If your startup has reached the point where you need to engage a bookkeeper, one of the first considerations is whether to go with onsite or virtual bookkeeping. You have probably heard of onsite bookkeeping or dealt with bookkeepers in the past.
However, onsite accounting offers advantages but has significant drawbacks, particularly for startups. Virtual bookkeeping services assist your company by providing access to thousands of accounting experts who can keep your books in order without ever setting foot in your office. If you are interested in small business accounting services in Cape Coral, FL, speak to an expert today.
What is virtual bookkeeping?
Virtual bookkeepers, like traditional onsite bookkeepers, handle day-to-day financial responsibilities such as documenting transactions, reconciling bank and credit card accounts, and processing payroll.
The main distinction is that a typical bookkeeper must be present in your business to do these functions. A virtual bookkeeper, on the other hand, does everything remotely through cloud-based software. Remote or online accounting are other terms for virtual bookkeeping. The following are some of the primary advantages of virtual bookkeeping:
- More accounting industry resources, such as access to people with highly specialized vertical experience
- On-demand insights for important financial KPIs to help you make better data-driven decisions.
- Monthly, quarterly, and yearly updates that are more timely
- You will have access to a large staff of CPAs and bookkeepers with appropriate industry knowledge.
As with any person or service you would consider hiring to assist in handling your company’s money, you should ensure that the individual’s work is dependable, accurate, timely, and complete.
You may engage a remote bookkeeper as a full-time or part-time employee, outsource the job to an independent contractor or freelancer, or use a remote accounting service to optimize your accounts.
When you choose a bookkeeping service, you will have the advantage of working with a large team of professionals from many fields. More staff means more capacity for ad hoc bookkeeping and accounting services.
Benefits of virtual bookkeeping
The development of remote-only and remote-hybrid workplaces has blurred the distinction between virtual and onsite accounting. Today, virtual financial teams may provide the same insights and direction as physical bookkeepers but with more availability, faster reaction times, and real-time reporting tailored to each industry’s difficulties.
Remote finance teams may manage all of the day-to-day duties of bookkeepers and more complex accounting services such as financial predictions and analysis, yearly taxes, and compliance requirements. Remote bookkeepers may provide a broader range of services using the knowledge of a team of financial professionals and AI-driven software that automates computations and accounting processes.