If you’re a small business owner enjoying steady growth, you’ll undoubtedly reach the point where a third party financial manager would save you the time and energy you put into your books.
Employing a staff, gaining a larger customer base, and expanding your means of supply are all natural progressions in the life of a profitable small business. Evolving your management structure to fit yourself into new leadership roles means delegating the often-complex financial calculations to an outside accounting agency.
Here are some helpful tips to consider when taking that next step with your small business:
Before rushing into bringing an accountant onboard, evaluate your business from the inside to see what if any financial management tasks can be kept within your company.
Accounting firms can tackle a variety of tasks dealing with book keeping, tax help, and general financial management among others, but if you’re able to keep any one of those duties within your business, make sure to adjust your outsourcing accordingly.
If a particular accounting firm offers any sort of testimonial information on their webpage in the form of quotes from satisfied customers or longer explanations of past service, it might be worthwhile to drop them a line by either phone or email to get some perspective from an actual client.
Ask about both the level of proficiency the firm in question handled both the business side of things, as well as the kind of relationship they maintained throughout the experience. This is useful for gaining some insight into both how well they will perform at a technical level as well as the quality of social interactions you can expect from them at a communicative level.
Accounting work is often times more than just running numbers and keeping your books balanced––financial management also plays a part in the way accountants and their clients keep assets in a continued healthy state.
Be sure to ask a prospective firm what they’ve done for their clients in the past and what kind of financial help they can offer you in terms of structuring an ongoing plan.
A small business’ finances are without a doubt the most important and also fragile aspect of early growth and fiscal sustenance. Taking on an accountant to handle these delicate matters shouldn’t be a hastily made decision and you should be comfortable with the individuals you’re trusting to run things smoothly.
Run a sort of mental checklist to make sure your concerns are being listened to and your questions are being answered. Pay attention not only to how they address your concerns, but also what questions they ask you. This should give you a clue as to their investment in your well-being. If you notice the relationship as being completely one sided, you should try looking elsewhere.
If you’re a start-up owner and unsure of how to monitor your earnings and expenses at the level you’d like, give us a call. Our outsourced accounting and CFO services experts can help you carve a successful future for you and your business.
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