As a business owner, the more attention you pay to managing your money, the more successful your company will be. While you may currently enjoy an abundant revenue stream because your revenues exceed your overheads, you won’t position your business for long-term success until you also master the art of managing your money.
One way to stay aware of the ebb and flow of money coming into your business and then going out again is through bookkeeping. Managing your money well is an aspect of your business that you can’t afford to neglect.
You can either hire a bookkeeper or just do all the work yourself. But it’s unnecessary to hire an in-house bookkeeper when you run a small business. It’s much more convenient and cost-effective to outsource your bookkeeping. As for doing the work yourself, it may sound good in theory, but it doesn’t work out in practices. It’s just not a good idea—for reasons that we’ll discuss in more depth.
So, should you outsource your accounting work, perhaps by using online bookkeeping services for your business? Absolutely! Here are 3 reasons why it’s a good idea.
1. You’ll be able to focus on building your business.
As a founder, many aspects of your business need your attention. You need to devote your time to planning, administering, marketing, selling, and funding projects, just to name a few things. Consequently, even if you’re thoroughly familiar with accounts payable, accounts receivable, and taxation, doing your own bookkeeping is not the best use of your time. It would be better to devote your time to daily operations.
One way to free up your time to building your business is to leave the daily, weekly, and monthly money management to professionals who have been certified in all aspects of bookkeeping. You won’t get in your own way by over-functioning, making expensive errors due to fatigue. You won’t miss paying bills or doing something else that could damage your business credit.
2. You won’t be working all the time.
Although you might be tempted to do your own bookkeeping by taking it home, reasoning that this strategy will still allow you to devote all your time in the office or store to managing urgent and important things, this is still not a good idea. It will disrupt your work-life balance.
Without balance, you’re likely to compromise your health and burn out. And without balance, you won’t have time at the end of the day or over the weekends for yourself or your family.
Additionally, it’s unlikely you’re enthusiastic about tallying up your numbers, checking discrepancies in your work, or writing checks to cover your bills. Still, many people who become bookkeepers find these very things enjoyable. They are motivated by an intrinsic interest in keeping everything orderly and perfectly balanced. You can set specific expectations for the bookkeeper you hire and they will be happy to work with you to the utmost of their abilities in order to keep your business’s finances on track.
All things considered, when you outsource your bookkeeping work, you won’t be working all the time.
3. You’ll keep your finances meticulously organized.
Imagine the following scenario:
You always pay all your bills on time. As a result, your credit score is never impacted by late payments. Since you have everything marked up on a calendar, you know exactly when to send in your money. Your proven system for handling will ensure that you’ll write checks or send online payments in a timely manner.
Your quarterly or annual tax filings are always accurate. You’re always on top of estimated tax payments, on top of corporate tax payments, and on top of 1099s for freelancers.
You always have positive cash flow, never negative cash flow. And you never forget to catch up on outstanding payments from your clients.
You never make mistakes in your bookkeeping because all the work is done with meticulous attention to detail, which includes double-checking all your entries and calculations.
If you’re taking care of your own books, it can be hard to manifest this ideal scenario. After all, your financial management is often interrupted by business trips, launching initiatives to move your business forward, and putting out daily fires. But by outsourcing all your bookkeeping, maintaining balanced books will be the new normal.
When you hire a good bookkeeper to help you with your business because of these three reasons, you’ll be able to manage your business and personal life much better.
