Category Archives: Soft Skills

Top 6 Benefits of Outsourcing Accounting & Bookkeeping Services!

Are you an entrepreneur?

Owning a small business or are you just a start up?

Are you finding it difficult to hire an expert accountant?

Yes, then this guide is for you. The leading enrolled agent training institute in Hyderabad-iLead Tax Academy brings you some intriguing facts regarding outsourced accounting & bookkeeping and why businesses need to consider it? What are the potential benefits? and much more. Read on to learn more:

Most entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small businesses find it very challenging to hire a professional accountant. Especially with the right skills and expertise to prepare the company’s financial statements, manage payroll, transactional operational, analyze financial data, and prepare the outgoing invoices too. 

These days, it’s even more challenging to find an eligible and qualified accountant at an affordable rate.

Today, most organizations & 1/3^rd of small businesses are outsourcing their accounting, bookkeeping along with their IT or HR processes. Still, there are numerous ways that outsourced accounting & bookkeeping can benefit a company (small or large). Keeping your company’s finances accurate and well-tracked is where an experienced accounting firm could lend a hand.

Even if the common belief is that bookkeeping and accounting should be done internally. But, it is important to ask if you have the requisite skills and experience for this work. Also, do you have enough experienced employees on hand to handle an increased amount of accounting & bookkeeping tasks. To put this in perspective, 62% of all small businesses believe that they are paying too much for taxes. 

Because of that, you may want to think about outsourcing your accounting services to a firm with the proper expertise and qualifications. Also, what kind of companies are capable of doing the same work in a more qualitative way, as well as in an economical way. 

For this same reason, a lot of CEOs noticed different positive aspects to outsourcing their accounting and bookkeeping services. Importantly, outsourcing of these services must not result in adverse effects to their businesses, employees, and customers. 

Therefore, we would like to share 6 of the main benefits to those who have already experienced the outsourcing services. Before that let’s know what is outsourced accounting & bookkeeping.

What is Outsourced Accounting & Bookkeeping?

Outsourced accounting, bookkeeping is a service that provides the complete experience of an accountancy department to small businesses. The accounting department handles the daily transaction recording, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, managerial financial reports, and a variety of other services. 

Outsourced accounting providers have an all-in-one staff of accounting professionals, which allows them to offer a smaller team of accountants for less money than hiring. 

If you would like to pursue an accounting career in enrolled agent, bookkeeping, payroll then we have multiple courses including US taxation courses, FPC courses and Quickbooks training courses where you can become certified accounting professional and acquire the needed skills.

Why Should You Consider Outsourced Accounting and Bookkeeping? 

Every business is different, and they will know the best time to transition their accounting to an outsourcing firm. However, there are a few reasons that are most common to make the switch. 

• Budgetary Issues 

Decreased cash flow enforces firms to make strategic choices regarding where to save up. Since accounting is not a central process for many, finding a service provider to handle this is easy. This also frees up limited resources, which can focus on core competencies, customer acquisition, and retention. 

• Investor Capital 

Once investors start checking your company’s portfolio, it is very important to be able to show them complete & accurate financials on paper. Providing a solid accounting may convince them to invest. It is important to build credibility through good documentation. 

• Financing from a Bank

When your firm is more mature as well as ready to grow it might require additional financing from a bank. The same goes here, correct, thorough financial statements are required. 

• Advances in Technology

Because of improved infrastructure and cheaper communications operations are more independent from location. This would give any business much more choices in trading partners and levels of competence than before. 

It is resource-intensive trying to keep up with all of the technical advancements in accounting, both in terms of time and money. To ensure that all aspects of a company are taken care of, outsourcing is an easy solution. 

• Function of accounting changes

Outsourcing helps a business to do this, as well as simplifying processes that are needlessly complex and time-consuming. The legal regulations for accounting and finance are stricter than ever. 

It has more rules and laws because authorities and the public depend on this type of information in making financial decisions. 

  Top 6 Benefits of Outsourced Accounting & Bookkeeping Services

1. Cost-Saving   

In general, most businesses view outsourcing as an extra, therefore an unneeded expense to their businesses. This is simply not a valid view. In fact, it is just the opposite. 

