When small business owners think of accounting services, they usually picture monthly bookkeeping services. They may even think they’re the only outsourced option besides partnering with a tax preparer.
With this being the norm for new or very small businesses, it’s important to review the common issues that these services have, as well as compare the issues to those of other accounting solutions.
At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we’ve performed monthly accounting for small businesses for over 50 years. In all that time, we’ve spoken to thousands of prospective clients who have voiced concerns about their prior bookkeeping solutions.
Here are some problems with bookkeeping services that we hear about the most.
Problems With Bookkeeping Services
When we think of bookkeeping services, we think of how there are so many different kinds, depending on their locations, service offerings, and pricing structures. These all present their own benefits and challenges.
Problems With Overseas Services
In general, we find that overseas bookkeeping services are affordable, but they have:
- Inconvenient availability due to time zone differences
- Frequent miscommunications due to language barriers
- Errors due to unfamiliarity with U.S. accounting laws
- Limited services, often not even producing financial statements
Problems With United States Services
On the other end of things, we find that bookkeeping services within the United States have:
- Varying pricing, as some use hourly charges and others use a set monthly fee
- Limited services, sometimes producing financial statements*
*Some also have the ability to add on extra services, but they charge extra for them and usually don’t include bundled pricing.
Lack of Bundling Benefits
Speaking of bundling, there are services that offer bundled benefits like bookkeeping and taxes under one roof, but bookkeeping services alone won’t be able to provide the same benefits. Services that bundle also offer bundling discounts that you would not get from a bookkeeping service.
You will also have to pass information from your bookkeeper to your tax preparer, and even the United States-based services can lack urgency and clarity.
Not to mention, bookkeeping services can lack an understanding of tax laws that would have been beneficial to plan for or act on year-round – and by tax time, it’s too late for your tax preparer to change anything that your bookkeeper did throughout the year.
Avoiding These Issues
Are bookkeeping services all bad? Definitely not! They’re an especially good place for extremely small businesses and startups to begin their financial documentation.
However, when you’re ready to treat your accounting as an investment, there’s another option that avoids all of these problems that bookkeeping services face.
Monthly accounting is an insightful service that uses your financial data to help you make informed business decisions year-round and use a complete tax strategy to minimize your tax liability. We believe the value matches or exceeds the price.
Avoid Bookkeeping Service Problems
Now that you know about the common problems with bookkeeping services, are you ready to check out monthly accounting services? They avoid all of these issues that bookkeeping services face.
If so, please consider CSI Accounting & Payroll! To see if we can be a good fit for your business, click the button below for a free consultation:
Not ready to talk? That’s okay! First, learn more about these different accounting solutions to see which one you’re ready for.
