As a business owner, you know that managing finances is no small task. But when it comes to deciding who you need, a QuickBooks or an accountant, things can get confusing fast. So, in this blog, we will break it down to simplify matters and help you choose the ideal one for your business. But before we tell you when to hire QuickBooks consultants and when to choose accountants, let’s begin our journey with a quick overview of their functions.
A Quick Overview
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QuickBooks Consultants
A QuickBooks consultant is an expert in QuickBooks products. They also specialize in setup, integration, clean up, migrations, workflow design, bank feeds, and user training. Pro-level advisors or certified practitioners are well versed in making the software work seamlessly with your day-to-day operations. In short, a QuickBooks consultant optimizes your QuickBooks setup, generates crucial financial reports, and streamlines your accounting processes.
So, does this mean that you do not need to hire an accountant? Wait before you jump to any conclusion, let’s have an overview of the functions performed by an accountant.
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Accountants
An accountant is basically your financial record keeper and compliance expert. They ensure tax filings are correct, help maintain accurate financial records, and assist with budgeting. Accountants also offer strategic interpretations of your financials.
When to Hire Either: QuickBooks Consultants vs. Accountants
The short answer to this question is: you need them both, but at different times and for different reasons. If you are worried about tax filing, compliance, and financial accuracy, then you should hire an accountant. On the other hand, if your business relies heavily on QuickBooks and you want it to run smoothly, then you should hire QuickBooks consultants.
Sounds confusing? So, let us break this down further for you.
See, most businesses rely on QuickBooks, especially during the startup phase. And it is a very effective tool. QuickBooks automatically books double entry: both debit and credit. So, you will never encounter a situation where the debit does not equal the credit. And if your business heavily relies on QuickBooks, you can’t avoid hiring a QuickBooks consultant.
So, does this mean that as a startup, you don’t need to hire an accountant? This is what many business owners think. However, this logic is totally flawed. Let us explain why.
Before building a house, you will have a layout of all your plumbing needs as part of the building design. Similarly, while building your business, you will need an accountant to identify the most helpful chart of accounts for your business. Because you would always want your financial information to flow in a proper direction and be accounted for accurately in your books of account. And when tax time rolls in, you would want to identify activities that can be used to deduct your tax liability and help you save money.
You might opt to do it alone once you have a hang of things. However, you would still need to hire a finance expert to do a check once in a while and ensure that you remain on track. Here, you might argue that since you have QuickBooks, which automatically does the double entry for every transaction, why would you need the finance expert for regular check-ins. Well, here is why:
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Confirming Records
Yes, it is true that QuickBooks does not allow the debit to not equal the credit. However, while making the entry, you might mistakenly choose the wrong account, and QuickBooks will not identify the error. And when you see the books of account, it will still show that the total debit equals the total credit amount. But there will be an error inside, and you won’t know about it.
In fact, there are several instances where accounting entries are not simple answers but require further careful consideration for proper updation of the books. This is why it is always important to have an accountant on board.
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Compliance
There are various areas of compliance that accountants pay attention to, including tax filings, payroll filings, tax rules for depreciation and amortization, etc. Your accountant will ensure that you are correctly recording your assets and liabilities in your books and complying with the latest tax regulations.
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Guidance
Accountants are not only required to properly file your books of account. They also bring strategic insights to the table. Accountants look at trends and notice when a pattern reveals a change. They can offer quality advice on the best way to segment information in QuickBooks for identifying independent business segment profitability. Moreover, accountants also guide you in managing your organization better.
How to Hire a Finance Expert
The discussion above makes it clear that you need both an accountant and a QuickBooks consultant for your business. But this opens up another problem for a small business: budget. Yes, budget often becomes a constraint when it comes to hiring top talent. Moreover, a steady decline in the number of qualified accountants in the USA has further aggravated the situation for SMBs.
To address the talent gap, many US businesses are looking to hire QuickBooks consultants in India. Some are also looking to outsource such tasks and are seeking partners offering QuickBooks consulting services in India. However, directly hiring finance experts or outsourcing such tasks might not be the best alternative for an SMB. Here is why:
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Challenges With Outsourcing
When you outsource QuickBooks handling tasks to partners offering QuickBooks consulting services in India, you tend to lose ownership of the task. It is the outsourcing partner who decides on the talent that handles this job and also the output quality. Therefore, more often than not, you are entitled only to the final output, which can be delayed or of inferior quality compared to your expectations.
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Challenges With Hiring QuickBooks Consultants in India
When you directly try to hire finance experts from India, you would have to navigate complex legal, taxation, and other hurdles. These factors can increase the talent acquisition cost and lengthen the hiring cycle. For today’s times, which require you to be fast and agile, this might not be the most suitable alternative for your business.
Solution: Hire Offshore Accountants
As you have seen above, both the above alternatives might not be the best possible path for small and medium businesses. But don’t worry, there is a path that is best suited for you: hiring offshore. Unlike working with freelancers or agencies, hiring offshore gives you more control, access to the best talent, is less risky, flexible, and budget friendly.
If you are still unsure, you can partner with Remote Resource® and try an accountant or a QuickBooks consultant, or even both, for a week for free.
Final Words
In the above paragraphs, we have dived deep to let you know what a QuickBooks consultant and an accountant bring to the table. So now let’s iterate the big question yet again: how do you decide whom your business needs?
The key is balancing costs versus benefits. Do you need tax compliance or efficient bookkeeping and reporting? Your current needs and long-term goals will guide your choice. In summary, if you are looking for accurate tax planning, financial compliance, and record keeping, you need to hire an accountant. And if you want QuickBooks running flawlessly, with someone taking care of its setup and day-to-day upkeep, you can’t ignore hiring QuickBooks consultants.
If you still aren’t sure or have some other questions, don’t worry. Remote Resource® is here to help. Connect now with our experts, and we will be happy to guide you towards making the right choice.
