When entering the business world, there are many skills that need to be learned. This is true of any industry in which you hope to survive and thrive. One of the most important areas of education is accounting and bookkeeping training. Accounting for business owners is often overlooked or is thought of as an afterthought, but playing fast and loose with money, entering transactions incorrectly or not at all, not calculating your taxes correctly, all these things can send even the best-laid plans for success up in flames, particularly when a sharp tax auditor gets a hold of a financial statement where everything does not add up.
The bookkeeping process involves accounting bookkeepers tracking financial transactions, either manually or through accounting software. The goal is to record business income and expenses so that one can calculate their taxes, assess the financial health of their business and make intelligent decisions about money.
For any entrepreneur who intends to make a success out of his or her business, accounting for your new business is necessary to provide reports that will let you know how much money is coming in and going out of the business. An accountable person needs to be able to answer queries from creditors about why payments haven’t been made, why they are late and similar questions.
A lot goes into a successful business. A successful business must have a product or a service that is in demand. They must have customers who are loyal to the business. A profitable business also has a good base team that takes care of unseen tasks, but important parts of the everyday business. This includes the people who make the business legal, by filing for taxes, keeping accurate records of transactions, and acting as the overall bookkeeper for the business. Smaller businesses may find benefit in outsourcing these important tasks, for many reasons.
To ensure taxes are filed correctly.
An improper tax return can be a huge problem for a business. It can result in too little of taxes paid, which can later lead to an audit and owed back taxes. It can also result in overpayment of taxes, which may never be returned to the business. A business is not only responsible for filing their own taxes, but they are also responsible for claiming each of their employee?s incomes, and providing them with this necessary information by a set date.
There are many tax credits and deductions that businesses can claim to reduce their tax responsibility. The average standard deduction is $7,000 to $8,000. ($7,884). Itemizers on average claim $26,084. However in many cases, the business owner quickly fills out the tax information in order to save money. Having a professional CPA complete the required tax services can actually save the business money, often making up for the costs of the tax preparation services.
For example, individuals and some commercial businesses can take a tax credit of up to $500 for qualified energy efficient improvements or residential energy property costs. Also, small businesses and larger businesses that choose to remain in their home state or country can be eligible for certain tax breaks. It is important to have a professional tax preparer to fully understand all of the available tax benefits.
To keep proper records of profits and losses.
Profits and losses in a business are important. They play a role in funding, stocks, and in taxes. It requires dedicated and very detailed accounting services to track the accurate profits and losses of a business. In many cases, programs such as Quickbooks are necessary to reduce human error. Most small business owners are not qualified enough to preform accurate bookkeeping duties or to use programs like Quickbooks to accurately track expenses and income.
To save time for the business.
When business owners spend time doing their own bookkeeper duties, other areas of the business are neglected. A business owner?s time can often be spent more productively by developing brand items or services. They can also increase the satisfaction of customers by focusing on customer marketing and retrieval. More than half of returns, about 57% are done by paid preparers. If residential customers benefit from paid preparers, businesses benefit even more.
To understand the success of the business.
Businesses remain successful and profitable by continuing what they are doing. Businesses fail and go bankrupt by failing to change when things are not doing well. It is important to have accurate bookkeeper information to make such decisions. Most businesses, in fact, that do not have a consistent book keeping system do not fully understand their business. They are confused when, years down the road, they are no longer profiting. A business that keeps accurate records can identify the exact point they begin to lose money, and develop plans to further increase the business.
The product or services that a business offers are important to its success. However, it is not the only important part. The methods of a business?s bookkeeper and tax preparation can affect their success. Most businesses will find many benefits in outsourcing their bookkeeping and accounting needs. Outsourcing can ensure that the businesses records are accurate and that everything is handled correctly.