The savings outsourced typically provides can be quite significant, since most companies are able to provide their services for lower costs (typically because of lower labor costs in their locations).     

Also, with outsourcing, you save on paying salaries, taxes, office supplies, and benefits to full-time or part-time employees. You pay for just the things that you need. There is no productivity loss costs associated with hiring permanent employees. 

1. Optimize Time & Costs of Hiring Processes 

If you look at the chart, hiring is hard work.  It takes resources to run, starting with creating the recruiting strategy, selecting candidates, and interviewing them. The hiring process takes your company time, costs money, and you need to devote that time either for yourself or for your employees. 

Many businesses fail to take into account the time spent searching for an experienced bookkeeper. And time is just as much related to costs. It should be taken into consideration when cost savings are made in outsourcing a business process. 

1. Saves your Time 

As the business grows, you will find that you are spending more time managing your cash, less time scaling your company. Therefore, outsourcing administration tasks such as accounting and bookkeeping helps you focus your time, energy, and resources on building the strategy of your business. 

This will generate greater revenues, and also allow you to build networks and relationships with customers. 

1. Expert Accountant & Bookkeepers    

Outsourcing can give you a chance to hire an expert with high-level of experience for a cost-effective rate. Outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services firms must constantly upgrade their skills and qualifications in order to remain competitive on the marketplace. Imagine having 50 people working at one office. 

They could easily share new trends, solutions, and tools for accounting. To add more, the top accounting firms have greater access to training courses (accounting & QuickBooks online training), which they are constantly participating in.     

By choosing an outsourcing company wisely, you can rest assured your accounting is in a trustworthy, competent hands. 

1. Scaling Accounting is Easy 

The accounting services provider has a sufficient number of resources available to significantly increase the services without any delay.    

 Also, the cost of the accountants and bookkeepers is charged per hour. This means that you can increase or decrease your hours with no disruption. 

1. Automation Technologies 

Most businesses are using automation software for accounting to help them save time. It saves time, but more importantly, it also mitigates risks. 

Automating your bookkeeping is the ultimate in minimizing human error. Secondly, with automated software, the accountants receive reports in real-time. These help to identify potential problems and fix them early. Third, they reduce the likelihood of insider fraud. 

Most of the accounting services providers are well-versed with the automation tools like Quickbooks, Sage, Visma, Xero, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, etc. If your accountant is still using just Excel sheets — you are wasting your time and money. 

A good accountant will always offer suggestions for making your bookkeeping more efficient. Sometimes, she may have worked with a couple of companies and offer a great experience to a different client. Whether that is on taxes, accounting software, or even providing financial guidance.  For comprehensive EA certification courses in Hyderabad along with job assistance you can count on iLead.

The Takeaway

There are substantial benefits to clients who choose to outsource their accounting tasks. For one, the cost-effectiveness, and finally, flexibility with respect to contracts or scaling of functions.   

Accounting and bookkeeping are an integral, yet complex, part of a company. It requires both time and specialized knowledge. Without accounting expertise, many errors may happen that could cause the company to shrink, and possibly go out of business. 

    However, even if you are hiring someone experienced and knowledgeable, somebody (usually an Executive Director) still needs to take part in the process, when approving invoices, making deposits, reviewing timesheets, etc. 

Once you have decided on outsourcing, your next step is to select the outsourcing company which would fit well into your goals and objectives, but more importantly, be able to meet your needs and requirements. 

While common people talk about accountants, CPAs, or accountants, they really cannot make the actual differences between them. Instead, they too often used the terms interchangeably.

Well, all of these accounting professionals handle the finances & work towards a common goal, moreover, their roles and responsibilities, scope of work varies drastically. In addition to the scope of work, there’s also a difference between their professional status. 

Accountants provide you with a more detailed analysis of the financial transactions, CPAs are state-approved accounting professionals, and bookkeepers record each and every transaction that involves money.

Choosing a financial professional for your company/business is a bit more complicated. And you must be thorough with your profile and should be aware of the main differences between accountants vs CPAs vs bookkeepers to have a seamless financial management.

iLead Tax Academy is the leading financial service provider and also, the best enrolled agent training institute in Hyderabad offering multiple accounting, QuickBooks, and payroll courses along with recognized certification & placement support.

