Using Outsourced Accounting Services

Online Business Services Save Time and Money

How many hours per week does your staff bookkeeper spend at the water cooler? On lunch? Kibitzing with co-workers when they drop off expense reports?

When you outsource your bookkeeping services, you'll save money and time—and business owners know that time IS money. 
Wait, outsourcing? Doesn't that mean sending jobs off-shore rather than keeping your business dollars in America where they can help other Americans? Isn't that unpatriotic? And if you don't think it is, would your customers think so, if they found out?

Not necessarily. Outsourcing any service, from outsourced accounting services to bookkeeping and taxes, simply means hiring someone who is not a W-2 employee, but a freelancer or independent contractor. With today's technology, online business services with U.S.-based employees are common, and growing rapidly.

For instance, if you hire AccountingDepartment.com for your day-to-day and monthly bookkeeping services, you'll get a U.S.-based, trained and experienced bookkeeper who just happens to work outside your office (most often, inside their own home).

This saves you expenses of: 

• Office space
• Utilities and other overhead
• Benefits and insurance

Bookkeeping Services for Rapidly Growing Businesses

Has your business expanded? Is one in-house bookkeeper not enough? Or have you had a hard time finding even one qualified person to provide your multi-million dollar corporation with bookkeeping services in-house?

Small business services firms can provide a variety of outsourced services to larger companies. If your company is in a stage of rapid growth, online bookkeeping services can help you keep up with that growth.

What sort of functions do online bookkeeping services provide? And where can you find a good one?

Online bookkeeping services include:

• Recording vendor invoices, payments and statements, plus purchase orders, sales invoices and more
• Paying bills online or preparing checks for your signature
• Weekly AP and AR reports
• Prepare spreadsheet for payroll processing
• Balance sheets
• Monthly P&L ... and much, much more.

Don't struggle with finding the right in-house bookkeeper to grow with your company. Let AccountingDepartment.com help.

When Small Business Services Are Not Enough

If you've grown your SMB or medium size business from the ground up, you may remember the days when an accountant specializing in small business services was all you needed. Quarterly taxes, maybe a few 1099 forms, and boxes of receipts represented your minimal expenses. Your company had profits below a million dollars and, while it seemed intimidating for you to handle taxes yourself, a part time accountant made the task easy.

And then your company grew. And grew. And grew some more.

You've known for some time that small business accounting services are not enough—you need bookkeeping services to manage day-to-day, monthly, and weekly bookkeeping tasks. The needs of a company with revenues from $1 to $25 million are very different than a start-up company with revenues below a million. You need a company that understands that, and can provide the full-time bookkeeping services you need to help your company continue to grow.

Online bookkeeping services provide the answer—at a price well below what it would cost to hire a full-time, in house bookkeeper and a controller. In addition to these positions, AccountingDepartment.com provides an accounting software specialist that understands how to use your choice of accounting software.

Just because you're large enough to hire a full-fledged bookkeeping department doesn't mean you should. Save time and money with online bookkeeping.

Online Bookkeeping for the Bank Reconciliation Process and More

Are you concerned about company theft or embezzlement by your bookkeeping staff and other employees with access to your finances? Maybe you should be.

Statistics from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners say white collar crime, especially embezzlement, costs businesses $660 billion per year (Yes, that's a "B"). The U.S. Department of Justice estimated that employee theft grows by at least 15% each year.

One way to prevent or spot embezzlement is by using an effective monthly bank reconciliation process. The bank reconciliation process ensures that: 

• Your bank statements and checkbook balances match
• No funds are unaccounted for
• Your bank isn't overcharging you

When you use online bookkeeping services through a reputable firm like AccountingDepartment.com, you have our guarantee that your full-time, virtual bookkeeper is trustworthy, competent, and trained in all bookkeeping best practices and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The bank reconciliation process is just one piece of the bookkeeping puzzle that your full-time bookkeeper will provide for you to help you keep track of your company's finances.

You'll have the peace of mind that you can trust our people, our process, and our practices. You can take that to the bank!

Why Does Your Business Need Controller Services?

