One of the key reasons new start-ups fail within the first two years of starting their business is poor financial management. Budding entrepreneurs take on the responsibility of accounting since it gives them hands-on insight into expenses and profits. Initially, it may be a sensible thing to do, but problems begin when specialized knowledge and accounting expertise are needed to generate information about the company’s operations and finances. Despite being fully aware that they lack expertise in this business segment, entrepreneurs fail to hire a qualified in-house accountant or outsource to certified public accountants (CPA).
While we shouldn’t be quick to dismiss the credibility of any entrepreneur, having an accountant who can make informed judgments and use his knowledge and experience to keep the business financially viable is essential. Let us discuss some of the reasons why your business needs an accountant.
Reasons Your Business Needs an Accountant
1. Accountants help improve cash flow.
Businesses need a continual flow of cash to keep it running. Only by monitoring the regular movement of money can you understand how and where the money is coming in and where it is spent. Hiring an accountant is the best possible solution for maintaining a smooth cash flow. An accountant can maintain financial statements that record expenses, liabilities, profits, damages, and losses in their correct order. Cash flow management accountants generate reports and develop analysis and future projections for business growth. If you want strategic business advice and decision-making, then such expertise lies in the domain of Certified Public Accountants (CPA). You can outsource these higher accounting processes to a consultancy or support your accountant in developing expertise through Wiley CPA prep to pass the licensing exam and become a Certified Public Accountant, a specialist in high demand. A skilled, well-trained, and experienced accountant who has gone through rigorous training for CPA can be a vital asset for business growth. It can ensure that CEOs and managers can make appropriate decisions and determine the impact of their choices on the business’s financial health.
Cash flow statements are important because they tell you how and where money is moving, and understanding this helps you figure out if you need to increase your cash flows. If statements show that you are relying on credit to maintain business operations, you can find areas to cut back on expenditures or unnecessary spending by looking at cashflows. Moreover, an accountant can help you maintain good credit and establish necessary cash management policies. These management policies will ensure that you have all the information and funds available whenever needed.
2. Manage growth sustainability
A growing company has several needs that require substantial funding. These needs include hiring employees, marketing, customer relations, and cash flow management. Securing funds is the key to successful and sustainable business growth in all of these aspects. Hence, an accountant can help your company manage its operations and recommend improvements wherever necessary. Moreover, accountants handle the business’ tax obligations, and they can help you find methods to save money and time.
However, as exciting as the perspective of growth sounds, it comes with several challenges. Sudden growth without adequate financial resources to back it up can pose as many problems as a business that isn’t growing. Hasty growth leads to financial management issues which cause several other core challenges. But a good accountant can help you plan for sustainable development.
3. Help you reduce workload
Once your business starts running, you will need to spend all available time managing daily operations. You won’t have time to occupy yourself with bookkeeping, taxes, or compliance in such a case. And as your business grows, the finances will become too complex for an ordinary bookkeeper to handle. For this reason, you need the expertise of a professional accountant who can take charge of these aspects of business and reduce your workload. As a result, hiring an accountant will help you manage your business operations more smoothly.
4. Help improve cost-efficiency
Even the simplest of transactions can be seen in terms of cost, and the cost accountant’s role is to help the decision-makers foresee the potential costs and relative pricing. First of all, cost accountants come up with cost value to manufacture a product or deliver a service. After determining the production costs, managers can use the information to set the ideal price at which the product or service could be made available in the market. Here is where the expertise of an accountant is necessary. A professional accountant can help you lay out a good map of the company’s finances and form appropriate business policies. This guideline or map can help you make critical cost-related decisions. Moreover, you will be able to make crucial decisions for your company which can help you improve costs and cut down where necessary to gain maximum profit.
Furthermore, an accountant can help you handle tax deductions efficiently. A tax deduction is the reduction of income on which tax is applied, and an accountant can lay out a clever taxing plan to lower tax amounts
5. Provide advice
Certified Public Accountants have the necessary knowledge and skills to act as business advisors. Their expertise in financial forecasting enables you to make informed judgments to manage your business operations and help them grow. Their advice can help you unearth strategies that can help you overcome current challenges and improve business operations. Moreover, an experienced CPA accountant has the power to act as fiduciary and represent the business in front of Internal Revenue Services (IRS) and file audited reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It is safe to say that an accountant acts as a valuable, good, and objective voice for your business.
6. Help measure business performance
Business KPIs are one of the critical aspects of running a business. However, fresh entrepreneurs always seem to neglect this important aspect. However, setting up business objectives and measuring the results against past and present performances can determine business successes. Financial statements, quarterly and annual reports, statements of accounts, and analysis of your business’s economic conditions are key sources for measuring business plans viability and the potential for its growth.
These indicate areas of strength that generated profits and highlight strategies that proved ineffectual in supporting business growth. In this case, a qualified accountant can help you measure KPIs related to business finances. Their analysis of the entire situation can help you make valuable decisions.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that accountants are valuable assets for a company. They act as the necessary boost which can help improve your business operations and help the company thrive, sustain, and grow. For these reasons, hiring an accountant for your firm can be a worthwhile investment.