In this blog post, you will learn the major differences between accountants vs CPAs vs bookkeepers, their duties and responsibilities. Read on to know more:

Overview 

Every business needs to have an accounting and bookkeeping process to prepare and maintain the financial records at the end of a quarter/year. Additionally, accounting & bookkeeping help the business evaluate its exact worth & take future decisions. 

Most of the times bookkeeping & accounting are used interchangeably. Although accounting and bookkeeping are inseparable, there’s a thin line to differentiate them. 

Bookkeeper, Accountant, & CPA—What’s the Difference?

Bookkeeper 

The term “bookkeeper” means exactly what it sounds like. They are individuals who understand and are capable of performing basic functions involved with maintaining the “books” of the finances. Small businesses can hire them simply to handle revenue and expenses, as well as perhaps payroll. They will perform services related to invoicing customers and paying bills due to vendors. 

Depending on the level of complexity a business requires, they may keep a general ledger and record entries as debits and credits. They may also be in charge of producing simpler reports. In larger businesses, the bookkeeper may only be responsible for an element of the bookkeeping process, such as accounts receivable. By definition, bookkeeping does not require special training or licensure, although employers will usually point out qualifications that they are looking for, such as a bachelor’s degree in business administration or, at a minimum, some experience with accounting. 

iLead offers the best QuickBooks training in Hyderabad by the top industrial experts, where you can learn from basics to the tools, QuickBooks Online Software required for accounting, bookkeeping, running a business and more.  

Unfortunately, a bookkeeper’s role, which is 100% focused on the bookkeeping function, is frequently watered down with other tasks around the office. As a bookkeeper has more time devoted to books and higher-level duties like internal controls, he or she begins to take on the role of internal auditor. 

Accountants     

Accountants require more knowledge and management skills.

Accountants are typically required to have more formal training than a bookkeeper, such as an undergraduate or even master’s degree in accounting. In larger companies, they can oversee lower-level accounting or bookkeeping personnel. 

Organizations need a lot more from them than just managing money flowing in and out. The amount of responsibility required of bookkeepers differs depending on the size of a company, and the particular needs it serves. But they are usually expected to be able to help management understand its financial condition, so that it can make better business decisions. 

Perhaps most neglected of all is the role that the (internal) accountant has in providing formal financial reports to management, which will aid in making more timely, accurate business decisions, which are tailored to the business’s financial realities. 

The accountant may either be employed full-time by the business, or may be employed part-time, on an annual basis, simply to keep a book, and to produce the internal financial reports, depending on the size of the company and the requirements for the report. 

Tax Preparer

Being the Tax Preparer is usually not a title, nor is it an ability…it is most often simply a function. Anyone at the company can prepare a tax return, if they are authorized by management to do so (whether that is the company’s owners or a bookkeeper). 

Now, it is true that third-party CPAs do the taxes very often (and I will explain more about what this credential means), but at Fat, 3/4 of all paid registered preparers (with credentials like PTIN, RTRP, EA, attorney) are NOT CPAs. Very often, the CPAs role is confused with the Tax Preparers, and while the majority of small firm CPAs are focused on this function, it is not all they do. 

CPA-(Certified Public Accountant)

While a bookkeeper, an accountant, or a non-enrolled tax preparer can prepare taxes for an employer or client, they cannot represent their clients at an IRS audit, and cannot legally sign the company’s tax returns for them either. 

They have to be lawyers, registered enrolled agents, or certified public accountants (CPAs) to do so. CPAs have to take an intensive exam and are licensed by their states in order to practice. They also need to keep up to date on tax laws. Because of their education and training, CPAs are better at reviewing and explaining key financial statements than an accountant. They are sometimes employed by businesses, but they usually operate their own independent practices. 

But the initial function of the CPA was not to prepare a tax return or represent clients in IRS audits. The primary function of a CPA is to sign-off all the financial statements that hold public faith. Simply put, they need to sign a set of financial statements which include statements of cash flows, income statements or profit & loss statements, etc. and all of these to be fairly presented as per the accounting principles. This signature might come in the form of:

• Compilation
• Review
• Audit
• Assurance services 

And finally…there are certain professionals within the accounting profession who perform none of those functions, but rather support them. Generally, these are computer consultants (specialists for accounting), QuickBooks ProAdvisors (generally experts on the features in QuickBooks), and Process/Control Consultants who help businesses accelerate their daily operations without sacrificing bookkeeping accuracy or quality. As one would expect, salaries range widely, with CPAs being the highest on the food chain. But do not shop for a financial professional by price. 

