Accountants can save time and money

By SCORE
May 15, 2008

Computer software packages have made it easier for small business owners to monitor cash flow, prepare tax returns, and handle other financial reporting tasks. Still, keeping up with these chores as your business grows also consumes an increasingly large chunk of precious time, and risks potentially costly mistakes. That's why many entrepreneurs look to outside financial specialists for help.

Choosing the right type of tax, accounting, bookkeeping or other financial help is an important decision. An outside accountant can be one of your most trusted business advisors and a key to your success. Although some business owners work with large national firms, most prefer to work with small independent firms or solo accounting professionals.

Accounting services differ from bookkeeping services, however. An accounting firm prepares financial statements and tax returns based on the numbers that you give them via your own in-house books. Bookkeeping services, if offered, will be extra.

If you plan to hire your own bookkeeper, make sure the person you choose is qualified. One way is to use the "Bookkeepers Hiring Test" available free from the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers at their Web site, www.aipb.org.

Before selecting a certified public accountant or other financial pro, list the services you think you need, such as tax preparation, financial reports, balance sheets, invoicing, payroll services, general bookkeeping or someone to set up your books. Some firms may handle it all, or you may need to split the tasks. CPA Directory is a huge online listing of CPAs nationwide and can help you find an accountant in your area. The Web site also offers helpful advice on hiring and working effectively with a CPA. Visit www.cpadirectory.com.

And don't forget about Enrolled Agents (EAs), who are licensed by the Federal government to prepare tax returns. They have either worked for the IRS or have passed a rigorous IRS exam. EAs are savvy tax experts, but generally don't have the degrees of CPAs and tend to charge less. Visit the National Association of Enrolled Agents Web site at www.naea.org.

Source: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/BIZ/805150312

Advantages of outsourcing Accounting services

Ask any firm providing accounting services or tax preparation and they shall tell you about the benefits of outsourcing the jobs. The prime reasons behind bookkeeping firms preferring it this way are:

• Reduced labor costs

Since outsourcing involves the third world countries (chiefly, India and China where every dollar is multiplied several times in their currency), the amount to be paid to a couple of accountants in the first world country can remunerate a large team. These people are also very much proficient in their own fields; hence, it’s less for more.

• Payroll

Since the work is outsourced, the people doing them doesn’t require being on the payroll of the company that is outsourcing. This takes away the burden of granting employee benefits and the related legal responsibilities to the company.

• Lower fixed costs

A bigger benefit for the outsourcing bookkeeping firms comes in the form of cost advantages; it saves big time on the costs that would have been spent otherwise on the operations and the overheads. Investment on an infrastructure can thus be ruled out including buying the expensive software and the respective licenses, employee training and support; all these add up to big time financial benefits for the outsourcing accounting firms.

With all that understood, firms into accountancy need to find a service provider who is reliable and costs less. That way, Respond can help; with a roster that’s virtually endless and a customer base exceeding the three million mark, there is a service provider awaiting every accountancy firm of every budget and every type of accountancy related job; all that is required now are just a few clicks of the mouse.

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County to Take Over Bridge Commission Bookkeeping

accounts | 2 days 15 hours ago | Comments 0

By Susan Avedissian

CREST HAVEN — The county will be taking over the ledger work for the Cape May County Bridge Commission after an opinion from the auditing firm of Ford, Scott & Associates that commission’s accounting staff lacked the expertise to properly record activity in the general ledger.

The conclusion was one of three audit findings for the commission for audit years ending Sept. 30, 2007, and 2006.

The finding was not considered a “material weakness,” according to the report, which is defined as “a significant deficiency, or combination of significant deficiencies, that result in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the financial statements will not be prevented or detected by the entity’s internal control.”

Nor were they of such magnitude that they would “affect our ability to express an opinion on the financial statements taken as a whole,” according to the report.

The recommendation on the finding was that transactions be properly recorded in the general ledger and that activity be reconciled on a monthly basis.

“There are some troubling aspects to it (the audit) with the office management of it,” O’Connor told Commissioners Bill Henfey and Salvatore DeSimone April 10. Commissioner Phyllis Catanoso was absent.

He said he and Milton Nagel, commission purchasing agent and internal auditor, would be meeting with the auditors.

“They’re going to clean it up for now. Then I’m shifting the auditing work to the county, to the treasurer’s office.”

The treasurer, under an interlocal agreement with the county, will come in and do all the ledger work, and probably the voucher work, said O’Connor, with an attempt to shift full-time office staff to fill current vacancies in toll collector positions.

“On a number of items I’ve asked the treasurer to come in and whatever we can shift over there, we’re going to shift over there.
A couple of reasons: we have a lot of vacancies in tolls, I don’t want to hire any new people, we just can’t afford it. … Under the contract we are permitted to unilaterally move people from the office into tolls,” he said.

