To many small and growing businesses, accounting and bookkeeping are looked at as something of a “necessary evil”. Everyone knows that you can’t do without these essential services, but no one really wants to spend all their time keeping the books. If you’re the owner of the business, your time can certainly be better used in other activities, and it doesn’t always make sense to hire an accountant or a bookkeeper and take on the added costs of salary, benefits, office space, and more. So, outsourced or virtual accounting services are becoming increasingly popular and can be an ideal solution for a small to medium sized business.
Virtual accounting, in case you’re not familiar with the term, refers to accounting work that is done outside of your company’s offices. It typically takes advantage of modern cloud technologies, and so, is also sometimes referred to as “cloud accounting”. Whatever you call it, it’s an excellent way to reap the benefits of having a full-time, full-service accounting department, but without the costs and responsibilities of managing that department in-house. Here are some of the services you can expect that a virtual accounting firm will be able to provide to your company:
Your virtual full charge bookkeeper
With a virtual accounting team, you won’t have to waste your precious time on tedious, time-consuming bookkeeping tasks. Your virtual accountant will take complete responsibility for all of the routine accounting work that you need to do on an ongoing basis. The team can totally manage all accounts payable and receivable, as well as cash account ledgers. This includes processing of invoices for your clients and the payments you receive from them. They’ll also produce reports on the above, and any other aspects of your finances as needed.
Customized accounting solutions for your company
No two businesses are exactly the same, so cookie-cutter accounting solutions don’t really make sense. Your virtual accounting firm will do an initial consultation to understand your business model, and to learn about your existing systems and processes. After doing a thorough analysis, they’ll propose a solution to fit your specific needs and improve your processes.
Will virtual accounting work for us?
In most cases, the answer is yes. At Stride, we’ve spent ten years working with clients in different industries, and have helped them to grow and streamline their processes.
Our accounting and bookkeeping services include:
- Accounts payable (bills and payments)
- Accounts receivable (invoices and collection)
- Daily General ledger maintenance
- Time tracking & job cost reporting
- Payroll processing
- Expense classification
- Sales commissions
- Sales and use tax filing
- Bank account reconciliation
- Credit card reconciliation
- PayPal reconciliation
- Balance sheet generation and review
- Financial statements & custom reporting
- Fixed asset management
- 1099 forms
- Coordinating with your CPA or tax adviser
- Audit support
