You must ask yourself these questions…
In your business, keeping track of your books can be essential to making sure you’re properly managing cash flow.
If money is not properly managed, it can be challenging to understand if you’re making money, losing money, and how much.
Are you keeping track of your income and expenses? Do you know which expenses are tax deductible and which customers owe money?
Do you know when your upcoming tax deadlines are, and how much to pay in tax estimates? If not, you may incur penalties from not complying with tax regulations.
Are your books complicated?
When a business is small, accounting can be as simple as remembering which of your few clients have paid or how much they owe. As your business grows to a customer base of several, hundreds, thousands, or more, that can be a lot of accounts to keep track of.
Furthermore, when your business has multiple people involved in finances, such as sales people, operations and fulfillment, and customer service, along with the business owner, it’s important that all of these people have access and understand the company’s finances so that they can make the best decisions.
Accounting and bookkeeping can be tedious and complicated to do correctly, and require proper training. It can be hard to find personnel with experience in your industry and familiarity with the standards.
What does it look like to have good books?
Good accounting is clean and easy to follow. Transactions are filed into their proper categories and you know where all of your accounts stand.
You know exactly where your money has gone, and exactly how much each customer owes you.
Further, when you have proper accounting, you already know what to expect for taxes, when to pay them, and there are no quarterly or year end surprises.
When your books are clean, you and your staff can make the best decisions for your business.
Do you need a professional?
Having a professional bookkeeper can be a valuable service to your business and your peace of mind.
A financial expert can keep your books in order by reviewing and reconciling them with you on a regular basis. They can help you adopt best practices and follow industry standards.
They can notify you of any financial anomalies or questionable transactions, or help illuminate the performance trends of your business.
Having a professional who is intimately familiar with your books can help answer important financial questions around budgeting and tax implications whenever they arise.
They will allow you to rest assured that your finances are compliant and correct and that your business is not in financial danger.
Questions to ask yourself :
- Are there more than 2 people involved in your business’s daily or monthly finances?
- Do you reconcile your banking statements and transactions at least once per month?
- Are you spending more than 5 hours per week reviewing your books inside of QuickBooks?
- Are you familiar with standard accounting practices for your industry and properly categorizing your transactions?
- Do you have an expert you can call when you have accounting or tax questions?
- Do you know your upcoming tax deadlines and form due dates?