Bookkeeping is essential for any business, but it is easy to put it aside for more pressing matters that might need your attention. For example, filling customer orders, meeting clients, and ordering inventory are all necessary tasks to keep your business running, which makes it quite simple to put bookkeeping on the back burner.
However, delays in managing your books might end up costing you money. For instance, if you manage your company while also handling your accounting, you’ll fall behind and waste your precious time when the time comes to file taxes. So expect to pay more if you want an accountant to cover up for you at tax time.
It takes effort and time to launch and run a small business. Therefore, you should focus on expanding your market share and creating a powerful brand. While accurate financial and accounting data is necessary for running your business successfully, internal bookkeeping distractions are unnecessary.
As you complete your first year and gain stability, you may want to reconsider your investment. You won’t be able to develop if you continue doing everything. To put yourself in a position to advance your company, you must free yourself from the tiresome tasks of running your company, such as monitoring and maintaining your books.
It would be perfect if you prioritized the needs of your core business to grow. Invest your time in long-term planning rather than getting caught up in minute details that will distract you from building a solid company. Give your company the best care possible by utilizing your special business skills.
Virtual accounting services come into play in this situation.
In the not-so-distant past, many business owners would have found it impractical or even impossible to outsource administrative business tasks.
Nevertheless, almost everything you could ever need or want is practically at your fingertips, thanks to advanced technology and the abundance of web-based bookkeeping.
One of these incredible internet-enabled benefits is outsourced accounting services, which offer highly skilled virtual assistants anywhere in the world at prices you can afford.
Virtual assistance is now and forever.
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Here are eight brilliant reasons to hire an online bookkeeping assistant:
Saves time
Are you still in charge of your business’ finances? Do you still manage the accounting reporting on your own? How much of your work week does this task take up?
As an entrepreneur, these essential questions should cross your mind.
A business owner can be expected to spend up to five hours per week on average updating records and performing calculations. And this only applies to a typical week, excluding tax season and year-end reports. During these significant financial events, the time spent may increase to ten hours.
You have no clue how much you could have accomplished in those five additional hours.
Your business cannot grow while you spend valuable time on your books. As a young entrepreneur, all your efforts should be focused on the success of your growing venture. You are the operation’s brilliant mind and the mastermind who must plan the next bold step. To get some time for the tasks that are important to you, hire an online bookkeeper to handle this operational task.
Cuts costs
Your accountant may charge you less when filing taxes if you hire a virtual bookkeeper to keep your accounts organized throughout the year.
Unlike internal bookkeepers, virtual bookkeeping assistants typically charge much less. According to Indeed surveys, the average annual rate for a bookkeeper is $43,129, while the average salary for a senior accountant is $74,263 per year in the United States.
When it comes to outsourced bookkeepers, you have to pay only for the work hours as these experts work under contract. So there is no need to hire them and shell out money for their benefits, vacation time, payroll taxes, and extra office space.
Additionally, you save money by avoiding the purchase of software like Quickbooks, which has an annual cost of over $1,000, as they have their equipment and software to work on.
Using outsourced bookkeeping services can also avoid making unnecessary purchases. Remote financial experts spread these costs across their client base to maximize quality while minimizing costs per client. In addition, they address the risks associated with maintaining internal records and offer thoroughly vetted information you can trust.
They save you money and the time required to hire, train, and manage an internal bookkeeper. This indicates that hiring an online bookkeeper to handle financial and administrative tasks will save you a ton of money.
Have the right skills
Examining your skills, consider whether you have experience as an accountant.
Do you have any financial experience?
Are you familiar with accounts payable and receivable?
Are taxes something you excel at?
Few founders have financial backgrounds or a basic understanding of taxes, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Nevertheless, a professional who has taken the required courses and received the necessary certifications should handle those aspects of the business.
This way, you would not commit mistakes and won’t have to deal with problems that could cost you more money. Remember that missing a payment or forgetting to make a required payment will negatively affect your business credit.
Of course, you could learn everything, but as you’ll discover later, doing so isn’t the best use of your time. So instead, ask yourself the following questions:
Does your company require you to do anything besides number crunching and writing reports for it?
Consider all the diverse roles you have played in your company. Undoubtedly, they are all significant roles, but which ones ought you handle on your own?
What can you do for your company that no one else can? Consider your true talents and how you should use them.
An actual bookkeeper has the abilities and skills necessary to carry out professional work. Suppose you were to come up with a new business idea; you would not go and hire a bookkeeper. Furthermore, you would not hire a bookkeeper to help determine your minimum viable product, strategize your marketing, or plan your growth.
You get the picture. These are the things you are good at. So hire a virtual bookkeeping assistant to do what they’re good at – managing your books – while you handle your business shenanigans!
Maintains cash flow
You might be so busy that you are unaware that some of your clientele still owe you money. Any untimely payments made here could affect the cash flow required to keep your business operating smoothly.
