In Pursuit of Profit
Read our expert article below or sign up to get articles sent to your inbox.
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! 10/14/2024 The Cost of Hiring an AccountantEvery day we talk with people who aren’t sure if they should hire an accountant full-time or use a part-time accounting service. As an accounting provider helping them to answer this question is something that we really take pride in doing because it allows us to assist small and mid-sized business leaders in a way that’s truly meaningful to the future of their organizations. We’re going to walk you through the types of questions we ask and information we provide when having this kind of discussion with business owners and hiring managers to get you thinking about which resource will best fit your needs. If you would like to speak to someone about your specific business needs, reach out to us for a complimentary consultation today! Let’s dive deeper into understanding how a fractional accounting role differs from a full-time accountant and when you need which to achieve your business goals! As we talk internally as a team and externally with our colleagues, there seems to be one common thread across the conversations we’re having: slowness! Everything related to bringing in accounting help has slowed down. The prevailing trend right now is business leaders being more cautious with hiring and dragging their feet when it comes to outsourcing. Part of this reduced pace isn’t their fault. A worsening talent shortage in accounting is stymieing the hiring process. But a dearth of accountants isn’t the only factor leading to a slower hiring process. Business leaders are also taking longer to make hiring decisions and/or decide to outsource their critical accounting activities due to concerns of an impending economic slowdown. Accounting company vs CPA firm – what’s the difference? There’s a lot of confusion regarding this topic among non-accountants, so we’re going to answer it for you by breaking down the differences and explaining the similarities. While they may sound similar (and some people may even use them interchangeably), an “accounting company” is distinctly different from a “CPA firm.” Often, the confusion results when people refer to a CPA firm as an “accounting firm,” which makes it sound very similar to an “accounting company.” So, how do they differ? The main differences are seen across credentials, regulations, services, and price. When we talk to prospective clients, we’re always amazed at the types of myths that are going around out there about working with an accounting services provider. After almost two decades of doing accounting work for clients, we’ve heard it all from the silly to the downright bizarre. But throughout it all, the same few myths have stuck around over the years. So, we’re taking the time to address them now to set the record straight. 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 current 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! 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? Sometimes we have people ask us, “If I’m outsourcing my bookkeeping/accounting to an accounting firm, how do I know if my business is a priority to that company?” The chances are that if you’re asking this, you’ve felt like your business wasn’t the most important client in your accounting company’s portfolio of clients.
If you feel like your accounting company isn’t prioritizing your needs, you might be right! Similarly, the beginning of the year brings excitement for business planning. Business leaders are filled with optimism over the idea of starting out the year right by getting their financial house in order so they can streamline and improve to avoid the pain points they dealt with in the year prior. But, then just like the people who decide they’re going to start working out and buy a treadmill only to let it collect dust, mangers and executives fall back into the same habits of “business as usual.”
|
SUBSCRIBE:DOWNLOAD:DOWNLOAD:Categories:
All
Archives:
October 2024
|
Services |
Company |
|
11/4/2024