Determine what level of services you want now, knowing you can always upgrade to higher levels when your business grows. 

Which Accounting Profession is Suitable for You?

Every business or individual needs to keep track of its books and keep an eye on its finances. For that, one needs to hire (either full-time or on a freelance basis) a bookkeeper — the primary purpose is to keep systematic records of transactions and keep a balance in the books. 

In other words, a bookkeeper would handle all of the heavy lifting, handling salary, producing reports, paying bills, and balancing accounts. 

However, if you need to have the bigger picture view of those reports and numbers, the bookkeeper is the go-to guy. He or she will handle tax matters and help you to increase cash flow in order to meet future goals. 

However, if you have complicated business transactions, and need someone who is more trustworthy than your accountant, opt for any accounting profession like EA or CPA. And we provide the best US taxation courses in Hyderabad along with certification where you can earn authority to represent in front of the IRS as a certified EA/accountant.

Technology & Future of Accounting 

The accounting industry has been evolving rapidly with the rise of technology. For instance, Accenture, the consulting company, notes that “automation, minibots, machine learning, & adaptive intelligence are becoming a part of finance teams at a breakneck pace”. 

Intelligent technologies might sound like a novelty, but many companies are already using rudimentary automated accounting processes. Accounting tasks and processes machines can perform, or can optimize, according to Forbes, include vendor onboarding, accounts payable, audits, purchasing, purchasing, expense management, closing processes, and customer inquiries. 

iLead-the best accounting & enrolled agent training institute in Hyderabad brings you some interesting facts about the impact of technology in accounting and its future.

Overview

There is no shortage of wildly negative headlines regarding AIs effect on virtually every industry, every career path, and potentially, every facet of our personal lives. The promise of technologies such as AI has almost always been one of efficiency: With AI, we could get computers to do things that took us hours to do, in seconds. Despite a surge of interest in artificial intelligence since 2014, automation — and a drive to get more done with less resources — is not a new phenomenon in accounting. 

As Accounting Today notes, the concept of automating processes such as accounts payable dates back almost 20 years. Traditionally, automation of those processes relied on electronic bills, since early computers were not capable of reading paper documents. 

However, improvements in optical character recognition (OCR) and image recognition technologies have changed the landscape for automating bookkeeping a.k.a started using online bookkeeping software, making it possible to leverage software for automated data manipulation, even if data is received in different formats. 

While technological changes such as these were never as dreadful as news headlines made it out to be, they do hold the potential to transform the landscape of the accounting profession. In a world in which artificial intelligence is sophisticated enough to handle much of the information that accountants handle every day, for instance, there would be less emphasis on data-entry tasks, and more emphasis on accountants’ roles in strategic decision-making and long-term planning. 

This is just one concern that we addressed when developing online US taxation courses and other accounting course programs such as EA certification, payroll courses as well as QuickBooks. 

iLead’s enrolled agent training course in Hyderabad combines hands-on accounting exercises with theoretical learning–with those skills fully developed, we are confident the future of the accountant is bright. 

To learn more about our accounting course programs, contact us.

Future of Accounting Jobs

While AI has made significant strides over the last few years, those advances have not hurt growth of the accounting workforce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 10% growth (faster than average) in accounting and auditors between 2016 and 2026. 

The increase is due, at least in part, to the difficulty of the work, which includes a number of tasks AI cannot perform: Skills such as making strategic business decisions and understanding the complex regulatory landscape are still highly sought after in accounting. 

While news stories such as these love to pit AI and accounting professionals against one another, the future is neither artificially intelligent nor staffed by human accounting professionals. Like other technologies that are automating things, such as cloud computing, AI will shift the emphasis on accountants’ roles. 

As Mike Galarza, member of the Forbes Technology Board, suggested in a 2017 piece, the growth of AI will create greater value for accountants who build their soft skills, such as the ability to communicate complicated requirements and strategize with clients. 

