Business & Financial Solutions
TAX HELP SERVICE AND PREPARATION
Let’s face the facts. If you are looking for the least expensive route in handling your books, a bookkeeping company is one way to go. However, if you want to take your business to a higher level of functionality, profitability, growth and tax-savings, maybe not. You will probably want to get started with an experienced accounting firm. A good bookkeeper can provide general bookkeeping services and data entry. But generally, this candidate lacks the advanced skills necessary for great company guidance and direction. The consulting expertise needed for business development and tax planning, is usually found exclusively with professional accounting firms. Here’s the scoop on accounting versus bookkeeping.
Taking a few accounting courses and developing a basic understanding of accounting will qualify a person for a job in bookkeeping. To work in accounting, you must have a high degree of expertise which usually means a bachelor’s degree or a variety of certifications (and often both). Accountants are qualified to handle the entire financial process. And they can take a “big picture” approach. However bookkeepers are qualified to handle recording financial transactions. To ensure accuracy, accountants often serve as advisers to bookkeepers and review their work. Bookkeepers record and classify financial transactions, laying the groundwork for accountants to analyze the financial data.
Bookkeeping and accounting are both essential business functions required for all businesses. A bookkeeper is responsible for the recording of financial transactions. Accountants are responsible for interpreting, classifying, analyzing, reporting and summarizing financial data. The biggest difference between accounting and bookkeeping is that accounting involves interpreting and analyzing data. Bookkeeping does not. In the broader sense, accounting is something that will always require a human touch. And it requires a trained eye. No machine or software could ever compete.
Regardless of the size of your company, it is critical for ongoing success to ensure the financial accuracy of daily transactions. Further, your company should use that data to make decisions for the future of your business. If you feel your business is growing too quickly for a “do-it-yourself” approach to finances, you should look into hiring a tried-and-true professional to help. This way you can keep track of and make sense of your business transactions.
Many small businesses hire an accountant outside the company. Yet bookkeeping may be handled in a variety of ways. Some small business owners do their own bookkeeping. They use software recommended, or used by their accountant. And they provide raw data to the accountant. Usually this is done on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. Other small businesses employ an in-house bookkeeper. Or they have a small accounting department with data-entry clerks reporting to the bookkeeper.
Where can you outsource your accounting and bookkeeping services? That’s the easy part. Business & Financial Solutions provides the expertise. We offer a variety of services. Moreover, we provide the experience needed for most small to mid-size businesses. Bookkeeping, accounting, consultation, business planning, tax preparation and tax planning can all be performed under the same umbrella. We have clients in a variety of industries. These include automotive, hospitality, construction, assisted living, legal, medical and dental. Those are just a few, to say the least.
