Many entrepreneurs and business owners today do not seriously consider accountants for small businesses. They only see these services as an unneeded expense in a world where cutting costs wherever possible is the goal. However, we at SureBooks urge owners to reconsider and research the multiple benefits outsourcing your accounting needs can have for your business.
If you have never heard the business term “outsourcing” before, you can simply see it as the opposite of an in-house service. Put another way, in-house services are usually conducted by your employees, who have been hired to perform specific functions. Outsourcing is done when one business employs another business that specialises in a particular area, like accounting, to perform specific tasks that in-house staff would otherwise handle.
This article aims for us at SureBooks Accounting Services to show you how beneficial accountants for small businesses can be and how our services can be crucial to your business’s health in some circumstances. This article will act as a sort of guide, as we first highlight some of the most popular accounting needs for any small business, after which we will investigate some of the key advantages of outsourcing your accounting needs and will end off by looking at some tips on choosing the right accounting service for your needs.
What Are Small Business Accounting Needs
Accountants for small businesses are put in the best position when business owners have already investigated and understand their company’s financial needs. By being aware of where your business is struggling financially or where you could use the accounting help and relating this information to your small business accountant, you are effectively setting up your accountant to get to the root of your business accounting issues more efficiently.
However, at SureBooks, we understand that not every entrepreneur or business owner is financially inclined or completely understands the inner workings of a modern financial system. That is why we encourage education in this space so that owners can come to understand the services offered by small business accountants. So, in this section, let us look at some of the most common accounting challenges facing most small businesses.
Preparing Your Financial Statements
Many small businesses put company finances on the back burner when handling day-to-day operations. However, if a company’s financial structure is not put together well, it can cause problems later. Accountants for small businesses will always encourage small enterprises to begin formalising their company’s finances early. One of the most effective ways to do that is using financial statements.
A financial statement is a formal financial document formatted in a specific manner. It lists critical financial indicators and provides a business’s leadership and employees with a clear overview of the company’s current financial health. Some of the most essential elements to have in a financial statement include:
- Receipts of suppliers’ invoices
- Customer invoices
- The total unpaid wages still outstanding
- The total value of the company inventory
Tax Requirements
The very mention of taxes can scare any business owner. Taxes are not only complicated but can also end up causing legal obstacles if not conducted regularly and correctly. There are many aspects to consider, and although governments have tried to make it easier for private individuals to complete it themselves, even a tiny slip-up can lead to negative consequences.
Taxes for small businesses can be a difficult obstacle to overcome, and hiring professional help in this area is always recommended, especially for companies that are just starting out. However, for your own reference, in South Africa, some of the primary tax requirements you should be aware of include the following:
Corporate tax – taxes that are calculated in relation to a company’s profit and are supposed to be paid twice a year.
PAYE, UIF and SDL – Even small businesses that hire only a small staff are legally required to register as an employer with the South African Revenue Service (SARS). SARS expects these small businesses to pay for Pay As You Earn (PAYE), employees Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and their Skills Development Levy (SDL).
Miscellaneous Taxes – Many other smaller forms of tax are also to be paid in a variety of time frames. These sorts of taxes can include but are not limited to Value Added Tax (VAT), Dividends Tax and Customs Duties (for products exported or imported to other countries).
Budgeting And Forecasting
Another crucial aspect of any business’s financial duties is to accurately prepare for the future. This is done through two processes: budgeting and forecasting. But how do they differ? Let us look at these two terms below:
Budgeting: This is a process by which a formal budget is put together. A budget utilises historical financial data as well as your business’s current financial health to put together “a plan” on how the company will spend its capital and profits moving forward.
Forecasting: Whereas budgeting looks inwards, forecasting looks outwards. There are several aspects that a company should look to have a forecast on. Forecasting is taking your company’s data and data from the market or industry your company works in to have a picture of what the future of the industry may hold, which will directly inform how you conduct business.
Key Advantages Of Outsourcing Your Needs To Accountants For Small Businesses
Accountants for small businesses, like those employed with us at SureBooks, will work to help you with all of the needs listed in the previous section. These tasks listed above are only some of the most popular services we offer to perform for your company at SureBooks. But the question then becomes how does an accounting firm like SureBooks handling those tasks actually relate to benefits and cost efficiencies for your business?
