It takes a lot of work to start a small enterprise. In the initial stages, it’s easy to manage the finances yourself, be it computing taxes or preparing invoices. As your company grows, it gets harder to organize your accounts though.

As important as it is for keeping your business running, accounting is tedious and time-consuming. The worst-case scenario is making a mistake that costs hundreds or even thousands of revenue. When you’re in a rush or tired from other tasks, you’re more likely to commit an error too.

The problem is that hiring accounting staff is too expensive. Fortunately, you have the option to hire a virtual CPA instead.

8 Reasons to Hire a Virtual Accountant

They reduce your overhead

Remote accountants work on a contractual basis. This means you won’t have to pay for their health benefits, vacation leaves, income taxes, and the like. Since they’re based online, there’s no need to spend on a physical office space either.

Though software such as Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage50 cloud cost hundreds of dollars per year, online accountants tend to pay for these themselves. They spread these costs across their client base to minimize the overhead per employer.

They redirect time for operations

Outsourcing the accounting to a virtual accountant frees you from the monotony of reviewing taxes and managing accounts. Since you now have the hours to spare, concentrate on developing new products and/or services to stay competitive.

Pay special attention to the financial health and well-being of your enterprise too. Doing so ensures that you make an informed decision for future investments and strategies. With proper financial management, you may even acquire other SMEs in the years to come.

They provide real-time reporting

With traditional accounting services, your accountant is available only during office hours. There are times when you have to wait for several days before receiving their report because they called in sick or went on a holiday. Requesting for changes is a long process then.

You may ask your virtual accountant in the Philippines for your financial reports whenever you need them and through any device. They have flexible schedules so they’re available to address any concerns and questions. Sometimes, they work with a team who take over for them when they’re on leave.

They leverage relevant technology

As we’ve mentioned before, hiring a virtual accountant means your data are accurate and timely. They also ensure that your accounts are always accessible to you through secured logins. In other words, it’s part of their job to check that your books are online and protected.

Additionally, they know how to maximize the technology available for accounting. They’ve used the software before and they’re familiar with any apps that might be useful for your particular business. They may recommend tools that are new to you yet are beneficial for your success.

They offer additional services

With their experience and expertise, online accountants provide extra services to help you manage your company better. For instance, if you want to look at sales growth over the past 6 months, they will produce the reports you need.

You might think that accountants only provide spreadsheets and similar-looking documents. Actually, some of them are capable of creating graphs as well. These are useful when you want to present your data to your customers or partners in an easier-to-digest format.

They handle various tasks

Maybe you hesitate to hire a virtual CPA because you think that you can handle all of their responsibilities yourself. However, there’s more to accounting or bookkeeping than you think. Here are some of the things you might assign them to:

• Projecting cash flows
• Managing inventories
• Budgeting
• Keeping financial records
• Overhauling existing systems
• Balancing sheets
• Entering data
• Reconciling your credit
• Maintaining trial balance
• Creating payroll reports
• Sorting, importing, and exporting data
• Managing daily petty cash
• Managing sales and purchase orders
• Developing business plans
• Managing revenue and expenditures

Ask yourself if you’re capable of doing everything on top of your other tasks. You’ll soon realise that it’s best to leave these in the hands of a virtual accountant. That way, you’re guaranteed to receive quality results for the work.

They give unbiased opinions

An in-house employee may hesitate to give their honest thoughts to you as their employer. On the other hand, someone from the outside may offer a fresh perspective on how to manage your finances. They won’t hesitate to inform you what you’re doing wrong with your money.

They will help you catch unintentional mistakes or errors in your sheets and software. So, ask them for suggestions on what methods or tools to use for accounting. You may learn about techniques that your competitors use and might be effective for you.

They start immediately

When your business is just starting out, you have no time to waste on holding orientations or training employees. You want your workers to focus on meeting customer needs and delivering results. Hiring in-house means having someone do the hiring process instead of sales and other tasks.

A remote accountant is capable of hitting the ground running. They already know how to use the different software so you won’t have to teach them. You still need to brief them about your company but they’re otherwise ready to work on whatever you assign them to.

Where to Find a Virtual Accountant

Everybody needs help with their accounting, especially entrepreneurs who are running a small enterprise. Balancing books and processing payroll are for people who know what they’re doing. Hence, outsource those responsibilities to an expert so you can focus on product development and sales growth.

We at Remote Workmate can help you find the perfect person to leave your accounting to. Count on us to get you a reliable virtual accountant in the Philippines. Let us handle the initial screening while you take care of the final interview.