How to select the best accounting services for your small business?
How to select the best accounting services for your small business?
A small business owner has a set of challenges, such as restricted availability of resources or funds. With such limited capital available, there is always a question at the beginning, whether to outsource the bookkeeping and accounting functions to third-party experts or to hire an in-house team of accountants or bookkeepers. Sometimes, having an in-house accounting staff may be out of the reach of a small business, and with limited funds, one may not afford the cost of having a full-time accounting and bookkeeping department.
But if you decide to go with an outsourced accounting service provider, the next question arises: finding the best and most reliable partners offering cost-effective accounting services. Selecting an appropriate outsourcing firm is also a task. Suppose you ask for suggestions from individuals with little or no experience on the subject. In that case, you might end up with an unsuitable consulting firm, incurring the monetary cost without any benefit to your organization and, sometimes, may even cost your brand reputation.
Hence, to avoid such undesirable and disturbing situations, a systematic process has to be followed, whereby you first document the exact needs, implications on your business, and the expectations from the outsourcing consultants.
This article revolves around tips to help you find the best accounting service for your small-scale growing business.
Tips to consider while seeking the best accounting services for your small business
Here are a few tips that you must consider to find out the best accounting services for your small business, to manage the back-office requirements effectively and efficiently.
- 1. Check for the location of the accounting service provider
Generally, it is said that the location of the service providers impacts the quality of services. It is not always the case, and this does not mean that if a service provider is not in the same geography, you cannot trust them with the accounting services. Nowadays, geographical distances do not impact much because of technological advancements like cloud computing, server-hosted software, applications available to transfer bulky data within seconds, and easy access to critical information from any part of the globe at any given time.
Furthermore, suppose physical proximity is exceptionally crucial for you. In that case, you can plan an annual visit to the consultant’s office or ask someone from the service provider’s office to visit you regularly and present the business’s current financial position along with the growth aspects and critical observations.
- 2. Transparency around the business needs and objectives
Before looking for someone to help with one of the most critical functions of business, you should be clear with your requirements and expectations from the accounting service provider. Every business, irrespective of its size, is different in terms of outsourcing the work. For instance, many companies prefer to manage their payroll and keep track of account payables and receivables on their own, while other companies outsource these requirements.
The basic gist is that you will be able to find the best accounting service for your growing business only if you have the need and objectives of the company clearly defined and documented systematically. It will also help the business to communicate the scope clearly to third parties without any misunderstanding in the future. It helps to build a solid professional relationship, benefiting the company from specific services of utmost quality and that too for the long term.
- 3. Assurance around the qualification of the service providers
Usually, many companies overlook this step with the assumption that the consultants are always qualified. It is one of the most evident and fundamental things to consider while you are on the journey of finding the best accounting service provider for your business. If you are wondering how to confirm or even check that the agency is certified to provide quality services, they claim to be the experts. The answer is simple, ask them directly and upfront.
Usually, it has been observed that the agencies that are not adequately qualified or certified tend to charge relatively lower fees than the competitors to attract more clients. But it would be best if you stayed alert and did not get carried away with lucrative offers around pricing. Always go ahead with the certified accounting service providers only, having duly qualified staff delivering top-notch services
- 4. Check out for the relevant experience
It is always wise to find consultants who have already worked for clients like you in the past. They will bring the relevant experience that will help them understand the actual need and demands of your business and find the best ways to meet those requirements.
Thus, one of the significant benefits of outsourcing the accounting function to an accounting service provider is their experience in working with different clients from different industries, the nature of business, the scale of operations, and the scope of growth. With all these varied experiences, they could offer the best solution and international practices to uplift your business and its development.
- 5. Do consider your budget
Budget and financial limits on expenditure are undoubtedly crucial for every business. But its importance is manifold when it comes to small-scale companies. Even a single expense or a tiny investment requires a lot of calculations and brainstorming around cost-benefit analysis before finalizing. So, while investing in outsourcing your business’s accounting and bookkeeping requirements, you should look for companies within your budget.
Furthermore, before signing the contractual arrangement with the service providers, seek the price breakup from them and get it captured in the agreement to avoid unnecessary chaos and trust issues later.
- 6. Look for professionals who can own up to the task and work with passion
It might be difficult for you to find someone who will consider your business as his own and will put all effort into helping you reach your desired position while supporting your back-office functions and providing smart reports for realistic decisions with the help of financial intelligence. An accounting service provider should be someone who can suggest or come up with intelligent strategies to help you achieve a competitive edge over your counterparts and achieve your objective of sustainable growth.
Final words
If you follow all these tips, you are more likely to find the accounting service provider for your small business looking for long-term professional support. CFO UAE is an accounting, bookkeeping, audit, and taxation service provider that knows its job very well, with its years of experience. In addition, you can rely entirely on them in terms of accuracy, trust, quality of deliverables, the effectiveness of suggestions, and fair pricing.
