Taxation and Accounting are two very important aspects of a business. Most often business organizations strive to deploy professionals within the organization to take care of such mandatory tasks. However, the increasing competitiveness of the market and reducing margins as a result of such competitions have increasingly created a trend of outsourcing the non-core activities to firms which are specialized in doing so. This way the professionalism and quality of work are maintained highly while reducing the cost since the organization need not maintain a dedicated team to manage the same activities.
That is the reason why accounting and tax preparation firms have grown as full services company which take care of all mandatory accounting and taxation requirements of the business organizations. These professional accounting firms provide bookkeeping and accounting services. These firms along with providing bookkeeping services also provide tax preparation services. These professional tax preparation and accounting services companies hire the best accounting professionals who are qualified and certified to provide these services. Therefore the business organizations can take the professional help of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) and Certified Financial Planners for taking right business, financial, and taxation moves which can save the costs of the organizations while increasing the profitability and liquidity.
However, as a notion of caution, the business organizations should choose the most appropriate professional accounting, bookkeeping and tax preparation services providers. There are various firms or professionals including storefront preparers, certified financial planners, certified public accountants, lawyers, and other clinics which offer these professional services. However, the business organizations should choose their best accounting and taxation partners only after assessing their needs and requirements such as whether a full service including taxation and audit is required; whether the firm is adept in handling such services professionally; the charges of these professional firms; whether the accounting firm is adept at handling multiple location accounting and tax filing requirements; and many such relevant questions.
Once the business organization is confident in choosing the appropriate accounting and taxation firm, the organization should make it a point to disclose all facts to the professional firm such that they can manage and keep them abreast of all the proceedings. Further, the firm should also be given the liberty and confidence that they can get in touch for any further information or discussion at any point in time.
At the same time, the professional firm should also maintain a degree of transparency, especially regarding any judgment calls that have been taken by the firm on behalf of the business organization. Finally, the business organization should ensure that the tax preparer duly signs and verifies the return since the signature and verification does add credibility to the document.
As the name suggests bookkeeping is the process of collecting and recording financial transactions and maintaining of these records by an organization.
Some of the key reasons why bookkeeping is an important activity that should be adopted by even small-time business owners are:-
a. The primary reason is that it helps businesses file accurate year-end taxes reducing all last minute hassle of doing the required paperwork, pulling out year-long data, arranging it and other issues.
b. It helps in running the business in accordance with and compliant with government rules and regulations.
c. It helps businesses to evaluate their current financial performance as it tracks all expenses and income of the company. Also in the future when the company wants to raise capital from the market or sell off their business, potential investors and buyers would want to go through the documents related to past performance of the company.
d. Bookkeeping records are also vital for forecasting and setting future financial projections goals of the organization
One of the best ways to ensure a proper accounting system by a company is to hire a professional organization that deals in bookkeeping and tax preparation services. As part of bookkeeping services, they advise businesses on
Professional bookkeepers have the requisite knowledge, certification, training and experience in bookkeeping services thereby helping business owners keep their focus on the primary business needs whereas tasks related to accounts payable, accounts receivable and taxes are taken care of by the bookkeeper. His main job is to ensure that the company files correct and timely tax returns and all payments are done as per schedule keeping the credibility of the company intact. Small business accounting services should be hired by businesses that have just started operating and have daily expenses and incomes, though of smaller values.
Some of the main books that a company should maintain for proper bookkeeping are:
