Outsourced Accounting Services
by Karen Stern
If your small business is growing beyond your expertise and capacity, it may be time to consider outsourced accounting services. The entrepreneurial DIY (do it yourself) mentality may end up costing you more versus saving on expenses related to employee benefits, payroll taxes, overhead and hiring. Even if you possess the know-how to complete these functions, ask yourself, “Is this the best use of my time?” It isn’t unusual for a business to have limited resources, but stretching yourself too thin is not an effective way to help it flourish.
For a fraction of the cost of a full-time position, outsourced accounting services can provide strategic expertise to capitalize on opportunities, evaluate offers and reduce threats. Additional benefits for outsourcing a team of experienced, licensed experts are as follows:
• Accurate, usable and timely financial reports from a third party allow more time for business owners to focus on core company aspects.
• Mission-critical tasks completed quickly and efficiently help safeguard assets and minimize risk.
• Potential business risks such as high state and local taxes or unexpected tax penalties and interest payments can be identified to help develop models and budgets to run the business more efficiently and manage it to profitability.
• You will possess key insights pertaining to cash flow, working capital or forecast of liquidity by involving someone who can collect, analyze, interpret and effectively disseminate the data.
• You will avoid training costs and error revisions caused by inexperienced support staff.
• Having someone well-equipped to closely monitor all expenses will save company dollars.
Outsourced accounting services are proven, cost-effective solutions for businesses of all sizes, even those that have dedicated accounting personnel.
Karen Stern, CPA, (kstern@bswllc.com), partner in charge, Brown Smith Wallace Entrepreneurial Services Group, provides tax and accounting services for companies ranging from start-ups to $20 million in revenue