Accounting Outsourcing is no longer a unique practice. In fact, more and more companies large and small are looking at accounting outsourcing not only as a viable option, but as a necessary element for business success.

Let us take a look at how accounting outsourcing could have helped one small business. It is a small family owned comic shop. The shop has been under the current management for over four years – the previous management was over a dozen years. When the shop was sold, business practices and relevant information was shared by the previous owners – he explained how he did most of the paperwork between managing the store, his family, and his personal time. He did not make it seem like it would be that big of a deal, particularly since the new owners felt that they were more organized to begin with.

So, they continued the processes that had been laid out, built the excel sheets and started to do the bookkeeping, payroll and accounting based on the old practices. A few new processes were introduced but, for the most part, it was business as usual. What they did not anticipate was the time it would take to simply stay on top of the paper work, do the bills and payroll, etc. This was time required in addition to managing the store 10 hours a day, having time for family and personal time. The new reality has become overwhelming – it is time to look at expanding the management team and possibly at accounting outsourcing.

What accounting outsourcing offers

What do you need? How much attention does your company require? Do you need a team of accounting specialists or simply a bookkeeper and payroll officer? You need to determine whether you want to hire a staff person to address this or if you want to look at accounting outsourcing as an option.

Once you have determined that you don’t want the fuss of additional staff, accounting outsourcing becomes your only option. In addition to no staffing issues, accounting outsourcing will provide you with a ready-made team that already has all the necessary up-to-date training, resources and technology for all aspects of your financial management, accounting and bookkeeping. Some companies even have multi-disciplinary financial teams that can build or streamline current processes; they can work with you to determine your time tables, cash flow and budget needs and to build your plan specific to your business needs.

How to pick your team

What do you need? Where do you want the expertise to focus? Do you simply need your basic accounting outsourcing needs addressed or are you looking for someone who can help build business plans and be strategic in market evaluations, etc. More than anything, you need a company that is capable, reliable, and which has both the experience and professionalism you require along with the personality to work with you. You also need to determine how much access you need to this team – many companies will assign a lead to your file that is available on-demand.

The greatest step in determining the need for accounting outsourcing is acknowledging that it is not a weakness as a business owner – in fact, it is a strength to be able to accept what you cannot do and where your focus should be. Do you want to be a paper pusher type of manager or do you want to be out there, networking and building the vision of your business?