Top 5 Reasons to Engage a Part Time Controller or Accountant

If we had to make an educated guess, we’d say you likely have a lot of tasks on your plate, and your accounting probably sits low on your “love list”. How did we do?

Accounting is time-consuming, tedious, and can be complicated. It’s not on many people’s list of favorite things. It’s certainly not where most entrepreneurs prefer to dedicate their time when priorities like customer relationships, operations, and logistics demand attention.

Still, whether to outsource accounting is a decision not to be taken lightly, so let’s look at the 5 top reasons small business owners like you are choosing to outsource accounting.

Top 5 Reasons to Engage a Part Time Controller or Accountant

1. Your Business is Growing

You can handle your finances now. You’re small scale and just need a few spreadsheets. It’s fairly easy to keep track of expenses because they’re predictable, and you don’t have that many. But something’s changing as you grow. It’s getting more challenging to keep everything straight or find the time to sit down with receipts and a calculator.

As you grow, you make more money, but you also face higher demands. Your payroll is growing too, and an increasing number of employees, vendors, and customers are counting on you to make smart business decisions and keep this ship moving in the right direction.

All of this means you have more to manage, but you can’t afford to let your accounting fall behind because you need those up-to-date figures to make informed decisions.

Outsourced accountants keep track of your numbers and offer sound advice, so you understand the next steps in growth.

2. You Need a Stronger Business Strategy

66% of small businesses say they have trouble with finances. They say their number one issue is maximizing cash flow.

86% of small businesses would struggle to maintain current operations if they lost just two months of revenue.

This house of cards business model leads to many small business failures, but when you strengthen your business strategy, you can improve cash flow and weather shifting markets, economics, and natural disasters. You can take calculated risks to grow your company.

Business strategies are key to a successful business. When you don’t have them, you make decisions on a whim or limited information at great risk. As you grow, so should your business strategy. If a business isn’t growing and looking toward the future, it will fall behind its competitors.

Financial statements may look like a bunch of numbers to the untrained eye. But to an accountant, they tell a story of where your business has been, how it’s doing, where it’s going, and what you do to influence that trajectory.

When you understand the numbers, you can set more meaningful goals so you have a foundation to refer back to and can push your company to its full potential.

3. Your Systems and Processes Will Improve

With a strong business strategy will come better systems and processes. A closer look at your numbers can help you spot overspending, waste, poor productivity, quality issues, and even careless errors (or fraud) that are costing you money.

Accountants will work with you to create systems that work best for your business, such as:

• Customized reporting
• Tracking
• Payroll
• Industry and financial compliance
• Timely reconciliations
• Accounts payable
• Avoiding tax or other penalties
• Accounting automation
• Pricing analysis and strategies
• Aligning business goals with financials to streamline and grow
• Budgets vs. Actual

Better systems lead to a more financially healthy business.

4. You’ll Save Time and Money

Accounting will be their job, not yours. That’s not to say you won’t look at or engage with your financials. But accounting professionals can analyze, summarize, and deliver information to you in the most useful form.

Spend more time doing what you do best, running your business. And the best part is you don’t have to pay for an in-house accountant. Outsourcing is typically cheaper. You do not have to pay for someone full-time or manage benefits. You only pay for what you need.

How does outsourcing accounting save you time? It allows you to:

• Focus on other areas of business so they perform better with fewer errors and fires to put out
• Work with someone who knows their industry intimately and gains the same in-depth knowledge of your business to advise you, for swift, agile, and confident decision-making
• Reduce risks as you experience fewer “wrong turns” that end up wasting your time and money
• Speed up revenue generation with the right people, technology, business, goals, and strategies

5. You’ll Have a Trusted Financial Partner

Their only job is to manage your finances. They’re not being pulled in a million directions, putting out fires, or trying to juggle several priorities. This leads to accuracy and efficiency. You can trust there will be no costly mistakes. Accounting professionals have safeguards in place on top of learning to check, double-check, reconcile, and re-check everything.

If you have questions, they are there with answers, and their in-depth knowledge of your financials makes them the ideal person with whom to discuss important business decisions and how to adapt in competitive industries. Gain control of your business and its direction by working with a trusted accounting partner.

Would you like to learn more about the value that outsourcing accounting delivers to growing businesses? Turn to New Economy. We will manage your finances to run your business. Learn more about turn-key accounting services for entrepreneurs.