Contrary to the belief that hiring interns is just for the Fortune 5000 companies, small- and medium-scale businesses can actually do so, too. However, it might take some really good PR and offerings of top-notch training packages to lure the best of the best of the class, especially if your company is just starting to build its name in the industry. Nevertheless, hiring accounting interns is a good move for your small business and here are some of the reasons why:
1. Interns can be hired with little expenditure by the company
Investing in seasoned, qualified professionals is critical for the success of SMBs--but not every task or function needs to be managed by a costly professional. Instead, SMBs can benefit from using low cost interns to manage some of the more routine functions--functions that don't require years of experience but skills that interns would gladly hone to put on their resume. For example, you may not want to have an intern keeping your books, but you may very well choose have them interface with your bookkeeping service to help retrieve data and manage internal processes.
Companies can not only avoid the costs of salaries and benefits by using interns, they can often reduce hiring costs because colleges and job placement programs will do most of the heavy-lifting for their students and members. Training and any stipends will be often be the only costs associated with hiring interns--a fair price to help small businesses get things done.
2. Interns can bring a fresh perspective into your business
These young, talented individuals are very enthusiastic to learn, give new ideas, and have no preconceived notions about your industry. These are the reasons why they can give fresh, innovative, and (hopefully) useful ideas. Just like your company, interns are starting small, but have all the potential to become one of the big players. So do not underestimate what they can offer to your company. Who knows, they might have the next big idea for your business. Just don’t forget to credit them if they have done a good job and encourage them to offer new ideas--interns should not be afraid to fail in order to succeed.
3. Interns are (often) really good with technology and new media
Some companies with relatively older employees working for them have a hard time training them to be assimilated with the latest technological trends that might be useful for the company’s growth. This is where the interns can come in. They could fill the technological gaps that the business needs in order to get to the last push of advancement in the industry. The interns may also teach the older employees what they know about modern computing techniques (e.g., new accounting software like QuickBooks, TSheets, etc.) that could widely improve the whole company’s productivity. Interns not only often naturally speak the language and can intuitively learn many program functions, they are also motivated to learn specific new programs to support their resumes and skill sets.
Not sure whether to outsource your bookkeeping or keep it in house? We can help you figure out what to hire an in-house professional for, what to use an intern for and what to hire an outsourced bookkeeping company for.