If you have an online bookkeeper on staff, they can keep track of any untimely or missed payments and send out reminders to ensure your cash flow is always as good as it can be.
Additionally, since you can demonstrate a positive cash flow that you might not have been able to demonstrate without the help, this will look good when it comes time to ask for another round of funding.
You might be so busy that you are unaware that some of your clientele still owe you money. Any untimely payments made here could affect the cash flow required to keep your business operating smoothly.
If you have an online bookkeeper on staff, they can keep track of any untimely or missed payments and send out reminders to ensure your cash flow is always as good as it can be. Additionally, since you can demonstrate a positive cash flow that you might not have been able to demonstrate without the help, this will look good when it comes time to ask for another round of funding.
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Offers cleaner books
Hiring an online bookkeeper will ensure that your financial records are well-kept and straightforward to understand. Although it might not seem important, having well-organized books can be crucial for obtaining bank loans and raising money from investors.
When you apply for a loan to expand your business, lenders, such as banks, look for your ability to repay the loan. Therefore, you need well-kept books to demonstrate your liquidity and past financial performance, which are reliable indicators of your ability.
At some point, expanding your business might also need a capital infusion. You would not want your investors to write you off because they think your finances are out of control. Unfortunately, investors are hesitant to invest with you because they cannot accurately assess investment risk without adequate financial data.
Additionally, poor bookkeeping can be a sign of incompetence or poor management, neither of which is favorable to investment.
Here, an online bookkeeping assistant will tidy up your books and ensure you never have to be embarrassed or fail at operating your business because of poor bookkeeping.
Offers real-time information
Running a business requires knowing how much money is coming in and going out. Hiring a bookkeeper can access that information through precise, expertly reviewed financial statements.
Some of the insights you can access with good bookkeeping are
- Revenue projections: You can make future plans and modify your business strategy using this information.
- Debt management: If your company has borrowed money, you can track how that debt and other liabilities are handled.
- Potential flaws: Successful companies always look for and fix their operations and structural weaknesses.
- Refinement: You can streamline your business to increase profits and decrease costs to enhance overall performance.
If you hire a virtual bookkeeper long-term, you will have someone to handle your monthly financial reports and business taxes.
They will have the background information required to submit their tax returns on time and correctly. Additionally, your virtual bookkeeper will provide the data required to comprehend your company’s performance and cash flow.
Anytime you want, you can request your financial reports. In addition, you can access your data from any device whenever you need to. Virtual accounting services are provided by a knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced virtual bookkeeping assistant.
Furthermore, virtual bookkeeping assistants are available to meet your needs and answer your questions as they have very flexible schedules.
Resolves internal and external conflicts of interest
There may be problems with multiple founding partners because each one will likely have different ideas about how the money should be used and how to get to it quickly. Otherwise, a disagreement might happen that would stop your business from growing.
In such a scenario, a virtual bookkeeper will act as the money’s gatekeeper and establish the necessary approval procedures to prevent partners from simply withdrawing money.
If you use bookkeeping and accounting services, you’ll have a safety net in case of financial difficulties. You will profit from hiring a bookkeeper if your business needs to go through an external audit. They can provide some insight into your tax returns and collaborate with internal accountants to ensure that your business faces no financial conflicts.
They can also guarantee that your professional habits won’t put you in a precarious position. For example, your online bookkeeper will advise you on financial issues such as divorce or the passing of a business partner that could impact your company. A qualified virtual bookkeeper will also guard you against internal problems like employee theft and fraud.
Maximizes tax benefits
Taxation of businesses differs from that of individuals. Certain expenses, such as phone and internet bills, utility costs, or travel costs, may be deductible for your company.
However, even if you are the most organized person in the world, but bookkeeping is not your profession, you may overlook one or two benefits you can take advantage of. Your online bookkeeper will be more knowledgeable about the tax breaks and regulations that apply to your company.
Conclusion
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These eight reasons add up to a solution to one of your most pressing needs: efficiently, accurately, cost-effectively, and timely managing your company’s financial information. If you can meet this need immediately, you will make one of the best decisions for your company’s future.
Why? Because the insightful data you obtain from analyzing your financial situation will help you make wiser choices regarding the plans and investments, you’ll make for your small business’s short- and long-term future.
How accurately you keep your books directly impacts your understanding of your financial situation. Many people are unaware of how hiring a virtual bookkeeping assistant can help them save money and improve their businesses while impacting their company’s development.
Startups and small businesses need the stability of a solid financial plan to support their operations. Hiring a virtual bookkeeping assistant will make a significant difference in that. In addition, an online bookkeeper makes good business sense for your startup, from saving time and money to focusing on expertise and increasing cash flow. So, get started on the hiring process right away.
Author’s Bio
Having done her graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication, Shaurya works as a content writer for Wishup. She is a person who enjoys romanticizing the world in poetry while holding a camera and a pen in each hand.
