If you’re a business owner, you may have considered hiring a traditional in-office accounting department. However, you know this comes with a higher price tag, so you don’t want to make the leap if your business isn’t quite “big enough” to justify it. So, when should businesses hire in-house accounting teams?
Having a long-term accounting solution– whether that be in-house or not– is something we recommend you do as soon as you can fiscally afford it. However, having a long-term accounting solution and having an in-house team aren’t synonymous. With software constantly being developed in the finance world, many traditional accounting department jobs have been automated. This means you probably don’t need to pay someone to do these tasks full-time and are better off saving your money outsourcing these tasks.
This article looks at what tasks accounting teams manage, the pros and cons of hiring an in-house accounting team, and why outsourcing these tasks is usually the best of both worlds.
Already sold on the idea of outsourcing your accounting team’s needs? Great! Book a free consult where we can determine if outsourcing is the right move for you.
Table of Contents
- What Key Tasks Do Accounting Teams Manage?
- Pros And Cons Of Hiring An In-House Accounting Team
- Why Outsourcing Accounting Is The Best Of Both Worlds
- Interested In Outsourcing Your Accounting Workload? Let’s Chat!
What Key Tasks Do Accounting Teams Manage?
An accounting department is responsible for and oversees everything in a company to do with finances. An accounting team is usually composed of two key layers, a bookkeeper and an accountant.
Bookkeepers – record daily transactions. This has to be done for all businesses to prepare financial statements and tax returns. They manage accounts payable and accounts receivable, although lots of these tasks can be automated through AP software.
Accountants/CPAs – Make adjustments, provide insights, analyze data, and prepare financial statements and tax returns. They also usually oversee payroll, inventory cost management, budgeting, legal compliance and financial control. Accountants help you look at your business’s finances to make better and more sound business decisions.
When Does A Company Need An Accounting Department?
Finances are a big part of any business. It’s at the core of every business decision. Should you hire more staff? Cut staff? Add a new product? Stop a service, or charge more for your products? To make an informed decision, all these questions require some sort of financial analysis.
No business or organization can operate well– or profitably– without an accounting team. This is why, ideally, companies get at least some sort of accounting team from the get-go.
Having an accounting team will help you:
- Make adjustments, provide insights, analyze data, and prepare financial statements and tax returns
- Free up time so that you can focus on growing the business
- Make sure your books are done correctly, so you don’t need to pay someone to redo them at tax time
Plus, accountants are great to have on your team– or have access to– in case you’re ever audited or need to apply for a business loan.
Related: When Is The Right Time to Hire A Bookkeeper Or Accountant For Your Business
Pros And Cons Of Hiring An In-House Accounting Team
The pros of hiring an accounting team vs. doing it yourself are endless. Not only does having a team dedicated to these tasks save you time, but it also can save you money. Having someone who knows and understands corporate tax, financial planning and strategy, and payroll is priceless.
So, in our minds, the question isn’t, should you hire an accounting team? The question instead should be, should you have an in-house accounting team or should you outsource your accounting to an accounting firm?
We listed some pros and cons of using an in-house accounting team over outsourcing these roles so you can decide which is best for you and your business needs.
Pros To Having An In-House Accounting Team
- You get any-time access to your bookkeeper throughout the workday
- You can get them to help out with other business tasks (although this isn’t always the best use of their hourly pay)
- It tends to be easier to have your accounting in-house if your business requires a large accounting department of 3+ staff
At one point in time, it used to be more cost-effective to hire a full-time in-house bookkeeper if your business had a lot of transactions to record on a day-to-day basis. However, with so many accounting tasks now being able to be automated, having in-house teams just doesn’t make financial sense for most businesses.
Cons To Having An In-House Accounting Team
- It’s usually more expensive
- You need to pay a full-time salary, plus benefits
- You get a person, rather than a team
- You pay even if their workload isn’t full
- You pay for a generalist rather than a bunch of specialists
- They may not be aware of the latest and greatest technology
- If a company has a bookkeeper position in-house for the past 10+ years, they are not even aware of the changes in the industry. Meaning they could be missing out on so many tasks that could now be automated.
The reality is, having an in-house team is expensive! Most often, companies are paying far too much for their accounting services. This is because they have hired a team in-house (because that is what they thought they had to do) and are now not only paying full-time salaries but also for employee perks– such as benefits, bonuses, events, and so much more!
Contact us if you’re unsure if outsourcing could save you money or if you’re large enough to require a full-time accounting team. At the end of the day, we want your business to succeed, and if we’re not the right fit for your needs, we’ll help launch you in the right direction.
Why Outsourcing Accounting Is The Best Of Both Worlds
Outsourcing your accounting allows you to get the work done at a high quality for a fraction of the price! Outsourcing will enable you to be mostly hands-off (besides sending some numbers) while still keeping a pulse on your company’s finances through our monthly financial reporting meetings.
You may not get the same level of access to your accounting team as having them in-house, but with Rocket Accounting, we have a 24-hour response time to emails. So you can still expect timely responses. Plus, if you outsource to a company that uses cloud-based accounting software (like us!), you’ll be able to see your business’ financials at any time and from anywhere.
Not to mention outsourcing means you get one less person to manage.
With so many apps out there for automating invoicing, collecting payments, receiving bills, and paying bills, you don’t need an entire team anymore. When we redesign a client’s accounting system, we integrate as much technology as possible to give them back their time. This is what truly allows them to get all their accounting needs met at a lower cost.
Interested In Outsourcing Your Accounting Workload? Let’s Chat!
There are times when hiring an in-house accounting team may make sense. Having people in-house means you can get access to them around the clock. However, most companies don’t need an in-house accounting team anymore, especially with so many processes being automated.
At Rocket Accounting, we are a team of dedicated bookkeepers and CPAs ready to help you handle all your accounting and bookkeeping needs. We use cloud-based software, allowing you to view your finances at any time. Plus, we will help you automate some basic accounting tasks to save even more money and time.
If you’re interested in getting expert advice and help for a fraction of the cost, just call us, and we’ll discuss if outsourcing accounting could be right for you.