Thinking to outsource bookkeeping? Take care of these aspects

The decision to outsource bookkeeping is in the best interest of your business as it saves a lot in costs. When you outsource bookkeeping, you ensure that your books are being taken care of by an expert, so that you can finally focus totally on business activities. However, outsourcing bookkeeping services to the right firm is of utmost importance if you want to reap benefits of outsourcing. You need to check the credentials of the bookkeeping firm properly to ensure that its bookkeeping services suit your requirements perfectly. Be sure to check for the following aspects when you outsource bookkeeping:

Is the bookkeeping firm experienced?

Experience of the firm you outsource bookkeeping to is the most important factor. You need to ask relevant questions to the bookkeeping firm and know about the experience it has. This will give you an idea of whether it will be able to fulfill your business requirements or not. If possible, get references of past clients you can speak to, so you can know the quality of outsourced bookkeeping of the firm in question. There are also some industry-specific companies for outsourcing bookkeeping services that you can inquire about.

Are the bookkeepers qualified?

Your decision to outsource bookkeeping is made on the assumption that your books will be taken care of well. For that to happen, the bookkeeping firm needs to have expert bookkeeping professionals on their payroll. While inquiring about a specific firm for outsourcing bookkeeping services, check about the kind of professionals working there. An experienced bookkeeper working on your books will ensure that your finances will be well maintained and updated at all times.

Which services will be included? Is there enough flexibility?

Is the outsourced bookkeeping package you are availing flexible enough for your business? Your bookkeeping firm may provide services like payable management, accounts receivable management, bank reconciliations, inventory management, recording and reconciling payroll transactions, revenue reconciliation with bank deposits etc. Most firms are also offering flexible services to suit business requirements today, so you need to check the details and determine if you can scale your requirements up or down at any time. Once you ensure that the package is flexible enough, you can go ahead and outsource bookkeeping to that firm.

Is it within your bookkeeping budget?

By outsourcing bookkeeping services, you can save from 40 to 50% in costs; that is the most important objective when you outsource bookkeeping. But you still need to make the most of the package the bookkeeping firm offers you. Have a budget in mind so that you can save the most from your bookkeeping package. You would do well to also negotiate with other bookkeeping firms so that you know the best rate being offered.

The decision to outsource bookkeeping will help your business only if you select the right firm to partner with. So while outsourcing bookkeeping services, take note of the above-mentioned points to ensure you hire the right bookkeeping firm.

Outsourcing bookkeeping: Is it the right decision for your business?

To outsource or not to outsource bookkeeping is the question today for a lot of businesses. With the focus on saving costs in the tough economy we have today, a lot of businesses are turning to outsourcing for their non-core activities like bookkeeping and accounting. While most trust a bookkeeping service provider to maintain their books of accounts efficiently, some are still in the dilemma of whether to outsource bookkeeping or not. If you are one of those business owners still doubting the feasibility of outsourcing your financial functions, read on.

Most business owners are not experts in accounting and bookkeeping and hence find tasks related to their business finance cumbersome and tedious. Moreover, as they are not experts in bookkeeping, they might end up making mistakes which might affect the business bottom line. Hiring in-house staff becomes an expensive option, with payments related to office space and bonuses eating up business profits. In such a situation, outsourcing bookkeeping to a professional firm may be the best decision a business owner can make.

Some reasons you can outsource bookkeeping to an experienced bookkeeping firm are:

1. Many businesses like restaurants operate on very thin profit margins. A single error in their books of accounts can mess up a lot of their business functionality. When you select an online accounting bookkeeping firm, you are handing over all your bookkeeping functions to experienced professionals. You can hence outsource bookkeeping and then quit worrying about mistakes in your finances, knowing that a professional is taking care of them. You can also ensure that your bookkeeping is being done correctly by having 24/7 access to your books.



2. There are a lot of firms to which you can outsource bookkeeping functions to. Such fierce competition has resulted in online accounting bookkeeping services being available at very low rates, which saves significant costs to small and mid-sized businesses. It is also easier to find out the most reputable and experienced service provider by asking current clients of the bookkeeping firm in question and inquiring about the firm's reputation in general. The costs which are saved through outsourcing bookkeeping can then be re-invested into the business for expansion or diversification.



3. Outsourcing bookkeeping functions to a professional bookkeeping firm ensures that your books are up-to-date at any given period of time. With such impeccable financial records, you can take strategic decisions with ease. Such updated records also give the true financial picture of your business, so you can run it efficiently.

As a business owner, the decision to outsource bookkeeping will benefit you the most. You can save costs as well as get your non-core work done without spending time on it personally. Just look for a reputable bookkeeping firm, and outsourcing bookkeeping will work well for you.

Outsourcing bookkeeping: 5 things to check

Are you a small business owner looking for ways to save costs? Outsourcing bookkeeping is a great way to reduce costs while getting the work done efficiently. Outsourcing bookkeeping tasks ensures that you hand over all the bookkeeping activities to an expert and focus all your attention to the main business activities. But here's the catch: you need to hire the right bookkeeping firm to do the job for you. You need to make an informed decision regarding hiring an experienced bookkeeping firm, which suits your business requirements perfectly and has the potential to add to your business' growth. While outsourcing bookkeeping to a professional firm, keep the following pointers in mind:

How experienced is the bookkeeping firm?

The most important factor in outsourcing bookkeeping functions is the experience of the firm you select. While checking out various firms, ensure that you ask relevant questions about its experience. If possible, get references of past clients, so that you can speak to them yourself and know the quality of work of the bookkeeping firm in question. There are some firms which specialize in providing bookkeeping services to specific industries. If you can find one which specializes in your industry, it would be ideal for your business.

What are the qualifications of the professionals?

You should be outsourcing bookkeeping to a firm which has qualified and experienced bookkeepers. Check with the bookkeeping firm regarding the qualifications of the bookkeepers who will be working on your books of accounts. Qualified people working on your bookkeeping ensures that your finances will be maintained efficiently, without any mistakes.

Is the bookkeeping firm technologically advanced?

If your bookkeeping service is going to include online bookkeeping, the bookkeeping firm will need to be updated with the latest technology. To provide the right bookkeeping services, the firm will need the right kind of softwares and programming. Experienced bookkeeping firms are experts at handling various bookkeeping softwares like QuickBooks, Peachtree, MYOB, Great Plains etc. They also have strict measures in place for ensuring data security. Before outsourcing bookkeeping, ask questions about the kind of technology the bookkeeping firm uses.

Which services will be included? Is there enough flexibility?

While outsourcing bookkeeping, check which services are included in your package. Professional bookkeeping firms generally provide bookkeeping services including accounts payable management, accounts receivable management, bank reconciliations, inventory management, recording and reconciling payroll transactions, revenue reconciliation with bank deposits etc. Moreover, their services are flexible, so you can scale your requirements up or down at any time. This flexibility saves a lot of costs at the time when your bookkeeping requirements are minimal.

Does the bookkeeping package match your budget?

Outsourcing bookkeeping functions has the potential to save you up to 40% cost of in-house resources. However, you still have to make the most of the deal the bookkeeping firm offers you. Fix a budget that is affordable for you and stick to it when you are outsourcing bookkeeping for your business. You can also compare bookkeeping packages other firms are offering, so that you get the best bookkeeping package available.

Outsourcing bookkeeping to an expert bookkeeping firm ensures that you save costs as well as manage books of accounts efficiently. Invest some time in researching for a good firm, which can become your partner in making your business more profitable.

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.