The second audit recommendations was concerning labeling of fixed assets — both physically on each piece of property, and also within the accounting system.

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Outsourcing bookkeeping helps business owners focus on job

By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- Ron Finklestein found a good reason for not compiling his business tax return: $1,600.

That's how much Finklestein says he would have overpaid the government if he had submitted a return he had completed as an experiment. When he ran it past his accountant, he discovered he hadn't claimed all the deductions to which he was entitled.

Many small-business owners try to compile their companies' returns, and they also try to keep the books, too. Many, like Finklestein, discover it's better to turn the financial part of the business over to someone with a head for finances -- the work will be done faster and better. Moreover, outsourcing finances allows owners to focus on building their companies.

Finklestein, an author and business consultant in Akron, Ohio, only recently handed over the task of keeping the company's books to his accountant, a step he needed to take to have a better handle on how the business was doing. He wasn't consistently updating the books, and so he didn't know what the state of his cash flow was. With his accountant in charge of his finances, he's able to make more informed decisions.

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Bookkeeping Rate - Know The Hidden Costs!

by Amitaabh Saboo

One of the most important factors that drive business owners to outsource bookkeeping is that it allows them to avoid costs and save money. Hiring full time employees will usually involve the cost of training, monthly salaries, payroll taxes, benefits, turnover etc. It also involves the costs of managing at least one more employee and providing office space, equipment, and supplies.
Business owners can avoid those costs by outsourcing bookkeeping which also allows them to ensure that their books are accurate and well-maintained. When tax season arrives, everything should run smoothly and accountants on hourly wages need not waste any time.

Outsourcing bookkeeping can save businesses a lot of money but only if they hire one that suits their budget. Numerous capable individuals and firms are currently available and, apart from qualifications and compatibility with the company, business owners must also carefully evaluate each service provider's bookkeeping rate. Depending on the level of experience and expertise, the regular bookkeeping rate ranges from $30 to $50 per hour. The total monthly cost of outsourcing bookkeeping will differ according to the amount of work that needs to be done and the number of hours required from the bookkeeper.

Nowadays, the most basic bookkeeping service often include recording all financial transactions, organizing income and expenditure into appropriate accounts, and preparing bank reconciliation and basic financial statements. This many also include the added benefits of having online access to your books, getting help when it comes to cost control, and receiving end-of-the-year statements to prepare your books for an accountant. This basic set of services can make the hourly bookkeeping rate add up anywhere from $250 to $500 per month.

Some businesses often require more from their bookkeepers than the basic services. For this reason, some bookkeepers can expand their services to include preparing reports, payables and receivables, administering payroll, and providing advice when it comes to cash management. When these services are included, the bookkeeping rate can easily add up to $500 per month and even more.

There are also businesses that require much more from their bookkeepers. Sometimes, mostly for larger corporations, custom-made reports are needed. If services are expanded further to include these and much more, the bookkeeping rate can add up to $750 per month.

The costs of outsourcing bookkeeping services generally depend on how much work is required because the usual bookkeeping rate is pretty much standard. Although monthly totals seem to be very high, these costs will not compare to how much a company would spend on hiring a regular, full time bookkeeper.

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Who’s Watching YOUR Money? 7 Tips for Hiring the Right Bookkeeper

While I’m a strong advocate of hiring virtual assistants, there are two things that no entrepreneur should ever fully delegate: marketing and bookkeeping. The marketing and the bookkeeping of your business can easily make or break you (just think “new” Coke and Enron). That said, if bookkeeping is not your forte, hire someone to do it - you will save so much in frustration - just be sure to keep your fingers in the books.

If you choose to hire a bookkeeper, keep the following in mind:

1. Get QuickBooks.

For ease of use, I highly recommend using QuickBooks and hiring a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. QuickBooks ProAdvisors have taken certification exams to insure that they know the system. I have used QuickBooks both for myself and my clients since 1996 and highly recommend it for its ease of use/understanding.

The online version is great in that you can see the latest version of your books at any time and eliminate the annoyance of emailing files back and forth and wondering who has the latest version.

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The elements of success

By Ray Weikal

Thursday, March 6, 2008 1:19 AM CST

Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods students recently got to sample some of the ingredients needed to go far with a small business.

A half-dozen local entrepreneurship experts led a panel discussion titled “Six Slices of a Successful Business” on Feb. 26 at the Student Center on the Northland campus. Touching on topics such as legal, bookkeeping, financing, marketing and human resources, the presentation was designed to cover most of the basics for a packed room composed mostly of students in the school’s business program.

The event was held in conjunction with National Entrepreneurship Week, Feb. 23 to March 1, according to business faculty member Jim Moes.

“Our desire is to foster and promote entrepreneurship across this campus and across the nation,” said Moes, who also owns a travel company.

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