As a small business owner, you may currently be handling the finances of your company on your own, or having your office manager take care of it. There are great accounting software programs that help small businesses with small financial tasks, such as Quickbooks, Quicken, or Freshbook, for instance.
However, especially at tax time, having an accounting professional take care of your finances takes SO much weight off of you, and frees up time to build your business. Another great aspect of having a professional, qualified accountant on your team is that you will feel like you have bought an insurance policy against faulty or ineffective financial management of your business. You will rest well knowing you have a pro handling things in the most effective and legally correct way.
If you are just starting out, an accountant can help guide you in decision making when your personal finances are tied to your business. He/She can also advise you on important aspects of setting up your business, such as whether to create an LLC or other type of corporation to take the most advantage of tax breaks and future financial issues.
If you are already in business, a professional accountant can handle all tax preparation, advise you on financial growth and investment, create financial reports for possible investors, budget planning, give advice on regulations and laws, write new business plans, and the list goes on. Having an accountant on board means you are freeing up your time and the time of your office people to work on other tasks that will grow your business evermore.
If you feel your business is not quite ready for a full-time accountant, it is very common for accountants to freelance and only work for their clients during the tax season or other busy periods the business encounters.
Or it could be that you are ready to actually create your own in-house accounting and financial team to enhance your business. If this is where you are in your small business journey, and you want to make sure you hire and retain the best people, download this free report from Robert Half, one of FORTUNE® magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies." The report is called The People Puzzle: Building and Retaining a Talented Accounting and Finance Team. Robert Half and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) surveyed accounting and finance staff to learn what motivates them in the workplace. The survey results provide essential insights into what factors make employees want to build a career with a company.
The bottom line is that an accredited accounting expert--whether you hire a firm to handle your finances, a freelancer to do it part-time or even create your own in-house accounting team--will be able to manage your company's finances far more efficiently and profitably than you could ever do it yourself.
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