Being a business owner means you have to handle marketing, sales, operations, clients, employees, finances, and accounting on your own. It can be a lot to take on for a single person alone. As you grow from a one-person company to a 10- to 40-person company, you will surely delegate tasks depending on your staff’s skill set. When it comes to accounting, many of us think we can handle it, and that is true. However, when you need to remain on top of everything, you can’t dive deep into finance, tax payables, tax laws, GAAP compliance, payroll, timely deductions, investments, and every minute detail of your day-to-day transactions. Accounting is not just about filing taxes; it includes record-keeping, maintaining financial statements, ledgers, equity shares, and several other complex terms you may have heard of but not fully understood.

That’s where outsourcing accounting comes in. You might consider building a one- or two-person accounting department to resolve the issue. However, this is not necessarily the case. It can be expensive. On the other hand, outsourcing your financial work to an online agency or firm can be much cheaper and do the job just fine. Even a Tulsa small business bookkeeping firm and professional associates can handle your accounting needs.

Signs That Indicate You Need to Outsource Your Accounting Work:

Although every business and its operational model are unique, certain common signs can help determine when to go outside.

Not Meeting Deadlines & Delayed Payroll: If you are falling behind in making timely payments, meeting deadlines, reporting accurately, or providing required financial reports to banks and investors, it’s time to outsource your accounting work. If your accounts are not cleaned up or reconciled and your budget-to-actual income has a negative ratio, and if there’s always a delay in payroll while keeping tabs on employees’ monthly details, insurance policies, compensation, bonuses, employment tax, and other federal regulations has become difficult, then you must outsource your accounting work or replace your accounting team.

Growth & Struggling to Prioritize All Business Tasks: When you start your business, your only motive is to increase sales and profit. You might be using Google Docs or Excel sheets to keep tabs. As the corporation grows—new locations, divisions, teams, partners, investors, and lenders—the list goes on, and your bookkeeping needs to keep up. There’s a high probability that your established accounting team might lack the knowledge or ability to handle the expanding scope of your business.

Furthermore, as your business thrives, your finances, cash flow, transactions, and accounts will become more complex, requiring more time management. If you handle this alone, you won’t be able to focus on important business activities that need prioritization. You won’t be able to become customer-centric, which is crucial for success. There’s no such thing as multitasking; as Harvard Business Review has stated, people who multitask do it at the cost of efficiency and productivity. Hence, incorporating new procedures and processes is essential.

Not Prepared for an Audit: Be honest with yourself—how will you react if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits your business? Will you feel prepared? You don’t need to be engaged in illegal activities or fraud for the answer to be no. Your financial records and accounts might be a mess, which can be a valid reason for concern. As the saying goes, there are no surprises in taxation, finances, or business. Keeping thorough records can be useful if planning an exit, seeking investment, mergers, loans, or compliance with banks or co-founders. It is never too early to start preparing for an audit, as it can take a year or longer. An outsourced accounting firm will keep tabs on your daily transactions, accounts, invoices, sales, ledgers, and statements, ensuring your finances are well-managed and automated.