There are bookkeeping solutions, software like QuickBooks and Xero, tools like Excel spreadsheets, or even manila folders or shoeboxes to be revisited around tax time.
Then there are bookkeeping services, sometimes provided by a family member or friend or a paid bookkeeper – on staff or contracted – or even your CPA.
But then there’s the ultimate answer to all your bookkeeping burdens—a bookkeeping services solution that puts people first using cloud-based technology to minimize your business costs and maximize your business’s profit.
How? By combining the best of two worlds: a bookkeeping solution and bookkeeping services.
Here are three main reasons why you need a bookkeeping services solution:
The first reason you need a bookkeeping services solution: money.
Save and make money. Who doesn’t want that?
We understand that it sounds odd to equate spending money to saving money. And it probably sounds bizarre to say that spending money can make you money. And the statement remains true. Working with a professional bookkeeping services solution will undoubtedly save you money and ultimately help you make money.
There are costs to doing your books regardless of which service or solution you choose. We will “save” the cost comparison of different solutions for another post, but let’s explore this idea.
Do you struggle to get invoices sent in a timely manner? Do you have outstanding receivables? Do you end up paying late fees or penalties? How much time do you spend tracking expenses and receipts? And when was the last time you calculated your profit margins or raised your prices?
These things can result in a loss of revenue, a decline in your profitability, and uncertainty in your cash flow. Besides, unless you’re a bookkeeper you did not go into business to do bookkeeping or other tedious administrative tasks – all of which keep you from focusing on revenue-generating activities.
The second reason you need a bookkeeping services solution: time.
You can’t get your time back. Or can you?
Once time is gone, it’s gone forever. You can’t buy more time. And you can’t borrow time. Time is arguably a business owner’s most limited resource. How much value do you place on your time? What is your time worth? Have you ever sat down and calculated your own hourly rate?
Doing your books yourself may seem like it saves you money. But does it really? You are paying with your valuable time. Stop and think for a minute about how much time you spend doing your books. What could you be doing with all that time and freedom?
In effect, working with a bookkeeping services solution gives you back your time. Think of it this way: you are maximizing your time by not only having a trained professional do your books but also maximizing the value of your spend. How? We get you out from the back office and in front of your prospects and customers, freeing you to spend time working on the strategic growth of your business and maybe even finding some semblance of a work-life balance.
The third reason you need a bookkeeping services solution: growth.
Achieve strategic growth by making better financial decisions? Yes, please.
Hiring a bookkeeping services solution and getting your books in order will provide you with better financial oversight, income statements, balance sheets, profit/loss statements, and cash flow statements are only as good as the books. Getting your books in order and keeping them up-to-date will not only give you peace of mind, especially around tax time; it will also provide you with timely, accurate, and reliable financial data. Clean books, regular financial reports, and someone to help you understand the story those reports are telling you will help to make all kinds of decisions soundly. You can use this data to determine how much to re-invest in the company, how much to pay yourself (yes, you read that right), whether you have the financial capacity to scale up and hire new people, whether you should take on some liabilities, or whether you are in a good financial position to “exit.”
You could hire a bookkeeper (staff or outsourced), and he or she may do a splendid job keeping up with your general ledger/journal, but what about other value-added services? As a bookkeeping services solution, we go beyond the compliance-side of bookkeeping transactions. We help you pinpoint opportunities for minimizing costs and maximizing efficiencies; we help you understand your financial statements, your overall financial health, and, ultimately, maximize profit (and again, who doesn’t want that?!).
Your money, time, and strategic growth are all intertwined. You can’t have one without the other, and all of it is a matter of time. Contact us if you are interested in learning how we can become your trusted partner to minimize your costs, maximize your time and money, and help you strategically grow your business.