We know Tax season can be stressful. Your average business owner has no clue how their numbers look until it’s the end of the year and time to prepare for taxes. Most self employed business owners don’t do any of record keeping at all and rely just on bank statements which only give you a small glimpse of your actual business performance. Whether you’re behind on your Bookkeeping, or have inaccurate books, we can offer our Bookkeeping Cleanup Services and Catch Up Bookkeeping Services to get you in the clear.
Roughly 1 out of 4 of small businesses are out of date on their financials and need to get caught up on their Bookkeeping and Accounting. The benefits of clean, accurate books extend far beyond tax season. When your books are up to date, your business will be in pristine shape and allow you to make strategic financial decisions, analyze expenses, and manage your cash flow. When you’re behind on your Bookkeeping or have inaccurate books, it doesn’t just make it harder to prepare and file taxes.
Outdated or inaccurate books can limit your ability to cover your expenses, pay your employees, or secure a small business loan. You’re probably reading this because you already know you’re a little behind on books. The biggest decision to make is whether to try to get your books caught up on your own or secure the assistance of a catch-up bookkeeping service that can clean up your bookkeeping for you. In this article, we’ll go over the pros and cons of of doing your own Bookkeeping , or leaving it to a professional.
The Pros of Doing your own Catch Up Bookkeeping
When you’re considering how to catch up on business taxes, you might decide to do your own Bookkeeping instead of hiring an Accountant. If you’re just starting out, you might be able to get away with doing your own Bookkeeping for the following reasons:
Costs Less
Let’s face it: today’s business owners need to cut corners any way they can. Rather than hire an in-house bookkeeper or outsourcing your bookkeeping needs to an accounting firm, you can simply catch up on your books yourself. The only downside to this is it can cost you HOURS trying to do your own bookkeeping. Not to mention the likelihood of making Bookkeeping mistakes which can cause you additional stress and frustration.
Insider Personal Knowledge of Your Business
No one knows your business better than you do. When you handle your own books, you’ll have an intimate knowledge of your income and expenses and will be in a better position to make updates and correct errors as you proceed. This consideration might be especially true if you’ve collected a lot of receipts and paperwork on your own. Having these documents on hand can make it easier to record income and business expenses as they happen, and by handling your own bookkeeping, you’ll be better able to identify expenses.
Privacy Concerns about your Financial Data
As a business owner, you might be reluctant to hand over your sensitive financial data to a third party. By handling your own books, you eliminate all possible breaches in your data security, and you keep your business information limited to your eyes only. With Prolific Financial , we use a highly secure portal that uses top encryption and bank level security to ensure your data is safe.
The Cons of Doing your own Catch-Up Bookkeeping
There’s a reason that so many small businesses outsource their needs to a catch-up bookkeeping services to us. While there are many business tasks that you can handle on your own, bookkeeping isn’t always one of them and there are so many benefits to catch up bookkeeping. Business owners often discover that the bookkeeping process can be:
Time-Consuming
Stop and think about this for a minute. How did your books get so behind in the first place? For a lot of entrepreneurs, it comes down to a lack of time. But if you didn’t have time to maintain your books, what are the odds you’ll be able to find time to catch up on your books yourself? Time is money. Sure, handling your own books will cut down on your administrative expenses, but at what cost? Your efforts are better spent on the revenue-generating activities of your business, not the administrative details of your back office.
Stressful and Confusing
It can be a challenge to get books caught up in time for tax season. Accounting terms and software tools aren’t always easy to navigate, especially without some degree of specialized training. Doing your own Accounting can lead to Bookkeeping mistakes and Accounting inaccuracies that can lead to extra tax fees and penalties. This confusion is why it’s best to rely on an accounting professional who knows how to catch up on business taxes. They can sort through the mess on your behalf and bring clarity to your books, so you don’t have to sweat the process when it comes time to pay your taxes.
Inaccurate
The more tasks you’re juggling, the easier it is to make mistakes. But errors in your books can cost you big-time, especially when it comes to tax preparation. Reporting errors can change the actual amount of taxes you owe, and if you underreport, you could be subject to penalties. Having access to a team of financial professionals can ensure that your books are fully up-to-date, as well as free from any inaccuracies that can cause problems for your business. A Small business Accounting professional can help you maximize your deductions, saving you money and enhancing your profitability.
Get Started Now
Don’t hold it off and procrastinate any longer. The best time to get started is now. With tax season just around the corner, the longer you wait on catching up on your overdue books, the more it will snowball into an even messier problem. The upcoming tax deadline means you’ll either have to catch up on your own books yourself, or we can give you a free estimate with just your bank statements and can provide our catch-up bookkeeping and Bookkeeping Clean Up services for your small business, so you’ll be prepared for tax season.
How to Catch Up on Bookkeeping & Business Taxes Faster Than Ever
At Prolific Financial, we are Catch-up Bookkeeping/ Bookkeeping Clean up experts and have exposure to many professional service industries. We can bring your books up-to-date so that you’ll be prepared for tax season and get more control over your finances. How much does catch-up bookkeeping cost? Pricing usually depends on the number of accounts, volume of transactions, and how behind you are on your Bookkeeping.
We can typically give you a free estimate with just your bank statements, or Accountant access to QuickBooks. Get some peace of mind on your Accounting and Taxes knowing your books are handled by a trained professional. Find out for yourself by booking a free call or sending us your bank statements for a free estimate, and see what Prolific Financial can do to make your business thrive.
