Are you thinking about hiring a virtual CPA or an online accounting service to help take your business to the next level?
Here are a few secrets we’d like you to know. Sit back, as you get to read on and peer into the mind of a virtual CPA and read five secrets you may not know about a virtual accountant.
1. Being a virtual CPA requires more than just bookkeeping and accounting knowledge; a virtual CPA must be an expert in business technology.
It takes special knowledge to leverage QuickBooks bookkeeping software, and all the business apps that integrate with QuickBooks, to help a business owner better manage their company. That’s why all our virtual accountants and bookkeepers are QuickBooks-certified within six months of joining the company.
Understanding the software to generate the financial reports business owners need is just the first step to successful accounting.
2. It takes a certain type of person to be a virtual accountant.
Trustworthy. Intelligent. Self-disciplined. These are just a few of the traits we require in our virtual CPAs. Not everyone can sit in their home office for eight hours a day, staring at three monitors, and interacting primarily through email or Messenger. But this lifestyle works for our employees, and their work environment helps them to be more productive, which means they deliver greater value to our clients. We even encourage them to work in their slippers, sometimes, as long as they are at their desk and getting the work done.
3. A high-quality virtual CPA is selective about their clientele.
Not everyone can work from home in a productive way and thrive, and not every business owner is comfortable having an online accountant they will never meet. If a handshake and a cup of coffee is necessary for you to forge a relationship with your accountant, there are plenty of local firms that may work for you.
There are also business owners who believe their accounting department should be under their thumb and under their roof. Virtual accounting is not for these people either.
But if you are comfortable with technology, recognize the benefits of cloud computing to save money and reduce IT infrastructure, and want the convenience of having your financial data at your fingertips 24/7, a virtual CPA is probably the right choice.
4.A virtual accountant loves people, technology and numbers, in no particular order.
Contrary to popular belief, a virtual accountant is not just a boring “numbers” person. We already discussed how a virtual CPA needs a passion for technology, to understand the software apps to maximize their capabilities. But a virtual CPA is also a “people-person” and a trusted business advisor.
Your virtual CPA should be able to help you analyze financial statements, and explain what the numbers in those statements mean in plain English, and then deliver actionable insights based on those numbers. A virtual CPA has extensive business knowledge, and the ability to share that knowledge with people in a way that exudes authority but also respects that the business owner has final say in every financial decision for the company.
5.Your virtual CPA will take care of your business as if it’s their own, but recognizes that it’s not.
Your virtual CPA, who acts as a financial controller for your growing business, understands that you may not always see eye-to-eye. The financial controller will provide financial forecasts and financial analysis, and will always act in the best interests of your company.
But, when it comes down to it, you are the one steering the ship. Your virtual CPA is a trusted co-pilot whose job it is to give you greater financial control of your business.
