Annual Audit Preparation Archives

When Should You Consider Outsourcing Your Accounting Operations?

Do you spend late nights and weekends struggling to keep up with your company’s accounting records? Or worse, does this time intervene with the time spent running the operations of your business?
Are you unable to assess the profitability of your business or perhaps have difficulty understanding the cash requirements for the next 60, 90, or 365 days?
Do you feel your margins could be improved but aren’t sure how to evaluate them when looking at your financial statements?
Would some assistance in projecting your business operations over the next few years help you establish priorities with your employees?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are in good company. Many business owners and executives feel the same way and there are ways you can get the support you need to move your business ahead.

The first step is acknowledging that, although operations are the most key aspect of any business, accurate financial information is vital to making important business decisions. Having visibility into cash flow and knowing where your margins can be improved will enable you to take your company to the next level.

Now the next step is determining if hiring a full-time accounting resource to get your company’s financials in order makes sense from a cost and expertise standpoint.

Is there enough work for a full-time accountant? For many companies, a 40-hour a week accountant would be in excess of the time required to perform the basic accounting functions they may need, e.g., monthly close process, issuing invoices, entering and paying bills, performing payroll, etc.
Is there too much work for your current full-time resource? And are you asking them to do things beyond or below their skill set? This is a very common occurrence with any role in a growing business. This is a lose-lose situation for everyone involved and can lead to internal turnover.
What level of experience will they need to have – CFO, controller, staff accountant? If you are not in a position to support the costs of more than one accounting resource, will you hire a CFO and then over-pay them to do basic staff-level accounting? Alternatively, you could hire a staff accountant and task them with CFO responsibilities; however, both of these options can cost your company significantly and lead to ineffective decision-making.

If your company needs the resources of a complete accounting team but is not in a position to support the costs and management time of that entire, full-time team, then outsourcing your accounting functions is a very viable, flexible, and turn-key option for your business.

Outsourced accounting companies such as Signature Analytics provide you with flexibility in terms of the number of hours of service to receive, provide a higher level of experience through oversight by more senior-level individuals, and ensure efficient service by experienced accountants (staff accountants through CFO level expertise). The accounting teams at outsourced accounting companies work with multiple clients so they have identified time-saving methods that allow them to complete challenging tasks in significantly less time than a typical bookkeeper.

In addition to acting as the financial arm of your business by providing the resources of a highly experienced accounting department on an outsourced basis, there are a number of other situations in which hiring an outsourced accounting company to handle your financial information might make sense for your business:

Preparing for a financial statement audit or review

Many business owners believe that a financial statement audit is a healthy process for their business and provides confidence to their investors in the financial information; however, most do not realize the resource drain that an audit can have on their business due to the significant number of requests for supporting information and the technical accounting expertise which must be applied to the financial statements. Due to independence restrictions, audit firms cannot assist in performing the accounting functions at the companies they audit and therefore must rely on management to determine proper accounting rules. These issues tend to cause significant overrun bills from the audit firm due to the inefficiencies experienced and can be extremely costly for a business. Engaging an outsourced accounting company can provide management with the peace of mind that they have a team of accounting experts – most of which have previous experience performing audits – that understand what audit firms are asking for and know how to produce that information in a timely manner.

Investors requesting financial projections

Investors love to see what the future of their capital will produce so that they can assist in both financial and operational decisions; however, many business owners do not have the expertise to prepare financial projections and therefore may provide information at a level not detailed enough for the purpose or may be missing significant costs which need to be considered. Outsourced accounting firms that provide support with cash flow management and projections have CFO-level experts who are experienced in understanding a business operation in a very timely fashion and can translate such information into the future potential results of the organization.[gap height=”10″]

Missing out on potential tax savings

When a tax provider receives your financial information they may not search into all of the accounts to find tax deductions. If transactions have been classified to incorrect accounts, tax preparers may not be aware of their existence and therefore not consider simple deductions. A simple example would be meals & entertainment expenses, often a deductible expense, in which some transactions may end up recorded in office expense categories or supplies or miscellaneous. Unless the tax preparer knows that such expenses may be improperly classified, the deduction will go unreported resulting in higher income tax. An outsourced accounting company can organize accounting information and work directly with tax professionals to help identify as many tax savings as possible.

