- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Any small business owners/managers here use 3rd party accounting?
Posted on 4/29/21 at 6:58 am to Giantkiller
Posted on 4/29/21 at 6:58 am to Giantkiller
quote:
We use a CPA who basically signs off on our books and does our taxes. But they basically just reconcile our stuff after the quickbooks files are all still compiled in house. I'd like to sub it all out completely.
Your bookkeeper can’t reconcile? They should be able to? It should be a lot easier for them to reconcile then a 3rd party.
0
Posted on 4/29/21 at 7:10 am to Giantkiller
Not sure about your industry but in mine no way could I use 3rd party accounting.
Posted on 4/29/21 at 7:13 am to diat150
quote:
Not sure about your industry but in mine no way could I use 3rd party accounting.
What industry?
Posted on 4/29/21 at 7:16 am to Giantkiller
quote:
We use a CPA who basically signs off on our books and does our taxes. But they basically just reconcile our stuff after the quickbooks files are all still compiled in house.
That's what I do as well, but I have an MBA on staff who is awesome, so there's not much for the CPA to do. I'd rather know the person handling the company's money.
Posted on 4/29/21 at 7:17 am to Giantkiller
My firm does this and it makes being an advisor to our clients much, much easier. Having information and insight at our fingertips helps take bookkeeping and accounting off your plate and can do some great stuff for you.
Posted on 4/29/21 at 7:23 am to diat150
quote:
Not sure about your industry but in mine no way could I use 3rd party accounting.
Correct. And that’s important. I have a hard time believing any business with 30 employees shouldn’t have a bookkeeper or staff accountant but some require very little accounting work.
Some companies shy away from in house accounting and I’ve never understood this, it’s not that hard for an accountant or good book keeper to save you or earn you their salary. I look at them as an investment and not an expense. If you aren’t finding ways for them to earn you more or save you more it may be time to self reflect and look at their job and your expectations. But again, every industry is different.
Posted on 4/29/21 at 7:37 am to JumpingTheShark
quote:
Having information and insight at our fingertips helps take bookkeeping and accounting off your plate and can do some great stuff for you.
This
Posted on 4/29/21 at 8:06 am to Giantkiller
ADP is good on payroll but don't use them for anything else.
I used to work for them in the national accounts division and they have a tendency to frick things outside of payroll up.
I used to work for them in the national accounts division and they have a tendency to frick things outside of payroll up.
Posted on 4/29/21 at 8:17 am to caliegeaux
quote:
Netchex.
They only do P/R & HR type work.
quote:
2 local area owners golf here as we
I usually play Beau Chene mid week so I don't ever see anyone.
With that out of the way, what the OP is looking for definitely exists you just wont find it at many small CPA firms as most will only handle monthly reconciliation. I offer weekly services to some clients but its very time consuming which means its costly and plenty of small businesses can't afford it. It is however cheaper than an in house accounting department.
Posted on 4/29/21 at 8:25 am to Giantkiller
quote:
But they basically just reconcile our stuff after the quickbooks files are all still compiled in house. I'd like to sub it all out completely.
I’d hire another employee before I outsourced my day to day accounting
That seems like a cluster waiting to happen
I have had to edit invoices for sales tax rate changes / add exemptions / discount didn’t carry over...Is your guy going to take these calls then forward to whoever you sub out too?
Are your customers supposed to go direct to accounting firm?
Maybe you don’t deal with that kind of stuff & it may work for you but I would never do it
Posted on 4/29/21 at 8:39 am to Giantkiller
quote:
I’ve researched ADP and they offer a service called Totalsource
ADP Totalsource is a PEO... basically your employees become employees of ADP Totalsource and you "lease" them from ADP. You still control hiring/firing/managing etc but for legal purposes, they are employees of ADP, basically on permanent assignment to your company. They handle all the benefits, payroll, etc.
You can usually get better benefits for your employees, however, these arrangements are pricey.
That's not third party accounting, though. You can certainly contract with a bookkeeper to help. A good non-CPA firm bookkeeper is hard to find, and expensive if you do find one. A lot of CPA firms had gotten away from bookkeeping, but the problems many of us had finding good bookkeepers for our clients, has led many smaller firms to restablish bookkeeping as a service.
It can be very customizeable. We have some clients that we drop in once a month and do their bank rec, and they handle all transactions/invoices/payments. We have some where we do everything for them - they tell us what they did, we send out invoices, we collect payment, we pay bills, etc. We have some where we provide monthly or quarterly reporting. We have some where we provide reports and we consult monthly.
Basically, we can do as little or as much as the client wants us to do. Cost is based on what we do... simple bookkeeping / bill pay is at a lower rate, financial reporting and consulting is at a higher rate.
Some firms do packages - gold, silver, bronze, where each package you get a set of services for a particular price. Usually an annual contract, billed monthly via ACH.
My only caveat to you is that construction accounting can be a little different and complex... so make sure any one you work with, has a lot of experience in that industry.
Posted on 4/29/21 at 8:42 am to Giantkiller
As another poster stated, I would look to hire another person to come in as your bookkeeper. You may even be able to bring someone in part-time, and depending on where you are can grab rotate college students that are looking for basic experience.
If you do not want to go that route, talk to your CPA and see who they have worked with in the past. A lot of CPA firms, will have some sort of working relationship with a bookkeeping company that can handle a lot of the day-to-day stuff. Some will come in weekly and run everything for the week, and others will ask that you have someone do the grunt work (simple data entry, cut checks...) and they will reconcile it on a monthly basis. A lot of that depends on the amount of transactions/work you need them to take over.
If you do not want to go that route, talk to your CPA and see who they have worked with in the past. A lot of CPA firms, will have some sort of working relationship with a bookkeeping company that can handle a lot of the day-to-day stuff. Some will come in weekly and run everything for the week, and others will ask that you have someone do the grunt work (simple data entry, cut checks...) and they will reconcile it on a monthly basis. A lot of that depends on the amount of transactions/work you need them to take over.
Posted on 4/29/21 at 8:47 am to Giantkiller
The level of detail that you desire for job cost accounting is where it is going to get tricky finding a cost-effective 3rd party accountant.
Page 2 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News