Keeping your accounting fees low

How much money are you paying to your accountant? Accounting fees are a large expense that you do need to worry about as they can really hurt small business owners, especially in an uncertain economy. Managing your business expenses is vital to your books and to ensuring that your company will be able to survive the ups and downs of a very difficult economic situation. Since your accountant can be a very expensive investment, it is important that you do all that you can to manage their fees. Here are some ways in which you can lower your accounting fees as it comes down to being smart on your part.

Tip # 1 - Maintain accurate records
When tax season nears you will need to walk in with a handful of documents for your accountant. You need to make sure all of these records are easy to understand in order to make the job of your accountant much easier. You need to stay organized and to have everything precise and accurate. Most accountants will send you a list of the documents they need to have and they will ask you to organize them in a certain way. Listen to them and do what they ask so they can get your taxes done faster and you won't need to pay as much. Without proper records, you will spend a ton of time looking for receipts and other things and your accountant will nickel and dime you for every time they need to call you up on the phone and to ask for another document.

Tip # 2 - QuickBooks
Want to make your life easier? Start using a good record-keeping program. QuickBooks is a great solution for many businesses as it will allow you to maintain accurate records that are easy to transfer over to your accountant. Make sure you update your program often and keep them up to date in order to avoid getting behind and trying to cram in everything right before you are ready to send them off to the accountant. Accurate record keeping not only helps your accountant it helps you to know your company's bottom line so you can properly maintain a healthy and profitable organization. Ask your accountant if they have a spreadsheet program that you can input numbers into. This will also help to cut down on the amount of time they need to spend on your books and will significantly drop the price that you have to pay them.

Tip # 3 - Double-check everything
If you really want to save time and a big headache you need to go over your records often. Double-check everything and make sure that you do not have any errors or omissions before you send it off to the accountant to manage. An accountant will fix errors but they will charge you for it! Have a fresh pair of eyes go over your records in order to check them for errors before you send them off.

Tip # 4 - Meet filing deadlines
Your accountant will give you a deadline and you need to hit it! You cannot give them paperwork late and expect it to be filed on time. You will get a fee from the IRS for any late payments and your accountant may also fine you for not turning in your paperwork on time as they now have to adjust their other accounts because you were slow. Save yourself time and get a calendar! Stick to your deadlines and you can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Finding a good accountant can be done online or you can ask for referrals. This is a great way to learn more about the accountant and to know you are hiring a trustworthy person.