provider flexible enough to allow you to scale your bookkeeping and accounting requirements up or down?
7. Does the firm providing outsourced accounting service have suitable data security measures to protect sensitive information related to your small business?

If you get satisfactory replies to all of the above questions, you should rest assured that the accounting service provider you are considering to hire is suitable for your small business.

The advantages of outsourcing small business accounting far surpass the disadvantages of outsourcing accounting functionalities. If you work with the right service provider, it can become a valuable asset to your small business. As a small business owner, you should hence consider availing the services of a professional bookkeeping and accounting service provider so that they can focus on the core activities of the business and grow it appropriately.