Salt Lake City Bookkeeping Blog

Whether you’re new to business, new to bookkeeping, or just want a refresher in strategic accounting, there’s a lot to be said for exploring the bookkeeping tactics most likely to enhance your company’s performance.

Effective accounting strategies are vital for business growth. In fact, gathering, recording, and analyzing your company’s financial information is the best way to gain valuable insight into your short-term and long-term operations.

The terms bookkeeping and accounting are often used interchangeably, but there are some key differences that distinguish one from the other. While both functions play essential roles in managing your company’s finances, it’s important to understand the nature of their relationship, and how bookkeeping and accounting ultimately work together to ensure the success of your business.

I spend a decent amount of time in my truck driving by myself in remote places. I think that has something to do with being a fisherman in Montana.

I've been working on our exit plan lately. Does that mean that we want to sell our business? Absolutely not! So why am I going through the process of exit planning? 

Hiring a CFO is a big decision. CFOs can have a profound impact on your company. However, a CFO also adds to your overhead costs. If you're hiring an in-house CFO, you will have to pay for the recruitment process, salary, training, benefits and many other costs associated with a new employee.

The average entrepreneur has a justifiable belief in their ability to do whatever it takes to run a successful company. After all, they come up with terrific ideas, and launch them as bona fide businesses. But it’s at this point that many business owners become so involved in the day-to-day running of their enterprise, that big picture concerns like financial awareness and long-term planning fall by the wayside.

Most small businesses and startups need nothing more than a bookkeeper in their earliest phases — someone to keep the accounting records current and to produce basic financial statements. You will eventually need multiple bookkeepers and maybe a tax accountant to keep your books and tax situation in top shape. If you begin to feel the need to secure more complex financing than you might find in a trip to the bank, it’s time to consider the difference between a bookkeeper, a controller and a chief financial officer (CFO).

In larger or more mature companies, each has a specific role to perform. Determining whether your company needs all three will depend on your assessment of the breadth, depth and complexity of your financial needs.

Let’s take a look at the basic definitions of each role.

Every time I go through the grocery store self-checkout, I always think to myself, "Is this our business 5 years from now? Will accountants even be needed in the future?"

Once in a while, we work with small business owners who dream that each employee will treat the business as if it is their own. They hope the employee will give everything they have to the business in order to see it succeed. These dream employees will work above and beyond, all day, every day. They will work into the foreseeable future and grow old with the business.  Of course, these owners are dreaming and setting themselves up for disasters down the road when a key employee walks out unexpectedly. Nothing brings you screaming back to reality like when an employee, especially the bookkeeper, leaves and the business suffers. The consequences of losing a bookkeeper can have a negative impact on your business in both the short-term and long-term if you aren't prepared for it.