Many companies prefer not to hire an accountant, but rather use the services of specialized companies in outsourcing format. 80–90 percent of small and medium business companies in the United States prefer accounting outsourcing. Such services are cheaper than hiring your own accountant. Moreover, you don’t need to buy special accounting programs and the risks of errors are significantly reduced. In this article, we gathered five tips on how to choose outsourced accounting.
- Choose a company that has existed for several years
According to statistics, hundreds of new accounting organizations open every year, but only one out of five survives until the second year. The likelihood that the new company will not only survive but also provide you with quality accounting services, is much less than this 20 percent. That’s why the best CPA firm should work for more than a year. - Give preference to a company that has experience in tax inspection
In this case, you will reduce the risk of any difficulties with the inspection authorities. If the company has specialists with the needed experience, your accountants will know where and how to avoid problems. Moreover, they will know both sides of the inspection process. - Carefully read the customer list of the accounting company
Only clients can tell you the needed information about the company. If the company has been working for more than a year, but there is no information about customers on the site or you are refused to name at least some of them, this is an alarming signal. If the company says that customers demand confidentiality and forbid to mention them, this is a bad excuse. You should know that such clients do exist, but their number usually doesn’t exceed 10-15 percent. The rest will not argue if information about them is posted on the website of the accounting organization.
It is an additional benefit if the site has not only a list of customers but also reviews from them. This may seem trite, but in order to get recommendations from extremely busy managers and business owners, you need to do something handy and valuable for them. Therefore, you can pay attention to the availability of reviews. - Check to see if the organization has customers with similar business
Is it possible to contact one of them to get feedback on how is it to work with this organization? Their reply will help you make a decision. In addition, you will know about possible problems or benefits you can face while working with this company. - Specify the working policy with your accounting base
Some companies don’t provide their customers with accounting bases. If the company you want to work with also refuses to give you the accounting base, it is better to avoid this organization. The most appropriate option if the policy of the accounting company you choose in this matter uses the rule that your accounting base is your property. Moreover, the fact that it is led by an accountant in another office doesn’t change anything. If you need to get access to your base for some reason, you should be provided with it within one business day. In addition, you can provide remote access to the server where the database is located if necessary.
The bottom line
It is highly recommended to conduct an audit of outsourced accounting at least once a year. Don’t wait until the authorities will start to check your taxes. Initiate the check yourself because it is much easier and cheaper. A proactive audit can be carried out by a third-party qualified accountant, as well as a specialized accounting or audit organization.