Information from accounting, beyond a regulatory aspect, is essential to manage a business, even a small one.
Two solutions are then possible: outsource accounting or manage it internally.
Indeed, the evolution of accounting software, especially in the cloud offers facilities for monitoring day-to-day accounting. With these new tools, we are witnessing a return of accounting in the company. Let’s see what are the advantages and disadvantages of the two solutions today.
TWO CHOICES TO MAKE FOR BUSINESS ACCOUNTING
OUTSOURCING PART OF THE ACCOUNTING
Having recourse to a chartered accountant allows you to benefit from the know-how and advice of an expert who masters the entire legal and regulatory environment. For a small company that does not have internal accounting or tax resources, this solution makes it possible to avoid costly errors and to anticipate necessary changes.
The intervention of a chartered accountant who certifies the company’s accounts also helps to strengthen the credibility of the company. Confidence in the financial situation will be more important with banks, suppliers, in relation with administrations if an accountant accompanies you.
Another advantage of the chartered accountant is that he is also involved in the social or legal field.
Among the drawbacks linked to the outsourcing of accounting, we must mention the budget linked to external intervention. Count a few hundred euros per month for a complete outfit mission.
Another drawback of outsourcing is that the company does not have permanently up-to-date accounts internally. A chartered accountant works on behalf of a few dozen to a few hundred small businesses. It will be necessary to wait for the update of your file to know your cash situation, your accounts receivable, or suppliers. This processing time may be incompatible with the day-to-day management of the business.
KEEP ACCOUNTING INTERNAL ACCOUNTING
The main drawback to managing in-house accounting has long been the cost of a salaried accountant, a budget that is difficult to finance for a small business. Moreover, accounting software did not allow use by the company’s operational staff or managers.
This disadvantage tends to disappear. The new generation of software makes it possible, without accounting knowledge, to generate current entries: import of bank statements, the establishment of sales invoices, automatic generation of entries, of the VAT return.
With these tools, the day-to-day accounting can thus be automated and processed by the manager or a member of staff without special qualifications. Subject to processing its accounts regularly, the company thus has perfectly up-to-date information on its cash position, its receivables, its debts, its results, and that without external intervention.
The publishers of these solutions are called Sage, Zefyr, Quickbooks.
The Autrialian publisher macompta.fr thus offers an interface designed for users “without accounting knowledge in which the current entry is made without credit debit and without account number and which allows going to the balance sheet”.
The cost of these tools, less than 20 euros per month, is also a strong argument for these solutions.
Their main drawback is that they do not replace the supervision of a professional accountant. Certain end-of-year entries cannot be automated. They require real accounting skills. The same applies to certain tax declarations.
Hence an increasingly frequent use of a hybrid solution
THE RIGHT MIX: INTERNAL MANAGEMENT + ACCOUNTING EXPERT
The trend that we observe is that all or part of the current accounting is more and more frequently managed by the company with these new tools but under the supervision of the chartered accountant. The accountants themselves are often at the initiative of this new distribution of roles.
The company can thus process imports and bank codification, or also take charge of purchases and sales. She can perform some common checks such as bank reconciliation, lettering. For his part, the chartered accountant focuses on support (setting up the chart of accounts, periodic checks), complex entries, inventory work, tax declarations.