Posts tagged ‘accounting services’

Outsourcing accounting services has long remained a privilege reserved only for larger corporations. But now, the affordability and cost effectiveness of using outsourced accounting services is attracting small businesses as well. Small businesses normally have a lot of functions and very less resources for completing them. Using expert bookkeeping and accounting service providers for outsourcing accounting functions save small businesses a lot of resources, which can then be utilized somewhere else within the business.

But the main query a small business entrepreneur will have is this: Is outsourcing accounting services really worth it for my small business? The answer to this is complicated and requires evaluating the pros and cons of using a firm for financial functions of the business.

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Dr. Duncan gets in his office and checks his email for a status update from his bookkeeper Kathy. An email from Kathy has an attached statement generated using QuickBooks which includes invoices waiting for Dr. Duncan’s approval and hours to be billed to his clients for services. Dr. Duncan contacts Kathy over instant messenger and tells her to (a) pay the invoices, and (b) send bills for services clients. Kathy immediately acknowledges and goes on to pay off invoices using Dr. Duncan’s online Bill Pay system. She then emails and faxes bills for services provided to clients.

Who exactly is Kathy and where is she located? Kathy is a virtual assistant – virtual bookkeeper to be specific – working from India for Maxim Liberty, Inc. which provides online bookkeeping services for various clients in the USA. As Ms. Prabhukumar, President of Maxim Liberty, Inc. remarked, “We are our client’s best kept secret. Every firm has tasks that can be handled via virtual assistants. And, if these tasks can be done better than on-site bookkeepers at a fraction of the cost, the explosive growth of our bookkeeping services shouldn’t be surprise. Since our virtual assistants work with various businesses and specialize on a specific process or task such as bookkeeping or word processing, they can draw upon best practices of operating a small business.”

Online virtual assistant and bookkeeping services are an outsourcing strategy that can be used to gain competitive advantage. As a result, they have shot to prominence and firms of various sizes are utilizing them. The recession has made businesses more prudent about how they spend their operating budgets making virtual assistants a hot commodity.

Continue reading ‘Bookkeeping Services and Virtual Assistants – Use them to gain competitive advantage’ »

Online bookkeeping services and virtual assistants are an outsourcing strategy that can be used to gain competitive advantage. As a result, they have shot to prominence and firms of various sizes are utilizing them. The most recent recession has made businesses more prudent about how they spend their operating budgets making virtual assistants a hot commodity.

How exactly does using an online bookkeeping service help crush the competition? Paying as low as $5 per hour for online bookkeeping services vs. the typical $30,000 for an in-house bookkeeper yields tremendous cost savings for a small business. A small business owner can use the money saved to (a) beat the competition with lower prices for products and services, (b) invest in additional advertising to outgrow the competition, and (c) prepare better strategic plans.

Continue reading ‘Outsource bookkeeping services to crush your competition?’ »

When you think about preparing and filing taxes, you have two choices at hand,
1. Do it yourself
2. Hire professionals to do the job
Now, conservative business owners will opt for the first choice, probably because they are low on budget. But in reality, they are low in their minds. However, making the second choice is what every sane and smart business owner would do.
Ask why? It’s simply because during tax preparation you want to ensure that your taxes are filed accurately and on time. This is the reason why so many intelligent business individuals choose to seek an accountant or tax specialist for their tax services. They want be convinced and secure that all their tax returns have been prepared appropriately.
However small or big a business owner you may be, consulting professionals for help should not humiliate you. Because the fact is that your business requires your full focus and attention to prosper and survive. In these conditions, taking care of taxes may not be ideal as you may wind up losing both your tax accounting services and business productivity. So make the right choice and leave the additional burden of tax preparation to others.
Financial projections for your business are a task you can’t do alone, so involving professional into the picture would be very helpful. Although you can’t always expect the professional to forecast possible tax preparing changes in future as well as predict the tax trends, but you sure can get some strong advices from these professionals concerning your taxes and tax situation for long-term.
Moreover, knowing the prevalent tax laws by IRS is your responsibility and no excuse would be accepted by the authorities in case of errors. So if you want to escape the clutches of any legal penalties, hire a tax professional and don’t try self-taxing! A tax professional may not only save you from facing penalties and possible charges of fraud, but may also be helpful in presenting your case before the IRS if you’ve made any mistake while trying to do your taxes yourself.
Now that you know how important it is for you to hire the right tax specialist for the job, make sure you have already determined the areas you need help with. This will save both your time and money while preparing taxes. Also ensure that your tax professional has prior experience of handling taxes related to businesses of your nature. Ask them questions concerning their relevant industry experience, tax audit experience, previous and existing clients and more stuff like this. All these steps will ensure that your business is in just the right hands!

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