Looking for capital investment from financial institutions

Perhaps you have a capital requirement in the near future and plan to approach different financial institutions. Providing financial information with obvious errors, inconsistencies, or lack of organization could severely impact your ability to raise capital as it may be challenging for the lenders to truly understand the results of the business without transparent financial information. When hiring an outsourced accounting company, you can be confident that the financial statements are timely and accurate. Furthermore, they will provide you with a high-level financial resource that can assist in preparing analyses of the financial information in a professional manner making the lender proposal process less arduous. These statements may be used as a resource to assist in conversations with those providing capital assistance to ensure a complete understanding of the business’s results of operations.

If you think your company could benefit from outsourcing your accounting services, contact Signature Analytics for a free consultation.

Preparing for an Annual Audit or Review: How to Eliminate the Pain and Reduce Overage Fees

If your company is looking for financing from investors or financial institutions, considering a potential acquisition, or foresees an IPO within the next three years, you may need to have an annual financial statement review or audit.

Many dread the infamous annual audit for several reasons:

It demands a significant amount of time for preparation,
Management must field exasperating questions from auditors, prepare numerous schedules and gather supporting documentation, and
Costs can become astronomical.

What Information Will You Need to Provide the Auditors?

To begin, the audit firm will provide management with a list of anywhere from 50 to 150 initial requests that can include items, such as:

Articles of incorporation and bylaws and any subsequent amendments
Board minutes from inception
Fluctuation analysis’ on balance sheet and income statement accounts
Reconciliations and support for reconciling items
All debt and equity agreements
Fixed asset additions and disposals

Once these initial items are provided to the auditors, they will typically request additional supporting documentation, which can include:

Bank statements
Check copies
Invoices
Bills
Payroll reports
Supporting schedules for any accrual or estimate balances

How Long Will the Annual Audit Process Take?

Depending on your preparedness, the organization of your accounting department, your bandwidth to take on the additional hours required to assist the auditors, and the cleanliness of your financial information, an audit can last anywhere from 3 weeks to a full year.

The Cost of Not Being Prepared

Before getting started, the audit firm will provide you with a schedule and budgeted fee that assumes the team can complete the audit with minimal issues; however, if the company is not appropriately prepared, there will likely be significant delays. Any additional time it takes to provide adequate schedules and support in excess of the time that was originally budgeted will impact the auditors’ initial schedule. This can result in a lack of availability for the audit team, preventing them from completing the audit and providing an opinion on time.

If you’re not prepared, the result will be obvious in the audit firm’s final bill, which can include thousands of dollars in overage fees.

Eliminate the Pain and Overage Fees from the Annual Audit Process

If your company is not appropriately prepared, the annual audit process can be an expensive undertaking, both in employee time and company money. It does not have to be though! By enlisting the right assistance, it is possible for your audit to be a simple, stress-free, and a less expensive process.

Hiring an outsourced accounting firm, such as Signature Analytics, that provides you with a professional team of accountants and certified public accountants (CPAs) who have previously been auditors themselves, can significantly reduce the amount of re-work for a company because they know exactly what schedules and support the auditors are looking for.

An outsourced accounting team can prepare schedules in advance so the auditors do not waste unnecessary time waiting for the schedules to be completed. They will also assist with handling inquiries and follow-up questions that arise during the audit process, reducing, if not eliminating, overage fees.

Ultimately though, one of the most valuable tools an outsourced accounting team can bring to the annual audit process, is freeing up your internal staff to focus on their daily responsibilities with minimal interruption due to auditor requests.

Be Prepared for Your Next Annual Audit or Financial Statement Review

Whether you are preparing for your first annual audit, or are dreading an upcoming audit because you have incurred significant overages and delays in the past, Signature Analytics can help. We will ensure that your company is fully prepared and that your financial and business records are in order, making the annual audit process as painless and efficient as possible. We will be the main point of contact for the auditor during the entire process so your staff can focus on their day-to-day responsibilities.

Contact us today to learn how we can help reduce your annual audit fees and minimize the disruption to your business during the process.

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