Difference between needing a Portland CPA or Bookkeeper
As a small business owner, when it comes to managing your financial data, it usually requires or can be done most effectively and efficiently by a Portland CPA or professional bookkeeper. However, the confusion often comes in knowing what you need for your business.
While they both provide expert financial services, in many cases, you can benefit most from a professional bookkeeper who also offers outsourcing accounting services, especially if you are looking to save costs by paying one flat rate.
What Does a CPA Do?
A certified public accountant (CPA) offers the same accounting services as accountants, except he or she is licensed by the state in which they work. Their work also mainly extends to large scale businesses, such as companies that offer shares of stock on the stock market, because they are required to provide audited statements to their investors, which a typical Portland CPA provides, who can then gauge the worth of their stock by analyzing the statements.
They can also review a company’s finances and advise them on financial calculations for the future, company spending, tax planning, and more.
However, they do not keep track of the money going in and out of the business, for that you will need bookkeeping services.
What Does a Bookkeeper Do?
Bookkeeping services enable businesses to monitor and manage various monetary transactions required for business, such as tracking accounts payable and accounts receivable, so the business knows what is owed to them by customers, as well as how much it owes, and processing and maintaining the payroll system, which a certified professional accountant does not specialize in.
The person, known as a bookkeeper, who keeps the books also has the experience to do it precisely and quickly, which helps free up time for other tasks.
Some other services they provide include:
- Reconcile bank statements and other financial documents
- Track purchases and sales
- Pay accounts payable bills
- Track inventory
- Provide financial reports
- Outsourcing accounting
- And more
With professional bookkeeping services, your business benefits from superior financial documentation, which can be used to obtain important information concerning financial reporting, tax filing, and budgeting. However, when you choose a company that offers these services in addition to outsourcing accounting, it enables you to benefit from one-stop-shop financials, it helps eliminate irritating inconveniences and can even save you money.
How Our Online Portland CPA and Accounting Services Can Help
When you work with a Portland CPA or professional bookkeeping service like ours that manages your financials all in one place, it not only ensures you receive expert bookkeeping functions, but it also helps ensure you have expertly prepared financial statements on hand when you need them.
Book Auditing
Like having a certified public accountant, when you use our services, we can also audit the books for financial reporting and tax purposes.
Helps Eliminate Guesswork
Knowing how to record financial transactions requires great skill. In fact, you must have a thorough knowledge of the Internal Revenue Service’s rules and accounting methods in order to prepare your statements according to industry standards.
Eliminate IRS Penalties and Missed Tax Deductions
It is possible to prepare your financials yourself. In fact, there are no rules against you doing so; however, in doing so, you also run the risk of costing your business money in IRS penalties and overlooked deductions, if your statements aren’t prepared properly.
Make Clearer Business Decisions
Improperly prepared financials can also cause you to make uninformed decisions based on misguided information, which can lead to mismanagement of your company’s resources.
However, our online bookkeeping/accounting services are here to help prevent such mishaps from occurring by ensuring you have tax ready records with the most accurate and current information for budgeting, tax filing, developing financial reports, and more, for peace of mind while running your business. And we do so for a flat rate.
Flat Rate Fee
In many cases, a certified public accountant costs more, and these costs can fluctuate, depending on your needs, due to the extent of their services, which are typically not warranted for small businesses.
However, being charged a flat rate provides many benefits, such as it helps eliminate surprise costs, which can leave you frustrated and financially overextended. It also makes budgeting for professional financial services easier, since you know the exact cost. A flat rate is also often lower than other types of charges that are often accumulated by the hour or for each service, which is just great for small businesses with a small budget or who are just starting out.
Unlimited Support
Unlike the typical Portland CPA firm, we offer our clients unlimited bookkeeping and accounting support. This means, whether you have urgent questions, you need to reach us during tax time, or you are simply checking the status of your books, your record keeper is available to address your issues and concern one on one and in the quickest and simplest manner.
Customized Books That Make Sense to You
With us, your records are also customized to suit your specific business so that it fits your particular situation, and they are also peer-reviewed by our in-house team to ensure accuracy. We also keep you updated regarding any changes to your records, so you remain in the know concerning your books.
In the end, having an organized accounting system provides you with a snapshot of your performance, which can then be used to determine the future direction of your business. It also enables you to share this snapshot of your performance with other partners and investors, as well as with tax authorities and financial institutions.
Therefore, if you are a small business, there are many reasons to transition to an online accounting service and at a budget-friendly price. However, the main reason to switch is why waste time and energy doing tasks you don’t enjoy when you can spend it pursuing your real passion, your business, and let a skilled professional do what they enjoy. You should also keep in mind, there are certain risks to keeping your records on your own if you are not properly trained, which can lead to various penalties and lost money that could have been used for taking on new projects.
For more details regarding how we can help make your business more sound, get in touch with us at your earliest convenience.
Portland CPA and Bookkeeping Services
For professional bookkeeping services at a fraction of the cost of any Portland CPA contact us for all your accounting solutions. Overall, outsourcing your accounting tasks to a bookkeeping company should free up your time so you can concentrate on growing your business. Yes, this type of service does involve costs, but those are probably less than employing a full-time bookkeeper, and you get the benefit of having part-time services with full-time presence.
With accurate accounting in place, you can have peace of mind that any decisions you make will be informed, considered and right for your business. Fill out our quick questionnaire for a free custom consultation or send us a message on Facebook if you have something more specific to ask.
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