To the untrained eye, bookkeepers and accountants seem the same. They both record and maintain financial records for businesses. The truth, however, goes much more profound and is much more nuanced than a simple explanation would have you believe. To fully appreciate and understand what bookkeepers and accountants can do for your business, you first have to understand the duties of each job.

Although there might be some overlap, it is essential to know that accountants and bookkeepers work together, but their expertise and skill sets are not exactly the same. In short, Bookkeepers handle businesses' daily financial records, performing quality checks, recording transactions, reconciling bank accounts, and preparing financial statements. On the other hand, accountants analyze financial data, prepare income tax returns, and provide tax planning services. Accounting encompasses analyzing, reporting, and summarising the information they receive from bookkeepers. Their reports provide snapshots of how businesses perform financially and which portion of the tax they are liable for.

Therefore, both a bookkeeper and an accountant can help you reach financial goals – see them as a team in tandem with providing essential data that informs key business financial decisions, as is the case with yearly financial reports and tax returns.

As you scale your business, you need every available moment to work on your growth and strategies to achieve your goals. However, when you become bogged down with day-to-day admin, you might spend more time figuring out financial processes and software, adding extra stress to your already overloaded schedule.

Outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional has many benefits. Primary among these benefits is preserving the integrity of your books.

Beyond that, outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional helps ensure you pay the proper taxes, maximize your profitability, and, most importantly, have more time to focus on your business's day-to-day operations.

In addition to minimizing time constraints, your bookkeeper can help ensure that your business complies with all legislation. Your bookkeeper will keep abreast of any changes in laws, including those about payroll and taxes.

A bookkeeper can additionally provide a bird' s-eye view of your company's financial health and advise whether you should refrain from specific business actions that could put your business at financial risk. There is less stress on your already constrained schedule, and you can rely on a professional to handle those key financial or recording processes that you often do not have the time for.

Therefore, when you partner with the right bookkeeper, you get that support for your business that stretches further than just logging data – you truly get someone in your corner who can help answer your questions about various financial processes for your business.

While some tax preparers will also do your day-to-day bookkeeping for you, it is generally considered a best practice to separate duties between a bookkeeper and a tax preparer because the job of a bookkeeper is much different than what is required of the tax preparer.

While it may be advantageous to have everything in one place, from the standpoint of only having one person to work with, there are far more significant disadvantages to having one person handle both your bookkeeping and tax needs. The tax preparer is generally not an expert in bookkeeping, as they spend most of their time on tax returns throughout the year, focusing mainly on the rules and regulations regarding tax law. Further, they usually charge more for bookkeeping services, while their efficiency is geared towards tax returns.

On the other hand, the bookkeeper is typically more detailed and provides timely reports throughout the year that will help the business owner understand how their business is doing so they can grow their company and increase profitability.

By leveraging the skills of both professionals, you will have two people working on your account, each of whom is an expert in their field. These people will provide you with the best bookkeeping and tax services possible. Having two experts in your corner creates a system of checks and balances for your accounting records.

While some tax preparers will also do your day-to-day bookkeeping for you, it is generally considered a best practice to separate duties between a bookkeeper and a tax preparer because the job of a bookkeeper is much different than what is required of the tax preparer.

While it may be advantageous to have everything in one place, from the standpoint of only having one person to work with, there are far more significant disadvantages to having one person handle both your bookkeeping and tax needs. The tax preparer is generally not an expert in bookkeeping, as they spend most of their time on tax returns throughout the year, focusing mainly on the rules and regulations regarding tax law. Further, they usually charge more for bookkeeping services, while their efficiency is geared towards tax returns.

On the other hand, the bookkeeper is typically more detailed and provides timely reports throughout the year that will help the business owner understand how their business is doing so they can grow their company and increase profitability.

By leveraging the skills of both professionals, you will have two people working on your account, each of whom is an expert in their field. These people will provide you with the best bookkeeping and tax services possible. Having two experts in your corner creates a system of checks and balances for your accounting records.

At TCP Bookkeeping LLC, we work primarily with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant. We provide training and ongoing education for clients using QuickBooks.

The short answer is No. Taxes are best prepared by a separate accountant other than your bookkeeper and one that specializes in tax preparation for your business. This way, you never run afoul of the law and don't overpay your accountant for bookkeeping services. Instead, you take advantage of the unique expertise of each professional.

We process all payroll and state tax filings, including State and City B&O (Business & Occupation) taxes. We file 1099s at the end of the year, as well. We prepare the financial statements so your tax preparer can file the 1040, 1065, and 1120 forms. The tax preparer is also responsible for the K-1s related to the Partnership and S-corporation returns.

There is no need to do any additional work. Our process will accurately diagnose and address any miscategorized or lost periods in your financial records. We will also identify and rectify gaps in your current accounting systems. This will enable you to manage your daily operations with reports that support informed business decisions, ultimately maximizing your profits and growth and empowering your success.

There are several ways to transfer data and materials to us. You can send us receipts using regular mail, drop them off at our office, or scan and e-mail them. Many clients find it easiest to provide us with read-only access to their online bank and credit card statements. Additionally, sending us their receipts is best if they want very detailed books that show everything purchased. We can also suggest expense management platforms that will simplify the way you and your team manage receipts.

However, the online banking system works well if they want categories tracked and are less interested in individual details.

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A fixed asset is a long-lasting piece of physical property, such as machinery or a vehicle, purchased and held for use by a company. These assets can be capitalized and depreciated.

Capitalization and depreciation can help companies reduce expenses and increase profits over time. Capitalizing an asset records its cost on the balance sheet as a fixed asset, maximizing its potential benefit to your business. You capitalize an asset when its benefit will last beyond the year it was purchased.

Depreciating an asset spreads its cost over time by moving a portion from the asset on the balance sheet to depreciation expense on the income statement.

Here’s how the process works. An asset is capitalized when purchased, meaning its cost is recorded on the balance sheet as a fixed asset rather than an expense. After capitalization, if the fixed asset has a limited useful life and will lose value over time, it is depreciated. This depreciation is then recorded periodically as an expense on the income statement. 

The Intuit QuickBooks ProAdvisor program trains accounting and bookkeeping professionals to use and administer QuickBooks for various industry clients.

Once certified, bookkeepers and accountants are prepared to provide clients with QuickBooks management services, including training and ongoing support. Additionally, certified ProAdvisors have greater access to support QuickBooks issues directly from the software manufacturer Intuit.

Intuit, the manufacturer of QuickBooks Software, also requires the Pro-Advisor to take a yearly test to verify that they are up-to-date with the latest version's changes. The QuickBooks Pro-Advisor is also provided with a version of QuickBooks that allows them to work more efficiently with the software. This version offers greater functionality than what is available with the Retail version of QuickBooks.

For example, the professional version allows the user to correct a group of transactions faster and record journal entries much more efficiently, to name just a few differences. Most Pro-Advisors have ongoing support to ensure they can handle every question or problem.