What to expect from outsourced accountancy services

Outsourcing your accounting services

Start up businesses that are growing rapidly often need help to ensure that managing admin, finances and marketing doesn’t impact on developing new core business and implementing secure operational processes. This usually means that you need to bring in help from outside to manage functions such as HR and finance.

When entrepreneurs start a business, one of the most common tasks they do is to appoint their accountant. That’s a great idea because the last thing you need is to get your finances in a mess and miss tax filing deadlines. However, many people try to do most of the accounting themselves using softwares like Xero, Quickbooks etc. to raise invoices and manage payments. They rely on their accountant at year end to sort out all the invoices and receipts, so that the numbers can be submitted to HMRC. Whilst that’s fine and it meets the legal requirements, it doesn’t help you run your business efficiently and it doesn’t help you spot potential issues or opportunities until it may be too late to deal with or take advantage of them.

What can outsourced accountancy services help you with?

1. Bookkeeping 

This is the time-consuming daily data entry that is the foundation of good accounting. Without accurate books, you can’t know how your business is really performing. That’s why at On The Go Accountants, we provide you with a team of dedicated bookkeepers who get to know your business intimately and can spot when things look unusual, helping you to identify potential problems long before they become difficult issues.

2. Accountancy

Your Finance Manager will assist you with filing your returns to HMRC and other authorities – that will include quarterly VAT returns, year-end self-assessment tax returns, and company accounts. These are the tasks that usually come to mind when people think about what an accountant does for you.

3. Payroll

When you grow your company and you need to hire employees, you want to be certain that all the payroll related matters are taken care of efficiently – the last thing you need is to be paying incorrect amounts to staff or to HMRC.

4. Management accounting 

Many small businesses are unaware that they can get monthly help to understand what the numbers in their business are telling them. By keeping a close eye on the detail of trends in your figures and by using budgeting, forecasting, actuals tracking and cashflow forecasting, you can keep on top of changes as they happen. Management accounting services include detailed reporting to help explain any differences (variances) between your plan (budget) and your actuals. This information can help you to quickly identify profitability and cashflow issues before they can substantially hurt your business.

5. Tax advisory services

Another area of outsourced accountancy services that is less well understood is tax advisory services. Your Finance Manager is an expert in all the reliefs and tax schemes that can help you to save money. If you aren’t taking advantage of the available reliefs then you are paying more tax than you need to. Whilst getting this specialist advice comes with a fee, it can often save you thousands more in reduced taxes. For example, if you are developing a product or software, you could be entitled to R&D tax credits that encourage investment in science and technology. For start-ups, this can help your company stay viable in the early years.

6. Risk management

Creating a close relationship with your Finance Manager where they work alongside you regularly in your business as a partner means they can help you to manage any risks. Creating contingency and business continuity plans enables you to feel confident that your business would be able to recover in the event of a significant adverse incident. When businesses do not have robust risk management, they are more likely to fail.

Getting started with outsourcing your business finances

If you are just starting out and need help managing your business finances, then you could employ a freelance bookkeeper, but if you have plans for quick expansion, then you might find it more beneficial to use a larger company who will be able to provide you with more outsourced accountancy services as you grow. 

On The Go Accountants can provide everything from the data entry through to specialist tax and risk management consultancy. We have a range of accountancy packages to suit every business, so contact us today to explore your options. 

Call 03330 067 123 or email info@onthegoaccountants.co.uk.