A question to be answered by questions and bonus tips that you would not want to miss.
You are a business owner.
You started small but you dream big.
You have plans of scaling up in the future because your business is doing well.
You want to put on branches, expand the network, product, client base, etc.
But, do you know –
- how much is your net cash flow for last month, or last quarter or last year?
- how much are the sales that you made last month? Or any other period?
- what is your average profit margin year on year?
- how much withdrawal did you make from the business?
- how much do you pay for expenses and the cost of services?
- what goes to actual expenses and tax-deductible expenses?
- where your financial data and documents are?
Do you truly know your numbers?
These are just some of the questions that you have to answer as a business owner who wants to grow.
If your answers are mostly ‘NO’ to the questions above, do you think you can truly grow your business if you have no idea how much money is going in or out? And how much you are spending in each area or which revenue stream is giving you money?
Not to mention that you are required by law to keep accurate financial records to support filing your taxes each year.
Depending on your provider, or where you are as a business or the type of business you have, the accounting service may include but not be limited to the following:
FULL-SERVICE BOOKKEEPING
It’s just data entry, you say. Subscribe to cloud accounting/bookkeeping software, encode your expenses, sales, and voila, you are bookkeeping. You can DIY or hire a per-hour bookkeeper or data entry person for the lowest per hour rate to do the job. Well, her rate is the lowest so don’t expect a stellar performance.
I once tried repairing a new piece of clothing thinking that I have with me the tools to do it. Well, you can guess what happened. I haven’t thrown it away to remind me how stupid I was to think that I can do everything if I have the right tools.
You got my point, right? Doing something where you are not an expert to say so, may end up messing up the job big time and that would be costly in the long run.
Remember that bookkeeping is the foundation of accounting and you should not use them interchangeably.
ACCOUNTING SYSTEM SET-UP
Whether you are a start-up business or not, your accountant will set up the following for you to ensure smooth and time-saving bookkeeping, accounting, and worry-free tax filing.
- Inventory system set-up
- Inventory recording
- Invoice recording and management
- Expense management
- AR- Accounts Receivable management
- AP- Accounts Payable management
- General Ledger
- Subsidiary Ledger
- Fixed Asset Depreciation
- Amortization Set-up
- Sales Tax set-up
- Payroll
- Payroll Tax
And, there may be more.
APPS INTEGRATION TO ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE
Depending on the type of business you have and the accounting software you are using, your accountant will make sure that integration of other useful applications is done.
These integrations streamline the operations to make sure that your business is running smoothly.
CREDIT AND BANK RECONCILIATION
If you have a separate bank account and credit card solely for your business, your accountant/bookkeeper will make sure that your bank and book cash figures are balanced.
Depending on the accounting software you are using or will be using, bank and credit card statements can be uploaded to the system. Your accountant/bookkeeper can reconcile the data from within the software to balance your books and statements.
If you don’t have a separate bank account for your business, you may consider opening one. Although, this is not legally required the benefits will be tremendous especially with your cash flow management.
There is an article here that can help you decide whether you want to open a separate account or not.
COST ACCOUNTING
Cost accounting is important in budget preparation and profitability analysis that is being used by decision-makers to do the right thing for the business performance.
This also involves determining fixed and variable costs that are directly or indirectly related to the cost of the product produced or manufactured.
Another important matter in cost accounting is determining the break-even point where the expenses can be covered by sales. This is the starting point in calculating profit.
If your small business is producing or manufacturing, your accountant can surely assist you with cost accounting.
TAX ACCOUNTING
Tax accounting is different from financial accounting especially when it comes to expense recognition. The Tax Code governs the former while the latter is governed by generally accepted accounting principles and other pronouncements.
Expenses that go to your financials (public reports) that are justified may not be valid as tax-deductible expenses. Your accountant who may also be your bookkeeper and tax preparer is highly trained on these matters. They know what expenses are tax-deductible and what substantiation is required to be considered as a valid deduction from your gross income.
MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING
Your accountant can also assist in preparing financial reports that can be used by management in making better decisions regarding the company’s performance affecting plans for the future. These reports are only used internally by the business.
TAX PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION
Most business owner’s mistake in DIY bookkeeping is neglecting tax returns that may include the following categories: (If you are in the Philippines, you may refer to the list of forms here)
- Withholding Tax at source
- Monthly/Quarterly Sales Tax
- Final taxes
- Quarterly/Annual Income Tax Returns
- Others
If you are not filing these taxes or filing incorrectly and/or not doing it on time, it may cause you a lot of stress and money at the same time. Your business will pay the price for sure.
REGULATORY BODY REPORTING
Again, depending on the type of business you are in, there are other regulatory reporting requirements that you have to do. These reports are filed either monthly, quarterly, and annually. If not done correctly or on time, it will surely cause fines and penalties. Your accountant/ bookkeeper can also assist or do these reports for you.
CASH FLOW REPORT
Of all the financial reports, the Cashflow report is one of the most important and frequently used because it determines your cash position. Your accountant will have to provide you this report regularly since to better manage your finances, you have to keep your eye on this one.
