According to studies, 72% of self-employed people do their bookkeeping and accounting errands without the help of professional business accounting services in FL.
Figuring out when to hire an accountant and what services you need can be difficult.
Businesses often put off hiring an accountant until it’s too late. This can lead to missed tax deadlines, penalties, and even worse, a criminal investigation.
But don’t worry. Keep reading and use this guide to learn more about the different accounting services available and when you should consider hiring them.
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Do You Need an Accountant or a Bookkeeper?
If you’re reading this and thinking that maybe it would be better to just hire an accountant instead of a bookkeeper, then we agree! A bookkeeper is usually tasked with doing the internal recordkeeping for your company.
This includes recording transactions, inputting data into your accounting software, and preparing financial statements such as balance sheets and reconciliations.
You can think of maintaining the books as the administrative side of accounting.
That said, if there are tax implications that come from the activities going on in your company, it’s probably a good idea to hire a tax accountant to make sure everything is reported correctly.
For the most part, CPA services in FL usually fall into two categories: those that focus more on bookkeeping and those that focus more on taxes. Here’s how they differ from one another:
Bookkeepers usually work as independent business owners or as an employee. They might provide their services directly to you or they may be self-employed and only accept clients who have chosen to go with them.
On the other hand, accountants are employees of a firm or corporation. You can typically find one by going through a referral service such as the American Institute of C’s website.
If you’re looking for a more personalized experience, you might prefer an accountant but keep in mind that it will usually be more expensive than hiring a bookkeeper.
Generally speaking, though, whether you hire a bookkeeper or an accountant, they’ll work with your company’s existing accounting software to keep track of business transactions and generate financial reports.
When to Hire Accounting Services for Your Business
If keeping your books is taking up too much of your time and energy, then it might be time for you to consider hiring accounting services. At this point, you need to ask yourself two questions:
Are the books accurate? And are all my transactions recorded properly ( i.e., debit vs credit)?
If the answer isn’t yes, then it’s time to call in the pros.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the paperwork and bookkeeping tasks you need to do as a business owner. That said, there is such thing as knowing your limits when it comes to accounting.
Even if you feel like you understand what needs to be done and that it would just take too long for you to do on your own, we recommend that you hire accounting services for an FL company anyway.
This lets you focus more of your energy on growing your business. This means you can focus on building up its value instead of continuously doing administrative work behind the scenes.
Find the Best Accounting Services for You
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry. This article was put together to help you figure out when and what kind of accounting services is right for your Florida business.
Keep in mind that these are general guidelines – the needs for your specific business may vary.
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