From health care regulations to international customers, today’s global economy is exceedingly complex, especially for small business owners with fast-growing organizations. Small-to-mid-size businesses with annual revenue between $2 and $25 million face particular challenges when it comes to bookkeeping and accounting. Fortunately, a virtual accounting service can help.
They may not have enough work to keep a full-time bookkeeper busy for 40 hours a week, but they need more than sporadic bookkeeping provided by another employee in the office. They can’t afford to have out-of-date books, but it doesn’t make sense to hire, train and manage a full in-house accounting department, either.
For many of these business owners, virtual accounting is the answer. Let’s look at some ways virtual accounting serves businesses in today’s complex economy.
1. A virtual accounting professional understands the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
Fast-growing businesses often discover a need to switch from the simple “cash basis” accounting to accrual accounting. Accrual accounting is the only form of accounted recognized in the GAAP standards, and also leads to more accurate financial forecasting and financial assessments, which can help your company continue on its path of growth.
2. As GAAP standards and the International Financial Reporting Standards converge, a well-trained virtual accountant stays on top of these changes.
In today’s ever-changing global economy, accounting is changing, too. As the International Financial Reporting Standards and the United States’ GAAP standards converge, certain details of GAAP have changed. This doesn’t affect privately-held companies directly, except that any change in standards will change the way any company using GAAP compliant accounting handles certain bookkeeping matters. Today’s accounting professionals must stay up to date on these changes in order to provide the best service to their clients.
3. A virtual accounting service can improve your organization’s profitability with accurate job costing.
Job costing is an area that directly affects many privately held companies. Business owners reveal that they are losing untold dollars due to inaccurate job costing. With today’s technology, combined with our expertise in the field, an experienced virtual accounting service can help.
4. Navigating your business toward success in today’s complex economy requires up-to-date accounting information, which your virtual accounting service provides.
If you’ve been using an in-house bookkeeper or have another employee maintaining your bookkeeping records, you could be missing out on an important keystone to success: timely and accurate financial data.
A virtual accounting service leverages technology to provide up-to-date and accurate financial data, accessed through the cloud, so all the information you need about your company is always at your fingertips.
4.5. Your virtual accounting firm provides a financial controller who can help you with financial forecasting for future success.
It’s good to have your company’s financial data instantly available. But what’s even better is having a professional who can explain exactly what your financial statements mean, sharing the stories behind the numbers. From there, you can find out where your company is likely heading, and how you can get it where you want it to be.
A virtual accountant and financial controller provide you with the actionable insight you need for success in a complex, ever-changing economy.
