Running a business isn’t a piece of cake; you have to handle it all—marketing, sales, operations, budgeting, forecasting, taxes, managing staff, cash flow, and more. The good thing is that you don’t necessarily need to get into the jungle of all this. Managing other aspects of your business might be facile, but bookkeeping and accounting aren’t. Filing tax returns, financial reporting, keeping tabs, analyzing, and tracking transactions require timely management. Small to midsize businesses are dynamic and complex, and so are their economic numbers. Managing and meeting deadlines isn’t all; compliance with the federal and state taxation rules is also required.
There’s surely a way out; one can delegate the finance and tax work to an external accounting firm or professional accountant. You need someone with industry experience who knows the ins and outs of your industry. Tulsa small business bookkeeping firms can help you keep your finances and books in order.
Questions You Must Ask Your Accountant Before Hand:
Whether it’s your first time hiring an accountant or your 100th, make sure that you check if he or she is up to the task or not. For this, you can ask them the following questions:
What records should I maintain or document?
You must keep records of your business expenses, sales, profit, loss, income, gross receipts, and purchases. This documentation will come in handy in determining your organization’s asset value and profitability. These are also needed for filing tax returns and in case of an audit by the IRS. The accountant will likely encourage you to maintain specific records, such as:
- Bank account statements
- Business tax returns
- Canceled checks or receipts that prove payment/electronic funds transfers
- Financial statements
- Cash register tapes
- General ledger
- Credit card receipts & check registers
- Business agreements
- Deposit information (cash and credit sales)
- Business licenses & merger contracts
- Insurance documents
- Invoices
- Payroll records,
- And more.
Keep all these files and records in both soft and hard copies. You can ask your accountant if they use any software to manage client data; this can simplify things. Remember that you have to hold on to some records and files for a set time as mandated by the Fair Labor Standards Act or Internal Revenue Service.
- Are there any new tax laws and regulations that affect my business? Your professional accountant will have better knowledge and insight about recent federal, state, or local taxation rules and regulations and any changes made in recent years. They will let you know if the new provisions impact your business directly or indirectly. Furthermore, they will ensure the latest changes comply with your business areas. Some changes may include:
- No supplementary stimulus payments
- Limited or no above-the-line charitable deductions
- Eligibility for premium tax credits
- Tax credits for eco-friendly or clean vehicles
- Tax credit returns to 2019 levels
What’s my break-even point and how can I grow?
When your operating costs equal the amount earned or your sales quota matches your total expenses and purchases, that’s known as the break-even point. Your accountant will likely brief you about this forthcoming situation and how you can effectively manage your budget, cut losses, invest, cash flow, and other crucial assets and liabilities of your organization. With your financial reports, transaction numbers, and losses in the accountant’s hands, they can analyze the economic numbers and guide you about future expansion or investment opportunities. They can tell you where to allocate your expenses to reduce overall tax deductions, which location suits your business industry tax-wise, and how you can better project and manage your cash flow. It’s like having a 360-degree map of resources that can help one navigate through every financial hurdle smoothly.
