Most businesses incur countless expenses on a daily basis. From payroll, to operating costs like rent and utilities, to growth costs like marketing, there’s a never-ending list of expenses that hit your business bank account—but ultimately, keep your business growing. After passing a certain point, your business simply can’t get by with a traditional bookkeeping system. With a list of bookkeeping services to regulate expenses and analyze results, you can steer your business to the next level.

By utilizing services, you can take this time-consuming and detail-oriented task off your plate and focus on what matters most. And, most bookkeeping services lists go far beyond the bare minimum of logging expenses.

With third-party bookkeeping services as a cost-effective option, outsourcing bookkeeping could help you drive real growth. Here’s what you can expect.

Bookkeeping Services List: What You Can Expect from a Third-Party Bookkeeper

Whether your business earns $100K or $100 million in annual revenue, you need a quick, simple, and safe way to log expenses. That’s where virtual bookkeeping firm services come in. 

In addition to helping you track and manage basic expenses, virtual bookkeeping also allows you to make more informed business decisions.

This list of bookkeeping services will help you to understand how your small business could benefit from outsourcing to a third party:

• Bills and payments (accounts payable): Keep all of your previous, current and upcoming expenses in one place, and categorize them as you see fit
• Invoices (accounts receivable): Track paid, unpaid and upcoming payments from customers so you always know the state of cash flow
• Payroll: Easily take a deep dive into your current and upcoming payroll expenses by viewing the costs of employees
• Manage your cash: By integrating with your business bank account, you can better manage incoming and outgoing cash in your business
• Budgeting: Based on your financials, create a detailed budget specific to your needs and pave the way for new growth
• Forecasting: As your business grows and takes on more accounts or increases traffic, determine the rate at which you’ll grow (and when you’ll need new resources like employees or equipment)
• Customer analysis: By analyzing customer transactions, you can determine which customers and/or industries help you generate the highest revenue
• Generate financial statements: Instead of spending hours in an Excel sheet, instantly create reports that tell you what you need to know about your business’s performance
• Ongoing reconciliation: As your business incurs new expenses and generates revenue, online bookkeeping services can help you reconcile these costs
• Cloud-based software: Rather than storing information locally, online bookkeeping services help you log expenses in the cloud—meaning anyone in your business can access this detailed information remotely, or you can keep it all to yourself.
• Prepare for tax season: As you log new invoices and make additional payments, prepare your business for a quick and simple tax process.

Evaluate Your Needs Before Making a Decision

Depending on the bookkeeping service provider you work with, you may only receive a few items off of this bookkeeping services list. Bookkeeping price packages can vary significantly, too.

However, it’s important to remember that expert financial insights don’t have to cost a fortune—the information that you can get from an online bookkeeping service can prove quite valuable.

Online Bookkeeping: The Benefits of Hiring A Virtual Bookkeeper

As your business grows, hiring new employees to handle additional business and manage operations is a natural step. However, it’s crucial to think strategically about which functions require in-house employees—and which you can save on while receiving valuable perks.

When you hire an in-house bookkeeper, you’re putting all of your bookkeeping tasks in the hands of one person. But, that dedicated employee comes with a few strings attached.

First, consider the costs of hiring an employee—aside from wages or a salary. When you hire a full- or part-time employee, you’re also paying taxes, insurance, and potentially, increased operating costs. You’ll also have to consider the costs of hiring an employee, and the training period.

Costs aside, access to a full list of bookkeeping services helps ensure accuracy and tax compliance. You won’t have to train a platform—it comes fully prepared to perform a list of bookkeeping services. Online bookkeeping platforms are continuously fine-tuned, giving you a competitive edge when it comes to growing your business.

By generating financial reports through an online bookkeeping platform, you can immediately get a snapshot of your financial health.

Bookkeeping Vs. Accounting as a Service

Are you debating between bookkeeping and accounting services for small businesses?

While there’s some overlap between bookkeeping and accounting, these two services are different. Simply put, bookkeeping is the clerical process of recording expenses, while accounting is the analysis that helps you draw conclusions.

Accountants typically have a higher degree of expertise than bookkeepers. They generally don’t handle data entry work. Instead, they find insights based on data.

Accountants also require more in-depth training than bookkeepers, including a CPA degree. As a result, virtual accounting services tend to be much more expensive than bookkeepers.

While online bookkeeping will help you to generate meaningful reports, accountants may be able to take this a step further. Through manipulating data, accountants can offer more complex and sophisticated advice. However, depending on the stage of your business, these models may or may not be helpful.

In short, you may only need an accountant for guidance and advice once tax season rolls around. However, even if you hire an accountant, you’ll likely still need a bookkeeping solution.

Invest in the Future of Your Business

If your business is growing, you can’t afford to waste time logging transactions. That’s why National’s online bookkeeping services gives you access to a robust, cloud-based bookkeeping platform that helps you drive revenue while saving time. And, unlike other industry leaders, you can even hire a bookkeeper to handle everything for you!

With our industry-leading online bookkeeping platform, you can take the reins or pass them to us—it’s up to you. You’ll also have access to 24/7 assistance, meaning all of your answers are a phone call away.

Get started taking your operation to the next level by signing up for our full bookkeeping services list now!