In Pursuit of Profit
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 Usually, we discuss more specifically focused accounting and bookkeeping topics to share in-depth industry knowledge with our readers. However, today we’re going back to the basics to answer a fundamental question: “What does an accounting services provider do?”
Simply put, an accounting provider does less than full-time work. This work can be either ongoing part-time work or short-term work (which includes interim engagements and project-based work). What does that entail exactly?  Think you won’t need interim accounting help this year? Think again!
It’s time to recognize the fact that your accountant probably won’t be around forever. With the trend of accounting professionals changing roles every 3-5 years and the ongoing accounting exodus that the industry is facing, the odds of your current accountant staying in their role for the next 3 years is only moderately likely, the next 5 years are very unlikely, and the next 10 years is almost certainly not going to happen. That means you need to be prepared to utilize an interim accounting services company sooner rather than later. Don’t put off for next year what you should address this year!
From our experience, clients seem to believe one of these perspectives wholeheartedly – there’s very little in between. And yet, neither is entirely right. On the one hand, if you never hear from your accountant, that’s a troubling sign because you can’t be sure what they’re even doing on behalf of your organization. This kind of communication gap removes accountability, creating the opportunity for underperformance, mistakes, and even fraud to occur. However, hearing from your accountant constantly means they are spending their time talking to you instead of doing the work you have hired them to do, which is problematic (not to mention wasteful). Neither is a desirable scenario!  Your accountant just gave notice, what do you do now?
Hopefully, your accountant gave you more than the obligatory two weeks, but regardless of what the timeframe looks like, the steps are the same:
Time is of the essence in this situation, especially if it coincides with a closing period or tax season, so you should get started immediately! 3/31/2026 Do You Need an Interim Accountant? As fractional accountants, we have experience with a wide array of “less than full-time” accounting engagements ranging from ongoing part-time work and extra assistance during busy periods to short-term project work and interim roles while a new accountant is hired. Of these, interim work is notoriously underutilized, which is disappointing because it is an area where bringing in help expeditiously can have a huge impact.
 When you’re searching for an accounting provider what should you look for exactly? What’s a true need versus a want? What is worth paying more for if you can get it? Obviously, every organization will have unique needs to consider, but we’ve put together our top five list of accounting provider must-haves to serve as a quick guide for business owners:
These are all examples of the types of questions business leaders ask when evaluating whether to outsource and deciding which accounting company to choose when they do. Most of these are predicated on the idea that finding the best accounting company or the best accounting consultant will be the “golden ticket” to finding success. Why? Because business owners too often assume that using a top accounting company with the most experienced team of accountants is automatically going to guarantee their success. And, while it is true that you’ll likely have a greater chance of success when using a well-rated and reputable accounting company, it doesn’t necessarily ensure that you’ll achieve the outcome you’re hoping for on its own. Something else is required to increase the likelihood that your accounting engagement will be successful – good communication! 1/10/2025 The Cost of Hiring an Accountant As a business grows, staffing requirements increase as well.
For smaller companies, each incremental hire becomes less critical because there is a wider system to support new employees. However, while the company is in its infancy every hire is vital.  Should you outsource a bookkeeping/accounting role or handle it in-house? This is a question that we help potential clients with every day! Unfortunately, there’s not one single right answer for every organization.
Exploring your needs and expectations around the role will help to determine whether you should keep it in-house or whether it would be best to hire a third-party accounting provider to do it for you. Ultimately, the answer will depend on several factors – time needed, functions needed, and of course cost!  Here at ASP, most of our clients are small-to-medium-sized businesses and nonprofits that need part-time accounting and bookkeeping help. After years of working with clients, we have noticed that many of them fall into the same few unfortunate patterns. But the good news is that we are uniquely able to help them break out of these patterns to find long-term success. Let’s look at some mini case studies that illustrate the types of scenarios where we can help!
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8/18/2026