Small business owners are constantly seeking new ways to improve their businesses. But when you're juggling the role of director, accountant, bookkeeper and sales person there are only so many hours in a day. This is where outsourcing bookkeeping services can help free up your time to work on the parts of your business that provide you with the best income.
Enter the world of outsourced bookkeeping services. If you are reading this article to find out if outsourcing your bookkeeping is the best move for your business, let's do a quick review of what outsourcing entails before I answer that question.
What is outsourcing? Outsourcing is when an external company performs work on behalf of another company. Instead of completing the work in-house, an external provider is hired to complete the task and it is usually done so at a lower cost than if you performed the task internally
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When it comes to bookkeeping services, outsourcing has many benefits for small business owners including:
Getting your books up to date – no more chasing overdue receipts, chasing payments from clients and relating to the time it takes to complete your bookwork.
Saving money – outsourcing is often a lot cheaper than hiring in-house staff and you don't have to pay for their holidays, sick days or any of the associated paid benefits that come with an in-house team member.
Getting quality work done – the bookkeeper that your outsourced accountant hires will be an expert in their field and they can complete all of the tasks you need without any oversight.
Finding time to grow your business – if you are struggling to find extra hours in a day, outsourcing is likely helping other small businesses with these issues too. So it may be something you want to consider.
What to look for in an outsourced bookkeeping service When it comes to finding an outsourced bookkeeping service, you will need to consider whether they offer general accounting services or if they are purely a bookkeeping provider.
An outsourced bookkeeping service can provide your business with all of the following:
BAS returns - these are reports that show how much money your business has made and how much GST has been collected on the income (and paid on your expenses)
Payroll services - Payroll is not an easy task for everyone, let's face it it can be time-consuming and stressful. An outsourced bookkeeping service can do your payroll for you quickly and easily while making sure that all of the correct insurances and taxes are deducted.
Payroll includes all of the following: - PAYG reports for employees - Superannuation payments, - Fringe benefits tax,
Reporting payment details to the ATO and government agencies as needed.
Bookkeeping services - Bookkeeping is a broad term that can include anything from making bank deposits, writing cheques, payroll and completing BAS returns. Whatever your business is doing you can have an outsourced bookkeeping service manage it for you.
An outsourced bookkeeping service will complete these tasks for you: - Handling payments from clients - Preparing invoices - Paying bills online from your credit card or bank account - Reconciling bank accounts - this is when the bookkeeper matches each of the transactions in your bank statement against what you have recorded in QuickBooks. This makes sure that every transaction has been taken into account and no payments have been missed. - Compiling reports for end of financial year - this includes reporting on assets, liabilities, income and expenses. This is a vital step in completing your accounting information so you have it when it comes to filing your tax return. - Preparing financial statements
Preparing budgets for future years An outsourced bookkeeping service will earn their keep by getting your books up to date in a timely manner. This means you don't want to hire a bookkeeper who is not available when you need them.
How to choose an outsourced bookkeeping service for your business When it comes to choosing an outsourced bookkeeping service, there are some things that you need to consider before hiring the first one you find. The last thing you need is to be left without a bookkeeper when you need them most. You should consider the following:
How much experience do they have?
The more experience an outsourced accountant has, the more likely they are to get your books up to date quickly and accurately. Make sure that you choose someone with enough industry experience so that they have seen all sorts of different business scenarios before.
What is their background?
What is your bookkeeper's qualifications and do they hold ongoing professional development training? You want to make sure that you chose an outsourced bookkeeping service that has ongoing training to stay up-to-date with all of the changes happening in the industry. Check if their licenses are current - Do the accounts look legitimate? Check to make sure that all of the invoices and receipts look legitimate. If something looks off then ask them about it!
Thank you for taking some time to read this article, I hope that you have found it interesting and informative. Please feel free to leave a comment below as I would love to know more about your thoughts on outsourcing your bookkeeping services. Please note - This article is for information purposes only and I have endeavoured to ensure the accuracy of same at the time of writing this piece, please be aware that laws are updated frequently and some details might change after publishing this article.
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