The position of controller is a high-pressure, high-responsibility, and high-paying job within most medium-size businesses. If your company has grown to the point it needs controller services, it may be hard to find the right individual for the job.

When you use AccountingDepartment.com for your virtual bookkeeping and accounting department, we provide controller services. The controller works in conjunction with the bookkeeper to provide you with all the services of a full-fledged, in-house accounting department—at a fraction of the price.

What exactly is involved in controller services?

A financial controller:

• Helps manage cash flow
• Interprets financial reports
• Coordinates systems to expedite the flow of information to and from the accounting department
• Helps in preparation of monthly and annual internal financial reports
• Provides various financial analysis to help you make the right decision about your business
• Supervises the bookkeeper

As the business owner, you will still make all the important financial decisions. In fact, you'll have more control because all your company's financial reports and data—along with accurate analysis—will be available with a few clicks of the mouse. Your financial records will be up-to-date and accurate.
You can make educated decisions and predictions and set goals based on real data—not react to situations as they occur.

Ready for controller services? Call AccountingDepartment.com today.

Start Now to Simplify Your Tax Accounting Services

Even if you've found the best tax accounting services available, you may not be maximizing your deductions or even submitting the right information to avoid an audit if your day-to-day bookkeeping records aren't in order.

That's right—bookkeeping mistakes your staff made last year can hurt you when your accountant submits your tax paperwork for the first quarter. So what's the solution?

Revamping your bookkeeping staff may be a start. But it's time-consuming and frustrating to hire and train new people, and make sure they can not only do the job you need, but also fit in with your company's unique culture. The "revolving door" of bookkeepers before you find the right individual hurts company morale and taxes, no pun intended, your HR staff.

Also, if your financial reports are a mess due to bookkeepers not doing their job, you need help right away. Here's where an online bookkeeping service can help.

When you sign on with AccountingDepartment.com, we select the right, trained bookkeeper to work from home for your company. This person knows your business accounting software inside-out, and will work with you to discuss your company's needs, and develop best practices and standards (that meet GAAP) that fit your company.

In addition to taking over the day-to-day and weekly bookkeeping duties, your virtual bookkeeper can go back and help organize previous records (providing the information is available) to simplify your tax accounting when the time comes. And if you need an audit, we can help you get your paperwork in order to help things go smoothly.

Is Accounting Outsourcing the Right Decision?

Are you on the fence about whether or not accounting outsourcing is the best choice for your business? Here are three ways a virtual accounting department, which includes a bookkeeper and a controller, is better than hiring in-house staff.

Virtual bookkeepers don't get involved in company politics. Ever have a salesperson padding his expense reports after an industry trade show? A virtual bookkeeper is likely to spot discrepancies—and point them out to you. They don't have to face that salesperson at the water cooler the next day. With a virtual bookkeeper, it's all about the numbers and providing you with the most accurate data.

Virtual bookkeepers don't get involved in local politics, either. At AccountingDepartment.com, we like to say, "Our bookkeepers don't care about you on a local level." Surprising statement? Of course we care about providing you with the highest level of bookkeeping service available. But it's not our business to judge how you spend your company's money.

Our bookkeepers pay the bills on time and keep you up-to-date on your company's financial records. We will assign you with a virtual bookkeeper who is in your time zone (if you prefer), but does not live in your region. They don't care about local politics, and all your information is kept strictly confidential on our secure servers.

Accounting outsourcing means less overhead. Hiring employees is expensive. Not even factoring in the time it takes to hire and train bookkeepers, in-house staff requires overhead in the form of office equipment, office space, utilities, paid-time-off, benefits... and all those extras good bosses offer, like Friday lunches, holiday bonuses, etc. When you hire virtual bookkeepers as independent contractors, they get paid for the hours they work, and you don't have any overhead.

Accounting outsourcing can save your company a lot of time, money and hassles. Contact AccountingDepartment.com for pricing today.

Does Accounting Outsourcing Mean I Hire People from Overseas?

The word "outsourcing" has gotten a bit of a bad rap lately. People think of foreign customer service reps that barely speak English, underpaid people in third world countries who don't know how to get the job done and don't provide the level of service we are accustomed to in the United States.

