When you first start out as a small business owner, you tend to take the weight of your entire business on your own two shoulders. You’ll come up with a product concept of your own accord. You’ll go about the design process, manufacturing, and marketing independently or with the help of freelancers and third parties.

You’ll learn a whole lot about a whole host of topics revolving around your business in a very short period of time. But one area of running a business that tends to take first time business owners by surprise is accounting. Most of us are so used to having our taxes automatically dealt with by our employers that we don’t give it a second thought when we start running things ourselves, only to be struck with a huge surprise when the end of the fiscal year rolls around.

While you can deal with your own taxes, this can prove to be an extremely time consuming activity and you could be better off investing your time and efforts into other areas of your company. Accounting is also pretty complicated and you don’t want to find yourself making major mistakes that are difficult to put right down the line. So, what are your options when it comes to dealing with your accounts?

Outsourcing

The first option that you have on your hands is outsourcing to a reliable accountant. This tends to be the best option for small business owners who are just starting out or who run a pretty small company. Taking on part time or full time employees is a big responsibility. You have to take charge over others health and wellbeing in the workplace, you have to provide holidays and benefits, you have to provide a workspace… the list goes on and on. By outsourcing to freelancers or third parties, you engage with individuals who take care of themselves or their own staff, but can still benefit from professionals dealing with your accounts and ensuring that your books are all in order. If this sounds like something that you would be interested in, click here.

Hiring an In-House Accountant

Outsourcing is all well and good for small businesses, but as your business begins to grow and expand, you might want to consider hiring an in-house accountant. This will be an accountant who works for your company full time and is dedicated to your business. There are benefits that come hand in hand with this. Mainly that the accountant can familiarise themselves with your business and what you are doing, and can consequently give further advice regarding which areas of your business you may be spending too much in, which areas should be better invested in, and which entirely new areas you might want to consider.

Accounting is an inevitability when it comes to running any business and it’s highly likely that you will not have sufficient time on your hands to deal with it yourself. So, make sure to determine what’s best for your business in regards to accounting sooner rather than later!