Tips and Tales from Outsourced Accounting: Making Finances Easier

You are a business owner,  which means you are a coach, trainer, customer service representative, product developer and marketing department. AND responsible for processing and understanding the financial side of your business. 

At MoneyFit, we have seen plenty of owners who are buried, burnt out and bewildered. While pressure is part of the life of an owner - it's important to grow beyond being financially unaware or out of control. As the leader of your organization you must learn to understand what the financials are saying and use that information to lead with confidence.

The training it takes to get from "financially out of touch" to "on top of it and aware" is easier than you think. You just have to want it.

Why Understanding Your Financials Matters More Than You Think

Accounting isn’t just about keeping track of numbers—it’s about gaining financial clarity and making confident decisions. Without accurate financial data, business owners often find themselves making gut decisions instead of balanced decisions based on heart and head.  Like football scoreboards,  financial statements offer a bold reality check.  

Think about it: A restaurant owner wouldn’t set menu prices without knowing ingredient costs, and a contractor wouldn’t bid on a project without understanding labor expenses. Every successful business relies on numbers to guide its strategy.

When your finances are in order, you can:

• Set measurable goals and actively track progress towards them
• Monitor cash flow accurately, ensuring you never run into surprise shortages.
• Stop doing stupid stuff faster. By studying product and project profitability, you can adjust pricing or spending to improve performance. Spot profit trends and make smart investments at the right time.
• Gain access to capital. If you want to grow, you will need loans or angels. Investors and bankers need financial statements. Stay compliant with tax regulations, avoiding penalties and fines.
• Confidently plan for growth or build a solid plan if there are tough times ahead, knowing exactly where your money is going.

Having real-time financial insights helps business owners move from constantly reacting to problems to proactively planning for success. 

Tips for the DIY’er

Good data means good financial statements mean financial clarity. In accounting, good data means you must:

• Use an accounting software - spreadsheets don’t cut it. To see year-over-year trends or track progress against a budget, you need a proper system. Quickbooks is the most popular but there are many other platforms like Xero and Freshbooks you could also consider. Community colleges often have classes that teach how to use these systems. 
• Track all of your transactions - Banks, credit card companies and point of sale systems will feed your transactions directly into your accounting system. Record these transactions properly and you are well on your way to great reports.
• Include business transactions only, please - This is most easily done by having separate banking and credit card accounts for the business. Allow yourself a monthly draw or go on payroll if appropriate.
• Use meaningful accounts on your income statement and balance sheet - Ask your accountant for profit loss and balance sheet templates that are best for your company. Try asking for industry specific financial statement templates from a business association. Lastly, your local Small Business Administration office may provide templates for free.
• Reconcile your accounts in your financial software - Learn how to “reconcile” your accounts. If the reports in your software don’t match the bank, you might make important business decisions using bad data.
• Learn how to read a profit loss statement and a balance sheet - Many of the accounting fundamentals are not difficult to grasp, like sales, expenses, profits, cash, debt and ownership.  Like it or not, when you opened your business, you already made the decision to learn basic finance, so get to it! Again, your local community college can help you here. You don’t have to make a souffle, just learn how to fry some eggs. 
• Establish one or two key metrics to track ALL OF THE TIME -  Figure out what your company’s equivalent of MPH and RPM is.  Maybe your metric is daily sales or average ticket. You don’t have to track everything. But you MUST do something meaningful. You’re the boss. It comes with the job.

Consider Outsourcing - It Might be Time to Focus on Your Strengths 

We always recommend that a business owner spend some time in the DIY small biz CFO chair.  It’s important to understand the basics - it makes you a more confident owner and a better negotiator.  But there may come a time to bring in an accounting partner so you can get back to your zone of genius.

Picture yourself as the head chef of a restaurant that has grown significantly from the time you opened your doors. Your passion lies in crafting dishes, perfecting flavors, and delighting customers. But instead of being in the kitchen, you're still supporting the business accounting. Your staff has doubled, your clientele is more demanding and the size of your restaurant requires more operational infrastructure for you to manage. Over time, it becomes impossible to keep up with the accounting.

Other business owners fall so far behind, they feel that they can't ever get caught up with their finances. We see owners who feel embarrassed, frustrated and ultimately resigned to the fact that they are "just a total mess."  

Once owners dig in and start shaping up their books, improvement is immediately evident. Many of our clients discover that if they are willing to prioritize the financials (not always, just habitually) they can integrate strong back office processes and learn how to read an income statement and balance sheet. If you are the owner with receipts under the floor mat and you haven't looked at your bank statement in months, we can help you.  

It can actually be fun...*GASP*. You just have to be willing to show up and do the work. That's why our name is "MoneyFit".

Save Money Compared to Hiring In-House

For many small to mid-sized businesses, hiring a full-time in-house accountant isn’t a financially viable option. The costs of a salary, benefits, office space, and software can quickly add up—even though accounting isn’t a full-time need for many businesses.

Outsourcing provides the expertise of a full accounting team, without the overhead costs. Instead of paying for a full-time hire, businesses can avoid expenses related to salaries, benefits, and ongoing training.

For businesses looking to reduce costs while maintaining high-quality financial management, outsourcing is often the most practical and cost-effective solution. Business owners can save up to 84% when outsourcing their accounting versus hiring in-house accountants.

How to Know When It’s Time to Outsource Your Accounting

How can you determine if your company has hit a tipping point where outsourcing becomes a smarter choice.

Signs it might be time to outsource:

• You want better financial insights but lack clear data.
• Bill payments, payroll and tax payments are late or inaccurate.
• You’re spending more time on accounting than business growth.
• Your books feel disorganized or incomplete.

Just like a restaurant thrives with a well-managed kitchen, a business runs more smoothly when finances are in order. Bringing in a professional accountant can free up your time and improve financial clarity.

Making Business Finances Easier

At the end of the day, accounting shouldn’t feel like a burden. It should be a tool that helps business owners thrive, not something that holds them back.

Whether you choose to manage finances yourself or outsource to professionals, having a structured, well-maintained financial system is key to long-term growth and success.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by bookkeeping or financial reports, now might be the time to explore how outsourced accounting can help free up your time, reduce costly errors, and give you financial clarity.

MoneyFit specializes in outsourced accounting services designed to help business owners simplify their finances, minimize stress, and focus on what they do best. If you're ready to streamline your accounting, contact MoneyFit to learn how we can help.