Should small businesses do their own accountancy work to save money?
Having run a very small business for over a decade now, my own experience can be split into roughly two halves. For the first half of my business’s existence, I did all my own accounting, but for the last five or six years, I employed the services of an accountant to do this work for me.
And in my opinion, there is simply no contest between the two; the latter is far and away preferable to the former. But this isn’t born out of any kind of laziness; it’s simply a matter of the bottom line. From day one the accountant saved me real money. I use the word “real” here to be quite clear about the difference – because the accountant has also saved me a great deal of “invisible” time and money. But it was the real stuff I was most concerned about.
I was always happy enough doing my own accounting. No one really enjoys the process, but if you have no fear of numbers, then it’s relatively easy to do your own small accounts and tax return etc. But accountancy is like any other specialized discipline. There are things you simply don’t know about unless you really have your finger on the accountancy industry’s pulse. And if you do, but you aren’t an accountant – then why is that?
So a good accountant should be able to save you real money from day one (unless your business is really tiny). But more to the point, he or she should also be able to save you real time – allowing you either more leisure time or the ability to concentrate on the stuff of doing whatever your business is; rather than worrying about accounts records etc.
After all, this is what you’re in business for. For me anyway, it’s been something of a “no-brainer”.
This article was written by financial blogger David. He pretty much covers every topic in his writing, from Payday Loans from Wonga.com to student loan repayments, helping everyone understand their finances better!