But "outsourcing" simply means "hiring someone outside your company." This includes freelancers, independent contractors, and anyone who is not specifically a W-2 employee of your company. And guess what? Many outsourced jobs stay right here within the U.S.

At AccountingDepartment.com, our accounting outsourcing services use only U.S.-based, trained, educated bookkeepers and financial controllers. We do not hire anyone from overseas. In fact, your online bookkeeper will not only speak your language—they will live in your time zone. They will be available from 8 to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. If you tend to work late and prefer a bookkeeper in a different time zone so they can better fit your schedule, we can accommodate. But your bookkeeper will always be U.S.-based, with English as thier native language, and trained, certified, and tested in the accounting software you use, whether it's QuickBooks or something else.

Here are some more facts about your outsourced accounting department when you work with AccountingDepartment.com:

• Out of 4,000 resumes we receive per year, only 500 candidates are called for interviews.
• Before hiring, our bookkeepers must pass a four-hour Accounting & QuickBooks test. Only five percent of candidates make the cut.
• Our bookkeepers are re-certified in QuickBooks annually and trained by one of the top trainers in the U.S. 

How Can Online Bookkeeping Services Save You Money?

Have you considered online business services to help you reduce overhead and cut costs in your medium-size company? Whether you have an ecommerce website, a brick-and-mortar retail outlet, or professional services, online business services could be an easy solution to the hassle and expense of hiring and training employees.

When you use online bookkeeping services, you'll save money in a number of areas:

• Benefits
• Office space/office supplies/office equipment
• Utilities
• Taxes
• Unemployment insurance

The bookkeepers at AccountingDepartment.com work from home, in a secure environment, with a separate company computer and dual monitor set-up used only for bookkeeping work. Your company's financial records are stored on our secure server, and are accessible to you via password-protected account from any computer with Internet access 24 hours a day. This provides you with added flexibility to work-at-home if you want to and still have access to important company financial data.

There are a number of financial and practical benefits to using online business services for your growing firm. Contact AccountingDepartment.com today to find out more.

Online Business Services: The "Green" Choice for Your Company

Using online business services is not only a smart financial decision for your growing business—it's also the "green" choice for your company. By their nature, independent contractors typically telecommute—that is, they work from a remote location (usually, their own homes). Having less people in the office, and less people on the roads during rush hour, significantly reduces your company's carbon footprint.

According to the American Electronics Association, if each U.S. worker telecommuted only 1.6 days per week, it could save 1.35 billion gallons of gasoline.

When you use online business services, your online bookkeeper and controller telecommute five days a week. This reduces their commuting costs, and it also reduces your utility bills, water usage and power consumption.

There are other "green" benefits to online business services, too. All of your financial data is stored "in the cloud" and accessed via any computer with Internet access. Records, financial reports, and notifications are often transmitted via email as documents. Very little paper is ever used, reducing printing costs and paper use. You'll even receive electronic bank statements, and your bookkeeper can set up most of your accounts for online bill pay.

You may not have realized just how much you can reduce your company's carbon footprint by making the "green" decision of using online business services to help you manage your finances and more.

Online Business Services: Are They Secure?

Ready to make the jump to online accounting services, but concerned about Internet security with having all your financial records, bank statements, and accounts "in the cloud?"

AccountingDepartment.com is concerned about Internet security, too—our own and that of our clients. That's why we use the highest level of security to protect our servers—the same security methods used by major U.S. banks. Your online bookkeeping and online accounting information is protected using SSL, 128-bit encryption, the highest level currently supported by consumer Web browsers.

In addition, AccountingDepartment.com uses its own Application Service Provider (ASP) to host your online bookkeeping and online accounting software and data files. This is the same technology used by banks, medical record keepers and the IRS. You always have access to your data using your exclusive password, set by you. Our ASP is located off-site, separate from the AccountingDepartment.com offices. Not even the ASP employees have access to your password.

Online Business Services: More Secure than Your Office
Our security measures already sound better than what you have in your office, don't they? An on-site bookkeeper may get sloppy with her computer password, keep records in an unlocked file cabinet (or out on the desk!), and have people in and out of their office all the time.