In this section, let us highlight only a few of the key advantages that come with hiring a small business accountant. At SureBooks, we know that for any owner reading this article, the question will always be whether these benefits relate to a reduction in cost or the money being spent more efficiently. We believe that this is the case and, therefore, will look to relate the following benefits to how it may positively impact your company’s finances.
Expert Advice
The most important benefit you will get from outsourcing your accounting needs is having access to a professional in the area of accounting. At SureBooks, we are strict in vetting our accountants before hiring them, and we make sure that the proper authorities accredit them and have the experience and expertise necessary to provide you with effective help.
Being able to access expert advice whenever necessary will not only benefit the financial state of the business through effective techniques being employed. But will also provide you with peace of mind that your accounting systems are functioning at the industry standard, which, in the long run, will help make your company competitive in the industry.
Expert advice easily relates to financial benefits in a number of ways. Importantly, though, by utilising the advice of accountants for small businesses, you will be able to spend your company’s money more effectively. At the same time, maintain the sustainability of your business’s financial stability.
Scaling Your Business
The goal of any business should be to expand, reach a wider audience and grow profits alongside the increase in customers. But when you begin to scale your business, there are a lot of obstacles that come with the move. From having to worry about whether suppliers can keep up with your demands to increased expenses in wages as you bring new employees on board.
Although scaling your business up generally indicates that your business is doing well financially, keeping track of the increased movement of money in and out of your business can be complicated. Without experienced financial health, keeping track of your company’s finances can slow down the scaling-up process.
Here again, the relationship between outsourcing your accounting services to SureBooks and the impact on your company’s financials is clear. By hiring an accountancy service which has experience working with larger corporations, they will not only advise you on your money spent as you have more transactions but will also be able to track your financial flow effectively, meaning that you will not have accountancy concerns slowing down your scaling process.
Minimising Errors
One of the critical ways for businesses, big and small, to save money is to work on methods to cut out mistakes from their business model effectively. Errors in either the production or service industry can have serious knock-on effects that can lead to significant financial repercussions further down the line. One only needs to consider mistakes in the manufacturing process in the making of cars, resulting in large-scale callbacks costing large companies millions of dollars.
However, even for small businesses, making mistakes can have similar financial consequences. One area this is particularly true for is your accounting department. Errors in accounting can cause a whole host of issues, from misreporting financial information to the tax authorities, which can lead to fraud charges, to inaccurate representations of the company’s financial situation through erroneous financial statements. Having employees who do not have enough accounting experience can lead to an increase in these mistakes.
When outsourcing your accounting to a professional company like SureBooks, you can rest assured that we will make fewer errors, saving you and your company money. Furthermore, our accountants will even be able to pick up on accounting mistakes you may not have been aware of, which will also financially benefit your business.
Improved Security
In this day and age, where almost everything happens in the digital space, you are sure to find an increased risk in terms of financial security. As criminals become more computer literate, they find new ways to scam or illegally access your company’s financial data. These security breaches can lead to large-scale costs. Using old accountancy technology will also cause the likelihood of breaches to increase.
Luckily, with SureBooks, we not only use the latest accounting software with updated security protocols to prevent criminal activity, but we also use more advanced technological features like cloud accounting, which only helps improve security. In this way, your company’s financial data is safer than ever by simply outsourcing your accounting needs.
With your finances more secure, you will save money by not dealing with the negative consequences caused by security breaches.
SureBooks Accountants For Small Businesses: The Right Choice For You
In this article, we examined some of the most popular accounting needs of small businesses, which our SureBooks accountants for small businesses will easily be able to take care of, and we also reviewed some of the critical benefits of hiring a small business accountant.
With SureBooks’ stellar track record in the South African accountancy space, our years of experience, and our partnership with many of the country’s financial authorities, you can be sure that when you hire SureBooks, you are getting the best service in Cape Town. We have packages tailor-made for smaller enterprises that are well suited to helping your business grow. So don’t hesitate to make the financially intelligent choice today and outsource your accounting needs to our accountants for small businesses.