Some business decisions are obvious. Others can seem like 50/50 propositions that make doing nothing a good third option. Deciding what to do about your bookkeeping, fortunately, is not a dilemma when you know what to factor into your considerations. So, how can you determine whether you would be better off with outsourced bookkeeping services or continuing it onsite at this stage of your growth?
An in-house bookkeeper may offer advantages during the startup phase of a business. Having a bookkeeper on the team who has a good understanding of your business type can help maintain financial controls. However, as your company grows, you are likely to face broader challenges that require a skill set that a part-time bookkeeper typically does not have.
Benefits of Outsourced Bookkeeping Services
Bookkeeping needs to grow and change as a business grows. Adding new revenue channels, new market regions, assets, staff, tax structures, and so much more requires expertise for optimal management. A professional outsourced bookkeeping service offers the complete array of skills and technologies and advanced processes needed to support expansion.
Additionally, an outsourced bookkeeper brings along the support of a full-scope professional accounting department. As your business grows, it will probably reach a stage at which you need a larger bookkeeping team and more advanced accounting services but are not ready for a whole in-house accounting department. Having your own off-site accounting department enables your business to set up all new systems needed to support expanded lines, and new business channels and market areas efficiently.
When Is It Time to Outsource Your Bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping is the framework in which your business’s finances are presented for you to consider in your decision-making. A good way to help decide whether it's time to consider outsourcing your bookkeeping is to ask yourself the questions below. Your answers may identify descriptions of circumstances that fit your company's current situation. If so, it may be time to look into outsourcing options that will better position your business for the future.
You’re planning to scale your business. As your business grows, your bookkeeping will also need to scale and evolve. An outsourced bookkeeping team is backed by a full contingent of accounting experts who can easily provide for your company’s changing needs in software, routine bookkeeping, and support for increasingly complex finances.
You need expert bookkeeping but are on a budget. It is too difficult to find and retain a part-time in-house bookkeeping expert in your area who fully understands your business's unique needs. So, you have settled for an underqualified and/or less experienced bookkeeper at a lower pay rate to save money. Working with a remote bookkeeping service gives you a professional bookkeeping team with advanced skills and the broader benefits of having a team of accounting experts at your disposal.
You’re looking toward major financing. You're facing a period during which your business's financials will be scrutinized by prospective lenders, investors, or buyers. You need to ensure that your books are in excellent order and stay that way to show that you run a well-disciplined organization committed to meticulousness in your financial management and reporting.
You want to make your systems leaner. Back office operations not only impact the budget, they take management time and energy, cause additional work for other employees, consume many other intangible and tangible resources, and affect the company culture. When you’re looking to align your organization's roles as needed to facilitate growth, it's time to think about outsourcing bookkeeping through the coming phases of change.
Your administrative processes are inefficient. You're still mailing paper invoices, creating reports manually, and/or making daily trips to the bank. It can be easy to settle into routines during the early phases of a startup that cannot keep pace as the business grows. An outsourced bookkeeping team uses the innovative tech and processes you'll need to streamline processes and scale your bookkeeping capacity and efficiency as needed to accommodate expansion efficiently.
You spend too much of your time on bookkeeping. Spreading yourself thin may be a way of life during the startup and growth of your organization. Operating that way has inspired your investors and talented workers to follow your lead. But, spending excessive time on functions that do not utilize the core skills needed for the success of the enterprise is less inspiring. If you and your stakeholders are committed to making your business the biggest success possible, outsourcing various operations, including bookkeeping, can help you achieve your goals and avoid wasting your valuable skills on peripheral tasks.
You want to maximize your ROI in Growth Investments. Production, sales, marketing, and other functions have high ROI potential. Back-office bookkeeping, accounting, and other financial department tasks do not. If you’re ready to start scaling your business, naturally, you need to allocate your valuable resources to opportunities for high return on investment. Back-office support is needed, but in many growing companies much of it can be outsourced for a more practical approach to operations and cost management.
Your bookkeeping technology is outmoded. When a growing business is already limited in cash flow, investing in upgraded bookkeeping software and other financial management technology is often unrealistic. An outsourced bookkeeping service brings state-of-the-art technology and the most advanced knowledge to the task. So, you can avoid all the time and money investment in researching and developing an equally efficient system.
AccouningDepartment.com, Your Leading U.S. Virtual Accounting Service
AccountingDepartment.com is a provider of outsourced bookkeeper, controller, and advisory services for small to medium-sized businesses. Our client accounting services offer your growing business all the advantages of having your own full-scope in-house accounting department without the hassle. For more information, reach out to AccountingDepartment.com today.