“Accountants must grow into advisors and corporate strategists that help guide the business long-term strategy–making sense of complicated financial infrastructures and interpreting ever-fluid tax laws,” Galarza wrote. Of course, staying competitive in a very dynamic labor market is not without challenges. 

The exponential advances being made in the tech industry will require accountants to not only continue developing key skills within the field, but to also understand and keep up-to-date on technology disruptions likely to affect their jobs. 

Future of Accounting Technology 

Technology will support & not replace accountants 

One of the biggest changes in the accounting profession overall is likely to be how services are valued and priced. Because even hand-holding tasks are labor-intensive, many accountants price their services by the amount of time it takes. 

Amy Vetter, CPA and leader of the technology innovation task force on AICPAs Executive Committee for Information Management Technology Assurance (IMTA), believes that automation technologies will force accountants to price services based on more value-oriented models. 

This suggests the value of data-entry-related tasks is likely to decrease, whereas the value of an accountant’s insights and recommendations will increase. A report by the Association of Accounting and Finance Professionals in Business suggests this is actually an opportunity, saying accountants are uniquely situated to become the change agents that guide the direction of their organizations’ tech investments. 

The report identified the following:

• Big Data 
• AI & robotics
• Mobile Accounting 
• Cyber security
• Cloud computing
• Educational technologies 
• Payment systems
• Digital service delivery

While the above-mentioned report is focused on accounting for businesses, many of these technologies would have a broad impact throughout the accounting profession. For instance, all accountants can benefit from keeping their eyes peeled toward digital delivery of services, whether this takes the form of engaging more clients online, using secure cloud-based document-sharing services to allow clients to share documents, or some other innovation enhancing the customer experience. 

Future-proof your Accounting Career 

Like other professions affected by artificial intelligence, accountants will have to change how they position themselves and connect with clients. 

Given the rise of AI and other advancements, todays accountants will be challenged to be more technologically adept and to position themselves as strategic partners for both clients and employers. Below are some critical skills for remaining competitive and serving clients better as artificial intelligence gains further traction. 

1. Gain Theoretical & Practical Accounting Experience

One key skill that is still missing in AI generally is the contextual awareness that would allow it to identify the best response for any given situation. For instance, an AI might be able to analyze thousands of documents within minutes and recognize quantifiable trends, but an AI cannot yet make recommendations based on that information. Accountants equipped with analytics and AI, along with a familiarity of accounting practices and a familiarity of their organizations, will be able to close that gap. 

We are particularly excited by this skill set, as it is crucial in how we built our accounting and FPC training course curriculum. A broad understanding of accounting fields will always be essential, but the future of accounting will also make it essential to think outside of the box when it comes to performing a set of rote tasks. Instead, all accountants need to challenge themselves to figure out the why elements, to question assumptions about whether their current approaches are best for their organizations or clients. 

1. Build Strong Communication & Business Skills

As the role of an accountant becomes more about making decisions, strategizing, and planning, there will be an increased emphasis on communications and business skills. In addition to being able to see the quant data through a strategic lens, communicating recommendations, like why clients should take a certain course of action, will be a strong asset for accounting careers going forward.

1. Develop a Curious Mindset     

Curiosity is an essential characteristic in any dynamic environment, because it generates the propensity to ask questions, to understand problems at a deeper level, and to challenge assumptions. Since technological innovation is not necessarily the main focus in accounting roles, it is possible to overlook significant changes in the technological landscape. 

Curiosity can help address this problem, empowering accountants to see emerging technologies as opportunities to improve how they do their jobs. 

About iLead’s Online Accounting & US Taxation Courses 

By developing the practical skills necessary to succeed as an accountant from day one, our trainees are equipped to immediately advance in their careers or transition to high-competitive jobs. 

Our programs are taught by instructors who have attained the highest levels of education in accounting EAs, CPAs, finance, and US law, as well as being experienced accountants themselves. 

In addition to building competency with highly sought-after accounting skills, such as taxation, auditing, payroll, our programs provide students the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills and a working knowledge of accounting principles. This equips our graduates to assume more strategic roles in their organizations, provide greater value to clients, and adapt to industry disruptions, such as those caused by technology.