Our bookkeepers work from home and log onto a secure environment. They cant print or email off OSI's servers so your financial records don't every end up lying around on someones desk.

If you bank online, file taxes online, or use other software, you'll be comfortable with online bookkeeping, too.

Bookkeeping Solutions That Cost Less Than You'd Imagine

Do you run a large ecommerce site? Is your in-house staff having trouble keeping up with orders, invoicing vendors and managing the bookkeeping to keep all your records straight?

You may have considered a number of bookkeeping solutions. But did you know you can have one firm—a virtual bookkeeping solutions company—handle everything, for less money than you might think?

If you run an ecommerce site, the online bookkeeping services at AccountingDepartment.com can do it all for you.

We can integrate your online accounting software with your shopping cart's back-end, send orders, manage inventory, track accounts payable and accounts receivable, and even create and submit invoices. Of course, our online bookkeepers will pay your monthly or weekly bills as you authorize, and also generate all relevant financial reports so you can better keep track of your business.

Ecommerce websites grow quickly. What started as a small business venture may now have grown to a multimillion dollar company. But that doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money on bookkeeping solutions.

Ecommerce website owners are just one example of the type of companies we help with bookkeeping solutions every day here at OSI. Our client base includes:

• Technology companies, including IT and programmers
• Professional service providers (doctors, lawyers, therapists, etc.)
• Venture capital-based start-ups, especially in the technology sector
• Not-for-profits
• Virtual service providers and other companies who are used to operating "in the cloud"

Controller Services Put Financial Control Back in Your Hands

Are you afraid that if you outsource controller services you will be surrendering some of the financial control of your company, have to answer to an outside source, or otherwise giving up "power" in your company?

This is a natural concern for many business owners as their company continues to grow and they find themselves outsourcing more and more tasks. In the beginning you may have had a handful of carefully managed employees, but now you find yourself with 50 to 100 people or more who each play a hand in helping your company run smoothly. Now it's time to look into controller services to, believe it or not, put more of the financial control back in your own hands.

What Do Controller Services Entail? 
An accounting controller offers the following services and more:

• Financial forecasts
• Cash management
• Financial dashboard maintenance
• Monthly management letter
• Monthly phone consultation

When you use an accounting controller from AccountingDepartment.com, you can spend less time analyzing and more time making decisions about the future of your company. Plus, all your records are available for your viewing online, 24/7, from any computer with Internet access. That's real financial control—right in your hands.

What Happens to My Financial Data In the Event of a Disaster?

What would happen to all your financial records if your office had a major flood or fire? Most businesses do not have off-site back-up of their important files, and may consider back-up just another "unnecessary expense." And there's a good chance your computer and paper files are not stored in the most secure environment.

We do things differently at AccountingDepartment.com. We treat your online accounting software and company financial data better than you might. All of your company data, along with online bookkeeping software, records, and other financial data, is stored on our completely secure, off-site server through an ASP (Application Service Provider).

The server is housed in an SAS 70, Type II certified facility, with continuous on-site management, restricted access and monitored surveillance.

Concerned about natural disasters or power outages? The building has self-contained, redundant climate control and fire suppression, along with a reinforced, earthquake-resistant ceiling, 12-inch thick poured concrete walls, and under-floor cooling and ventilation. We use a UPS-redundant batter back-up with a diesel generator in the event of prolonged power outages.

Need Backups?
On the off-chance that something should happen, everything on our server is saved every three hours. These files are saved five days. An additional server snapshot is taken every 24 hours and held for five weeks. The entire server farm is backed up to disk nightly; these disks are stored for two weeks. Those nightly disk back-ups are then backed up to tape once a month, and stored off-site in a fireproof vault. Finally, once per year, the monthly tapes are compiled into a yearly tape backup, held three years. What this means is that you have three years worth of your financial data backed up securely off-site in a fireproof vault in the event of an emergency.

Security and consistent back-ups are just two more reasons to rely on online bookkeeping services for your multimillion dollar business.