For most business owners, bookkeeping is a huge, albeit necessary burden, especially for those who wear many hats. Our goal here at TenKey Management and Bookkeeping Services is to remove this burden for businesses in Portland, OR and nationwide. Outsourced bookkeeping allows you to focus on what you do best - run your business.
Sloppy bookkeeping can cause many financial and logistical issues. Hiring a professional bookkeeping service like TenKey is one of the best ways to address or prevent this from happening. Below are some of the most common problems we see.
1. Stress and Anxiety
From hiring the right employees, to drawing in consumers, to maximizing your gross revenues, running a successful business is stressful enough. Add bookkeeping to the long list of responsibilities, and you may find yourself pulling out hair. In other words, in-house accounting causes tons of stress and anxiety for small and medium-sized business owners.
The stress and anxiety of working 24/7 can result in poor business decisions that limits growth. The main reason we recommend outsourced bookkeeping is for the owner's peace of mind. Our clients are amazed by the benefits of being able to take a break from work. Both their mental health and the health of their business buoyed tremendously.
2. Access to Updated and Relevant Information
Another significant benefit of outsourced bookkeeping is having access to updated and relevant information. Unfortunately, most people come to us behind on their books, or with books that contain inaccurate information. Some owners also complain of a lack of reports from their current bookkeeper, which is never a good thing.
A sound bookkeeping system should provide the owner with access to updated and accurate information. Knowing and understanding your finances is key to running a successful business, especially if you want to grow. If you do not have relevant financial information, you probably have no knowledge of where your business stands and where it is heading. This is known as running your business “blind.”
Using TenKey for your bookkeeping needs will give you a firm grasp on your current finances, and any relevant information. Your reports will also identify potential opportunities to help you plan for the future of your business.
A big trend right now involves providing regularly updated information through cloud-based solutions. Simply put, all you have to do is let us know how often you want to see updates on your books.
3. Taxes and Audit-Ready Financials
Taxes are by far the biggest complaint we hear when it comes to business owners taking care of their books. If you are continuously filing for extensions, or worse, not filing at all, it’s time to outsource your bookkeeping. It’s time to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive one.
Using outsourced bookkeeping to prepare your taxes not only benefits you, but it also makes accountants, financial institutions, and the IRS happy as well. Why? When you use a professional service like us, there are no questions about the integrity of the data, no concerns over accuracy.
Issues with the IRS can stifle or even end your business. For this reason, a tax review and estimate before the end of the year is one of the most important things you can do.
Our tax review of your business accomplishes two goals. First, it helps you better understand your potential tax liability. This allows you to make advantageous tax moves like end-of-the-year purchases.
Second, our review will provide a tax estimate. This will give you several months’ notice to plan on how you will pay for your taxes in April, or quarterly/EOFY. Tax planning is only possible with an accurate and up-to-date bookkeeping system.
4. Not Enough Time
Most small business owners are well aware that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. There is always a task that needs to be done, a fire to put out, or a bigger goal to achieve. And this doesn’t take into account the importance of balancing your personal and professional lives to avoid burn-out.
Unfortunately, striking the right balance is easier said than done. One way to ensure you have more time to focus on other parts of your business, and your life, is to outsource bookkeeping. Most business owners find an outsourced bookkeeping service to be a practical, even necessary expense more than anything else.
That’s not to say that you should be totally hands-off. Ideally, you should stay somewhat involved in the bookkeeping process to better understand the financial ins and outs of your business. We recommend our clients participate in crucial responsibilities like financial reporting.
5. Ability to Make Proper Adjustments
As we previously mentioned, without a proper bookkeeping system, you may not have access to current financial reports, which is known as “running your business blind.” Running blind can result in some major issues, like an inability to make the proper adjustments.
In other words, owners who do not know where they stand financially will miss opportunities to improve their business. Regular financial reports allow you to increase cash flow, reduce your overhead, and make quick adjustments that lead to long-term benefits. Flexibility and adaptability are two crucial, and sometimes underrated, components of a successful business.
Our outsourced bookkeeping services allow you to make the proper adjustments and maximize your resources. One way we accomplish this goal is by comparing your budget to actual results. This helps illuminate potential opportunities, as well as problems that require adjustments.
6. Scalability
If you are struggling to scale your business, you may be asking yourself why. Whether you are looking for investors, or simply want to take your business to new heights, a robust and accurate bookkeeping system is paramount.
Scaling a business is stressful enough. Trying to scale with improper and out-of-date bookkeeping is nearly impossible. Our aim as your outsourced bookkeeping team is to ensure your business is ready for growth and even exceeds your goals.
If you do maintain your own books and still experience growth, your bookkeeping needs will undoubtedly change. Explosive growth can be too much to handle for any one person, especially someone who is running a business. Having our team in your corner provides you with a bookkeeping system that meets your growing and changing needs without you having to worry!
Call TenKey Today!
Most small business owners don’t have the time to train and manage a bookkeeping staff, let alone run the books themselves. If you are ready to take your business to the next level or just want to eliminate the headache of bookkeeping, TenKey is here to help! Fill out our contact form, email us (at Hello@TenKeyLLC.com), or call 971-220-6416 to learn more today!
