Accounting isn’t just an annual task for small business owners as tax time approaches. Neither is it a quarterly, monthly, or even weekly task.
Accounting and bookkeeping occur daily, as any business can attest to.
With everything else that goes into running your small business, it’s no wonder many business owners seek help from accountants. Accountants offer several vital services you’d be wise to opt-in for. Keep reading to see what you could benefit from.
What Services Do Accountants Offer Small Businesses?
CPAs (certified public accountants) can contract their expertise to individuals and businesses. If you decide to hire an accountant to handle your small business’s bookkeeping and financial needs, there’s no reason you can’t also have them look at your personal finances.
But when it comes to what services CPAs can offer small businesses, the list is comprehensive.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is the nitty gritty daily work that all small business owners need to stay on top of. But many let it slip. Think of all the transactions, invoices, expenses, receipts, and balances on your desk weekly. In an ideal world, you’d devote a few hours each day to bookkeeping, but there are often too many other tasks demanding your attention.
Bookkeeping is the most basic job accountants are trained to perform. Once you have a record of every financial transaction that made up the fiscal year for your small business, tax season becomes a whole lot easier. Given reporting that showed that 1 in 5 business owners don’t even know their tax rate, you should stay on top of your finances.
Payroll
Just because a business is small doesn’t mean it’s a one-person band. Small companies often have many employees, and managing payroll can quickly become a huge undertaking. And no employee will hang around a business with shoddy payroll habits.
Though most employees leave their jobs because they feel they’re being underpaid, a decent amount also leaves because they aren’t being paid promptly.
Unfortunately, payroll will always be a complex and challenging task regardless of the size of your small business. Most businesses employ a mix of salaried and hourly employees, add on to that a mix of part-time, full-time, and contract employees, and add on to the fact that everyone’s on a different pay scale. A trained and certified accountant can help you execute weekly payroll to ensure your employees are happily and properly compensated.
Cash Flow Management
One aspect of an accountant’s essential bookkeeping duties is managing your small business’s cash flow. It’s a timeless truism that you have to spend money to make money. But you can only spend money if you know how much you have.
There’s a lot to keep track of between regular monthly expenses, unexpected purchases, say, if equipment breaks, fluctuating sales, and the topsy-turvy economy. A CPA can not only input all your expenses on an easy-to-read graph but also break down your weekly, monthly, and annual spending habits to show you where money is and is not being well spent.
Accounts Payable
Beyond the doling out of your hard-earned cash on payroll, there are all the services you contract out to other businesses, small and large. There’s your plumbing, electricity, heat and AC, water, vendors for various products, delivery services, and more.
Accounts payable refers to your various open accounts with all these different businesses and vendors. No doubt they’ll send for your payment if they don’t receive it promptly. But don’t let it get there. You don’t want to earn a reputation for being a late payer who needs to be hassled to close your accounts. Keeping a reliable CPA on your side will ensure you never have to worry about tarnishing a relationship with a client or vendor again.
Accounts Receivable
Accounts receivable refers to all the money owed to you for goods and services your business has rendered.
You’d think you could automatically remember who needs to pay you for what and by what date. But it’s extraordinarily easy to forget where money is coming to you and on what timetable. And if you can’t keep track, how can you send late payment notices?
A CPA can manage your accounts payable and receivable with ease.
Monthly Financial Reporting
The fantastic thing about having a trained and certified public accountant on your payroll is all the benefits you enjoy once your finances are in order. CPAs are often asked to generate monthly financial reports, so that small business owners always know where they stand financially.
Can you afford the down payment on that rental property? Do you have to lay off ¼ of your staff? Monthly financial reports will give you the clarity you to individualsneed to make these serious decisions.
Does Your Small Business Need Accounting Help? Give Us a Call
If you own a small business in Michigan and want to get your financials in order, get in touch with MI Tax CPA. Whether you own cannabis, medical, dental, construction, or another type of small business, MI Tax CPA covers you in business tax prep, IRS representation, payroll, and more.
