Your company is growing and you’ve discovered it’s time to find an accountant. Your administrative assistant or office manager now has too many other duties in your rapidly growing business, and you notice bookkeeping isn’t being kept up to date the way they should be.
How do you find an accountant that provides accounting services for small business? How do you know you’re making the right choice? And what should you look for in a bookkeeper or accountant?
The First Step Before You Find an Accountant
When you’re getting ready to find an accountant, you might begin the same way you find any other service providers: through a Google search. Stop just a moment, though.
Bookkeeping and accounting services for small business can get confusing. There are many terms, such as bookkeeper, accountant, CPA, CFO, financial controller and accountant consultant, that you may not understand.
Before you try to find an accountant and then discover you hired the wrong individual, someone who does not provide the accounting services you need, it’s important to evaluate your accounting needs.
Start with a Plan
Just as you didn’t launch your business until you had a solid plan (you did start with a business plan, right?), and you create a strategic marketing plan before you launch any campaigns, you’ll want to create a broad plan for the accountant you’ll hire.
Consider Your Accounting and Bookkeeping Needs
Do you require daily, weekly or monthly accounting services? Do you need someone to assist with payroll and timesheets, as well?
Will it be enough to have someone who merely keeps your books up to date, or do you want a financial counselor who can help you analyze the financial statements, generate financial forecasts and help you make the right decisions for your business based on the information you find in the financial reports? How many hours a week do you think you’ll require accounting services?
When they add it all up, many business owners realize they have overestimated their bookkeeping needs but underestimated the financial controllership services they could use. That is, they realize they don’t need to hire a full-time, in-house bookkeeper to maintain their books and provide financial statements; bookkeeping really only takes up a small portion of the accounting department’s time.
They realize that if they hire an in-house bookkeeper, they might be looking for other administrative tasks to fill this individual’s time. But what most business owners really need is a part-time financial controller to help analyze the data in financial statements and offer straightforward business and financial advice based on years of experience working with companies of a similar size.
The Next Step: Find an Accountant to Help You Grow Your Business
Now that you’ve gained some clarity on your real bookkeeping and accounting needs, you may have realized that outsourced accounting services for small business will fit your requirements and your budget. It’s time to begin your search for an accountant. It just so happens you’ve come to the right place, because AccountingDepartment.com specializes in bookkeeping and accounting services for businesses just like yours.
To learn more about finding the right accounting service for your business, click the button below to schedule a free, 30-minute consultation to speak with one of our accounting experts.