As they say, revenue is vanity, profit is sanity but cash is king. Without the latter, you can not pay your bills, buy inventories, or acquire capital goods. Obviously, your net income can not do any of it for your business.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND REPORTING
Your accountant will generate financial reports to be used by management in decision-making and evaluating performance. These can be provided, quarterly, semi-annually, or will depend on the business needs. There are also types of financial reports that are required to be submitted to the revenue regulatory body.
TOOLS FOR BUSINESS INSIGHTS
There may also be tools integrated into your accounting software. Your accountant can help you interpret these data and analytics if needed.
BOOKS CLEAN-UP AND TROUBLESHOOTING
Your accountant/bookkeeper can also rescue your books from ruin if you have done it yourself without proper training and know-how. Also, catch-up accounting/bookkeeper is mostly the provider’s specialty. With the help of your provider, your books will be in good shape in no time.
MONTHLY AND YEARLY ADJUSTMENTS
Regardless, how meticulous your accountant/bookkeeper is, there will be a need for adjusting entries from time to time. Your accountant/bookkeeper reviews your books regularly. He/she makes adjusting entries to correctly reflect and accurately show your earnings, expenses, and other accounts.
BOOKS CLOSING
Closing of books does not only mean locking the transaction for a designated end of the accounting period.
After entries to the books of accounts, your accountant reviews transactions, double checks entries, and reconciles various accounts. This is to ensure that items were properly recorded and classified for the accuracy or fair presentation of financial reports.
RECORDKEEPING, DATA STORAGE, AND SUBSTANTIATION
Did you know that you have to save your data for at least 7 years? That is the rule of thumb, though. However, in the Philippines, data must be preserved for a period of 10 years as a general rule.
Data doesn’t only refer to bookkeeping entries, books of accounts, general ledgers, subsidiary ledgers, or financial reports. Additionally, it also pertains to media that supports these entries and reports.
The bookkeeping process was already transformed by cloud technology. Whatever your accountant/bookkeeper is using for their accounting software, you are assured that your data is properly managed, secured, and backed up. Proper record-keeping and data storage are things that should be given attention to to ensure that your bookkeeping system is at its best.
It is also important to note that your accountant can help you determine which media, receipts, or supporting documents are necessary to substantiate a transaction or entries to your books to be accepted as valid and/or tax-deductible items, to name a few.
AUDIT
Auditing of financial statements is crucial to ensure that the business presents its financial position fairly and timely following standards.
There are many types of audits and your provider can do an internal audit to make sure that users of data or reports (i.g management) are provided with reliable information. These can be used in decision-making or providing actionable items to improve accounting or internal controls.
Internal audits can be utilized before allowing external or government auditors to review financial statements.
CONSULTATION AND ADVISORY
Your accountant and/or bookkeeper always keep updated on what’s going on in the industry.
Certified Public Accountant (CPA), in the Philippines, for example, is required to take 120 units of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). This must be taken in a compliance period of 3 years through an accredited CPD provider. This is required to maintain accreditation with the Board of Accountancy. The CPD should include 18 units of taxation training to maintain accreditation with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Aside from this training, they have to get abreast of new regulations, pronouncements, memorandums, etc. This ensures that your accountant maintains and enhances his/her knowledge and skills that he/she needs to deliver professional services.
Who could be the best consultant/advisor for your business if he/she is all that?
And, the list goes on and on.
So, if you are serious about scaling up your business, do you think you can handle all these?
WHY OUTSOURCE?
If you outsource a full accounting service with the right provider, remember that YOU ARE NOT PAYING AN EMPLOYEE, YOU ARE PAYING FOR VALUE. As a result, there are no other costs related items such as benefits, insurance, paid leaves, holiday pay, bonuses, etc. Just pay the agreed professional fee and you’re on the right track.
The big PLUS is you would have a lot of time in your hands that you can use in growing your business.
BONUS TIP
When do you think you need to outsource your accounting/bookkeeping? Here are some signs (but there could be more)-
- Bookkeeping is eating up your time. You are scurrying your books to get balanced. The time you should better spend innovating or growing your business.
- Your books are behind and never updated. Thence, you neglected it for months or years because you can not keep up anymore. Just looking at it is giving you a headache.
- You can not sleep. Always thinking of what and how much data you should put into your tax returns. The same goes for your tax preparer. Tax time became a nightmare.
- You have this fear in the pit of your stomach that the government is going after you.
- Your cash flow does not give you the figures that you are expecting. It becomes very unpredictable.
- Your sales have gone up but cash is short because expenses have gone up too. And you don’t know where the money is going.
- You have a very exciting idea that you believe will bring your business to the next level. But you have no time to pursue it because you have to update your books of accounts.
- You can not comprehend the benefits of outsourcing full accounting services that I discussed above.
Does this sound like you? If your answer is ‘YES’ what course of action do you think you should do?
“AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE.”
Benjamin Franklin
Author.
Socorro L. Abadier is the founder of SGL Accounting and Business Solutions. Before establishing her practice, she worked as an Internal Auditor and Branch Manager at one of the major banks in the Philippines and as an External Auditor of one of the top 4 Accounting firms in the Philippines.