Most of the entrepreneurs and small businesses have a lot of tasks to manage on their own. With the pressure of constant growth and increasing competition, sometimes it becomes really difficult for employees to focus on their core job and that’s where the downfall comes. That’s why most of the entrepreneurs and small businesses hire an accounting firm for managing their financial tasks so that in addition to expert service and reduced cost, employees will also be able to focus on their core job rather than giving time to the backend and administrative tasks.
Nowadays, outsourcing has become one of the most common tools for especially small and medium sized businesses and if you are running a small business then you need to ensure that you are outsourcing some of the most important parts of your business and accounting is one of them. You should know that there are many accounting firms out there that are going to act as an extended part of your organization and this is one of the main reasons why you need to be aware of everything about the accounting firm you are choosing.
Accounting firms offer different types of financial solutions for businesses and individuals, which ranges from simple bookkeeping to tax filing. There are different types of accounting firms available in the market and choosing from the available types of accounting firms depends on the nature of your business and its needs. So let’s look at the different types of accounting firms and what services these firms offer.
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Bookkeeping
These firms provide the most fundamental accounting tasks which are ideal for small businesses. It involves the day to day accounting tasks like accounts payable, bank reconciliation, payroll, accounts receivable, financial statement preparation, etc. These firms are small companies with few employees.
They use advanced accounting technologies like QuickBooks Hosting for accurate and quick accounting. There are also some additional services offered by bookkeeping firms like tax preparation, loan package preparation, etc. They also allow you to implement your own accounting system through which you will be able to track your expenses, revenues, locate trends and monitor budget items. These firms are generally used by smaller companies, and they act as an accounting department for their clients.
This simply means that if you are looking forward to only bookkeeping services then you will have to choose a basic accounting firm as almost all the accounting firms out there provide at least bookkeeping services. But again, you will have to analyze the accounting firm on different parameters and only then you should choose the accounting firm.
Tax
Tax firms are specialized in tax preparation and planning. Their service is used by companies of all sizes and by individuals also. Their tax planning involves minimizing your tax liability and burden while leading you towards a seamless tax filing. They are mostly updated with the new tax reforms made by the International Revenue Code for companies and individuals. The services of these firms range from high-income tax preparation to real estate taxes. Many big tax firms have a separate division for handling different types of taxes.
If you are running a small or medium sized business then you must be already bogged down with too much work but this doesn’t mean that you should add tax filing in those lists of work as well. We are living in the era of outsourcing and this is the main reason why you need to choose an accounting firm that uses advanced solutions like QuickBooks Premier hosting and provides tax services as well.
Audit
The main purpose of Audit firms is to audit the financial statement of your business and then give their opinion on it. You can consider the audit as an investigation to ensure that all your financial statements and records match your current business status. An audit is performed in various different areas like operational, information technology, compliance issues and financial. An annual audit is necessary for all the private and public companies in most of the places. Just like the tax firm, an audit firm can also be divided into several categories where each firm performs an audit for a particular type of business or audit.
This is one of the most highlighted types of accounting services that you might need and there are many business owners who think that they will never need the service of an audit firm. There is always a thin line of difference between an audit firm and an accounting firm and if you are choosing an accounting firm then you must be aware of this difference.
Advisory
Advisory firms mainly play the role of a consultant and cover a broad spectrum of areas. They are specialized in certain sectors like financial planning, mergers, acquisition and give expert advice to their clients for enhancing their performance, restructuring and dealing with risk. Hiring these firms gives a perfect shape to your decisions which are backed up by better insights and details.
If you are going to get better financial advice then there are maximum chances that you will be able to maintain your financial stability from the business aspect in a much better way. So, if you are not sure about the financial planning of your business then you can always go for financial advisory and get a better understanding of your financial status.
Outsourcing your financial needs to an accounting firm is the demand of this era because, in addition to expert solutions and advice, you are also able to save a great amount of money. For different financial needs, there are different accounting firms and you can choose the best one according to your need and demand.
As the owner of a small or medium sized business, it is important to understand the difference between different types of accounting firms and in addition to this, you should also be aware about the different types of services provided by the accounting firms out there.
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