Most small business owners hire a CPA to prepare their year end tax returns or an attorney to handle their legal matters. A business will hire a web site designer to build their website and a printer to design and print their business cards. This type of outsourcing has been done for years due to the cost involved having a full time professional on staff to perform these duties. The daily bookkeeping and accounting duties that a small business requires are no different.
- In most cases the only information that your accountant receives to prepare your taxes is that which your administrative personnel has prepared. There is very little communication, if any between the two. Your tax returns are compiled and submitted to the Internal Revenue Service by your accountant but with the figures provided by your office manager or bookkeeper. In most cases your administrative have had very little formal education in accounting and usually have no on going tax education.
- Your payroll and payroll taxes may be prepared by your administrative personnel but how much time do they actually have to keep up with the ever changing laws governing payroll. If there is a mistake do they have the skills and knowledge necessary to correspond with the IRS?
- Most of your business decisions are probably based on the financial information given to you by your administrative staff. Sometimes this information can be catagorized incorrectly causing it to be over or understated. I am sure that you agree that decisions based on the wrong information can be detrimental to the well being of anything. The same holds true with your business.
Hiring good administrative personnel is crucial to a business. They are sometimes the first person that a customer hears or sees. They can perform many duties that are essential to a business on a day to day basis including the entry of financial data into a computer program. In most cases though an accountant or a qualified bookkeeper is needed to ensure that data is correct. This is a position that takes a very few hours each week. Most small businesses can not afford that person full or even part time. Outsourcing is a way to bring the benefit of the knowledge and experience of a trained accountant in to your business at a minimal cost to you.
