Tags: Bookkeeping, Outsourced Bookkeeping Services, Sarasota Tax Accountant, Sarasota Tax Problems, Virtual CFO Services
Do you know what to do when you achieve your financial goals?
For example, many people have a goal of making one million dollars. But what happens after that? Good bookkeeping can make all the difference in whether your finances grow or simply grow stagnant.
It’s possible to outsource your bookkeeping and never have to worry about your money again. How so? Keep reading to discover the answers!
Bookkeeping vs. Accounting
Our guide will help you discover what outsourced bookkeeping can do for you and your own business. First, though, we need to define what a bookkeeper does vs. what an accountant does.
Simply put, an accountant is paid to interpret your numbers and make recommendations about your finances. A bookkeeper, however, focuses primarily on recording different financial transactions and presenting them as needed.
You may already have an accountant you work with on your taxes. But what you may not already have is a good bookkeeper to record every transaction. And once you have those records in front of you, it is easier to make big changes to your business and to your finances.
For extra efficiency, consider outsourcing to a company that offers both bookkeeping and accounting services.
Time Is Money
One rookie mistake that most entrepreneurs make is assuming they can handle all of the bookkeeping responsibilities. While it is possible for you to do so, this action may actually hurt your business.
Why? Because “time is money” is very true for entrepreneurs. While nothing keeps you from devoting a few hours to bookkeeping every week, those hours add up. Eventually, you must think about all of the different and more productive activities you could have been doing instead of focusing on data entry week after week.
More Success, Less Free Time
For this next bit, we may be “preaching to the choir” for anyone who has made at least one million dollars. But here it is: more success often leads to less free time instead of more free time.
Many entrepreneurs imagine a future where they have “made it” and can kick back and relax. But that’s not really how it works. If your business is successful because of your vision and your hard work, then you must work that much harder to achieve even more success.
By outsourcing bookkeeping responsibilities, you get to have your cake and eat it, too. Specifically, you get all the benefits of professional bookkeeping without having to give up so much of your own time week after week.
Nurturing Relationships
Sometimes, it can be difficult to explain to non-entrepreneurs what you do all day. Why is your time so valuable, and how does this translate to a more profitable business?
It all comes down to two words: “nurturing relationships.” This ranges from training and encouraging your employees to maintaining positive relationships with product suppliers and customers.
On top of that, modern consumers respond positively to the “personal touch.” They like having a face they can associate with the name of the business.
Outsourcing bookkeeping can help you save countless hours each month. And you can devote that saved time to nurturing the different relationships that will keep your business successful and innovative.
Balancing Different Statements
What does a month in the life of a bookkeeper look like? Much of it comes down to generating, updating, and distributing special financial statements.
What kind of statements? At bare minimum, a good bookkeeper will prepare income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and statements of retained earnings.
Those four statements may not sound like much. However, studying them will give you a better idea about your financial health almost right away. And you can always take advantage of more bookkeeping services as needed.
Other Bookkeeping Responsibilities
With remote bookkeeping, you have many options. For example, you can stick with the most basic services. But you can also retain additional bookkeeper services that scale with your business.
Additional responsibilities include overhead and profitability analysis, payroll support, 12-month forecasting, and much more. In short, you can get as much or as little as you want to out of hiring a remote bookkeeper.
What most entrepreneurs end up doing is trying smaller remote bookkeeping packages and then working their way up. This helps you get whatever level of support you need without needlessly impacting your budget.
A Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Business
We have focused much on what bookkeepers can do for individual entrepreneurs. But it’s also important to know what a big help a good bookkeeper can be for your business.
Bookkeepers are great for helping you improve your budgeting. And better budgeting throughout the year may seriously help your business.
With a bookkeeper by your side, you don’t have to sweat so much as tax season draws near. And having all of your finances detailed from month to month will help you avoid an unwanted audit.
Ultimately, a bookkeeper helps you discover how the different seasons impact your business and what your exact KPIs should be. And this is utterly invaluable if you want to transform your business even further.
The Problem With Traditional Bookkeepers
Now you know more about how beneficial bookkeepers can be. At this point, you may be asking yourself: why should I go with a remote bookkeeper instead of a local one?
First of all, local bookkeepers may not have the experience and training necessary to help you and your business. With remote bookkeeping, you can find someone who is perfectly qualified to help you out.
Second, local bookkeepers may command too high of a price. Spending too much on bookkeeping defeats the purpose of saving you money. And it hurts your budget even more to put a bookkeeper on a full-time salary. With remote bookkeeping, you get the best prices without having to pay someone a regular salary and benefits.
Finally, local bookkeepers tend to do things the same way. But being successful means bringing in new ideas, and you can get plenty of innovative ideas and breakthroughs with remote bookkeeping.
What’s Next?
Now you know why bookkeeping is so important for entrepreneurs. But do you know where to find the remote bookkeeping you deserve?
Here at Sterling, we specialize in all things bookkeeping and accounting. To see what we can do for you and your business, contact us today!