If you’ve been running your own business for awhile, you’ve seen and experienced many of its challenges and obstacles. Being a business owner is not like being an employee because you’re the “everything person.” If you don’t have employees, then you’re the administrative assistant, marketer, salesperson, chief of R&D, purchasing agent, IT person, strategist, auditor, and bookkeeper, among other things. Even if you do have employees, chances are still high that you’re wearing multiple “hats.”.
Is it time to do some outsourcing? We won’t speak to all of the “hats” you might be wearing, but we can certainly help guide you towards making a decision of whether to outsource your accounting and bookkeeping.
Time and Money
Like all outsourcing decisions, this one comes down to time and money. Do you have enough time to properly care for your books without feeling burned-out? If not, then outsourcing is probably the right choice for you.
If you do have enough time to give your books the attention they require, then it becomes a question of whether it’s worth your time. Think about this for a moment: how much time do you spend doing your books every month? Now think about how much more revenue you could earn in that same amount of time if you were doing the very thing you’re good at (be it therapy, consulting, production, or perhaps just spending more time helping your employees to excel).
We’ll speak to 99% of the audience and say that you probably don’t craft your own shoes (if you do, let us know!). There’s a decent chance that you don’t cut your own hair, and maybe you entrust your morning coffee to a local barista. If you outsource these tasks, it’s likely because of comparative advantage — whether or not someone else can do the job better than you, the truth is that doing these tasks is simply not worth your time and money, otherwise you’d be doing them yourself.
Getting a Bit More Specific
We’ve made the argument for outsourcing things in general, but why would you specifically want to outsource your accounting?
Have you ever tried to Google the answer to a Washington Business & Occupation tax question or find out whether to capitalize an expense? The answers are out there, but sometimes they may seem unclear and complex. If anything, it seems like there’s too much information on the Internet, to the point where some of it might be conflicting.
Perhaps you’re not even sure which questions you should be asking. As they say in legal circles, ignorance of the law excuses no one. Government agencies have no obligation to waive fees and penalties just because you were unaware of a tax you were supposed to pay. To be sure, they sometimes have the power to charge steeper penalties if you knowingly fail to pay a tax.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to just ask somebody for the answer to your burning tax and bookkeeping questions? Even better, what if this person took it upon themselves to remind you when a local tax is coming up, so that you have time to gather your documents and set aside some money for payment?
The ultimate option is to not have to worry about it at all and instead put it on someone else’s plate. For example, even minimal bookkeeping can be time-consuming, but it really is the minimum you should be keeping up with. If you can’t keep up with it, it is probably time to outsource it.
Of course, we wouldn’t ask those questions and leave you hanging. Contact us today to see if we are the right fit and we can set you up for a support package that includes on-going state and local tax support, bookkeeping support, and payroll support if you need it.
TL;DR: Chances are that you outsource many things in your life already — why not outsource your accounting as well? Even if you are perfectly capable of keeping your books in top shape, there’s a good chance your time would be better spent seeking revenue or performing one of the many other urgent tasks required of a business owner. Contact us today!
