As a small business owner, it can be tempting to try performing every function of your business in-house. Unless you are a seasoned bookkeeper, performing your accounting functions yourself can actually cost you a great deal of time and money over the long run. Here are 5 ways your company is losing money (& time) by not outsourcing your accounting functions.
#1. Excessive Late Fees
Let’s face it-juggling multiple things at once can be maddening. In your quest to get everything done, some things will inevitably need to be put off. In many businesses, what is put off is accounting, leading to overdue bills that result in a significant amount of late fees. These fees can really add up over time, and could ultimately mean the difference between whether your business succeeds or fails.
#2. Tax Penalties/Passing up Tax Breaks
As a business owner, you must deal with many different types of taxes, ranging from state and local sales taxes to employee payroll taxes. If these taxes are not paid on time, you could face significant fines and penalties or even the loss of your business. An experienced accountant is aware of all the different tax filing deadlines, and will ensure you never miss any. You could also be losing out on tax breaks because you are not familiar with them or do not have the time to spend looking for deductions. Having someone who is familiar with the tax code will help ensure you receive every single deduction you are entitled to.
#3. Purchasing and Learning new Software
At one time, small business owners kept manual accounting records. This practice is now considered outdated, which means that in order to keep your books, you must learn to navigate new software. And unless you plan to be the only one maintaining them, you’ll also need to train a few other people on how to use your accounting software. In the meantime, you could get behind with marketing, following up on sales leads, and keeping track of inventory. When you hire a professional, there is no need to purchase or learn new software, thereby freeing up funds and giving you one less thing to worry about.
#4. Outdated Accounts Receivables
Just as your accounts payable can become overlooked, so can your accounts receivable. The problem with this is that the longer your accounts are delinquent, the harder it will become to collect on them. If you routinely find yourself with a pile of past-due invoices that have had no action taken on them, this is a sign your accounts payable are not getting enough attention. You could wind up writing off more of them than you need to unless you find an outside agency such as ours to help you get them under control again.
#5. Hidden Waste, Fraud, or Abuse
Unfortunately, the biggest category of losses in any business involves employee fraud. There are numerous ways in which an employee might perpetrate fraud; however, not all of them will likely be obvious to someone who is not intimately familiar with recordkeeping. Our associates on the other hand have a keen ability to sense when something isn’t quite right, and will notify you accordingly so that you can take further action. Not only can this save your business money, but it can also make prosecuting a case easier to do.
Outsourcing your accounting functions can enhance your reputation as a business owner, while at the same time giving you more time to grow your company. Hiring someone to handle your accounting functions is actually more affordable than you think, which is why you should contact us today to schedule a consultation.
